Public Universities Bill: If we hurriedly pass it, we’ll not be able to pass a good Bill- Peter Nortsu Kotoe

Ranking Member on the Education Committee of Parliament, Peter Nortsu Kotoe has justified the delay in the consideration and approval of the Public Universities Bill.

According to him, the Committee wants to exhaust all consultations with stakeholders before presenting its report to the plenary.

Peter Nortsu Kotoe, in an interview, explained the reasons for the stall in the universities.

“If we hurriedly pass it, we’ll not be able to pass a good Bill. So we want to listen to everybody who has something to say about the Bill so that when we go into the committee meeting, any recommendations we’ll make will be acceptable to everybody. But some of the concerns raised are about the autonomy of the universities”.

“If you look at it, the government is going to have powers in the administration of the public universities. If you look at the composition of the councils of the various universities, government is having about 70% of nominees of the council with a few going to other agencies. So we realized that we need to look at that critically and make sure that we come to a compromise so that as many as possible can serve on the council.”

The Public Universities Bill has proven to be a bone of contention among stakeholders, arguing its relevance.

According to framers of the Public Universities Bill, it seeks to harmonize the finances, administration and governance structure of public universities.

The Bill, when passed, will give the government power to appoint the majority of members of the University Council.

The Council then has the power to appoint and fire public university officials.

The Bill also gives the President the power to dissolve the university council, which will now have the power to appoint a chancellor.

Public Universities Bill is to clone government’s agenda – Professor Oduro

On May 30, Dean of the School of Education, Development, and Outreach at the University of Cape Coast believed government’s attempt to implement the University Act Bill is to clone a hidden agenda.

“I think the government is using this bill to clone its main intent,” he told host of Newsfile, Samson Lardy Anyenini on JoyNews.

According to him, the decision was going to be at the disadvantage of universities in the country, while government stands to gain a lot of power.

“If we go into Article 47 of the bill it reads, the minister may give directives on matters of policy through the Ghana Education Service to the public universities and the public universities must comply and this is where stakeholders concern must come up because the government is using this to clone their real motives,” he explained.

Citing another instance where the new bill was not going to help the university system in the country, Professor Oduro said, “again in 2011, another Deputy Minister of Education via a radio announcement decided that a program that had been approved by the academic board of the University of Cape Coast which was approved by the Ghana Accreditation Board should be removed and taken to GIMPA”.