The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has flagged 149 institutions across the country for operating open and distance learning centres without proper accreditation, describing them as “unfit for purpose.”
The Director-General of GTEC, Professor Ahmed Abdulai Jinapor, made this known at a two-day capacity-building workshop on Ghana’s Open and Distance Learning (ODL) policy implementation strategies for national quality assurance and tertiary education stakeholders in Accra.
According to him, distance education should not be mistaken for a mere replication of traditional classroom activities in unapproved facilities.
He stressed that it is a critical pillar for expanding access, ensuring equity, and fostering innovation in tertiary education.
“Unfortunately, distance education seems to be replaced with distancing education. Institutions moving across this country to replicate what is happening in traditional classrooms cannot be deemed as distance education. As we speak, GTEC has flagged 149 distance learning centres that we consider unfit for purpose,” Prof. Jinapor stated.
He revealed that some of the unapproved centres were found operating in second-cycle schools already burdened by the double-track system, while others were being run in churches, public service departments, electricity company offices, and other non-educational facilities.
Prof. Jinapor emphasised that the Commission has issued a moratorium, requiring all institutions operating such centres to regularise their activities and seek proper accreditation.
“As a Commission, we’ve issued a moratorium to these institutions to teach students only in accredited centres and to seek approval for facilities that meet quality standards. Quality assurance in many of these institutions has become transactional—where institutions comply temporarily to please us and revert to old practices once we leave. We cannot allow that to continue,” he cautioned.
Meanwhile, Professor Olugbemiro Jegede, a Commonwealth consultant on the ODL policy, underscored the need for Ghana to develop a unified national understanding of distance and open learning to guide policy and practice.
“What you’re doing is fantastic, but we must begin from the beginning. We need a concerted and negotiated agreement on what distance learning means, as well as what open learning entails. Otherwise, we’ll continue to have fragmented interpretations and inconsistent implementation,” Prof. Jegede advised.
The workshop is expected to shape strategies for enforcing standards in open and distance learning, while also aligning Ghana’s practices with global best practices.
No comment yet, add your voice below!