NCHE Strips Honorary Degree Holders of “Doctor” and “Professor” Titles
Published on March 27, 2025 at 9:40 AM by Edgar Naitha
In a move to maintain academic integrity, the National Council for Higher Education has issued a directive that recipients of honorary doctorates can no longer be addressed as “Doctor” or “Professor”.
This decision affects several high-profile individuals, whose titles have been effectively nullified.
The council’s reasoning is that honorary doctorates are not academic achievements, but rather awards for outstanding contributions to society.
Therefore, recipients should not be accorded the same academic stature as those who have earned their doctoral degrees through rigorous academic work.
Individuals who have earned their doctoral degrees through academic pursuits, will continue to be addressed as such.
However, those who have received honorary doctorates from unrecognized institutions will no longer be afforded the same title.
The council has also emphasized that only recognized institutions can confer honorary doctorate degrees, excluding those from unaccredited “street colleges”.
This move aims to preserve the value and integrity of academic degrees in Malawi.
