Government suspends Public Universities Bill

Government has pulled the brakes on the controversial Public Universities Bill, 2020.

Parliament has consequently suspended consideration of the bill which went through second reading on Tuesday. The move follows a meeting with the stakeholders by Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and Chairman of the education committee Wednesday morning.

UTAG, GRASAG, Vice Chancellors and other members of the academia have kicked against the bill arguing it threatens academic freedom and autonomy of public universities.

Addressing the media in Parliament, Chairman for the committee on education, William Quaittoo disclosed copies of the revised bill has been made available to all agitating stakeholders for their inputs.

According to him, the bill remains suspended until all stakeholders agree with the content.

Dr. Lloyd Amoah, Director of the Centre for Asian Studies at the University of Ghana, on Wednesday called on government to withdraw the Bill saying it is inimical to the growth of public universities in the country.

According to him, the bill seeks to micromanage public universities and stem academic freedom in the country.

“What this bill seeks to do is to bring in the executive to micromanage how we run our universities. Opinions and thinking can not necessarily always be in sync. What has happened with the UTAG of UG and our parent body has been a kind of dichotomy in the way the bill has been viewed.

“We have made it clear that this bill is inimical to the running of public universities in this country and must be withdrawn. The bill affects all of us in this country especially the coming generation. Those of us leading this fight are not doing it for ourselves and we can’t do it for ourselves.”

 

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