The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has trained officials of mentor universities and affiliated Colleges of Education on a new quality assurance framework aimed at strengthening oversight and improving the quality of tertiary education partnerships.

The GTEC Affiliation Quality Assurance Framework provides a structured system for monitoring and evaluating the relationship between mentor universities and affiliated Colleges of Education.

The framework requires participating institutions to jointly assess their performance twice every academic year to ensure mutual development and improve the academic standing of affiliated institutions.

The Affiliation Quality Assurance Framework has 25 indicators scored on a four-level scale. Institutions are required to provide documentary evidence to support their ratings.

Institutions scoring below 55 per cent in any domain will trigger GTEC intervention, while persistent gaps without credible improvement efforts could lead to escalated engagement by the Commission.

The Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Professor Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, has assured that the framework is not intended to punish institutions.

“This framework is not an instrument of punishment. It is a supportive tool designed to provide clarity, objectivity, and predictability in our reporting processes. It challenges us to be honest with ourselves and self-aware.”

“Where evidence of effective practice is lacking, it compels us to identify priority areas and propose clear, actionable remediation plans with defined actions and realistic timelines.

"We rise and fall together, and our success is ultimately measured by the quality of the teachers we produce for the nation,” he said.

Officials at the training in Kumasi were taken through the framework’s five quality domains: academic oversight; professional practice and school partnerships; assessment moderation and standards; research collaboration and knowledge production; and faculty capacity building.

The framework also places emphasis on accountability, requiring institutions to identify corrective actions for areas rated “Developing” or “Absent,” assign responsibility for the interventions, and set clear timelines for implementation.

Professor Samuel Atintonio said the framework will provide institutions with a structured pathway for continuous improvement in the delivery of teacher education.

“When the indicators are low, it means there is an area to be improved. If a school requires 50 lecturers and there are only 25, it will affect teaching and learning.

"So ultimately we need to find an opportunity to solve it, either by training more teachers or finding part-timers to fill the gap. And this is an example of how this framework is designed to improve academic relations,” he said.