The Minister for Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has assured university councils that the government will not interfere with the academic freedom of any university in the country. 

This is to help foster innovation, enhance educational quality and ensure that universities can effectively contribute positively to the acountry’s development and the economy.

“I want to assure you that President John Dramami Mahama will not interfere with the academic freedom of any university,” the sector minister said when he inaugurated the Governing Councils of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) and the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) last Monday.

The UCC Governing Council is chaired by a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice William Atuguba, while the UPSA Governing Council has Dr Harry Lawson Kwaku Agbanu.

Mr Iddrisu led the members of the council to take their official oath. 

UCC

For UCC, the sector minister expressed confidence in the councils' ability to shape the future fortunes of the university, urging the members to help the university to remain focused on its primary duty of providing high-quality education and training, particularly in the fields of education, science and technology.

That, he said, would help to support the government’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education agenda.

He said the ongoing challenges in foundational literacy across the nation was worrying, underscoring the need for universities to address those issues effectively.

Mr Iddrisu observed that UCC was known for its high sense of discipline, saying in times past, “your second class upper was equivalent to some first classes elsewhere.  I’m not sure the honour is the same as it used to be.”

He, therefore, tasked the council to address that and bring the university back to its glory days.

He announced that President Mahama was committed  to incorporating the licensing exams into teacher training curricula of the university to uphold the integrity of the profession.

In addition to that, he said the government would also establish ICT innovation hubs to facilitate and enhance distance education.

UPSA

Addressing the challenges of unemployment after swearing in the governing council of UPSA, Mr Iddrisu urged the council to prioritise entrepreneurship training since the government had a package to support aspiring entrepreneurs through incubator programmes.

He reiterated the importance of maintaining the integrity of UPSA and resolving internal conflicts amicably.

Mr Iddrisu called for a strengthened relationship between academia and industry, emphasising the need to produce graduates equipped to meet the future demands of Ghana’s economy.

“There is a general complain about the quality of some of our graduates. I’m looking forward to seeing you produce men and women to meet the future needs and the immediate man power needs of our country,” he added. 

Assurance

The UCC Council chairman expressed gratitude to the minister for his assurance to allow the governing councils to operate autonomously.

He further assured the minister that the council would work to maintain and enhance UCC’s standards.

For his part, Dr Agbanu said the UPSA council was determined to work collaboratively to be able to resolve its internal issues for UPSA to progress by fostering inclusivity and innovation.