“The society that scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.”-John W. Gardner-
Across Ghana today, the title “Doctor” is no longer reserved for those who have laboured through years of intellectual inquiry, rigorous research, and peer review. It is increasingly worn as an ornament of status. The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) recently drew national attention to this crisis by publishing a list of unaccredited universities and warning of the proliferation of dubious doctoral degrees.
The Rise of the Instant PhD from the Black Market
The idea that one can “earn” a PhD through a weekend seminar or a short online course is both absurd and dangerous. Yet the demand for such shortcuts is strong. Institutions both foreign and local, have capitalized on this craving for recognition by offering “executive PhDs and DBAs” and “honorary doctorates” at a price. The exchange of money for titles has become a small but thriving industry.
In 2015, I personally received an email from a so-called Commonwealth University inviting me to a two-day seminar that promised an honorary doctorate for a fee of 4,000 dollars. I declined. But many others accepted, and some even placed newspaper adverts celebrating their new titles in the Daily Graphic. What was once a symbol of scholarship has in many cases become a bought distinction.
The Regulator’s Burden
The Commission cannot escape its own share of responsibility. Some of the very institutions it has now blacklisted were previously approved by the then National Accreditation Board (now GTEC), and several Ghanaians pursued doctoral degrees there with official clearance and, in some cases, government bursaries. It is therefore understandable that many faculty members now feel betrayed.
When a regulator approves a programme and later revokes that approval, it raises questions of fairness. Those who pursued such degrees in good faith have suffered what lawyers call detrimental reliance. They trusted a public authority and made life-altering decisions on that basis.
I am sure that every court of equity would estop the GTEC from taking any action to invalidate their qualification. Of course, there is nothing wrong when a regulator after taking a second look at an already approved matter and upon further evidence, it is found out that the approval was made in error, to remedy the situation.
A practical and balanced approach would be to allow affected academics to regularise their qualifications through recognised local universities such as the University of Ghana, KNUST, UCC, or UPSA. They could complete their PhDs by dissertation while remaining at their post. This would preserve institutional integrity while avoiding unnecessary human costs.
The Psychological Toll of a Lost Title
There is also a human side to this issue that deserves empathy. Some individuals who proudly carried the title “Doctor” for years did not obtain it through deceit but through honorary conferments that were once celebrated. To abruptly strip them of the title without any form of transitional support is harsh.
Public identity is deeply psychological. When someone has been publicly addressed as “Dr.” for a decade, a sudden order to desist can feel like a personal humiliation. Regulators and professional bodies should therefore pair enforcement with compassion. The Ghana Psychology Council and GTEC could collaborate to design a short transition and counselling programme to help affected individuals adjust, restore their confidence, and reintegrate into professional life with dignity.
The Cost to Learning and Problem-Solving
The infiltration of fake and substandard PhDs has wider implications for education and national development. A genuine doctoral programme is designed to train the mind to question, analyse, and solve problems. It demands discipline, patience, and originality. When shortcuts replace scholarship, the outcome is mediocrity dressed in academic regalia. If universities hire lecturers whose research credentials are questionable, teaching quality suffers.
Regulatory Responsibility and Public TrustGTEC’s current measures must therefore go beyond naming and shaming. The Commission should establish a standing accreditation portal where the public can verify institutions in real time. It should also strengthen partnerships with foreign regulators to confirm transnational qualifications before they are accepted. Regular audits of dissertations and academic theses, particularly at the doctoral level, should become part of its oversight.
Moreover, GTEC must address a quiet but equally damaging malpractice within Ghana: students paying others to write their theses. This intellectual fraud undermines the purpose of higher education as much as fake degrees from abroad. Some of our local universities have also seen tertiary education as a commodity with no quality assurance system.
Reclaiming the Value of a PhD
A genuine PhD is not simply a piece of paper; it is evidence of a journey through intellectual struggle and discovery. Those who truly earn it know the sleepless nights, the failed experiments, the rewritten chapters, and the joy of finally adding something new to human knowledge. The title “Doctor” should therefore be celebrated, but it must be earned.
Society too bears responsibility. We must stop glorifying titles over competence. It is time to value intellectual humility over ceremonial prestige. If we continue to reward shortcuts, we will raise a generation more obsessed with recognition than with results.
Conclusion
Ghanaians have a strong appetite for learning and higher education. For some, it’s only about the academic titles. If we do not ensure a strong quality control system in our education, the value of education will become negligible, as it becomes available only to those who can afford to pay. We go to school to learn and to learn how to solve problems.
Now, everybody is chasing a PhD qualification simply because they have a master’s degree. This is what has taken people to countries like Cambodia, Nicaragua, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Fiji, Liberia, Andorra, Mexico, Barbados and the like for a PhD. The sad thing is that those in academia who should know the path to a credible PhD programme are now in the black market looking for PhD titles.
The Commission must ensure that our local universities do not become “diploma mill institutions” just for admitting students and printing diplomas, degrees, or PhDs for them at the end of the day.
NB: The writer is an economist, a lawyer, and a public policy expert. He is the Director of the West Africa Regional Centre of CUTS International. He can be contacted via email: apa@cuts.org or www.cuts-accra.org.
Appiah Kusi Adomako, Esq
Editor’s note: Views expressed in this article do not represent that of The Chronicle
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