The University of Ghana chapter of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG-UG) says poor remuneration is making it increasingly difficult for Ghanaian universities to attract highly qualified academics, particularly professionals with PhDs.
President of the chapter, Dr Jerry Joe Harrison, said the challenge should be addressed by improving lecturers’ conditions of service and strengthening universities’ capacity to train their own academics, rather than having the regulator take over faculty recruitment.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, Dr Harrison said the low remuneration offered to lecturers was making academic careers less attractive to professionals in specialised fields.
“If you are being paid, you know, the kind of money that lecturers are being paid, which lawyer would want to leave their law practice, go pursue a PhD, and then come back to the classroom and come and teach?” Dr Harrison said.
He said the challenge was not limited to law but also affected other professional disciplines, including medicine, where practical experience is an important component of academic expertise.
Dr Harrison acknowledged that universities must strive to recruit highly qualified faculty but cautioned that rigid requirements could make it difficult to fill vacancies in disciplines where PhD holders are scarce.
He said professional experience should also be recognised as a source of expertise, particularly in fields where practitioners may be reluctant to leave lucrative professional careers for academia.
Background: The GTEC Recruitment Controversy
His comments come amid UTAG-UG’s ongoing criticism of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) over its decision to advertise faculty positions for various public higher education institutions.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, UTAG-UG said it had taken note of a GTEC advertisement inviting applications from academics with terminal degrees to fill teaching positions at institutions including the University of Business and Integrated Development Studies (UBIDS), technical universities and colleges of education .
According to UTAG-UG, although the initiative may appear to be an attempt to address faculty shortages, GTEC’s decision to receive applications directly and facilitate recruitment into public institutions raises serious concerns.
“This is thus an initiative by GTEC to recruit faculty for various public higher education institutions,” the association said .
UTAG-UG warned that allowing the regulator to directly recruit academic staff could create “a dangerous pathway for political interference,” arguing that individuals recruited through such a process could potentially be government loyalists or politically connected persons who would not be sufficiently accountable to the institutions where they are appointed .
The association said such a system could undermine universities’ independence in carrying out their teaching and research mandates.
It further accused GTEC of placing itself in a position where it would act as both “a player and a referee,” while questioning whether the regulator has the subject-specific expertise required to determine the suitability of candidates across different academic disciplines .
UTAG has argued that the recruitment of academic staff should remain the responsibility of individual institutions and their academic and governance structures.
A Sustainable Solution
Dr Harrison said if GTEC’s concern is that universities are struggling to find qualified academics, the commission should instead help institutions develop the capacity to produce more PhD holders.
“As an advisor, if an institution is having difficulty recruiting, you could easily help the institution to set up a PhD programme, through which they can channel people who can then come back and help the institution,” he said.
He said such an approach would provide a more sustainable solution to faculty shortages by enabling universities to train academics in areas where specialised skills are in short supply.
Dr Harrison added that universities already consider national priorities when determining their research and training needs and could similarly identify areas where additional academic capacity is required.
“Nothing is wrong with that,” Dr Harrison said, arguing that institutions facing shortages in particular disciplines could be supported to develop programmes that produce the expertise needed by both universities and the wider economy.
He maintained that GTEC should focus on its regulatory and advisory responsibilities rather than taking over the recruitment of academic staff.
“We must be guided by the requirements, we must be guided by the availability, we must be guided by the quality of the people that we are receiving,” he said.
Broader Concerns Over Unpaid Allowances
The recruitment dispute comes amid growing tensions on university campuses over unresolved conditions of service issues.
UTAG-UG has warned that continued delays in the payment of the 2026 Book and Research Allowance could push university lecturers towards industrial action.
“I’m afraid there may be a strike,” Dr Harrison said on Eyewitness News on Wednesday, while stressing that the potential industrial action would reflect broader concerns about unresolved issues affecting lecturers .
He said the Book and Research Allowance, which supports lecturers’ academic and research activities, remained unpaid despite being due, with no clear indication of when the money would be released.
“Every year, Book and Research becomes an issue,” he said, accusing GTEC of failing to adequately address issues affecting lecturers and the wider higher education system .
UTAG-UG also pointed to the non-payment of outstanding promotion arrears, warning that tensions on university campuses were reaching a critical point and that industrial action was being actively discussed .
“It appears to us that GTEC is adamant about the core issues that affect the quality of higher education in Ghana, including better remuneration that would attract the best qualified faculties to our higher educational institutions,” UTAG-UG said .
Historical Context
The current dispute is the latest in a series of tensions between UTAG and GTEC over the regulator’s role in university governance.
In April 2026, UTAG issued a 14-day ultimatum to GTEC, demanding immediate action to address what it described as persistent administrative lapses and undue interference in university governance. The association also called for a complete overhaul of the current leadership at GTEC, citing what it described as a failure in regulatory oversight .
In June 2026, UTAG’s National Executive Council gave the government a June 30 deadline to resolve a range of outstanding conditions of service and welfare matters, including the signing of the Interim Salary Adjustment Agreement, post-retirement contract renewals, and payment of arrears .
The association subsequently suspended an anticipated nationwide strike in July 2026 following written assurances from the government that it would address the issues raised .
UTAG-UG has linked the latest recruitment dispute to what it describes as a continuing attempt by GTEC’s current leadership to expand its control over public universities, comparing it to the previously proposed Public Universities Bill, which UTAG opposed.
“These are remnants of the infamous Public Universities Bill (PUB) that was overwhelmingly rejected by UTAG and will be vehemently opposed every time it rears its ugly head,” the association said .
UTAG-UG has therefore called on the government to “call GTEC to order” and prevent what it described as interference in the governance of public higher education institutions.
“Every institution of higher learning has the capacity to determine the best candidates to fill academic positions and should be allowed to do so under its governance structures,” the association said .
It warned that any attempt by GTEC to extend its regulatory role into the direct management of public universities would be “strongly resisted.”
