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Vice-Chancellors Ghana, the umbrella body of vice-chancellors in the country, has called for targeted legislative and regulatory reforms to restore clarity, balance and constitutional alignment in the governance of public universities.
That, it said, followed the growing tensions between universities and the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC).
In a white paper on “Safeguarding University Autonomy and Academic Freedom in Ghana: A Policy White Paper on the Regulatory Role of GTEC”, the VCG presented a unified position by public university vice-chancellors on the need to recalibrate, rather than weaken, regulatory oversight in the country’s higher education system.
It said the recent regulatory practices under the Education Regulatory Bodies Act 2020 (Act 1023) had generated governance uncertainty, disrupted internal university operations and raised constitutional concerns regarding institutional autonomy and academic freedom.
The white paper advanced a set of practical, reform-oriented recommendations aimed at restoring trust, legal coherence, and effective collaboration between public universities and the national regulator.
The VCG called for explicit recognition of governing councils as the apex authorities for institutional governance, as provided under the 1992 Constitution and individual university Acts.
The paper recommended that a non-derogation clause be introduced into Act 1023 to ensure that GTEC's regulatory powers did not override or diminish the lawful authority of university councils.
“The white paper urges a clear shift in GTEC's mandate away from direct involvement in internal university management toward system-level coordination, policy oversight, and external quality assurance.
Regulation, it argues, should set national benchmarks and standards without substituting itself for internal decision-making structures,” it said.
The VCG recommended legislative reforms to reaffirm academic boards as the primary custodians of academic policy, curricula, and programme development.
Under the proposed framework, it said universities would initiate and approve academic programmes internally through their academic boards and councils.
“GTEC would validate compliance with national minimum standards, without re-evaluating academic substance,” it said and that “Existing academic programmes and governance structures approved before Act 1023 should be statutorily grandfathered to preserve stability and legal certainty”.
To reduce regulatory conflict, the white paper proposed replacing provisions that grant GTEC "exclusive authority" with a concurrence-based model, promoting shared responsibility, proportionality, and mutual accountability between regulators and institutions.
“VCG strongly opposes the imposition of uniform national organograms across universities, noting that Ghana's public universities differ in age, mandate, scale, and strategic focus. Instead, the paper advances the principle of Minimum Standards, Maximum Flexibility," allowing institutions to design governance and staffing structures aligned with their unique missions, provided national standards are met,” it said.
The white paper calls for the establishment of formal inter-institutional dispute-resolution mechanisms in order to prevent escalation of governance conflicts, and also recommends that all GTEC directives be subject to tests of reasonableness, proportionality, and consultation.
“VCG proposes structured, regular engagement between GTEC and Vice-Chancellors Ghana, including the restoration of direct representation of public universities on the GTEC Board, to ensure informed decision-making and shared ownership of system-wide reforms,” it said.
The white paper said the VCG proposals did not advocate deregulation or the weakening of public accountability.
But rather, “they seek a cooperative reset agenda that aligns Act 1023 with the Constitution, respects existing university legislation, and reinforces Ghana's commitment to academic freedom, innovation, and global competitiveness”.
“VCG urges Parliament, the Ministry of Education, GTEC, and all higher-education stakeholders to act decisively to implement these reforms, warning that prolonged governance ambiguity risks undermining institutional effectiveness, research productivity, and national development goals,” it said.
