Accra, June 7, GNA - Parliament on Thursday took the National Accreditation Board Bill, which seeks to revise the legislation on the board to reflect changing demands in tertiary education, through a second reading Tertiary education, particularly in the private sector, has expanded since the passage of the law. The introduction of the bill is, therefore, to correct certain operational weaknesses and bottlenecks which needs to be addressed if the purpose of accreditation is to be achieved. Mr. Stephen Baladu-Manu, Chairman of the Committee Education, presenting the committee's report to Parliament, said to assist students

make informed choices concerning programmes and institutions accredited, the committee recommends that the National Accreditation Board (NAB) publishes the list of accredited institutions and programmes in the national dailies annually.

"This is to minimise the situation where students may enrol into unaccredited institutions and programmes..," he said. Mr Balado-Manu said many foreign tertiary institutions were operating in the country without the approval of NAB and sometimes these institutions exploit innocent and prospective students. "The importance of the NAB Bill cannot be over emphasised as it seeks to empower the Board to support government's policy of providing quality assurance in the tertiary education sector," Mr Balado-Manu added.

Earlier, Mr. Clement Eledi, Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture, in response to a question on steps to ensure that the bird flu outbreak did not become a national pandemic, said a surveillance team was on the field monitoring the situation closely. He said currently, the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) was in Ghana to assess the country's need for further assistance. The Deputy Minister said a six month emergency preparedness plan in line with the country's preparedness and response plan for avian flu and human pandemic influenza has been drafted by the Agriculture Ministry in collaboration with FAO.