The Network of Teacher Educators (NETECH) has called for the immediate removal of Professor Ahmed Jinapor as Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), accusing him of incompetence, regulatory overreach, and actions that undermine statutory governance structures in the tertiary education sector.
Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Monday (26 January), NETECH Coordinator Thomas Ampomah said the group believes Professor Jinapor lacks the requisite understanding of the tertiary education space and has managed the commission in ways that have destabilised universities and colleges of education.
“We are saying that he is not competent enough to manage this tertiary institution body which regulates and has oversight responsibility over tertiary institutions,” Ampomah said.
“He does not know the rules, and the way he is managing the institution is not helping anyone in the system.”
Ampomah cited what he described as persistent interference by the GTEC Director-General in the internal administration of tertiary institutions, arguing that universities and colleges are autonomous bodies established by Acts of Parliament with clearly defined governance structures.
“As a regulator, you deal with managers of institutions through their councils. When you issue administrative directives that do not even come from the board and attempt to direct affairs at the University of Ghana or the University of Cape Coast, then you are acting beyond your mandate,” he said.
He further alleged that Professor Jinapor had issued directives without board approval, contrary to Act 1023, which established GTEC. As an example, Ampomah pointed to the appointment of vice-principals in colleges of education, insisting that such appointments fall solely under the authority of governing councils.
“The Director-General wrote to the president of a governing board stating he did not approve of an appointment. GTEC has no authority to appoint vice-principals in colleges of education,” he said, describing the move as a clear breach of the law.
NETECH also raised concerns over the controversial downgrading of teaching staff in colleges of education, which Ampomah said had negatively affected morale and professional standing.
According to him, previous arrangements allowed lecturers without terminal degrees to transition into senior member roles while upgrading their qualifications, but that precedent was ignored under the current administration.
“This decision was taken single-handedly and not referred to the board,” he said, adding that some staff members had suffered significant reductions in rank and conditions of service.
Ampomah further accused GTEC of poor advisory oversight in the sale of admission forms for colleges of education, alleging that proceeds from the sale of forms were channelled into a central account rather than individual institutional accounts, in breach of public financial management laws.
“How do you sell forms and the money ends up in a vice-chancellor’s account? That practice goes against public financial management laws, and yet it has not been stopped,” he alleged.
On claims of interference in governing council decisions, Ampomah accused the Director-General of using administrative directives to undermine council authority, including alleged attempts to compel university officials to vacate office and actions he said had no board backing.
He also revealed that previous efforts to resolve the dispute through dialogue had failed. Ampomah referenced a parliamentary intervention led by the Chairman of Parliament’s Education Committee, which resulted in a report whose contents, he claimed, had never been disclosed.
“The Director-General said he would never rescind the decision and that if people wanted to go to court, they could,” he said, describing the posture as antagonistic and unfit for the head of a regulatory body.
NETECH has now appealed directly to President John Dramani Mahama to intervene, describing the situation as a national governance emergency. Ampomah said the President, as the appointing authority, must act to prevent what he warned could be a collapse of the tertiary education system.
“If the President wants tertiary education to align with his reset agenda, then he must act now,” he said.
He added that if government fails to respond, the network, alongside the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and other allied groups, would explore legal options.
Asaase News understands that efforts to reach Professor Ahmed Jinapor for his response were unsuccessful, as he declined to comment on the allegations.
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