Private legal practitioner and rights activist, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, has taken aim at the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), accusing the regulator of exceeding its mandate in the ongoing debate over the use of the academic title “Professor.”

In a Facebook post on Sunday, August 17, Barker-Vormawor described GTEC’s conduct as “deeply problematic,” arguing that the Commission was undermining its own credibility by attempting to police who qualifies to use the title.

According to him, the Education Regulatory Bodies Act assigns GTEC specific responsibilities—such as regulating tertiary institutions, monitoring academic standards, and verifying certificates and degrees upon request.

“Nowhere does the law empower it to sit in judgment on professorial titles, especially when those titles are conferred by universities outside Ghana,” he stressed.

The activist further noted that there is no single global benchmark for professorships, pointing out that conventions vary across jurisdictions.

“In the United States, both tenure-track and non-tenure-track academics are called ‘Professor’, whereas in the UK the title is reserved for senior academic appointments,” he explained.

“To suggest that GTEC can apply a universal test is not just wrong, it misinforms the public.”

Barker-Vormawor also criticised what he called the Commission’s tendency to react to social media debates rather than follow due process, alleging that it sometimes issues official letters without receiving formal complaints from institutions.

He reminded the public that GTEC is already defending a defamation suit brought by Professor Edward Dua Agyeman, which, he said, underscores the need for the Commission to conduct thorough verification before questioning academic credentials.