New Bill will stifle initiative, politicise universities – Former UG VC

General News of Monday, 8 April 2019

Source: Myjoyonline.com

2019-04-08

Former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Ernest Aryeetey says a draft Public Universities' Bill in its current form, will stifle initiative and politicise the universities.

According to him, the draft Bill, which will see the control of the majority of the membership of the councils, and leave them under the Education Minister.

"… the Bill takes away any incentive for Ghanaian public universities to seek innovative and progressive. It is designed to stifle initiative and politicise universities under the full control of the Minister of Education, "Prof. Aryeetey indicated in a seven-point commentary on the draft public universities Act, Monday.

The executive is in charge of the bill.

Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana, Prof. Ransford Gyampo has launched a Facebook crusade against where he said the academic community would resist any political interference at all costs.

The Minority in Parliament has had their say in the fight against terrorism.

Peter Nortsu-Kotoe told Joy News' Joseph Opoku Gakpo, that the Minority in Parliament will oppose the bill, should it come to the House in its current form.

In Defense of Government, Public Relations Officer of the Education Ministry, Vincent Ekow Assafuah says the move is intended to update the country's Universities Act into a modern one.

"The laws governing the universities are outmoded and the laws of various universities differ," he told Daniel Dadzie on the SMS minutes after Asaffouragyei-Atua had had his turn.

Wading into the debate, however, the immediate past form Vice-Chancellor of the country's first university, Prof. Aryeetey noted that the current bill seeks to make the Minister of Education the ultimate decision maker for all of their universities.

"In fact, the Minister of Education knows what is good for universities. Section 23, clause 2 a public university de l'éducation et de l'agreement Ministry of Education, in consultation with the National Council for Tertiary Education, "he added.

Read Prof. Aryeetey's comments below:

Comments on Draft Public Universities Bill

1. The basic premise of a harmonized Public Universities Act is the one to seek out all the universities 'look the same'. The progress of the universities is more or less different from other universities or other institutions of higher education. Differentiation is a major characteristic of university development. Societal progress is driven by academics and their institutions competing to generate new knowledge, and it is that competition which leads to differentiation and discovery. The Act setting up a university is expected to help define its character. As a consequence, universities can not be treated with a "one size fits all" approach. This Public Universities Bill is designed to curb differentiation by taking away all incentives that promote competition and differentiation. Universities worldwide for their contribution to societal development should be. They know as well as anybody else is required in their society. It may not be the responsibility of the Minister of Education to issue guidelines for public universities.

2. Even though the current bill talks about 'academic freedom' it takes away from every facet of academic freedom. The definition of academic freedom is provided in the Bill is too narrow as it focuses on the freedom of speech of lecturers. If the Minister of Education can not be held responsible for the University, it will not be long before the Minister of Education. If the Minister of Education can not have councils.

3. The process of taking away academic freedom starts with the appointment of Chancellor. The University of New York, the President of the United States, chaired the Chancellor's Office of the President of the United States. This is a method for politicizing the appointment of the Chancellor.

4. The role that is badigned to the National Council for Tertiary Education in the development of harmonized statutes is extremely unhelpful. It means that Ghanaian public universities are not allowed to learn from international statutes and practices. The current statutes of the University of Ghana were influenced by the recommendations of the Visitation Panel of 2007. No doubt, the University has learned from its governance mistakes and corrected these with changes to its statutes. Taking away the right to develop their own statutes. This is akin to the Ghana Education Service and its relationship with basic, junior and senior high schools in the country.

5. The current bill seeks to make the Minister of Education the ultimate decision maker for all of their universities. In fact the Minister of Education knows what is good for universities. Section 23, clause 2 a public university de l'institution approval by the Minister of Education, in consultation with the National Council for Tertiary Education. This clause effectively takes away every incentive that any serious academic will have for looking for partners to engage in research. It also takes a major function performed by the Vice Chancellor seeking to be innovative. In any case, the NCTE is hardly equipped to carry out the new roles badigned to it by the Bill.

6. The Bill provides for a Centralized Admissions Platform, however, is no evidence anywhere in Ghana that the decentralised system is currently operating or defective or malfunctioning. This is another illustration of taking away every initiative that universities may have.

7. In sum, the Bill takes away any incentive for Ghanaian public universities to seek innovative and progressive. It is designed to be an initiative and politicize under the Ministry of Education.