Debates of 18 Jul 2006

MR. SPEAKER
CORRECTION OF VOTES 10 a.m.
AND PROCEEDINGS AND 10 a.m.
THE OFFICIAL REPORT 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Order! Order! Correction of Votes and Proceedings, Friday, 14th July 2006. Page 1….6.
Mr. Joseph Yieleh Chireh 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I was absent with your permission because I filed a notice, and I attended a function which was official, but I have been marked here as being absent without permission.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
The appropriate correction would be done.
Mr. S. K. Adu-Gyamfi 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, on Friday I was absent with permission.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
All right, thank you for that. Page 7…13. Hon. Members, we do not have any Official Report. Majority Leader, is the Minister for Education, Science and Sports in the House?
Mr. F. K. Owusu-Adjapong 10 a.m.
Mr.
Speaker, I spoke to him about an hour ago and he told me he would be in before 10.00 o'clock, that is why I am trying to find out where he is; but if we can take the Laying of Papers.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
We move to item 4 -- Statements.
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I am sorry, I am told he is at the car park, he just told me that he is at the car park -- [Interruption.] Mr. Speaker, if we can take the Laying of Papers because he is at the car park, so that we can make progress.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Hon. Members, we will move on to Commencement of Public Business -- item 5.
PAPERS 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Majority Leader, is the Report of the Finance Committee ready?
Mr. Owusu-Adjapong 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I will plead that we step it down while the Finance Committee looks at it.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Hon. Members, we go back to item 3 -- Questions. Yes, Question
488?
Mr. James Klutse Avedzi 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member is not well and he has asked me to seek your permission to ask the Question on his behalf.
Mr. Speaker 10 a.m.
Permission granted.
ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS 10 a.m.
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, 10 a.m.
SCIENCE AND SPORTS 10 a.m.
Minister for Education, Science and Sports (Papa Owusu-Ankomah) 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I must sincerely apologise for being late. It is when I got into the Chamber that I discovered that my watch was unfortunately five minutes late; I am sorry about this.
Mr. Speaker, the Ministry together with GES has put measures in place to deploy 60 per cent of newly trained teachers from the thirty-eight public training colleges and 50 per cent of the teachers returning from study leave with pay to the deprived and newly created districts.
In addition, Mr. Speaker, the tertiary postings will also take effect from September, 2006 and posting has been done to the regions. So Krachi East District should rest assured that they will get a quota from the region.
Mr. Avedzi 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to find out from the hon. Minister if he is aware that most teachers do not accept postings to rural areas where they cannot even have accommodation. If he is aware, what measures are being put in place to accommodate teachers in those deprived areas?
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, we have appealed to the District Assemblies to sensitize communities where teachers have difficulty in obtaining
accommodation, for the members of the community to provide accommodation for teachers, not for free but at an economic rate. To assist and ameliorate the problem, the Government is putting up head- teachers' quarters in certain communities; but it demands that even communities can also assist. It would be well nigh impossible for Government to provide accommodation for all teachers in these deprived districts.
Mr. Avedzi 10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the Answer to the Question the hon. Minister assured the House that Krachi East District should rest assured that they would have their quota from the region. I just want a confirmation from him. Is he saying that by September this year all schools in Krachi East District would be staffed with teachers?
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, Krachi District will have its share based on the number of teachers posted to the region.
Mr. E. T. Mensah 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to find out from the hon. Minister, as a follow-up to an answer that he gave in connection with accommodation of teachers. A programme was started, where accommodation was provided in the villages by the Ministry. I do not know whether that has been stopped; and if so why?
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as I stated in my Answer, there is a programme where headteachers' quarters are built. If those quarters are occupied by teachers, fair enough. But there is no declared programme where the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports is putting up accommodation for all teachers. In some communities, District Assemblies are assisting, and where they initiate these
buildings the Ministry comes to their assistance.
Mr. A. N. Tettey- Enyo 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to know from the hon. Minister whether the tertiary postings he indicated is a new system of posting, and whether he would not mind throwing some light on this system of posting.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, it has to do with teachers who have proceeded on study leave with pay, and have completed their courses and are going back to teach. That is what I mean by tertiary postings.
Mr. G. K. B. Gbediame 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, following from the answer he has just given, may I know from the hon. Minister whether those who are returning from the universities or the diploma awarding institutions are going to be posted to the basic schools or to the secondary schools.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, some of them, particularly from the teacher training colleges will be posted to basic schools.
Mr. E. K. Bandua 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to find out from the hon. Minister the mechanism that has been put in place to ensure that vacancies created by teachers who refuse to accept postings are filled expeditiously.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, teachers are bound to proceed to places where they have been posted. If for some reason a teacher cannot accept posting, he has to apply to the Ghana Education Service for his posting to be reconsidered. I will urge communities where teachers have been posted and they have refused to accept those postings to bring it to the attention of the District Directors of
Mr. C. S. Hodogbey 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the Answer the hon. Minister gave, he said Krachi East District should rest assured of its quota from the region. What is the size of that quota going to the region, and what is the share of the Krachi East District?
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I do not have a definite number, but I know that for a place like the Volta Region, we may have one of the highest number of teachers posted to the region. Probably, it may be the fourth after Accra and Ashanti. So it is quite a sizeable number; it will not be less than 1,200.
Assessment and Evaluation of Class Work
Q.489. Mr. J. K. Avedzi (on behalf of Mr. Wisdom Gidisu) asked the Minister for Education, Science and Sports what steps the Ministry was taking to improve assessment and evaluation of class work and terminal examinations in basic schools.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
the School-Based Assessment (SBA) or Continuous Assessment (CA) system has existed in basic schools since the 1987 Reforms. An evaluation of the system revealed inherent problems and challenges as far as its implementation was concerned. Many teachers complained that the system required too much work from them.
Mr. Speaker, to address these problems and thereby improve upon the quality of classroom teaching and learning in basic schools, the Curriculum Research and Development Division (CRDD) of the Ghana Education Service is currently revising the scheme to make it more effective, teacher and pupil friendly. Draft School-Based Assessment (SBA) materials for primary schools are almost
ready for trial-testing.
Mr. Speaker, the new SBA will now consist of four assignments per term, making a total of 12 assignments or tasks per year instead of the 33 required by the old system, a significant reduction of about 50 per cent of the workload for both pupils and teachers.
Mr. Speaker, the main purpose of the new SBA is to 10:10 a.m.
1. Monitor individual pupil's progress for effective learning;
2. Widen the scope of assessment to include positive attitudes and practical skills in addition to the overemphasized intellectual abilities;
3. Enable pupils to apply knowledge and understanding to solve problems through practical Class Assessment Tasks (CATs) and projects which will inculcate in learners manipulative skills and promote productive learning individually or in groups.
Mr. Speaker, in addition, the CRDD has also developed a training manual or assessment and testing. This has reached an advanced stage for publication. The manual will be used to train teachers and equip them with knowledge and skills to improve on teacher-made classroom tests and assessment in basic schools in Ghana.
Mr. Avedzi 10:10 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the Answer to the Question, the hon. Minister said that the Ghana Education Service is currently revising the scheme to make it more effective and teacher/pupil friendly. My question then is, does it mean that the current system as it is now is not teacher/ pupil friendly?
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as I said, many teachers complained that the system required too much work from them. It is in that sense that the new one would be more teacher-friendly. As I indicated, about fifty per cent of the work would be cut down and so teachers, we believe, will then be more comfortable with the system.
Mr. James K. Avedzi 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, will it be appropriate if the current system is maintained and the teachers are rewarded for the work that they are doing, rather than cutting the number of assignments that they have to carry the pupils through?
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, research has indicated that enhancing the financial recompense in respect of this work will not have a great impact on the output.
Mr. Kojo Armah 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, it is some assurance that the workload of teachers as far as continuous assessment is concerned is being cut down. But the other problem is that the number of pupils in the basic schools has increased in some areas, particularly in some of our rural areas, because of the capitation grant; and therefore teachers are also complaining that the ratio of pupil to teacher is making it difficult for them to do effective assessment. I want to know from the hon. Minister what steps he is taking to beef- up the teacher to pupil ratio in the schools so that the class sizes would become manageable for the teachers?
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the interim, National Service persons will be posted to certain areas where we have an increase in the population of the pupils because of the introduction of the Capitation Grant.
Mr. Joseph Z. Amenowode 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, my question is very similar to that of the hon. Member for Evalue/Gwira, but the answer is not my answer so I still have to ask. The question asked by the hon. Member for Nkwanta is an evaluation.
Now, among the problems faced by teachers in the continuous assessment, only one has been answered here, and my
hon. Friend wanted an answer to another question which is an overpopulated classrooms.
It is not about the teacher not being there, the teacher is there but the number is so unwieldy that what the hon. Minister mentioned as being the purpose, that is, monitoring individual pupil's progress could not be achieved. So the question is, what is being done to reduce the class sizes? For example, one class should not be 70 or 80 as we have, per teacher.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that this is a current problem that has been brought to the fore because of the capitation grant and, in certain areas, the school feeding programme. But as I said, we are going to engage more pupil teachers and where it becomes necessary, based on the assessment at the district level, we may even decide that in the interim a shift system should be adopted. But in the long-term, Government is putting up classrooms and before the end of the year we are going to have 450 additional classroom blocks, all over the country, funded by the World Bank through the fast-track initiative.
Basic Fees (Absorption)
Q.490 Mr. Wisdom Gidisu asked the Minister for Education, Science and Sports what steps the Ministry is taking to absorb other basic fees such as the printing of examination question papers which are currently not being taken on board by the Capitation Grant.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the main purpose of the capitation grant is for schools to plan activities that will go a long way to improve performances in the schools. Schools are therefore free to use part of the capitation grant to print questions for the conduct of examinations. If they consider that to be a problem for them, the capitation grant is a sum of money and looking at the priorities of the
