In 2016, six (6) Polytechnics were converted to Technical Universities under the Technical Universities’ Act, 2016 (Act 922) but according to the Technical university teachers association, less than two years after the said Act came into being, the Hon. Minister of Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh is seeking amendments to it.
This, the Technical University Teachers’ Association of Ghana (TUTAG), Technical University Senior Administrators Association of Ghana (TUSAAG), Technical University Administrators Association of Ghana (TUAAG) and the Technical University Workers Association, Ghana (TUWAG) say they have serious challenges with some of the proposed amendments which, if not addressed would create difficulties in running the Technical Universities.
In the first place, the association says the Minister laid the Amendment Bill before Parliament without recourse to prior Stakeholder consultations. After perusing the Bill, it came to their notice that some of the amendments the Minister seeks, if carried through, would bring untold hardships to the Technical Universities and make their administration very restrictive also, the said amendments would equally take away the requisite academic freedom from the Technical Universities, a situation which is against best practices and uncharacteristic of university culture, the vice president of the association told ATV news.
The Minister of Education proposed amendments to sections 14, 21, 22, 24, 26, 27, 31, 40, 42 and the First Schedule with insertion of section 27A to the Technical Universities Act, 2016 (Act 922). The Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana believes that, the amendment seeks to take away the functions of the Governing Councils of the Technical Universities provided in section 6 of the Principal enactment (Act 922).
By amending section 24, some of the functions of the governing councils will be ceded to the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) of which the association says would create inconsistencies in the Principal enactment.
A press release by TUTAG indicates that the amendment will also takes away the academic freedom from the Universities and seeks to subject the running of the Technical Universities to the whims and caprices of the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) meanwhile NCTE has representation on the Governing Councils of the various Technical Universities.
In an interview with the National Vice Chairman for Technical University Association of Ghana. Mr. Daniel Osabotey reiterated that no university in Ghana seeks approvals from NCTE to perform such functions.
Source: atv
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