New Technical Universities to run into legal difficulty, if….
The Polytechnics that have been converted into Technical Universities stand the chance of facing legal actions if the Technical Universities Bill before parliament is not passed into law before they start issuing degrees.
According to legal experts, public universities are statutory bodies and they award degrees based on their enabling statutes and therefore in the absence of the right legal backing, they cannot issue their own degrees.
In an interview with Parliamentary News, Mr. Osman Gyan, a Legal Practitioner, explained that if a public university whose enabling statute is yet to be passed by parliament purports to award a decree, it will mean that they do not have the power to do so for which reason the purported award becomes a nullity.
He stressed that any person relying on the purported award which is said to be a nullity may have a cause of action against the university.
On his part, Mr. Larry Fiifi Yankson, a Legal Practitioner, noted that for these Technical Universities to be able to award degrees, they must be affiliated to other full-fledged universities such as the University of Ghana and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, adding that, “If these technical universities are awarding degrees from the established universities, then they have no cause to worry as they do not break any laws or go contrary to the Constitution.”
He acknowledged that in the absence of the law backing their conversion, if these technical universities start to award their own degree certificates, they can be challenged and held accountable for that act.
Likening the predicament of the Technical Universities situation to that of the national sanitation day, Mr. Yankson observed that since there is no law or Act of Parliament backing the national sanitation day to ensure it is adhered to, no one can go to the house of a person and force him or her to come out and clean; anyone who does so can be sued.
Lawyer Yankson was however excited with the concept. He noted that considering the number of students who come out of polytechnics, it will be very effective if there is an upgrade so that these students will come out with similar qualifications as those in the traditional universities to give them equal opportunities on the job market.
“To enable this dream come true, it is important that the act be passed. Just like acts of Parliament make charters possible for the establishment of universities, so is this act necessary to enable these technical universities operate.”
According to Lawyer Yankson, the passage of the bill into law will ensure that the new technical universities are equipped with lecturers and infrastructure to be upgraded in order to be able to award degrees. He stressed on the fact that this was necessary due to the shortage and gap between people who come out with liberal arts and business related degrees as compared to those who come out with science and technology and technical training.
"We need more of these people in industries such as agriculture, construction, mechanical, electrical, architecture etc."
The Technical University Bill, 2016, was laid before Parliament on June 3 and was referred to the Committee on Education for consideration and report. It is a bill to provide for the conversion of polytechnics into technical universities and to provide for related matters.
So far, a number of polytechnics have already been converted including the Takoradi Polytechnic and the Sunyani Polytechnic; with the others expected to be converted soon.
According to legal experts, public universities are statutory bodies and they award degrees based on their enabling statutes and therefore in the absence of the right legal backing, they cannot issue their own degrees.
In an interview with Parliamentary News, Mr. Osman Gyan, a Legal Practitioner, explained that if a public university whose enabling statute is yet to be passed by parliament purports to award a decree, it will mean that they do not have the power to do so for which reason the purported award becomes a nullity.
He stressed that any person relying on the purported award which is said to be a nullity may have a cause of action against the university.
On his part, Mr. Larry Fiifi Yankson, a Legal Practitioner, noted that for these Technical Universities to be able to award degrees, they must be affiliated to other full-fledged universities such as the University of Ghana and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, adding that, “If these technical universities are awarding degrees from the established universities, then they have no cause to worry as they do not break any laws or go contrary to the Constitution.”
He acknowledged that in the absence of the law backing their conversion, if these technical universities start to award their own degree certificates, they can be challenged and held accountable for that act.
Likening the predicament of the Technical Universities situation to that of the national sanitation day, Mr. Yankson observed that since there is no law or Act of Parliament backing the national sanitation day to ensure it is adhered to, no one can go to the house of a person and force him or her to come out and clean; anyone who does so can be sued.
Lawyer Yankson was however excited with the concept. He noted that considering the number of students who come out of polytechnics, it will be very effective if there is an upgrade so that these students will come out with similar qualifications as those in the traditional universities to give them equal opportunities on the job market.
“To enable this dream come true, it is important that the act be passed. Just like acts of Parliament make charters possible for the establishment of universities, so is this act necessary to enable these technical universities operate.”
According to Lawyer Yankson, the passage of the bill into law will ensure that the new technical universities are equipped with lecturers and infrastructure to be upgraded in order to be able to award degrees. He stressed on the fact that this was necessary due to the shortage and gap between people who come out with liberal arts and business related degrees as compared to those who come out with science and technology and technical training.
"We need more of these people in industries such as agriculture, construction, mechanical, electrical, architecture etc."
The Technical University Bill, 2016, was laid before Parliament on June 3 and was referred to the Committee on Education for consideration and report. It is a bill to provide for the conversion of polytechnics into technical universities and to provide for related matters.
So far, a number of polytechnics have already been converted including the Takoradi Polytechnic and the Sunyani Polytechnic; with the others expected to be converted soon.
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