Stop Illegal Conferment Of Honorary Degrees � Accreditation Board

The National Accreditation Board (NAB) of Ghana has expressed concern about the conferment of honorary degrees and emeritus professorships by institutions which do not have the accreditation to do so. A statement issued on Monday, September 8 and signed by the Executive Secretary, Kwame Dattey, said that the situation was �in contravention of the Tertiary Institutions (Establishment and Accreditation Regulations, 2010 � LI 1984, Section 13 (1&2) and Section 19 (1&2).� Find below the full statement from the National Accreditation Board. PUBLIC NOTICE ON THE CONFERMENT OF HONORARY DEGREES The National Accreditation Board (NAB) has noticed with concern the spate of conferment of honorary degrees and emeritus professorships on some personalities by some unaccredited institutions, accredited institutions unqualified to award degrees on their own and other institutions with doubtful credentials. These are in contravention of the Tertiary Institutions (Establishment and Accreditation Regulations, 2010 � LI 1984, Section 13 (1&2) and Section 19 (1&2). The conferment of honorary degrees is the prerogative of degree awarding institutions so mandated. Therefore accredited private tertiary institutions operating under the mentorship of chartered, degree-awarding universities are not qualified by themselves to confer honorary degrees. Any such institutions that do so are in contravention of Regulation 19 (1) of Legislative Instrument 1984 which states that: An accredited institution shall not issue certificates or award its own degrees, diplomas or honorary degree without a Charter grated to it for that purpose by the President. There are also instances where some foreign institutions confer such honorary degrees, particularly doctorate degrees on prominent personalities with intent to legitimize and popularize the operations of the institutions in Ghana, and thereby seek to attract unsuspecting students to enroll in them. The National Accreditation Board wishes to caution the general public and advise that distinguished personalities invited for such awards should verify the accreditation status and degree-awarding powers of the institutions that seek accreditation status and degree-awarding powers of the institutions that seek to confer on them honorary degrees to avoid any embarrassing fallouts. For the avoidance of doubt, as per our current records, only the following institutions established in Ghana are eligible to confer honorary degrees: University of Ghana, Legon Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology University of Cape Coast University of Education, Winneba University for Development Studies University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa University of Professional Studies, Accra University of Health and Allied Sciences University of Energy and Natural Resources Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration Ghana Institute of Journalism Valley View University Akrofi-Christaller Memorial Research Institute Trinity Theological College The National Accreditation Board hereby warns institutions engaged in this illegality to desist or be prepared to face sanctions prescribed by the law. Signed,