school, the head may decide that well, they will use so much out of the capitation grant to print questions.
Mr. Joseph Z. Amenowode 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to find out from the hon. Minister what goes into the determination of the capitation grant, which is ¢30,000 now; and if he thinks that that is enough to cover the printing of the examination question papers too.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, we consider ¢30,000 to be enough to assist schools to provide all that is required for quality education at the basic level, apart from the cost of tuition and infrastructural development.
Mr. James K. Avedzi 10:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to find out from the hon. Minister whether the fund gets to the school that is supposed to receive it on time for the purposes of running of the school.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the funds get to the schools on time, as far as we are aware. However, field trips undertaken by personnel from the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports have disclosed that sometimes they are delayed because at the districts they are not released on time. On other occasions too, the headteachers do not disburse the moneys promptly; but we are working on all of that by intensifying the monitoring of the use of the capitation grant.
rose
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
Minister for Foreign Affairs?
Nana Akufo-Addo 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am the Member of Parliament for Abuakwa South on the floor -- [Laughter.]
Mr. Speaker 10:30 a.m.
I am recognizing you by your position.
Nana Akufo-Addo 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to find out from the hon. Minister if he can tell the House to what extent the provision of the capitation grant has made any measurable impact on primary school enrolment in the country, and if so, can the Minister give the House some details of the impact?
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I believe hon. Colleagues are aware that the introduction of the capitation grant has increased enrolment at the basic level by not less than 14 per cent. I do not have the details now but what I am giving is an approximate of not less than 14 per cent. That is why an hon. Member was saying that we have classroom sizes as big as 70 -- It is a recent occurrence. Indeed, this has posed a very great challenge to the Ministry. That is why we are putting up more classroom blocks and engaging more pupil teachers. We believe that if the capitation grant is applied assiduously for the next five years we may have enrolment rising by not less than 92 per cent.
Nana Akufo-Addo 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, can the hon. Minister undertake to bring us the details? He says he does not have the details; can he undertake to bring the details to the House so that the entire country can know that?
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, having regard to the interest expressed in the House on the impact of the capitation grant, I will present a comprehensive Statement on the capitation grant, and its effects on enrolment at the basic schools, the challenges that we face and the need for all to come on board so that we can achieve full compulsory universal basic education as envisaged under our Constitution.
Mr. F. A. Agbotse 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, from the answers given by the hon. Minister,
I would want to find out what exactly is the value of the capitation grant and what exactly it is meant for.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I do not know what the hon. Member means by what the capitation grant is for. As I indicated, Government is committed to ensuring that no fees are charged pupils at the basic level. So depending on the needs of a particular school and its priorities, it uses the capitation grant so that the pupils do not pay any fees. So if, for instance, a school considers the printing of papers, examination questions to be very important and key towards achieving quality education, it can decide to use a proportion of the grant given it to print papers.
But cer ta in ly there a re o ther expenditures that may not be supported under the capitation grant because they may not have a direct bearing on the delivery of quality education. For instance, using part of the capitation grant for transport may not be appropriate. So schools, as I indicated, are free to use part of the capitation grant to print examination questions.
Science Resource Centres
Q. 509. Mr. Robert Sarfo-Mensah asked the Minister for Education, Science and Sports the current situation of the Science Resource Centres initiated to enhance the teaching and learning of science in the secondary schools.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:30 a.m.
Status Report -- 2006.
A. Introduction
Mr. Speaker, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, established one hundred and ten (110) science resource centres in selected senior secondary schools throughout the country in 1996,
for each to serve a cluster of schools in their respective localities to address the problem of equipping all senior secondary schools with the requisite equipment.
B. Objectives
Mr. Speaker, the objectives set out in the original documentation were as follows 10:30 a.m.
1. Improve the examination results of science subjects of pupils currently attending SSS
2. Increase the number of pupils entering science electives
3. Increase the number of girls entering science electives
4. Improve pupils' knowledge and understanding of modern science and technology
5. Improve pupils' knowledge and understanding of the new technologies
6. Increase the number of students entering science-based courses at University and Polytechnic
7. Increase the number of persons entering technical and agricul- tural industries at professional and at technician level.
C. Impact
Mr. Speaker, the science resource centres had a positive impact in that there was an --
1. Increase in the number of students opting for science programmes
2. Exposure of many science students to practical activities
3. Exposure of teachers and students to the use of ICT to enhance teaching and learning of science
4. Shift from theoretical teaching to practical approach to science
5. Number of students passing with high grades in science keeps on increasing.
D. Constraints
However, these science centres were faced with some constraints. Firstly,
1. No training programme has been organized for Science Teachers and Technicians to man the centres since 1999 for lack of funds
2. Many trained Science Teachers have left the Science Centres due to promotions, transfers, further education or leaving the service, creating vacancies at the centres
3. Lack of Science Teachers in both satellite and host schools
4. Lack of funds for fuelling the centre buses to convey students to and from the centres
5. Lack of motivation of Science Resource Centres Staff
6. High cost of maintaining the centre buses
7. Breakdown and out-of-use of old computers and printers.
Mr. Speaker, the Ministry after assessing the situation, will consider the following:
1. Reviewing the current status of the centres
2. Replacing the original six 486 computers with 7 upgraded Pentium III PCs' to include an effective local server and network
3. Replacing consumables and replacement/repair of equip- ment
4. Training Science Teachers and Technicians
5. Motivating the Science Resource Centre Staff for the efficient running of the centres.
6. Appointing Regional Co- ordinators to support moni- toring of the centres
7. Increasing support for running of the centres
8. Establishing Maintenance Units -- one in the Northern Zone and the other in the Southern Zone to maintain the equipment.
Mr. Speaker, hopefully, these measures will be undertaken so that shortly the process towards re-equipping and resourcing the science centres to enable them perform duties for which they were established will be achieved.
Mr. Robert Sarfo-Mensah 10:40 a.m.
Mr.
Speaker, is the hon. Minister aware that most of the science resource centre schools do not have their own means of transport and therefore rely on the science resource centre buses as a means of transport for the schools, hence the breakdown of some of these buses?
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, that has been brought to my attention. Those schools have been directed to stop the practice. There is a programme being undertaken by the Ministry to provide all secondary schools with buses; but that is going to take a long time. And we have also been encouraging parent/teacher associations and Old Boys and Girls to assist the schools with transport.
Mr. J. K. Gidisu 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister, in his Answer noted an upward movement of teachers from the science centres and from the Service, in particular, as one of the factors militating against the effective running of the science resource centres. I want to find out from the hon. Minister what incentive packages his Ministry has for teachers as a way of addressing teacher effectiveness and teacher stability in the Service and in the science centres in particular.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, so many discussions have been held between the Ministry and teacher unions. I have received many proposals from teacher associations, particularly, Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT.) But the reality is that it will be difficult to find the necessary resources to provide the motivation required. I, as the Minister for Education, would be very happy if a teacher's minimum wage is not less than ¢3,000,000.00.
However, the problem that we are facing as a country is that the resource envelope is limited and I am sure that at the appropriate time when the hon. Minister for Finance and Economic Planning brings proposals to raise monies, he will have the support of the House so that we can improve upon the conditions of service, not only for teachers but for all workers in the country, including Members of
Parliament; so that we can all be happy and give of our best to our nation.
Mr. G K. B. Gbediame 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in view of the fact that there is a general shortage of teachers, not only at the resource centres but even in the secondary schools, would the Ministry consider recommending to Government to issue a special incentive to encourage people to undertake the study of science in our secondary schools?
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I believe these things are being considered, and in the not-too-distant future we may even give incentives to students pursuing science programmes in the universities and training colleges. We may find out that if we pursue science, the bursary that we are going to get from Government may be higher.
These are matters that are being considered, and we are in consultation with the various stakeholders so that at the end of the day we may realise that it may be more financially encouraging for a student to pursue subjects in science than arts or humanities. That is what we have in mind, and at the appropriate time the programme will be unveiled.
Mr. A. N. Tettey-Enyo 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to know from the hon. Minister what steps the Ministry is taking to support the National Computer and Science Resource Centre which is located behind the Government Secretariat School to enable the National Science Resource Centre to play its role as an in-service training centre for science teachers.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as for the plans, we have them. Resource constraint is the problem that we are facing. It is a priority for the Ministry because we have realised that to even re-equip these science centres and the National Computer Centre through the budget is a difficulty, and so we are in discussions with some of our donors to
see if we can get the necessary support. Indeed, some of the companies that were involved in equipping these centres have submitted proposals for funding which are being seriously considered by Government.
Computerised School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS)
Q. 510. Mr. Robert Sarfo-Mensah asked the Minister for Education, Science and Sports what preparations had been made to ensure the successful implementation of the Computerized School Selection and Placement System (CSSPS) during this year 's senior secondary school admissions.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
the implementation of the CSSPS started in September 2005. It was the first time the selection and placement of qualified BECE candidates into senior secondary schools and technical institutes was carried out under the computerized system. Under the computerized system approximately 86 per cent of the qualified candidates were placed and that is the highest so far in the history of admissions into senior secondary schools in this country.
Mr. Speaker, it was a largely a success. However, there were a number of challenges and some concerns from the general public. These challenges and some concerns did not arise from the implementation arrangements but the inability of J.S.S. heads and teachers to detect and correct wrong shading of school and programme codes during registration.
In few cases, candidates forget their gender and shaded the wrong gender codes during registration, and as a result ended up in the opposite sex school. In all errors detected were 134,000. It cost
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:50 a.m.


