New public university bill be 'dangerous' give academic freedom, Ghana academics bore plus gov't
Academics for Ghana bore plus government sake of dema newly drafted public university bill which dey give President powers to appoint 5 out of 9 university council members.
For most academics, if dis move happen, e go mean say universities for Ghana go lose dema academic freedom den independence from political control. Parts of de proposal for de bill inside be de President get power to dissolve de University Council; he go fit appoint Chancellor to de University Council to appoint a Chancellor den stuff. Also, de Education Minister from time to time go fit give policy directive through National Council for Tertiary Education to de University, wey de University for obey. De newly drafted university bill wey Ghana government wan introduce go provide de procedure people go take set up Public Universities, how dem go manage universities, legal status of Public universities, financing of Public universities den stuff. If dem pass de new bill, Ghana go start practice centralised admission system where students go pay application fee once but dem fit apply for like 3 different universities as e dey happen for Europe. But critics like former Vice Chancellor for University of Ghana, Professor Ivan Addae Mensah reveal say " dis bill be very dangerous and totally unnecessary." He explain say Ghana constitution dey protect tertiary institutions from government interference, if de bill say de President go fit appoint University Chancellor, den e dey mean sey he fit disappoint de Chancellor. According to Professor Mensah, if de President go fit appoint about 5 council members, dis 5 out of 9 members go fit remove de Vice Chancellor. University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) members also oppose de draft bill, instead dem want make government focus on how dem go address specific problems for each university, rather than dis blanket law.