Public Universities Bill needless – Academy of Arts and Sciences

The Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences has rejected the Public Universities Bill laid before Parliament describing it as unnecessary and one that is likely to set the institutions several decades back.

The Academy in a five-page document sent to Parliament said the approach to higher education governance envisioned in the Bill flies in the face of accumulated knowledge on the growth of universities worldwide and current global trends toward differentiation and diversification.

It suggested that: “rather, Ghana needs a differentiated and diversified, but not necessarily the hierarchical, the university system, to offer the flexibility needed to address the changing needs of students and nations in an increasingly competitive and uncertain world.”

“The Bill is also not in conformity with the letter and spirit of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana and is likely to be retrogressive, rather than enhancing what Ghanaian universities have achieved over the years,” it added.

Meanwhile, Dr Clement Apaak M.P for Builsa South and Deputy Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament has also condemned the Bill saying “the Bill is not designed to fix any of the challenges our public universities face. Rather, it is crafted to give the executive arm of government absolute control over our public universities.”

Some of the proposals in the Bill grant the President power to dissolve the university Council; b) Allow the university Council to appoint a Chancellor and c) Allow unions to appoint only one representative on a rotational system to serve on the Council at each cycle.