the Ministry/GES a fortune to correct the errors. Data analyses indicate that errors encountered have considerably reduced to approximately 50,000 this year.

Mr. Speaker, the challenges and concerns have been addressed by the Technical Working Committee on the computerized system through consul- tations with stakeholders.

Mr. Speaker, the Ministry together with GES has embarked on an elaborate public education programme with this year's (2006) placement and the registration of the 2007 BECE candidates in mind. The selection guidelines have been fine-tuned or improved, thus the selection is based on the total of 6 subjects. These are 4 core and 2 other best scoring subjects that is the electives. The grade in each core subject should not exceed 5 and that of each of the other two should not exceed 6; and if put together, the grade to qualify a candidate for admission must not exceed aggregate of 30.

Mr. Speaker, some information in this regard appeared in the media. The TV and Radio Discussions in the local languages have taken place and it is still ongoing. There have been regional fora in the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Upper East and Upper West regions and it is left with the Central, Western, Volta and Greater- Accra Regions to be completed with. The sensitization on public briefings and education activities are ongoing at the districts, town and village levels.

Mr. Speaker, this year over three hundred and eight thousand (308,000) candidates sat for the BECE. In view of limited first year vacancies in the public secondary/technical schools, not all the candidates who will qualify can be placed in all the five hundred (500) public senior secondary schools and twenty-three (23) technical institutes.

The following rearrangements therefore have been made to ensure successful placement of candidates:

a. After the first placement process, using the first, second and third choices, placement results will be sent to all schools. But it is most likely that some qualified candidates would remain unplaced. These qualified but unplaced candidates will then be placed using their 4th choice which is not a school but a district. It is most likely that, after the first placement, some schools will still have vacancies.

b. A list of such schools will be sent to JSS Heads to assist only qualified but unplaced candidates to choose from. Every candidate will be advised to select schools closer to his/her home, town or village.

