• Deputy DG signed directive but boss ‘hides behind screen’
• GES boss ‘unaware’ of new certificate verification demand
• Applicants from Bunkpurugu to Kete Krachie face costly Accra trip
A fresh storm is brewing inside Ghana’s education sector. The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has issued a controversial circular demanding that all prospective teacher recruits submit their academic credentials to GTEC for evaluation even as the Ghana Education Service (GES) had already published its own recruitment criteria.
The directive, signed by Deputy Director General Prof. Augustine Ocloo but dated 9th April 2025 (a day before GES’s own 10th April vacancy announcement), has sparked confusion, anger, and a barrage of questions from education policy analyst Kwami Alorvi.
In a blistering assessment shared with media, Alorvi accused GTEC of “machoistic posturing” and asked pointedly: “When will GTEC be stopped in its marauding track before it wrecks the Ministry of Education and the government?”
Alorvi noted that GTEC, led by Director General Prof. Ahmed Jinapor, has been on an aggressive run since the NDC government assumed office on 7th January 2025.
Earlier episodes included high-profile challenges of PhD and professorial credentials some later proven genuine and a controversial attempt to shut down the University of Cape Town* [correction: University of Cape Coast] over a vice-chancellor’s exit.
But the latest move, Alorvi argues, is the most disruptive.
“If submission of certificates to GTEC was part of the eligibility criteria, why wasn’t it stated by GES in its letter?” he demanded.
He further revealed that the Director General of GES, Prof. Ernest Kofi Davis, was completely unaware of GTEC’s directive until Alorvi himself forwarded the letter to him. “The letter was not even copied to the DG of GES,” he wrote.
In his epistle, Alorvi posed six unanswered questions:
1. Why did GTEC not verify PhD and professorial credentials under the previous NPP government, which appointed Prof. Jinapor?
2. Why were teachers recruited under the old regime not subjected to this evaluation?
3. Why did GTEC only realise this need after NDC assumed power?
4. Why was there no consultation with GES before issuing the directive?
5. Which directive should applicants obey GES’s criteria or GTEC’s new demand?
6. Which body is better placed to verify certificates: the issuing universities or GTEC?
He also raised practical hardships: applicants from remote areas like Bunkpurugu and Kete Krachie would have to travel to GTEC in Accra at their own cost with no guidance on where exactly to submit documents.
Alorvi noted a pattern: none of GTEC’s controversial letters on PhD status, the UCC closure, or teacher recruitment were signed by Prof. Ahmed Jinapor himself. All bore the signature of Deputy DG Prof. Augustine Ocloo.
“Prof. Ahmed Jinapor must stop hiding behind the screen and put his signature on these letters henceforth if he believes in their content,” Alorvi wrote.
Alorvi called on GES Director General Prof. Ernest Kofi Davis to immediately clarify the confusion. He urged the Education Minister to arrange a crisis meeting between GTEC, GES, and the National Teaching Council (NTC). Most pointedly, he demanded that GTEC withdraw its letter and allow GES to verify certificates directly with the universities that issued them.
“If GTEC has sat down for universities and their affiliated colleges to certify their students, why should a teacher suffer consequences arising from GTEC failing its duties?” he asked.
As of press time, neither Prof. Ahmed Jinapor nor Prof. Augustine Ocloo had responded to requests for comment. The GES has yet to issue an official statement reconciling the two conflicting directives.
“A stitch in time saves nine,” Alorvi warned.