GTEC warns universities to stop over-enrolling PhD students

The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has cautioned universities against admitting more doctoral students than their capacity can support, warning that the practice could undermine the quality and credibility of doctoral education in Ghana.

Director-General of GTEC, Professor Ahmed Abdulai Jinapor, said the expansion of doctoral programmes must be matched with adequate numbers of qualified supervisors, research facilities, library resources and funding to ensure effective supervision and quality research.

He gave the warning at the graduation ceremony of the African University of Communication and Business in Accra on Saturday, October 31, where 350 students graduated, comprising 206 undergraduates and 144 postgraduate students.

Professor Jinapor stressed that although doctoral education was essential to producing future researchers, lecturers and policy thinkers, universities must not allow the drive to increase enrolment to compromise academic standards.

“Growth in numbers must never outpace capacity,” he said, adding that doctoral qualifications required years of rigorous study, original research and examination and should not be treated as commercial products.

He urged universities, particularly newly chartered institutions, to ensure that doctoral admissions reflected their actual capacity, insisting that quality rather than quantity must guide the delivery of postgraduate education.

On the role of technology in higher education, Professor Jinapor said universities must adapt their teaching and research approaches to prepare graduates for an increasingly technology-driven economy.

He cited artificial intelligence, automation, big data, digital platforms and cybersecurity as areas reshaping professional and economic activities, urging institutions to equip students with relevant skills.

While acknowledging that online, blended and distance learning could expand access to tertiary education, he cautioned that digital delivery must not become a means of lowering academic standards. He said online degrees must carry the same value as qualifications obtained through traditional campus-based programmes.

Professor Jinapor said this would require accredited programmes, qualified faculty, reliable digital platforms, credible assessment systems and adequate learner support.

He also urged graduates to embrace lifelong learning and develop the ability to work with emerging technologies without compromising independent thinking, integrity and sound judgement.

“Do not compete with technology. Learn to work intelligently with technology,” he advised.

The GTEC Director-General further disclosed that the Commission had intensified public education on recognised institutions and accredited learning centres to protect prospective students from enrolling in unaccredited programmes.

He said GTEC published a notice in July 2026 concerning 15 unaccredited learning centres and institutions whose institutional accreditation had expired, followed by an updated list of 110 unrecognised institutions in September 2026.

The ceremony was held on the theme, “Transforming Higher Education for a Resilient Nation: Leveraging Technology for Sustainable Development.”

Meanwhile, the university's Overall Best Graduating Student, Barbara Kafui Abram of the Faculty of Strategic Communication, urged her fellow graduates not to allow past academic setbacks to discourage them from pursuing their ambitions.

Drawing on her experience of an earlier unsuccessful tertiary education attempt, she said perseverance and the willingness to start again had been central to her eventual achievement.

“Never be ashamed of starting again. Starting again is not a failure. It is the courage to pursue a better ending,” she said.

-GNA