Gyampo bemoans attempts by government to fully control Universities

Professor Ransford Gyampo of the University of Ghana, Legon, has accused the Akufo-Addo government of seeking to curtail academic freedom by taking absolute control of public universities in the country.

According to him, a draft bill is currently being considered to enable the government appoint majority of the members on councils of the universities.

“Just because the government was defeated in its attempt to undermine academic freedom in the KNUST incident, they now want to make a law to ensure that in future, universities are controlled fully by the government. Is this what would put food on the table of ordinary people? Now government, inter alia, is proposing to appoint majority membership of the Governing Councils of the Universities.

“What is wrong with these apostles of democracy? What kind of totalitarian tendency is this?Even the worst dictators in Ghana’s political history had respect for academic freedom. We have discussed the draft bill and many are wondering whether the respected former Pro VC who is a deputy minister of education saw the draft,” Prof. Gyampo wrote in a Facebook post.

He urged the government to instead concentrate on providing the basic logistics for a stronger primary school education.

“Let’s see whether they will have the balls to force it down our throat.

“Those running our educational sector should focus more on the teething challenges at the basic educational sector. How can children get text books and exercise books? How do we motivate teachers to give their best? How do we improve infrastructure to deal with the palpable deception that basic education is free, when in actual fact, parents pay all sorts of money?

“These are the thorny issues that must engage the attention of the educational sector and not the disingenuous attempt to undermine academic freedom. Such an attempt is outmoded at birth”.