Management of the University of Ghana (UG), Legon has revealed that about half of its 213 unaccredited postgraduate programmes offered as of 2022 have been axed.

Engaging Parliament's Public Accounts Committee on Tuesday, July 18, UG Registrar, Emelia Agyei Mensah, rendered an account on the update of unaccredited courses cited by the Auditor-General in 2021.

Management noted that about half of the 213 unaccredited postgraduate courses presented last year were no longer being offered by the institution, hence the decision to have them abolished.

"As part of the process, we have weeded out many programmes that were no longer being offered at the University of Ghana. We have a total of 220 programmes in all.

"So this figure of 213 postgraduate programmes, half of them probably have been taken out because they are no longer offered at the University," Emelia Agyei Mensah said.

Details of the specific postgraduate courses no longer offered by the tertiary insitution is yet to be made public.

Providing details on the current status of postgraduate courses, management revealed that a total of 220 programmes are being offered.

With regards to unaccredited postgraduate programmes, management assured that "the remainder have gone through the accreditation process or are in the process of going through the accreditation."

Half of unaccredited postgraduate programmes at UG ‘weeded out’ – Management#INDNews Thomas Partey | Justin Bieber | Cancelo | iMessage | Sheldon | Mason Mount pic.twitter.com/VAPrilFnqj— The Independent Ghana (@independent_gh) July 19, 2023

In September 2022, the total number of accredited and unaccredited programmes run by the University of Ghana and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) were released by the Ghana Tertiary Commission (GTEC).

Some of the unaccredited programmes at the University of Ghana included M.A. Communication Studies, M.A. HIV and AIDS Management, Ph.D. Accounting.

GTEC's release followed a report by the Auditor-General which indicated that the two main tertiary institutions in the country, University of Ghana and KNUST were running a significant number of unaccredited programmes.

Over 600 programmes run by the two leading universities were without accreditation, the 2021 Auditor-General report noted.

For KNUST, expired programmes that required reaccreditation included B.A. Political Science, B.A. Sociology, B.Sc. Computer Engineering, B.Sc. Computer Science, B.Sc. Mathematics, MPhil Political Science, MSc Mathematics PhD English, PhD Sociology.

Per information sighted by the Independent Ghana on the website of the Ghana Tertiary Commission, the following postgraduate programmes at the University of Ghana that require accreditation as of July 19, 2023, include:

Ph.D. Agricultural Extension, Ph.D. Agriculture Economics, Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering, Ph.D. Development Economics, Ph.D. Development Studies, Ph.D. Food Science, Ph.D. Health Policy and Management, Ph.D. Marketing, Ph.D. Migration Studies, Ph.D. Molecular Cell Biology and Infectious Disease, Ph.D. Nutrition.

Ph.D. Plant Breeding, Ph.D. Public Health, Ph.D. Social Policy Studies, Ph.D. Soil Science, Ph.D. Statistics, PhD Microbiology, PhD. Nursing.

It is yet to be confirmed which of these aforementioned courses are no longer offered by the school.

Some accredited postgraduate courses being offered at the University of Ghana include:

Ph.D. Applied Agricultural Economics and Policy, Ph.D. Chemistry, Ph.D. Chemistry, Ph.D. Communication Studies, Ph.D. Information Systems, Ph.D. Material Science and Engineering, Ph.D. Mathematics, Ph.D. Physics, Ph.D. Plant and Environmental Biology.

Ph.D. Population Studies, Ph.D. Psychology, PhD Classics, PhD Climate Change and Sustainable Development, PhD Climate Change and Sustainable Development, PhD Clinical Sciences, PhD Earth Science, PhD English, PhD Fisheries Science, PhD Food Process Engineering, PhD French, PhD Geography and Resource Development, PhD Information Systems, PhD Law, PhD Management Science, PhD Music, PhD Philosophy, PhD Public Administration and Policy Management, PhD Social Work, PhD Study of Religions.

Note: This is not the full list of accredited and unaccredited postgraduate programmes at the University of Ghana.

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