Mr. Speaker, the CSSPS Secretariat has provided copies of handouts on the Computerized System to hon. Members as part of its public education campaign.
Mr. Sarfo-Mensah 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, in the hon. Minister's Answer on page 15 on the Order Paper, paragraph 2, last sentence, he said -- and with your kind permission, I quote:
“Data analyses indicate that errors encountered have considerably reduced to approximately 50,000
. . .”
This implies that these 50,000 candidates have been rejected by the computer, that they might not get placement. What steps is the Ministry taking to ensure that these 50,000 would also be assured of admission?
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, it does not necessarily follow that the 50,000 candidates would not have placements. We may have difficulties. For instance, if a candidate shaded the wrong gender, obviously the candidate would get a school but it would not be appropriate for him. But I must reassure the House that because of the previous experience, all these errors or as many of them as possible were corrected so that we do not encounter the problems that we encountered the first time.
Mr. A. K. Agbesi 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
during the last exercise, it was detected that some private schools were also involved. Some people were posted to schools which were not boarding schools but they were sent there as boarders. I want to know from the hon. Minister whether private schools are involved in this exercise and how the selection of private schools was done.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I do not have the criterion here but some private schools have been included in the placement.
Mr. Agbesi 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the hon. Minister has not answered my question. My problem is that during the selection stage, students were told that they should choose a school of their choice. They chose schools which they liked, which were boarding schools and public schools but they found themselves going to private schools and then some found themselves in day schools. Some of these schools had no water, no facilities for boarders but they were sent there. I want to know from the hon. Minister how these things came about.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 10:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
every candidate who qualifies should be placed in a school. If you select a boarding school and you do not qualify for a placement, you will be placed in the next available school. This year, private
schools were included and so students had the choice to select a private school.
But as I indicated, for this year, the fourth choice will be a district. So if you do not get a placement in your first three choices, you will be sent to the district of your fourth choice and at the district level, you will be placed in any school available. At that stage, really, you have no choice; you take what is offered you.
Mr. A. N. Tettey-Enyo 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
would like to know from the hon. Minister why it is not necessary to hold the regional fora on CSSOS in the Northern Region.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
it is considered necessary to hold the fora in each and every region of the country. So if the Northern Region was not mentioned, it was an oversight; but every region is going to have this fora. Thank you.
Mr. J. K. Gidisu 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the
hon. Minister noted, just as the initiator of the Question, who asked him that in all, 134,000 errors were detected. He said that data analysis has reduced this considerably to 50,000. Is it based on last year's assessment that it has been reduced to 50,000 or it is on the yet-to-be 2006 selection which has not taken place that he is estimating the 50,000 reduction?
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 11 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
the practice has been for the forms to be vetted before they are entered; and it does not take place shortly before the selection. It is done some time earlier and the errors that are detected were corrected at that stage. That was how come we could determine that there were 50,000 errors.
Mr. Speaker 11 a.m.
Minister for Education,
Science and Sports, thank you very much for appearing to answer the Questions; you are discharged.
STATEMENTS 11 a.m.
Mr. Simon Osei 11 a.m.
None

Bosomtwe): Mr. Speaker, thank you for the opportunity offered me to make a Statement on the poor infrastructural development within the Lake Bosomtwe Basin.

Mr. Speaker, the Lake Bosomtwe Basin is crying out loudly and is imploring Mother Ghana to rescue her from the state of poor infrastructure. In particular, the basin requires good roads, potable water, communication network among others.

Mr. Speaker, many patriotic citizens and some foreigners have made huge investments in the area such as Lake Bosomtwe Paradise Hotel, Lake Point View Hotel, Kokoado Rest House, Kessben Resort, and Twum Barima Hotel. The investors wonder when they will be enabled to obtain deserving returns on their investments. There is a queue of potential investors who are knocking out at the same time wondering when the Bosomtwe Basin will be provided with the relevant infrastructural facilities to enable them provide further investment which will, without doubt, contribute towards the development of the area.

Mr. Speaker, the main infrastructural handicap in the area is poor roads which are both inadequate and in deplorable conditions.

Mr. Speaker, Lake Bosomtwe which is situated about 30 km south of Kumasi, it has been discovered, was formed through the impact of a meteorite about one million years ago. It is the largest lake formed in such a manner in the world. It abounds in huge potential for tourism development.

The Lake Basin has been identified as a major natural resource that lends itself to an integrated and sustainable eco-tourism product development.

U n f o r t u n a t e l y, M r. S p e a k e r, infrastructural development in the Lake Basin is nothing to write home about. There are three constituencies around the Lake, namely, Bosomtwe, Bosome Freho and Bekwai. It is sad to state that there are no good roads linking these constituencies. For example, only a foot path links Bosomtwe and Bekwai constituencies along the lake.

Mr. Speaker, to highlight on the need to develop the road network in the Bosomtwe Basin, I will use the Bosomtwe constituency as an illustration. The Bosomtwe constituency has only two good roads -- these are Kumasi-Abono and Ejisu-Bekwai roads which traverse the constituency. The latter road is still under construction and has not yet been completed. All other roads in the constituency are in very poor shape. Mr. Speaker, the poor road network has retarded the development of the 24 communities strung around the lake as well as the tourism potential of the area.

At the moment, the Government has initiated a process of improving the road network by the construction of a number of roads. Some of the roads under construction include Abono-Apau Junction, Nyameani-Beposo, Sewua Junction-Sewua, Pemenase-Beposo- Mmurontuo and Eduaden-Bedease roads. Regrettably, all these are very short distance roads and the collective efforts have not made significant impact on the road network in the area.

Mr. Speaker, with those roads under construction, a veritable problem is also
Mr. Simon Osei 11:10 a.m.
A similar tale can be told about the Nyameani-Beposo road construction project where the contractor is not performing to the satisfaction of the stakeholders or beneficiaries of the road. However, the authorities are in a state of dilemma as to whether or not to terminate the contract due to the delay in re-packaging the Abono-Adwafo- Apau Junction contract which has been terminated but has not been subsequently reawarded. If not checked, Mr. Speaker, poor delivery by or non-performance of contractors will drastically impede the realisation of the Government's efforts to develop the nation's road network. Therefore, effective monitoring systems should be put in place to arrest this problem.
At this point, Mr. Speaker, I wish to make the following recommendations which are aimed at improving the road construction sub-sector:
Copies of all contract documents should be submitted to both the MPs and DCEs of the various districts when the contract is granted at the regional, ministerial or other higher levels. This will enable the MPs and DCEs to effectively monitor the projects in relation to the terms and conditions of the contract.
A contractor who is awarded a job should be directed to report to the relevant DCE before the commencement of a project. The present system where the
contractor only reports directly to whoever awarded the contract makes them feel they are not responsible to the DCE or the beneficiary community for that matter. This system makes monitoring difficult at the district level, culminating in many project failures.
The process of repackaging terminated projects should be sped up to minimize project costs, upward adjustments that could arise as a result of price changes over time. The Minister responsible for road transportation should establish a register of non-performing contractors, blacklist and prevent them from obtaining future contracts to serve as a deterrent to others.

A system should be put in place to monitor expiry dates of all performance bonds so that monies paid in the form of mobilization funds and others could be recovered before the bonds expire. Alternatively, the contractors could be directed to renew the bonds where necessary to reduce the losses of the Government in terms of non-recoverable funds paid to contractors.

