**3. Quality assurance in Ghana's higher education system**

Ghanaian higher education institutions have been placed mainly under two external quality regulators, the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) and the National Accreditation Board (NAB) to monitor and control academic activities. NCTE oversees the proper administra‐ tion of schools tagged as higher education institutions. It is responsible for ensuring that the aca‐ demic activities of higher education institutions are financially sustainable and support national development [15, 20]. NAB on the other hand is Ghana's key quality assurance agency. It was established through the enactment of the NAB law 1993 (PNDC Law 317) but has subsequently been replaced by National Accreditation Board Act, 2007, Act 774 [21]. Its primary responsi‐ bility is to safeguard quality higher education provision in the country. NAB's main quality assurance strategy is accreditation. This covers institutions and academic programmes [15, 21]. In addition, NAB uses a strategy known as "affiliation" to ensure quality education delivery by outsourcing its quality improvement mandate to Ghanaian public universities. Affiliation in this context refers to a relationship in which, by mutual agreement, the affiliating partner agrees to accredit the academic programmes and issues academic awards to an affiliated part‐ ner institution [22]. In this regard, NAB requires Ghanaian higher education institutions, espe‐ cially private university colleges, polytechnics, and specialised public colleges to be affiliated to long established Ghanaian public universities in order to offer academic programmes. This affiliation relationship is expected to last for a minimum of 10 years [23], and it is intended that the universities assist these institutions in building their internal capacity for quality assurance.

Professional associations are also major players in the enactment of quality assurance in the Ghanaian higher education system. Examples of such associations in Ghana are Ghana Medical and Dental Council, Nurses and Midwifery Council of Ghana, General Legal Council, and the Ghana Pharmacy Council [24–27]. Their involvement includes accreditation of professional study programmes, participation in accreditation panels set up by NAB and participation in curriculum review exercises [28]. Though these roles played by external quality assurance regulators have enhanced the image, deepened public trust and increased the attractiveness of Ghanaian higher education institutions, external quality assurance is still going through reforms and can best be described as "work‐in‐progress".
