PRESS STATEMENT


This official statement by the Institute of Professional Studies seeks to throw light on circumstances leading to the present situation concerning the lawsuits filed against it by a past student, Mr. Maxwell Asore Abugri for withdrawing his Bsc. Marketing Degree.
IPS as an institution acknowledges the overriding value of the rule of law in the administration of public affairs and sees the courts as central institutions in upholding the rule of law. In the particular instance of this case, IPS deems it an obligation to respect the orders of the court to reinstate Asore Maxwell Abugre’s Degree. It is also important to note that records of IPS official documentation from the Technical Examinations Unit as at now, does not confirm the authenticity of Mr. Abugre’s Diploma in Business Studies certificate with which he applied to IPS
IPS withdrew Mr. Asore’s certificate because the Technical Examinations Unit could not confirm the authenticity of his certificate
As an educational institution, IPS endeavors to ensure high standards in the educational sector by ensuring that its degrees are not attained through fraudulent documentation. One of the ways by which this aim is achieved is to scrutinise and authenticate certificates used by applicants seeking admission into the Institute. Many have been found culpable through this exercise. If an error has been committed in the isolated case involving Mr. Asore in the quest for due diligence, IPS is humble enough to admit its error but takes solace in the adage that, it is better to err on the side of caution.

IPS holds nothing personal against Mr. Asore and would have had no reason to withdraw his certificate had the Technical Examinations Unit confirmed the authenticity of his DBS certificate with which he applied to IPS. In this regard, it is again interesting to note that as at now, certificates sent to the Technical Examinations Unit for verification in 2009 are yet to be confirmed. The question which remains to be answered is whether or not the degrees of these students should be withheld or released.
Meanwhile, the academic Board had already decided to re-instate Mr. Asore’s degree in compliance with the orders of the court prior to the serving of contempt against the Rector and Registrar.
IPS cannot take delight in withholding certificates of students it has educated and trained. IPS therefore thanks Mr. Asore Maxwell Abugre for the role he has played in initiating a discussion on the mode of the certification of the Diploma in Business Studies (DBS) by the Technical Unit of the Ghana Education Service. IPS believes that combining two different results from different sittings under one index number is not a best practice. There is, therefore, the need to reform the current practice of merging results from different sittings under the same index number to conform to international standards.

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