Mr. Speaker, contractors who are found

to be poor or non-performers should be made to refund any state funds paid to them plus a penal interest charge.

Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, may

I appeal to the Ministry of Tourism and Diaspora Relations to link up and collaborate with the Ministry responsible for road transportation to, as a matter of priority and urgency, develop road network to tourism sites such as the Lake Bosomtwe Basin for the country to obtain maximum benefits from their immense tourism potential. Without the development of the road network in the area, Mr. Speaker, any effort of the Government to develop the Lake area into
Dr. M. K. Antwi (NPP 11:10 a.m.
None

Kwanwoma): Mr. Speaker, I want to associate myself with the Statement made by the hon. Member for Bosomtwe. I am also from the same district.

Mr. Speaker, I wonder whether action is taken on Statements that are made in this House. In the First Parliament, the Member of Parliament for Bosomtwe made a statement on the development of Lake Bosomtwe. In the Second and Third Parliaments, the Member of Parliament who is a friend of mine also made a Statement on the same issue.

Now, the fourth Member of Parliament is also making a Statement on the development of Lake Bosomtwe as tourist attraction. I know very well that next time around when he is not around, the next Member of Parliament will also make the same statement. So Mr. Speaker, this time around we want to make an appeal to those Ministries and Agencies concerned with the development of our tourism industry, particularly the Ministry of Tourism and Diaspora Relations to take a serious action on the Statement made by the hon. Member for Bosomtwe, to have a blueprint, if it is not available for the development of Lake Bosomtwe Basin. The District Assembly alone, Mr. Speaker, does not have the resources to develop the Lake Bosomtwe area.

With this brief contribution, Mr. Speaker, I associate myself with the Statement made.
Mr. Speaker 11:10 a.m.
Statement by hon.
Member for Asunafo South.
Dollarisation of the Ghanaian Economy
Mr. Eric Opoku (NDC -- Asunafo South) 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the
opportunity given me to make a Statement on the dollarisation of the Ghanaian economy.
Mr. Speaker, in 1965, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah changed the country's currency from pound sterling to cedi to justify to the whole world that Ghana had gained independence from its colonial masters, the British. It also indicated a move towards economic self-reliance and emancipation.
Mr. Speaker, the cedi therefore became our national symbol, a symbol of our political independence, autonomy and the only medium of transacting business in Ghana.
Mr. Speaker, the Bank of Ghana has some form of regulation against doing business in foreign currencies within the boundaries of this country but the dollar power now controls Ghana. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), there is too much dollarisation of the Ghanaian economy.

Mr. Speaker, transactions in Ghana are quoted in US dollars, and often payments are also actually made in US dollars. It is only items like gari and beans, “pure water”, kenkey and Tro-tro fares that are not quoted in dollars.

Mr. Speaker, rents in some parts of Accra and Kumasi are charged in dollars; hotel charges are quoted in dollars; plane fares are paid in dollars; plots and houses are sold in dollars.

Mr. Speaker, some Ghanaian workers are paid salaries in dollars and even bottled water and vegetables are sold in dollars, with consumers having the option to pay in dollars or the cedi equivalent.

Mr. Speaker, some private schools are reported to be indexing their fees to the exchange rate of the dollar.

Mr. Speaker, even government officials make more of their quotations in dollars indicating that the confidence of Ghanaians in our own currency is eroding at an alarming rate.

Mr. Speaker, this practice will be tantamount to giving up our country for recolonisation. In other words, it constitutes an infringement on the country's sovereignty. In addition, it will limit our ability to deal with domestic macroeconomic issues and deny us our seigneurial rights.

Mr. Speaker, we need to ensure that this practice is halted forthwith.

I am therefore calling on the Bank of Ghana to invoke their regulation against this practice to save our mother Ghana from perpetual balance of payments problems. I am also urging the Government of Ghana to wage a hectic crusade against the use of foreign currencies in this country to restore credibility to the cedi.

Finally, I wish to call on fellow legislators and all well-meaning Ghanaians to help in combating the canker of dollarisation in Ghana.

Mr. Speaker, once again, I say thank you.

Capt. Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey (retd)

(NPP -- Berekum): Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement. Mr. Speaker, I must confess that I tried to catch your eye without success. This is because I thought that the hon. Member who made the Statement was making statements or assertions or, should I say, depositions, which in my view were provoking a
Mr. E. T. Mensah 11:20 a.m.
On a point of order. Yes, the hon. Member for Berekum is misleading this House. I guess he did not understand the thrust of the Statement. The hon. Member who made the Statement started by saying that there is the dollarisation of the cedi; people are using the dollar as the common denominator which should not be. So he is misleading this House and should better check his facts properly.
Capt. Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey (retd): Mr. Speaker, I do not understand the point that my very good senior Colleague is trying to advance. When the hon. Member for Asunafo South started reading the Statement, he said the title was the dollarisation of the Ghanaian economy, which I thought was a good title. So I started listening carefully and then he started making certain fundamental statements -- [Some hon. Members: Like what?] -- instance, that every transaction is in the dollar -- [Uproar.]
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Order! Order!
Capt. Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey (retd): Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member for Asunafo
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Hon. Member for Berekum, he did not say that. You continue.
Capt. Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey (retd): Very well. Mr. Speaker, I accept your ruling and I abide by it.
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Hon. Member for Berekum, make comments; do not draw us into any debate -- [Hear! Hear!]
rose
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Hon. Member for Tamale Central, do you have a point of order?
Mr. Inusah Fuseini 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, on a point of order. Mr. Speaker, it appears I heard my hon. Friend say that if a Ghanaian chooses to transact business in naira or in yen, so be it. Mr. Speaker, I think that my hon. Friend is misleading
this House. In fact, the Bank of Ghana Regulations make it an offence for any Ghanaian to trade in any currency except in the cedi. That is the point of information for him.
Capt. Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey (retd): Mr. Speaker, I think my hon. Colleague was not listening attentively -- [Uproar.] But since he came not too long ago, he needs time to acclimatize. I know he is a lawyer, like me, but Mr. Speaker, he needs time to learn -- [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 11:20 a.m.
Hon. Member, you do not have much time on your side.
Capt. Nkrabeah Effah-Dartey (retd): Mr. Speaker, I would wind up by saying that I entreat my fellow countrymen to give the greatest of all respect to our currency, the cedi and to make sure that every transaction that we do in this country is quoted in the cedi. We should note that nobody will make our cedi better or stronger except ourselves. If we ourselves do not show respect to the cedi, Mr. Speaker, nobody would.
Mr. Speaker, on this note, I support the Statement.
Alhaji Collins Dauda (NDC -- Asutifi South) 11:20 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to associate myself with the Statement on the floor and also would want to make a few observations.
Mr. Speaker, the phenomenon that the hon. Member raised is becoming too serious in the economy, particularly when it is being perpetuated by some state institutions. Mr. Speaker, for instance, the Tema Development Corporation (TDC) is a very important institution so far as the land market is concerned. The TDC does service plots and leases them out. Mr.
Speaker, in some cases, the TDC leases land out in dollars and I think that it is very serious, particularly coming from a state institution like the TDC.
Mr. Speaker, the other issue has to do with workers or public officers who are paid in dollars. Mr. Speaker, there are some Ministries, where there are projects on which public officers are working and they are paid in dollars. In fact, the tendency of such a situation tends to discriminate among workers and that, we do know, demoralizes other workers.
Mr. Speaker, if for instance, we have four workers of the same academic status or work status in a particular workplace, say a Ministry, and one of them happens to be nominated to work on such a foreign project and he is being paid in dollars, naturally, the other three will not be happy about such a thing. And I think that such a thing should not be encouraged. All that we need to do, as a country, is to do things that will promote unity, promote fairness in our system rather than things that will cause a lot of demoralization in our workfront.
Mr. Speaker, on this note, I thank the hon. Member who made the Statement for bringing this to the notice of the Government. I call on government agen- cies to deal with this phenomenon, the way we have to deal with it, to combat it and maybe eliminate it completely from our system.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you very much.
Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku (NPP -- Offinso North) 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to associate myself with the Statement that has just been made because I believe it is a very important Statement, even though my hon. Colleague did not give us any
Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku (NPP -- Offinso North) 11:30 a.m.


