NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR TERTIARY EDCUCATION
GUIDELINES FOR REQUESTING NCTE`s SUPPORT FOR INTRODUCING NEW PROGRAMMES IN PUBLIC TERTIARY EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS
INTRODUCTION
The Act establishing the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) enjoins the
Council to advise the Minister on the development of institutions of tertiary education in Ghana. The Council is also required to enquire into the financial needs of institutions
of tertiary education, and advise the Minister
accordingly.
Currently both the National
Council for Tertiary Education and the National
Accreditation Board (NAB) have roles to play in the introduction and accreditation of new programmes
in tertiary education institutions.
It has therefore become necessary to develop guidelines to clarify the respective roles
of
these two supervisory bodies.
For the avoidance of doubt, a programme is defined as a specialized field of study in a tertiary education institution. A programme consists of a number
of
courses including
both
required and elective courses, each having its own individual credit
weighting.
Purpose of Guidelines
The purpose of these guidelines for mounting of new programmes
in
tertiary education
institutions is to prevent duplication of effort at both the system
and institutional
levels.
NCTE`s support for new programmes
should precede the processes leading to
programme accreditation, an exercise which is
within the remit of the National
Accreditation Board. NCTE`s
support for
commencement of new programmes is
not accreditation.
Specifically, the purpose of the guidelines is to:
? Ensure that the objectives of new academic programmes align with national development objectives;
? Determine whether or not public funds should be expended on the programme ;
and
? Ensure that the programme aligns with the mission of the institution.
National Relevance
Public
institutions requiring government support
for new programmes should:
i. State the objectives
and the intended outcomes
of
the new programme
The institution should describe what the programme is intended to achieve, as well as the knowledge, skills
and
competencies
that would be acquired by
students after graduation.
ii. Demonstrate the relevance of the programme to national development by linking the programme to national development objectives.
The institution should link
the programme to development programmes enunciated by the government, and where applicable, the institution should link the programme to the skill needs of the institution’s “catchment area”.
iii. Describe
the inadequacies in skills in a
particular
sector
which necessitates
the
mounting of the new programme;
iv. Demonstrate
how the new programme will
assist
in overcoming the challenges in that sector.
Alignment with the Mission
of the Institution
The institution should demonstrate
how
the new programme aligns with the mission of
the
institution as stated in the legislation establishing the institution.
The Target
Market
Where applicable, the institution should identify the market for
the
programme.
The institution should identify the sections of the population who will access the programme; and the sectors
of the economy which will
potentially
employ the graduates
produced by
the programme.
Similar Programmes Run By Other
Institutions
The institutions should justify the need for
the new programme and demonstrate how unique the new programme is from
existing programmes in other institutions.
Enrolments
The institution should make projections of enrolments for the new programme for the first five years.
Staffing
The institution should assess
the current staffing position; projections on teaching and support
staff; and projections
of
student/staff ratios for
the
first five years.
i. The institution should attach the list
of
staff (full-time [core], full-time [cognate]
and
part-time)
who would participate in the new
programme.
And if part-time
teachers would be employed, the institution should provide evidence that the
part-time teachers have obtained permission from their “mother
institutions”. The
degree(s), duration of study, year
of
graduation and institutions
awarding the
degrees should be indicated for each staff listed.
(See template on Appendix A of Guidelines)
Funding of the
New
Programme
The institution should analyse the cost implications of the new programme for the first five years
and
demonstrate how it intends to finance the new programme.
i. The institution should analye the recurrent and capital costs associated with the new programme. These should include the cost of equipment, library,
consumables and teaching and non-teaching
staff.
ii. The institution should assess
the various streams of income that will be applied to
finance the programme.
iii. The institutions should also indicate
how the funding for the programme can be
sustained.
(See template on Appendix B of Guidelines)
Evidence of Practical Training
(Competency Based Programmes)
For competency based programmes (CBT)
and
other programmes that require practical
training such as
HND and Bachelor of Technology programmes, among others, the institution should indicate how it intends to collaborate
with
industry to offer practical training. In so doing, the institution should
i. Show evidence that industry is
willing to admit students for
practical training ii. Indicate the duration of practical
training
iii. Indicate the competencies students are expected to acquire from the training.
Collaboration with
Professional Bodies
For programmes that require collaboration with professional
bodies in Ghana (e.g.
medicine, nursing, law, etc)
the
institution should show evidence that the identified
professional body is
willing to collaborate and license graduates on completion of the
programme.
Evidence of Approval by NAPBTEX
(for HND programmes only)
Institutions must show evidence of approval by NABPTEX for all HND programmes.
Number of Copies of Proposals
All proposals must be submitted in copies of ten (10)