Doctor of Medical Laboratory Science (ML.S.D) Programme offered at the UDS is accredited by the National Accreditation Board

Claim: The Doctor of Medical Laboratory Science (ML.S.D) programme in UDS has not been accredited by the National Accreditation Board (NAB)  ̶ Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa.

Findings indicate that the Doctor of Laboratory Science program offered in UDS has been accredited by the National Accreditation Board. 

 Full Text

On the 26th of May edition of Citi TV’s ‘’The Point of View”  program,  Prof Agyeman Badu Akosa said the Doctor of Medical Laboratory Science programme offered at the University for Development Studie (UDS) has not been accredited by the National Accreditation Board (NAB).

‘’I wrote to the National Accreditation Board – National Accreditation Board wrote back to me to say they had not accredited that programme so why is UDS still even running that programme,” Prof. Akosa said on the show ( between the 44th and 45th minute).

He was challenged by Dr. Gyasi, Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists who joined  the discussion via zoom. Dr Gyasi insisted that the programme is registered and is available on the website of the National Accreditation Board.

This claim and counterclaim were during a discussion with Bernard Avle on the topic “Lap Scientists strike, justified or not?” following the indefinite strike announced by the Laboratory Scientist in the Country on the 26th May, 2021.

This strike was in solidarity with their members in the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital ( KATH) who has began a one- week sit-down strike in protest of the appointment of two medical officers to the Laboratory service Directorate of the hospital which they say is an affront on the practice of medical science in Ghana.

The video is available on https://youtu.be/pEH-orfkJO

 Verification

Checks by Dubawa on the website of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), now merged with the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) and the National Accreditation Board (NAB) under the new Education Regulatory Bodies Act, 2020 (Act 1023), revealed that the Doctor of Medical Laboratory Science programme programme offered in UDS has been accredited.

Dubawa checks on the website of the Ghana Tertiary Education commission shows that the said programme was accredited as of 1st September, 2017. 

Further checks also revealed that the school has responded to Prof Badu Akosa’s claim in a letter dated June 1, 2021 of which paragraph 2, 3 and 4 reads as follows;

“The University regrets that Professor Akosa chose to  make such a false statement when he could have easily cross-checked facts with NAB (Ghana Tertiary Education Commission). The university wishes to state clearly that: ’

“The ML.S.D was developed and ratified by the West African Health Organization (WAFO) for the training of Medical Laboratory Scientists by Universities in the sub-region, and UDS happens to be the first University to implement the programme in Ghana”.

“The ML.S.D programme is fully accredited by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission and this information is verifiable on the Commission’s website.”

Dubawa contacted the Public Relations Officer of the school, Mr Ibrahim Ayuba, via phone call. He said the claim by Prof Badu Akosa is simply untrue.

According to him, the programme is fully accredited and can simply be verified on the Ghana Tertiary Education commission website which is not hidden.

“l don’t know if Prof Akosa is not having knowledge of the existence of the programme in question to have made this untrue statement, is verifiable on the  commission’s website and the public should disregard his claim,” Mr. Ayuba said.

We reached out to Prof Akosa in the quest of  fact- checking this claim he made and this is what he said.

“The National Accreditation Board is the statutory body responsible for accrediting programmes and if your checks in their website shows that the said programme has been accredited then that’s fine.” 

He continued: 

“l wrote to them and l know what their response was but if your checks shows otherwise then thus it, I was even questioning the faculty members who were teaching at that level”

Dubawa quizzed further to know when he wrote to them and he said;

“I am in my village and l don’t have my documents with me to cross check the date but am okay if your checks shows the programme has been accredited”

Conclusion

The six year Doctor of Medical Laboratory Science programme offered in UDS is accredited by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission.

 This report was produced under the Dubawa Student Fact-checking Project aimed at offering students in tertiary schools aspiring to take up roles in the profession the opportunity to acquire real-world experience through verification and fact-checking.