The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission has announced a freeze on the accreditation of new programmes in General Nursing at both diploma and bachelor’s degree levels.

The tertiary regulator revealed this in a statement on Thursday, Feb 6, explaining that the move is aimed at aligning training with national health-sector needs before allowing more institutions to add programmes.

“The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, acting in accordance with its regulatory and accreditation mandates under the Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020 (Act 1023), and guided by national human resource development priorities, hereby announces a suspension of the accreditation of new General Nursing programmes at both diploma and bachelor’s degree levels,” parts of the statement read.

The Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020 (Act 1023), is the law that restructured Ghana’s education regulatory framework. It merged the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) and the National Accreditation Board (NAB) into the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) and also established the Commission for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (CTVET). Its purpose is to regulate, coordinate, and ensure quality in tertiary and technical education.

It continued that, “Accordingly, all tertiary education institutions are hereby notified that GTEC will not receive, process, or consider any new application for General Nursing (diploma or bachelor’s degree) programmes until further notice.”

The statement, addressed to heads of tertiary education institutions, was copied to the Minister of Education, the Minister of Health, the Registrar, Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Director of Accreditation, GTEC, Heads of traditional public universities, GTEC, Heads of technical universities and colleges, GTEC, and the Head of Compliance, GTEC.

However, GTEC, in the statement, indicated that institutions seeking to expand their health-related programme offerings should explore and develop proposals in specialised and undersubscribed areas of nursing.

According to the tertiary education regulator, there are not enough students training in certain important nursing fields, such as Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, Anaesthesia Nursing, Critical Care and Emergency Nursing, Paediatric Nursing, Oncology Nursing, Geriatric Nursing, and Nephrology Nursing, among others; hence, more attention should be given to training people in those areas.

“These specialised fields align with national workforce gaps and are therefore more likely to receive favourable regulatory consideration,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, in October last year, a list of 50 tertiary institutions was made public by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) for operating against approved standards. The Commission’s Director-General, Prof. Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, through a statement dated October 20, cautioned the public against engaging with these institutions.

“The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) wishes to formally notify all Heads of Tertiary Institutions that the institutions listed below are currently not recognised by the Commission due to various accreditation and quality assurance breaches. Treat this caution with the seriousness it deserves,” part of the statement read.

Among the institutions are University Azteca, Mexico; Indian School of Management and Studies, India; Breyer State Theology University, USA; Debest College of Science, Arts and Business, Ghana; Osiri University, USA; Atlantic International University, USA; Faith University Seminary (FUS), Ghana; Christian University College, Monrovia, Liberia; Rhema Bible Training College (RBTC), USA; Universidad Empresarial de Costa Rica, Costa Rica; and Selinus University of Science and Literature, Italy.

In September, the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission closed down some 149 institutions running open distance learning across the country without accreditation. According to the Director-General of GTEC, Professor Ahmed Abdulai Jinapor, the centres of such institutions are “unfit for purpose.”

At a two-day workshop in Accra last week on implementing Ghana’s Open and Distance Learning (ODL) policy for quality assurance and tertiary education stakeholders, he noted that the operations of several institutions fall short of being recognised as legitimate distance learning.

“Unfortunately, distance education seems to be replaced with distancing education. Distancing education, manifesting in institutions moving across this country to replicate what is happening in traditional classrooms, cannot be deemed as distance education.”

“In fact, as we speak, the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission has flagged some 149 distance learning centres that we think are not fit for purpose. These centres are found in second-cycle institutions, institutions that are overstretched as a result of the double track. We have centres being organised in churches, public services, public works departments, and electricity companies. In fact, we cannot allow this to happen,” he stated.

He further emphasised that distance learning is not merely an alternative to conventional education but a central pillar for expanding access, promoting equity, and fostering innovation in tertiary education. Consequently, the Commission gave institutions a grace period to follow the proper procedures and secure authorisation to run these programmes in approved facilities.

“As a commission, we’ve issued a moratorium to all these institutions to teach our students in these centres and to seek accreditation for facilities that are fit for purpose. Today, we are launching this particular policy involving quality assurance.”

“What we’ve realised as a commission is that quality assurance in most of these institutions becomes overly transactional. Institutions do what they are supposed to do to please us, and once we leave, then it’s business as usual. We cannot allow that,” he noted.