Graphic Online
BY: Nana Konadu Agyeman
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Parliament has suspended the plenary consideration of the new Public Education Bill, 2020, to allow the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) and other stakeholders in the academia to study and make inputs into the Bill.
The suspension will also allow UTAG and the stakeholders such as the Students Representative Council (SRC) to assess whether the previous inputs they made into the Bill had been incorporated or not.
They are to submit their concerns to the Education Committee of Parliament by Tuesday, December 22, 2020 after which the Bill will be considered at the Plenary prior to its passage.
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The controversial Public University Bill, 2020 is back to Parliament, and it was read for the second time yesterday.
The Bill is to provide for the establishment, governance arrangements and management of a public university in the country.
It is made up of 56 clauses and five sections and was laid in Parliament by the Minister of Education, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, on November 3, 2020.
The Speaker referred it to the Committee on Education for consideration, during which the members of the committee met and discussed and submitted the report to the House.
The original Bill was reportedly withdrawn after the Minority had kicked against certain provisions in it which stakeholders had claimed would undermine the autonomy and academic freedom of public universities in Ghana.
Public Universities Bill halted after Bawumia’s intervention Wed, 16 Dec 2020
The government has placed ice on the controversial Public Universities Bill (PUB) for now after Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, met with the leadership of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG) among others.
Members of academia have been against the bill, arguing it curtails academic freedom and autonomy of public universities.
The Chairman of the Select Committee on Education in Parliament, William Quaitoo, said until other stakeholders give their input the bill will not return to the House.
UTAG has expressed satisfaction with the decision.
“At the meeting, the Vice President, on behalf of Government, upheld the directive of the Speaker of Parliament that the Parliamentary Select Committee of Education should carry out through stakeholder engagements and report back to Parliament. Therefore, all processes leading to the passage of the PUB has been halted for now.