The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has withdrawn the accreditation for two postgraduate programmes in Customs Administration at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) with immediate effect.
The affected courses are the Master of Science (MSc) and the Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) in Customs Administration.
The decisive action was communicated in a letter from GTEC’s Director-General, Professor Ahmed Jinapor Abdulai, dated October 6, 2025.
The commission cited a fundamental breach of the approved instructional method as the reason for the revocation. The programmes were originally accredited for "regular and in-person" teaching but were discovered to being offered as "sandwich and 100% online" without authorisation.
"The decision is informed by the fact that, as you are aware, accreditation for these programmes was granted to be taught in regular and in-person mode. However, the University of Cape Coast, without recourse to GTEC, has commenced delivering these programmes as sandwich and 100% online," the GTEC letter stated.
GTEC has issued a series of directives to UCC following the withdrawal. The university is required to withdraw all student admissions granted for these specific programmes and must provide evidence of having done so to the Commission by October 31, 2025.
The commission noted that the university is permitted to submit a fresh application for accreditation if it wishes to run the programmes in the sandwich or online modes officially.
In a move that underscores the serious professional implications of this decision, the Commissioner of Customs of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) was formally copied on the correspondence. The letter explicitly states that "certificates issued for these programmes will not be recognised."
Supporting evidence for GTEC's action appears to be found in the university's own promotional materials. Advertisements for the "2025/2026 Sandwich Admissions" from UCC’s Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management, which detail the MSc Customs Administration curriculum, and a similar 2024/2025 advertisement for the M.Phil. programme, confirm that the courses were being marketed and delivered in the unauthorised sandwich format.
This abrupt withdrawal of accreditation is likely to cause significant disruption and uncertainty for current and prospective students of the programmes, casting doubt on the academic future of Customs Administration studies at the institution.
