Bachelor, master and doctorate degrees obtained from African Graduate University (AGU), Dominion Christian University (DCU) and other unaccredited institutions have been rendered null and void.
AGU, DCU and those unaccredited institutions are fake and papers obtained also are fake. The announcement was made by Deputy Chief, Ministry of Technical and Higher Education in a symposium held the previous Tuesday at Fourah Bay College in Freetown.
The one-day symposium was organised by ASA (Academic Staff Association) President, Dr Williette James to keep intellectual integrity intact in the face of ‘Dominion’ saga. Reading from a long list of sanctions in a MTHE press release dated 26th April, 2022, Musu Gorvie said “All degrees awarded by AGU and DCU and all other unknown unaccredited universities in Sierra Leone are declared null and void, and should not be considered valid for employment and as a criterion for further studies.”
Despite the tedious struggle, the academic papers mean nothing to the possessors since they could not be used for jobs or other privileges and benefits in the public and private sector. Other measures also indicate that those who received a Honoris Causa PH.D (Doctor of Philosophy) should make this clear in all public documents.
They should also declare that they are not academic doctors when addressed such during public functions. The MTHE official also announced a raft of drastic actions which her ministry would embark on to ensure academic hygiene in Sierra Leone.
The Public Service Commission, she went on, the Cabinet Secretariat, the Human Resource Management Office, Health Service Commission, the Parliamentary Committee on Appointments and Public Service as well as the judiciary among others will conduct a systems audit of all academic awards to ascertain their validity.
Before 31st May, this year, academic credentials for all employees and appointees should have been audited for necessary action. Penalties which the education ministry will take against those found wanting remains unclear.
Gurvie also assured that collaborative effort with the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) as well as law enforcement agencies and other relevant bodies to identify all unaccredited academic institutions would continue. As effort to clean the system goes on, a policy for on-line courses would be developed, and a Directorate for verification of all qualifications by international universities and other institutions will be established.
The MTHE official who appears ready to implement the rules for a better academic system believes that fake degrees damage the country’s human resource base and undermine the integrity of academic institutions. In her own view, higher education serves as a processing centre for skills acquired in secondary schools for their application to society.
She called on authorities to take tough actions as the country’s image has been badly damaged. “The issue of fake certificates has been communicated to the rest of the world, and the situation has to be managed so that it does not become a pandemic,” she appealed.
Speaking during the symposium, administrative manager at TEC, Josephous Sawyer looked at key factors that fuelled the proliferation of fake universities and colleges in Sierra Leone. The TEC official singled out the rigid nature of registering and accrediting academic institutions as a main cause for counterfeit universities to gain a foothold in the country.
“Before a college or university is registered and accredited, the Tertiary Education Commission will look at governance, staff, financial viability and other key areas,” the TEC official informed the audience. Since academic institutions were not ready to follow due procedure, he said, they employed short-cut to establish their institutions which they keep up and running against all odds.
Once these institutions are established, individuals who are poised for easy access to education enrol into them, and end up earning fake degrees. The quest for jobs and higher positions in the public service, laziness to study in advanced institutions, lack of requisite criteria for admission, lack of adequate knowledge and the unwillingness to abandon gainful employment to pursue further studies were factors identified by the TEC official as those responsible for fake degrees.
In his keynote address, a lecturer of good years and Dean of Post-Graduate Studies at the University of Sierra Leone, Joe A. D. Alie condemns the act of falsifying academic papers saying the ‘bongo’ of fake academics is at stake.
Their credentials have been nullified and heads might roll after investigations. Prof Alie who started self-verification by publicly displaying his own academic papers wondered why highly placed personalities could go at grater lengths to earn fake papers.
“Is it a way of masking their intellectual failings? is the PH.D meant to add prestige to the recipients? Is it also a means of attaining higher position in society?” Joe A. D. Alie Wonders.
The thought-provoking questions posed by the Professor is to trigger debates and discussions on the fake degree saga to pinpoint on what society needs to understand. As a world-class historian, Prof Alie took Sierra Leoneans back to the 1980s when Sierra Leoneans placed priority on money than education.
He made reference to the old adage ‘DEN SAY PA BAILOR BARRIE, YOU SAY DAVIDSON NICOL’ to make a clear perspective on the extent to which people preferred money to education. The professor also wondered why have people suddenly moved from the love for money to knowledge.
The professor is however not opposed to seeking knowledge anywhere in the world but must be done in the right way. Prof Alie’s view is shared by the Director, Tertiary Education at MTHE, Emmanuel Momoh that education must be genuinely sought if Sierra Leone is to move to higher heights. It lends credence to the notion that country can develop above its literacy standards.