NAB Is Not A Board To Witch Hunt — Dr. Kingsley Nyarko To Tertiary Institutions

Executive Secretary of the National Accreditation Board, Dr. Kingsley Nyarko has noted with much concern some negative perception about the Board.

Dr. Nyarko, in an address to media personnel at a press sensitisation seminar held in Kumasi on 28th November, 2019 lamented how some institutions have decided to throw out falsehood into the media and public space with regards to activities of the board.

He noted that NAB has the mandate to provide systematic and rational basis for establishing, monitoring and improving standards in tertiary education, accrediting both public and private (tertiary) institutions with regard to the contents and standards of their programmes, among many others.

Therefore, in the enforcement of the above roles or mandate, Mr Nyarko said no institution whether public or private tertiary shall be given the freedom to violate accreditation procedures or processes regardless of the individual or group of individuals holding interests in the management of such institutions.

"If our refusal to permit some illegally operating institutions to continue functioning is what they term as witch-hunting then NAB is sorry to announce to them that it was not established for such practices but to seek to safeguard the academic dignity, progress and sustainability of good standing institutions and their accredited programs," he said.

Responding to a question on what a good standing institution is to NAB, the Executive Secretary Dr. Kingsley Nyarko explained that, are "those institutions that have successfully undergone all processes of accreditation as is established by the Board under PNDCL 317, 1993."

The processes of accreditation he noted are in three steps; Institutional Authorization, Institutional Accreditation and last but not least Programme Accreditation.

"Each of these processes also has its subsidiary activities which are all undertaken to ensure that academic work could be enhanced by the institution seeking accreditation," he said.

He however refuted claims of bureaucracy in the accreditation processes stating that "except otherwise of lack of commitment to the processes an institution has to follow, NAB does not take any interest in delaying the accreditation application made by a person or body."

He emphasizes that, as NAB Boss, he will not compromise on quality of Ghana's higher tertiary education.

Dr. Kingsley Nyarko took over as NAB Boss from Mr. Kwame Dattey who retired after being at the helm of affairs for 15 years. Before Dr. Nyarko's appointment, he was the Executive Director of the Danquah Institute.