The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has launched a digital platform designed to streamline and fast-track accreditation application processes.
Dubbed “Accreditation Management Information System (AMIS)”, it will enable tertiary institutions to apply for accreditation conveniently without being present physically at the commission's offices.
It also seeks to fast-track the accreditation process by providing timely feedback to applicants on updates of the processes and status of their applications.
It forms part of efforts by the commission to enhance transparency, accountability and convenience for stakeholders.
Currently, 11 institutions have been hooked onto the system.
They are the University for Development Studies (UDS), Tamale Technical University, Community Nursing Training College, Tamale; New Life College, Tamale; Nurses and Midwives’ Training College, Tamale, and the C. K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences (CKT-UTAS), Navrongo.
The rest are the Bolgatanga Technical University, Regentropfen College of Applied Sciences, Bolgatanga; Simon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (SDD UBIDS), Wa; Dr Hilla Liman Technical University, Wa, and Nursing Training College, Wa.
Unveiling the AMIS in Tamale, the Director-General of GTEC, Prof. Ahmed Jinapor, said that the system would help revolutionise tertiary education in the country by simplifying and enhancing accreditation application processes.
He mentioned some of the challenges posed by the manual system to include human errors and operational burdens.
“Over the years, the function of accreditation has been through a manual system which meant that the initiation, engagement and documentation relied heavily on the availability of human resources to prepare and track the processes.
“This overwhelmed the process and brought a lot of inefficiencies in the accreditation processes of the commission,” the D-G added.
He said there were plans by the commission to decentralise its operations by establishing two new offices in Kumasi and Tamale.
The Vice-Chancellor of UDS, Prof. Seidu Alhassan, commended GTEC for introducing AMIS, and said it would go a long way to alleviate the burden on tertiary institutions which require accreditation.
While pledging his support for the system, he called for continuous monitoring to ensure the platform achieves its intended purpose.
To ensure effective implementation of the system, a two-day training and technical support workshop was organised for technical officers of the 11 higher education institutions.