indication to suggest that, perhaps, the rate of dollarisation has increased over the last few years relative to the past. But there is a perception in our country today that perhaps if you store your value of money in dollars, you stand a better chance of maintaining the value than perhaps, if you did it in our cedi.

What could be the forces that are at work to encourage people to want to hold the dollar vis-à-vis our own currency? When there are exchange controls such as happened in the past in our country, where it is very difficult for an individual to convert our cedi into dollar, then it becomes very encouraging to want to hold the dollar against our cedi. When the rate of inflation is much higher than perhaps the world average, then people are also encouraged to hold their currency in a more stable currency. There is no doubt that today perhaps the dollar is more stable than any other currency. So it is an international phenomenon where countries are moving towards holding the dollar against their own currency.

But it is worrying, as a development country; we should not be encouraging it. If indeed there is indication to suggest that recently we are moving more towards it, then we should be even more concerned.

But I think if we look at the forces that ought to be pushing dollarisation in our country, none of these forces is as predominant as it has been in the past. The rate of inflation is relatively slow, there is greater liberalisation of the exchange rate such that today practically you walk into any of the forex bureaux and you can change the dollor with cedi and vice versa. So these forces are not at work. If they are not at work and my hon. Colleague is correct those agencies of Government which otherwise should be working against such a phenomenon are indeed, contributing to it, then it must be
Mr. A. Saddique Boniface 11:30 a.m.
Mr.
Speaker, on a point of order. Mr. Speaker, I think my younger hon. Colleague is misleading the House. The dollar is an international currency -- [Interruptions] -- It is accepted by the whole world and every currency is pegged against
the dollar -- [Interruptions] -- Yes. Every currency in this world, starting with -- Bretton Woods; they started with the dollar. So let us be very, very frank with ourselves. If you even went to Great Britain, the reason why they are sometimes suspicious is that once you are coming with a dollar, -- Even in Nigeria they suspect you, they suspect your currency. That is why they say go and change.
But it is not that they do not want the dollar. [Interruptions.] The point of order is that he is misleading the House by saying that at international airlines -- All airlines in this world right from Adam, any fare is pegged against the dollar. So he should not say that -- [Interruptions.]
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Order! Order! Hon. Member for Asawase, please continue.
Mr. Mubarak 11:30 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want
to remind my hon. senior Colleague that he should remember that when Abacha was the President of Nigeria he insisted that no airline should quote or accept any currency apart from the naira and if you were going for a ticket you would have to pack naira into your suitecase just to go and pay for a ticket.

Mr. Speaker, to end, I was sad a few

months ago when the President of our Republic, President J. A. Kufuor decided to award a disabled journalist who did very well and he said he was going to give her -- I believe it was $500 or $5,000, and at the Castle it was the dollar that was given to her; he should have done that in the
Mr. Mubarak 11:30 a.m.


Hajia Alima Mahama: Mr. Speaker,

on a point of order. Mr. Speaker, the journalist of the year was to go abroad to study in Wales and the school fees is paid in dollars. So the President was supporting her to enable her attain scholastic studies internationally and that is why the $500 dollars was given. If the hon. Member does not know, he should not come here and score points by misleading the House. [Interruptions] He does not have the information; he should ask and he will know. He is misleading the House. [Interruptions.]
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Order! Order! Hon.
Members, let us have order. Hajia Mahama: It leads to the point
that the dollar -- The whole world has denominated its currency against the dollar -- [Interruptions.] Everywhere, they quote in dollars, internationally. It is a fact, so he should not be misleading the House. He should concentrate on the Statement and stop misleading the House.
Mr. Speaker 11:30 a.m.
Order! Order! Hon.
Member for Asawase, you may conclude.
Alhaji Mubarak 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, as a matter of principle, and to set the records straight, I believe the hon. Minister was further misleading the nation. To tell us that a Ghanaian President is keeping dollars at the Castle to give to someone who is going to Wales, when she knows well that in Wales they do not accept dollars, they will only take pounds from you -- [Uproar] -- If anything, the money should have been a cheque that she could withdraw and change into dollars but not to have the number one person in this country exchange in dollar -- [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
Order! Order!
Alhaji Mubarak 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, to end, I will urge all my hon. Colleagues, the Bank of Ghana, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to do well to change this perception -- [Interruption.]
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
Order! Are you concluding?
Alhaji Mubarak 11:40 a.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, I am concluding. In conclusion, I am urging the Bank of Ghana, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to do well to help change these irregularities in our economy.
Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo (NPP -- Akim Oda) 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to associate myself with this Statement. I think the Statement is on a very important matter and we should discuss it in a non-partisan manner.
I think that indeed, nations normally store their value in two things, either in gold or in dollar. This is what happens. Go to any central bank of the world, their store of value is either in gold or in dollar and therefore there is a general acceptability through the Bretton Woods institutions that the dollar is the currency of the world. But it does not mean that if we have our own currency, the cedi -- We should, in normal purchasing transaction, use the cedi. So I think that if we have a problem, let us identify the problem and let us move to resolve the problem.
Mr. Speaker, if you go to a hotel in the United Kingdom, you will see a pound but you will also see a dollar. Mr. Speaker, if you buy any ticket in the world, at the left hand corner of the air ticket is a quotation in dollars, because that is the international currency that is used. Even buying aviation fuel, no matter where you buy it, you must pay in dollars. So the dollar has a particular recognition in these matters.
But I do not believe that it is also right
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
Hon. Members, let us move on to item 7 -- Institute of Journalism Bill.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that we have one amendment to the Whistleblower Bill. I do not know whether we can take it first; there is one amendment to clause 32.
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
I understand you would need more time to go over that.
Mr. A. O. Aidooh 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, we can go ahead; I am sorry.
Mr. Speaker 11:40 a.m.
We can go ahead.
BILLS -- CONSIDERATION 11:40 a.m.
STAGE 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Haruna Iddrisu 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 1, add a subclause as follows:
“The Institute shall have academic autonomy.”
Mr. Speaker, it is a requirement of any tertiary institution to be guaranteed its academic autonomy, and it is even consistent with our constitutional provisions which deal with such institutions having the right to determine what kind of degrees and diplomas to award.
Indeed, the United Nations Education,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is very particular about interferences in the work of tertiary institutions, and I believe that an express provision of this nature will guarantee the institute the right to do that which is necessary in the award of its degrees and diplomas. I so move.
Mr. K. Adjei-Darko 11:40 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I do not think this amendment is necessary. If you look at clause 3 (b), “functions of the institute”, the institute has been given the function to award degrees, diplomas, certificates and other qualifications as may be agreed upon by the council established under section 4. So whatever degrees, diplomas and certificates they award are not subject to external interference as the hon. Member may want to think; it is only with the approval of the National Accreditation Board. So to come in with the question of autonomy, I do not think it is necessary. If you look at the functions of the council also, the council is not subject to the direction of any body except that in clause 5 (2) they are to collaborate and consult the National Accreditation Board and the National Council for Tertiary Education. So his fears have been taken care of already in the Bill and therefore the amendment is not necessary.
Mr. Osafo-Maafo 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the whole purpose of this Bill is to elevate the Institute of Journalism to tertiary level and therefore this institute becomes part of the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE). By implication all the institutions under the NCTE enjoy academic freedom. It is never stated explicitly under the statutes of University of Ghana or the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology that they should have that freedom; it is implied. This is because we are saying that they are to award diplomas, degrees, et cetera.

