A heated debate has emerged between the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) and the Alumni of SMC University, with allegations of bullying and procedural irregularities.
According to sources, the Alumni of SMC University has petitioned the GTEC board, questioning the decision to invalidate the certification of the university’s graduates. The petition alleges that the decision was made without the board’s approval, contravening Section 14 of the GTEC Act.
At best is a person decision by Prof. Jinapor which questions the basis of action . It is even criminal for prof. Jinapor to willfully manipulate the truth and be on the media every week to destroy Ghanaians who earned their qualifications legitimately.
However, the Director-General of GTEC, Professor Ahmed A. Jinapor (a known sympathiser of the NPP) who is kept at his post is accused of playing tricks with the GTEC board in resolving a problem he knowingly created by falsely misleading the registration of SMC University to mean is not accredited.
Sources claim that Prof. Jinapor has been using his position to smear the reputation of SMC University graduates, despite the university’s registration to operate in Ghana.
The situation is further complicated by allegations of a personal vendetta against a prominent SMC graduate, who is a vocal critic of the government’s galamsey policies. The graduate’s activities are said to have displeased a key government official, leading to Prof. Jinapor’s alleged actions.
The GTEC Director-General has refused to comment on the matter the Union of Technical Universities Teachers met him recently and at the recent board meeting citing an ongoing court case but does the opposite.
Meanwhile, Prof. Joshua Alabi has provided evidence of due diligence in the registration process, which Prof. Jinapor has allegedly ignored.
The controversy has sparked outrage, with calls for transparency and accountability from the government and GTEC .
Prof. Jinapor who has been reported by a number of citizens to the Ministry of Education has claimed on a Tv3’s hot issue program on Sunday that he has not seen these letters granting registration to SMC . This is not smart on his part, the statement says as there many of the communication between NAB/ GTEC and the School as well as other institutions in Ghana.
Excerpts of the Statement:
The last board meeting
A statement wrote by Broenye Tami Volete and sighted by this portal alleged that “At the last Board meeting, when the matter came up, people in the corridors of GTEC report that the DG refused to talk claiming that one of the graduates have filed a suit at the human right court so since the matter is in court he will not comment. But on the blind side of the board, Prof. Jinapor has decided to grant an extensive smear attack on holders of such degree without the input from his victims on TV3 and carried by many media outlets. It does seem the board chair is being bullied by Prof. Jinapor.”
Registration and Accreditation
The statement further sought to clarify that, “Under the National Accreditation Board Act, the predecessor of GTEC, foreign universities are not required to be accredited in Ghana. They are required to be registered. So, on July 2012, the board after its 87th Meeting held on June 28-29, 2012, granted institutional registration of 3years to SMC University which took effect from September 2012 and directed that 6 months to expiry SMC should apply for re-registration.
“On July 29, 2016 The board again, at the 104th meeting held on June 23-24, 2016, communicated the approval of the grant of a 3year Institutional Re-registration to SMC University effective August 1, 2015, to July 31, 2018, to cover students already admitted by the University.
“Contrary, Prof. Jinapor is creating the false impression that SMC is not accredited that the school was merely granted recognition.
“The question is, since there is nothing like mere recognition in NAB and GTEC Act where did they get that phrase from and what is the purpose.? Registration is to allow the school to operate. The board, the Minister of Education have forgotten their oath to the people of Ghana, so Prof. Jinapor is intentionally destroying people, and they are looking on.”
