The Acting Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Prof. Augustine Ocloo, has announced plans to officially caution media houses that address individuals with academic titles they have not earned, as part of efforts to uphold the integrity of academic credentials in the country.

Speaking on , Prof. Ocloo expressed concern about the increasing public acceptance of unauthorised honorary degrees and the casual use of titles like “Dr.” and “Prof.” by individuals who have not followed the proper academic path.

He explained that the Commission’s plan to engage media outlets is part of broader efforts to sanitise the academic space and uphold the integrity of genuine scholarly achievements.

“It is very, very important that we educate the public. As I’ve indicated, anytime we realise that a radio station or a TV station is calling somebody by a title they haven’t earned, we will start writing to the stations saying, ‘No, you’re addressing this person with a title that is not right.’ We have to clean that space because we must respect academic titles,” he said.

He further described the use of unearned titles such as “Dr.” and “Prof.” as unethical and damaging to the integrity of the educational system.

According to him, such practices discourage genuine academic pursuit and create a false impression that academic titles can be easily obtained.

“If you create a system in a country where people don’t go through the correct procedure and they start calling themselves doctors, then what it means is that there will not be any motivation for anybody to do a PhD.

Maybe the only people who would opt for a PhD would be the ones who want to be in academia, because all others can assume the title by any other means. So it dilutes the system; it creates inefficiency,” Prof. Ocloo said.

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Edited by Michelle Lartey