As pointed out, I think we need not go all out and say it because it is part of the NCTE and every institution that is part of the NCTE enjoys academic freedom -- There is a law that establishes the NCTE and it is in that law that that freedom is enshrined; it is not repeated for every single institution. So yes, what he is saying makes sense but it is unnecessary to spell it out because we are elevating this institution to become part of the tertiary system, which automatically enjoys this type of freedom.
Mr. Speaker 11:50 a.m.
Hon. Member for
Tamale South, what do you say to that?
Mr. H. Iddrisu 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am surprised to hear the former Minister for Education, Youth and Sports take this particular position. Mr. Speaker, recently he laid before this House the Polytechnics Bill -- Peruse clause 4 which was signed by him; he said: “The polytechnics shall have academic autonomy”. In one breath in a tertiary institution he wants to guarantee them academic autonomy; in another breath when it comes to the Ghana Institute of Journalism he says we should leave it for the National Accreditation Board or the NCTE.
I am saying that NCTE does not confer academic autonomy on institutions. It is part of the constitutional requirement to ensure that there is no interference in the work of the Institute. That is why even in this Bill, to provide for an academic board, we are saying that let the Institution be guaranteed academic autonomy, even though his earlier argument when we went through the Second Reading was that it can be implied. This House has an obligation and an opportunity to state it expressly. Why would we want to wade into implications with regard to legislation?
Let us put an express provision there

that the Ghana Institute of Journalism is guaranteed academic autonomy.

The National Accreditation Board does not guarantee academic autonomy; they may confer that based on the strength of an Institution's faculty and looking at other issues by which they think that it can award diplomas or degrees. But I still think that it is necessary because I have looked at his own Polytechnic Bill and I am aware that he made provision for polytechnics to be given academic autonomy; and today he is saying that when it comes to the Ghana Institute of Journalism, it may not be necessary. I find that as a serious contradiction, especially coming from him. But I think that this is not a contentious issue; we should just put it that the Institute shall have academic autonomy.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 11:50 a.m.
Mr.
Speaker, adding that particular clause is actually superfluous. The general rule and regulations governing universities or degree-awarding institutions all over the world is that they set their own criteria. No one can instruct a university to provide such courses or set its marking scheme. So including this clause is really superfluous.
Of course, the NCTE is a quality control body. Before one can pursue or initiate any programme in the university it must be approved by the NCTE. If one wants to establish a university it must be approved by the NCTE. Does it mean that the NCTE is not making universities free academically? No, it just serves as a quality control body.
The very essence of a university or a degree-awarding body is that it has its own council; it has its own academic board. So where it is provided that the institute shall be a corporate entity with powers to sue and be sued and to own property, it is presumed that it is independent.
We should not include in Bills clauses that are really unnecessary just because we want to make sure that it has academic autonomy or it has academic freedom. That is the very essence of a degree or a diploma-awarding institution. I am therefore inviting my hon. Colleague to withdraw the amendment. If he insists, I call on the House to oppose the amendment.
Mr. Speaker 11:50 a.m.
Hon. Members, I shall put the Question.
Question put and amendment negatived. Clause I ordered to stand part of the
Bill.
Clause 2 -- Objects of the Institute.
Mr. Speaker 11:50 a.m.
There is an amendment in the name of hon. Member for Tamale South. Please, move your amendment.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, if you
look at the headnote, it reads: “Objects of the institute”. But only one object is stated. So I beg to move, that we should delete “objects” and insert “object”.
We are saying that the institute shall be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution with the “object” to train its students. I so move. It is not a contentious issue; it is just to delete “objects” and insert “object”, because the thinking is for one object of the institute.
Mr. Speaker 11:50 a.m.
Hon. Members, the
amendment is for the consideration of the House. Chairman of the Committee, what do you say to that?
Mr. Adjei-Darko 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think
this is an acceptable amendment.
Question put and amendment agreed
to.
Mr. Speaker 11:50 a.m.
We move on to item
(iii), clause 2 -- Yes, there is also an amendment. Chairman of the Committee, please move your amendment.
Mr. Adjei-Darko 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker, the
Committee moves that at the end of line 3, add “and any other subject that may be determined by the council”.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 11:50 a.m.
Mr. Speaker,
I believe that this amendment may not be in the right direction. It says, “any other subject that may be determined by the council”. Can the council say that they should teach law or something? It must be something related to the objects of the institute, and the institute is to train its students in the skills and techniques of journalism, mass communication, advert is ing, public relat ions and information technology. And if we look at the functions of the council, it is not the functions of the council to determine what subjects they should teach.
So I believe that I may appreciate the reason why this amendment was proposed because probably the Committee thought that it would unnecessarily limit the remit of the institute. But I believe that this proposed amendment is too wide and may in future even lead to the institute deciding that they are going to even teach medicine.
Mr. H. Iddrisu noon
Mr. Speaker, I rise to
support the proposed amendment by the Chairman and to urge hon. Members to defeat the arguments of the Minister for Education, Science and Sports. It appears that he is not in touch with the realities as far as our education is concerned. Take the University of Science and Technology for example, if you look at the mission and vision of the institution -- At the time that it was established it was supposed to
focus on the sciences and allied sciences but today it has become necessary for them even to introduce law; and they have done that.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah noon
On a point
of order. Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. Member who just spoke, for lack of knowledge, is misleading the House.
The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology amended its statutes to enable it pursue all these other courses. That is the point that I want to make. I will leave it at that; I do not intend to debate it.
Mr. H. Iddrisu noon
Mr. Speaker, so we
do not want a situation where in future the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) will come back for an amendment of this existing legislation in order to do that which it has to do. That is why we must support the amendment by the Chairman stating that the council may in future allow the institute to do other courses.
For instance, if tomorrow the GIJ decides that they want to do international public relations, they may be able to do that, even some specialised areas of communication. So I think that I support the amendment and urge all hon. Members to vote for the amendment.
Mr. Yieleh Chireh noon
Mr. Speaker, I
speak for the amendment and the reason is simply that journalism, like any other profession, is a developing profession and many subjects come on board. It does not have to be this House which will all the time authorise them to do a new course or take a new direction that the institute should take. In any case, we should think
that the Council members know what they are about; they cannot go and do things that are not related or remotely related to the institute's assignment.
So I still think that because of the fact that there can be new directions, new subjects that may arise, we should support the amendment and let it be part of the Bill.
Mr. Mahama Ayariga noon
Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, I do not agree with the amendment that is being proposed. If the GIJ had come to us asking for a mandate to start a law school, perhaps this House would not grant that authorisation to them to start the law school. It is therefore very dangerous for us, in giving them the permission to set up an institute that would train people in journalism, to insert a clause that would enable them automatically to go into other areas that in enacting the legislation we never intended to give them the mandate to do.
I agree that there should be a clause that enables them, where there are new developments in the area that they are training the students, to move into those areas. For instance, if the amendment had read as follows: “and other related subjects” -- because we cannot foresee all the new developments in that area. So if in future they discover some new area in relation to journalism and they want to move into that area, they do not need to come back to this House.
But they cannot be given a blank
cheque to go into a completely unrelated area. And so I would rather move that we further amend this amendment to read as follows:
“and other related subjects that may be determined by the council.”
I believe this will sit well with the hon.
Minister for Education, Science and Sports.
Mr. Osafo-Maafo noon
Mr. Speaker, there
is the need to have this further amendment and I think that I have written the same thing. We cannot give them that blank cheque and I agree with the hon. Minister. But that area that they are going to go to must relate and have a bearing on the object of the whole law, and therefore there should be a further amendment to this, which gives them a restriction but related to the object of the study.
If the Chairman of the Committee will agree, I think I will support that amendment.
Mr. Speaker noon
Chairman, let us hear
you.
Mr. Adjei-Darko noon
Mr. Speaker, the
substantive Chairman is here now and so after this I will hand over to him. Mr. Speaker, I think the further amendment is acceptable.
Question put and amendment agreed
to.
Clause 2 as amended ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 3 ordered to stand part of the
Bill.
Clause 4 -- Governing body of the
Institute.
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. S. K. B. Manu) noon
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 4, subclause (1), paragraph (b), delete “Director” and substitute “Rector”.
This is to allow for uniformity, because any of the tertiary institutions, apart from the universities where we have Vice- Chancellors, any other tertiary institution
Chairman of the Committee (Mr. S. K. B. Manu) noon


