Education Minister tasks governing council to resolve UEW legal issues
The Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu, has urged the newly constituted governing council of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), to guide the university in resolving the number of legal issues it is currently confronted with.
He said the council should especially consider out-of-court settlements for those legal issues.
The minister, who said this at the inauguration of the governing council of UEW in Accra last Friday, explained that it was not the best that the university was in the news for the wrong reasons almost daily.
"The University of Education is not a political institution, but rather an academic institution, autonomous and independent, and it should reflect what we do," he pointed out.
The UEW has in the past few years been in the news due to some legal brawls, including the dismissal of a former Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Mawutor Avoke, and the election of a Pro-Vice-Chancellor for the university.
The newly constituted governing council has a retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice Jacob Charles Amonoo-Monney, as the Chairperson, with the members being Prof. Ramatu Mahama Al-Hassan, Dr Ramos Asafo-Adjei, Prof. Aboagye Dacosta, Prof. Stephen Jobson Mitchual, Prof. Domwini Dabire Kuupole, Prof. Ernest Kofi Davis, Eric Kofi Agbe-Carbonu and Stephen Osei Akyiaw.
The rest are Prof. Kwasi Adomako, John Kwaku Oppong, Dr Ebenezer T. Amanor-Lartey, Osei Kwame Justin, Dr Samuel Ofori Danquah, Godwin Francis Asare, David Kwaku Xefu and Prof. Ahmed Abdulai Jinapor.
They were administered with both the oaths of office and secrecy by the minister.
Committed
Congratulating the governing council, Mr Iddrisu said President John Dramani Mahama remained committed to advancing academic freedom in its letter and spirit of the word and, therefore, would not interfere with any university’s administration.
He said the country required teachers, which meant that at every time the UEW was relevant in shaping the future of the country’s education.
“I trust that you will reposition the University of Education to take its place as one of Ghana's important higher education institutions, which focuses on teacher education,” he said.
He urged them to resolve the issue of how students exiting the university got access to their portal to get recruited, pointing out that, it should be done seamlessly.
The minister charged the university to aspire to be an internationally reputable institution for teacher education and research in the country.
Mr Iddrisu disclosed that he was making a case for the Borteyman Sports Stadium to be made an additional campus for the university’s physical education and hoped that he would be successful in that endeavour.
Response
Responding to the minister’s comments, Justice Amonoo-Monney, thanked the President on behalf of the members of the governing council for nominating them, adding that from the varied backgrounds they came from, they would work to create a better ambience and environment for the university, optimising teaching, learning and research.
He expressed the hope that the minister would be successful with his plans concerning the Borteyman Sports Complex being made an additional campus of the university, explaining that it would help in practicalising what would be taught at the university.
