{"id":90124,"date":"2025-08-17T19:16:21","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T19:16:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=90124"},"modified":"2025-08-17T19:16:21","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T19:16:21","slug":"barker-vormawor-criticises-gtec-over-professorial-title-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=90124","title":{"rendered":"Barker-Vormawor criticises GTEC over professorial title controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 19 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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Private legal practitioner and rights activist, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, has criticised the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), accusing it of overstepping its mandate in a recent controversy over the use of the title Professor.<\/p>\n

In a post shared on Facebook on Sunday, August 17, Barker-Vormawor described GTEC\u2019s conduct as \u201cdeeply problematic\u201d, arguing that the Commission was undermining its own credibility by attempting to regulate who may legitimately use the title.<\/p>\n

According to him, GTEC\u2019s responsibilities under the Education Regulatory Bodies Act are clear: to regulate tertiary institutions, monitor academic standards, and verify certificates and degrees upon request.<\/p>\n

\u201cNowhere does the law empower it to sit in judgment on professorial titles, especially when those titles are conferred by universities outside Ghana,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Barker-Vormawor further explained that there is no single global standard for what constitutes a professorship, noting that conventions differ widely between countries. <\/p>\n

In the United States, for example, both tenure-track and non-tenure-track academics are addressed as \u201cProfessor\u201d, whereas in the UK the title is reserved for senior academic appointments.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo suggest that GTEC can apply a universal test is not just wrong, it misinforms the public,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The lawyer also criticised what he called GTEC\u2019s tendency to react to social media discussions rather than follow due process, claiming that the Commission sometimes issues official letters without formal complaints from institutions.<\/p>\n

He recalled that GTEC is already facing a defamation suit involving Professor Edward Dua Agyeman, requiring the Commission to prove that it had conducted adequate verification before questioning the academic\u2019s credentials.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this is not regulatory fanfooling, I don\u2019t know what is. And it undermines confidence in the Commission\u2019s impartiality,\u201d Barker-Vormawor remarked.<\/p>\n

Warning that the Commission\u2019s actions risk eroding trust in Ghana\u2019s higher education system, Barker-Vormawor insisted that regulatory bodies must be guided by law, evidence, and transparency rather than public gossip or political influence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf GTEC continues to stretch its mandate, operate without clear standards, and chase headlines instead of doing its job, it will damage not only its own reputation but also the very system it was created to protect,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He further suggested that Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah, who has recently been at the centre of the controversy, should consider legal action against the Commission. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf I was Prof. Dr Grace Ayensu-Danquah, I would sue them. In fact, I will gladly be her lawyer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barker-Vormawor accused GTEC of \u201cacademic dishonesty\u201d in its handling of the matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t claim to be checking academic dishonesty while being neck-deep in one. To pretend there is a universal standard for professorships, and to pass off that pretence as official regulation, is academic dishonesty of the highest order,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Barker-VormaworPrivate legal practitioner and activist, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, has criticised the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), accusing it of overstepping its mandate in a recent controversy over the use of the title Professor.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3282,1883,294,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gtec","category-national","category-oliver-barker-vormawor","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=90124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90124\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=90124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=90124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=90124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}