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Parliament’s Education Committee has recommended that the chamber pass the controversial Public University Bill 2020 after 20 months in the chamber.
It was first presented to parliament in April 2019 by the Minister of Education, Matthew Opoku Prempeh.
The bill that, among other things, provides for the procedure for the financing of public universities and the administration and supervision of the activities of public universities and related matters, according to the Minister of Education, has received strong criticism from the actors of the education sector.
According to critics of the bill, the bill that was approved today in second reading in Parliament threatens academic freedom in the country and is not “constitutionally healthy.”
Therefore, the bill was withdrawn from the chamber in November to allow for proper consultation of various stakeholders.
Following the resumption of Parliament after the 2020 election recess, the bill was submitted to parliament for second reading, which was approved.
However, speaking in parliament on Tuesday, minority leader Haruna Iddrisu said his side of the House will not support the passage of the bill until the many concerns raised in the last 20 months by The interested parts.
“These are the stakeholders who are affected by the bill and therefore a guarantee from the Minister of Education that they will be fully committed and a report of the commitment presented to the chamber, other than that we cannot support this bill.
“We want the legitimate concerns of university professors, professors, ex-students, those in government of public universities to be properly addressed as we move forward with this bill,” he said.
But Education Minister Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh insists that there has been proper consultation across the board.
He said: “There has been an exhaustive consultation between us and the stakeholders that even required their transmission due to the voluminous nature of their contributions which forced us to withdraw and transmit them. Therefore, it is not a question of consultations because Parliament, in its own way, publicized it to receive contributions. “
However, he expressed his willingness to involve all interested parties to ensure that the bill is healthy and passes in the shortest time possible.
Matthew Opoku Prempeh stated that “We will invite you, we will hear you in committee and at the end of this weekend that meeting would have taken place and we will duly present our report.”
Meanwhile, the minority deputy of the Parliament’s Education Committee, Ben Ahiafor, has criticized the provisions of the bill that allow the president to appoint the rector of universities.
According to him, article 195 (3) that prescribes that the rector of a university be appointed by the governing council contradicts the provision of the bill that now gives the president that mandate.
“If this provision is allowed to be maintained, it will be disgusting to article 195 (3) of the 1992 constitution and risk the opportunity to make this particular law just to have it raised and torn down just as this house did in the case of the bill to amend the leadership ”, he revealed.
But Dr. Opoku Prempeh defended the provision.
He stated that the rector of universities is only a titular head and, therefore, is not appointed by the governing council of the university. As such, the new provision will in no way reject Article 195 (3).
