Court floors Methodist University ; For unlawful dismissal of 651 students
The Human Rights Division of the Accra High Court yesterday declared as unconstitutional the withdrawal of 651 students of the Methodist University College (MUC) from the institution and consequently ordered the university to reinstate them.
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The 651 students were withdrawn from the MUC under the directive of the Executive Secretary of the National Accreditation Board (NAB), Mr Kwame Dattey, with the reason that there were deficiencies in their admission requirements.
The court, presided over by Mr Justice Essel Mensah, ruled that the students had a right to unimpeded education and had already begun their courses of study after paying school fees.
It consequently awarded costs of GHc10,000 each against the MUC and the NAB.
The students were represented by Mr Gary Nimako Marfo, while the defendants were represented by the Attorney-General.
Case of students
Consequent to their dismissal in May 2012, the 651 students commenced an action on May 17, 2013 against the MUC, the NAB and the Ministry of Education seeking to enforce their fundamental human rights, specifically their right to education.
They had been offered admission by the MUC during the 2011/2012 academic year based on a Daily Graphic publication of January 7, 2011.
According to the students’ statement of case, the said publication was put in the public domain by the MUC after having obtained accreditation and re-accreditation for the programmes and the entry requirements from the NAB, the institution mandated by law to regulate the operations of tertiary institutions in the country.
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It said they had relied on the publication of January 7, 2011 put in the public domain by the MUC advertising for suitably qualified students to enrol for admission in the 2011/2012 academic year.
It said among the entry requirements advertised for admission was West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE)/Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) holders who had passes in English and Mathematics, in addition to a pass in one of the following core subjects: Integrated Science and Social Studies/Life Skills.
It mentioned other requirements as: passes in any three elective subjects, the aggregate score for the core and elective subjects should not be more than twenty-four (24), as well as a pass in Elective Mathematics for all applicants for the Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) Mathematics and Mathematics with Statistics and B.Sc Economics programmes.
It was the case of the students that relying on the said public advertisement, they had applied and obtained admission to the MUC.
It said they paid school fees ranging from GH¢1,400 to GH¢2,686, depending on the subjects offered them by the college.
Directive to withdraw students
The statement said after having stayed in the school for an academic year, the NAB issued a directive, under the authorship of its Executive Secretary, Mr Dattey, and dated May 28, 2012, directing the MUC to withdraw the applicants from the college, with the reason that there were deficiencies in their admission requirements.
It said the said deficiencies, in the view of the NAB, were that grades D7 and E8 in WASSCE/SSCE were not credit passes and, therefore, should not be used in computing the overall aggregate score of 24.
“It is, however, interesting to note that the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) grades the D7 on its results slip as a pass and not a fail,” it stated.
It noted that the same WAEC sat on the board that approved the accreditations and entry requirements of the university and the board had at all times granted the university accreditation and re-accreditation for all the programmes and also the entry requirements, which same had been published in the media since 2000 when the university was established.
It said the board that had approved the accreditations and the entry requirements had not raised a single protest since the inception of the university.
The case of the NAB was that the university ought to have reverted to its established equivalences of the other qualifications and that having failed to do so, applicants who applied with Higher National Diploma (HND), Diploma in Business Studies (DBS) and Royal Society of Arts (RSA) Parts One and Two ought to be sacked from the institution.
Ruling
After a full hearing, however, the court found that the withdrawal of the students from the MUC was unconstitutional.
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It ruled that the students had a right to unimpeded education and had already begun their courses of study after paying school fees, while some of the students had completed their programmes before they were withdrawn from the university.