The University of Ghana chapter of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG-UG) has attributed difficulties in recruiting highly qualified academics to poor remuneration within Ghana’s universities.
According to the association, the relatively low salaries offered to lecturers are discouraging professionals in specialised fields from pursuing academic careers, contributing to shortages of qualified faculty.
President of UTAG-UG, Dr Jerry Joe Harrison, said universities need better conditions of service and stronger systems for developing their own academic workforce rather than having the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) take over the recruitment of lecturers.
Speaking on Citi FM on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, Dr Harrison cited the difficulty of convincing professionals with established careers to leave better-paying jobs for academia.
“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?”
He said the problem extended beyond the legal profession, noting that disciplines such as medicine also require academics who combine advanced qualifications with substantial professional experience.
Dr Harrison acknowledged the importance of maintaining high standards in faculty recruitment but cautioned against requirements that could worsen shortages in fields where PhD holders are limited.
He argued that professional experience should also be taken into account when assessing academic expertise, particularly in areas where experienced practitioners may be unwilling to abandon lucrative careers to enter academia.
His comments come amid a dispute between UTAG-UG and GTEC over the commission’s decision to advertise faculty positions for public higher education institutions.
UTAG-UG maintains that the recruitment of academic staff should be handled by individual universities through their established academic and governance structures.
Dr Harrison said GTEC could play a more constructive role by helping institutions build the capacity to produce the academics they need.
“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 supporting universities to establish and strengthen PhD programmes would provide a longer-term response to shortages in specialised areas, allowing institutions to train academics according to their specific needs.
Dr Harrison added that universities already identify national priorities when determining their research and training programmes and could apply a similar approach to addressing gaps in their academic workforce.
“Nothing is wrong with that,” he said, explaining that institutions experiencing shortages in particular disciplines could be supported to develop programmes capable of producing the expertise required by both academia and the wider economy.
He maintained that GTEC’s role should remain focused on regulation and advice, rather than direct involvement in 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.
