UG governing council charged to use experience - To resolve issues threatening academic progress
Education Minister Matthew Opoku Prempeh has tasked members of the newly inaugurated Governing Council of the University of Ghana to use their varied experiences to resolve all outstanding issues that threaten the smooth academic running of the university.
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He cited an agreement the university entered with a private entity in 2015 to finance, construct, equip, operate and maintain four academic colleges and one residential facility.
Inaugurating a 16-member governing council of the university in Accra on Thursday, Dr Prempeh charged the members of the council to urgently resolve “the considerable difficulties this has led to”.
Members of council
The council, chaired by a government nominee, Professor Yaw Twumasi, was also asked to “look at the syndicated loan facilities contracted by the university in 2011 from six local banks”.
Members of the council include Dr Ama Essel, Prof. Akua Kuenyehia, Prof. Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu and Prof. Baffour Agyeman-Duah, all government nominees.
Others are Mr Kwesi Eduafo Yankey representing the alumni of the university, Prof. Kodzo Gavua representing Convocation (teaching staff), Mrs Cynthia Adu representing Convocation (non-teaching staff), Prof. Mohammed Salifu representing the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) and Dr Max Price, a representative of a Vice-Chancellor of an African university.
The rest are Ms Anastasia Thomford Okyere of the Conference of Heads of Assisted Secondary Schools (CHASS), Dr Harry Lawson Kwaku Agbanu of the University Teachers Association of (UTAG), Mr Daniel Otting Awuah of the Students Representative Council (SRC), Mr Eric Oyemam Ato Brown representing the Graduate Students Association of Ghana (GRASAG) and Mr Kenneth Botchway representing the Teachers and Educational Workers Union of Ghana (TEWU).
Concerns
Dr Prempeh said the government was concerned about those two situations and urged the council to take them up as a matter of urgency and provide direction in resolving them.
He announced that the ministry was reviewing its legislative agenda to enable tertiary institutions and their regulator to define their roles and functions better to improve efficiency.
Functions of the council
Outlining the functions of the council, Dr Prempeh said, among others, that it was to formulate and carry out the academic policy of the university, devise and regulate courses of instruction as well as promote learning, supervise research and regulate the conduct of examinations.
Dr Prempeh reminded the members that the President appointed them to serve on the council based on a number of reasons, including their integrity, sense of duty, experience and contribution to public and national life.