Each time I remember the COVID-19 period, the good that it brought sometimes amazes me, wondering if those good outcomes would ever have been thought of.
I have always maintained that destructive as the pandemic was, it had its positive sides, endorsing the saying that there is a silver lining in every misfortune.
New normal opportunities have sprung up for employers, employees, families, churches and the like.
Some such silver linings include the opportunity for employees to work from home.
Thus, the arrangement benefits both the employer in terms of savings on utilities for example while the employee also saves on transportation and food and perhaps enjoys additional time with the family.
The other benefit it brought was the stay-at-home time it gave individuals who felt academically inclined to pursue online courses, home and abroad, which were advertised in abundance via the Internet.
By the time the pandemic was over, one woke up to find countless Master’s and Doctorate (PhD) degree holders that had multiplied thanks to the global online degree courses.
Whether those honours were in conformity with the Ghanaian academic standards is something else for discussion. Already, though, questions on “unearned academic” titles are coming up strongly.
Academic titles
Recently, the regulator, the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), is up in arms against the wrong use of academic titles in the country’s space.
The first time I read about the caution of GTEC, I asked myself questions including if there was any need for the caution and what had necessitated the bold decision to rid our society of fake academic laurels that are being paraded in our corridors.
Members of the public have been confused for far too long but since it is better late than never, one would like to wholeheartedly support the bold move, hoping that it would put fear in those conferring substandard academic degrees and those paying heavy sums to receive them.
The hope is that the commission will crack the whip on all and sundry without bias.
The move takes one’s mind back to many years ago and maybe as recent as a few months ago when alleged fake titles and imposters have been uncovered in one way or the other.
Imposters
Some of the past imposter cases were found in medical fields, in accountancy, in journalism, in the legal profession, in the education
