Induction of VC: UEW acted within the law – Akufo-Addo replies Atuguba

The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says authorities of the University of Education, Winneba did no wrong in ensuring that the University had a substantive leadership in place after it was rocked with disturbing happenings recently.

Renowned law Professor, Raymond Atuguba had argued that the President would be abetting an illegality should he go ahead with the induction of a new Vice Chancellor for the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Monday.

According to him, a case pending at the Supreme Court challenging the removal of Professor Mawutor Avoke from office as Vice-Chancellor makes it travesty to the rule of law if President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo takes part in the induction ceremony Monday. He wrote in an elaborate piece that the removal of Prof Avoke was influenced by ethnocentric sentiments.

But President Akufo-Addo during the investiture ceremony of the Very Reverend Father Professor Anthony Afful-Broni, as the 4th Vice Chancellor of the University, on Monday, 17th September, 2018 said: “It is worth noting, however, that the stakeholders have acted within the confines of the law to ensure that this University has a substantive leadership in place to help it achieve the goals for which it was established.

He added:” To all whose diverse efforts helped in restoring normalcy to UEW, you have the appreciation of a grateful nation.”

Akufo-Addo, has urged the new Vice Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Very Reverend Father Professor Anthony Afful-Broni, to “use his full gifts” to promote the spirit of reconciliation in the University during his tenure of office, so as to help put the its immediate University behind all.

According to President Akufo-Addo, “it represents the surest route to success in the daunting task ahead.”

Regarding the new Vice Chancellor, President Akufo-Addo was confident that the UEW has a person capable of not only steering the affairs of the University for the next four years, but also spurring it onto even greater heights.

“His induction into office today is a mark of the trust that the Governing Council and Faculty of the University have reposed in him, and I am confident that this trust will not be broken. His wealth of experience, with decades of service to Church and classroom, makes him an appropriate person for this all-important assignment,” he added.

The President reminded the new Vice Chancellor of one of the most important, immediate challenges, which will confront the University and others, i.e. the dramatically increased population of students, who will be seeking admission in some two years, as a result of the Free Senior High School policy.

Despite the stance by some who continue to state that all the infrastructural needs of senior high schools should have been addressed before the roll-out of Free SHS, the President strongly disagreed.

“I take comfort in the words of Holy Scripture, in Ecclesiastes chapter 11, verse 4, which says: “If you wait until the wind and the weather are just right, you will never sow anything and never harvest anything”,” he said.

The President continued, “We have taken the first, bold step, because we cannot continue to watch as tens and tens of thousands of qualified Ghanaian children drop out of school, because they cannot afford fees. Free SHS is here to stay, and will be a permanent feature of our educational architecture.”

Touching briefly on the policy of Teacher Licensing, President Akufo-Addo stressed that this policy is not intended to put any impediments in the way of teachers from the Colleges of Education and other tertiary institutions.

“On the contrary, it is meant to enhance professionalism in teaching, and guarantee that our teachers meet a minimum standard of qualification, through an independent examination, so as to be able to teach in our classrooms. If education is important to us, then it requires that we maintain the best standards,” he added.