Prove Your PhD…GTEC’s Tall Order

Ekwow Spio Garbrah

There is no place to hide for holders of fake degrees.

The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) is on an uphill task of weeding out fake degree holders to give the academic space in Ghana the integrity it needs to be part of the international comity of the learned.

The overdrive mode the Prof. Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai-led GTEC is on has unearthed many cobwebs in the academic closet of the nation.

While the searchlight appears to be primarily on PhD holders, the first and second degree holders too should not be left out.

In a society where academic qualifications add to the stature of their holders, many would do all they can to earn these testimonials. While many will genuinely earn these certificates, others will use fictitious means to add these to their names.

We do not envy the GTEC, as it continues its search for the academic frauds, because of the many stumbling blocks that they will continue to surmount.

With a large space to survey in the face of limited resources, GTEC might have to innovate effective means of combing the academic space. That is where the challenge lurks.

Many personalities have been exposed in the past, most of them politicians. With nothing really done to sanction them for the academic deceit, many more would embark on this unenviable path.

Some of the exposed personalities continue to hold the political appointments bestowed upon them by government. That is sufficient proof that in our jurisdiction there is nothing wrong with faking academic qualifications.

The latest personality to be put on the spot by GTEC is Dr. Ekwow Spio Garbrah. Did we state 'Dr.'? Until he fails to satisfy the demand of GTEC, we might have to let him be a Dr. Maybe we are wrong but be it as it may, he could be on the verge of proving his right to be addressed as a Dr. We await the response of the learned Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah.

Integrity is critical in our individual and national lives, hence the need to be honest with ourselves and avoid presenting ourselves as what we are not.

Imagine presenting oneself as a PhD holder for so long only to be confronted with this query by GTEC. The leverage given the query to Dr. Spio-Garbrah has opened fresh discussions about the subject, with many asking the Commission to turn their attention to the clergy.

It appears that many men of God are PhD holders, something the GTEC would do well to authenticate. Concentrating on politicians as collar-wearing personalities flaunt Dr. before their names when they are unqualified to do so is a cause of worry.

Until we hear from Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, he remains a PhD holder. Or?

— Daily Guide