that we have is being headed by a Rector. I think it will be in conformity with that convention, so that he meeting his colleagues of tertiary heads will not feel inferior by his designation.

Question put and amendment agreed to.
Mr. Manu noon
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 4, subclause (1), paragraph ( c), delete and substitute “one representative of the Ministry responsible for education”.
Mr. H. Iddrisu noon
Mr. Speaker, as you may notice, I have a related amendment. I think that it should not be “one representative of the Ministry responsible for edu-cation”. That is too big.
Specifically, I have heard the Minister for Education, Science and Sports and I have heard the former Minister. The National Council for Tertiary Education is the institution responsible for co- ordinating the activities of the tertiary institutions and so I think that we should give the mandate to the National Council for Tertiary Education and not any person at the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports.
Mr. Speaker, even today, I am aware that the National Council for Tertiary Education (NCTE) itself is almost on all the councils of the institution in tandem with the objectives that set up the National Council for Tertiary Education. So to say that somebody from the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports -- the Minister may decide tomorrow that he has a particular friend he has to send somewhere.
I think that this mandate is that of the NCTE and I oppose the amendment that we should make it “any person from the Ministry of Education”. We should narrow it to a representative of the National Council for Tertiary Education.
12. 10 p. m.
Mr. J. K. Gidisu noon
Mr. Speaker, I beg to differ from the hon. Member who just spoke, on the issue of the representation of the National Council for Tertiary Education (NTCE). This is on the premise that the NCTE is an umbrella group for all such tertiary institutions in the country and for that matter it has relations with such institutions.
Mr. Speaker, the representation of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports is quite relevant in this work, except that I would want to say that the representative of the Ministry responsible for education -- If you look at the original clause, it was specific to the Chief Director of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports and for which we are calling for an amendment.
I would therefore still maintain that in terms of the representative of the Ministry responsible for education, there is the need to, at least, refer to a person not below the rank of a Director. That would make it more responsible in terms of institutional representation from that Ministry. For that matter, I move a further amendment that there should be a representative of the Ministry responsible for education, not below the rank of a Director.
Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo noon
Mr. Speaker,
I want to support the hon. Member who just spoke. Mr. Speaker, the question of the NCTE does not come in at all. It is just a part of the many institutions under the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports. If the Ministry, in its own wisdom decides that they would pick somebody from the National Council for Tertiary Education which it has done on a number of occasions, so be it; but the respon-sibility rests at the doorsteps of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports. But I think we should qualify it so that not just anybody -- So “not below the rank of a Director” is welcome in my view and
Mr. Yaw Osafo-Maafo noon


we should support the further amendment to this amendment.
Mr. Mahama Ayariga noon
Mr. Speaker, I
think it is important for us to ask ourselves the question why we are proposing that somebody from the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports should be on the council. Mr. Speaker, in answering that question, let us also advert our minds to the last paragraph (i) of the proposed clause 4 (1). It says that the Minister should nominate two people who should be on the council. The Minister already has an opportunity to put people on the council.
So to now have another clause that says that somebody not below the rank of a Director or whatever should also be on the council clearly gives a situation where the Minister would now have three people on the council, and all those three people, I believe, would be performing the same role in terms of the co-ordination between the Ministry and this council. So I sincerely think that it is important to have as many institutions as possible that are playing a co-ordinating role on the council.
So once the hon. Minister already has an opportunity to nominate people to serve on the council, then we should reserve this one seat for the National Council for Tertiary Education. So I think I support the argument of my hon. Colleague, hon. Haruna Iddrisu, that we should have the National Council for Tertiary Education serving that role because the hon. Minister already has an opportunity to nominate people to serve on the council.
Mr. Kwadwo Adjei-Darko noon
Mr.
Speaker, the representatives or the people to be nominated by the Minister which my hon. Colleague made reference to, I think, is not supporting the argument
at all. This is because the people to be nominated do not necessarily have to be with the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports. They might be responsible citizens who may be nominated from across the spectrum. So the law should specifically give a position to the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports; and therefore the further amendment as to a representative of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports not below the rank of a Director is more appropriate. As I said, anybody can be nominated; he can be a Member of Parliament and he can be nominated by the Minister to go and serve on it.
Mr. Yieleh Chireh noon
Mr. Speaker, I
support the further amendment which says that “not below a Director”. If you look at this provision, in this House we have passed several legislations and always there is a representative of the appropriate Ministry for policy direction and so many other things, and also for contacts in the Ministry. So I think that the reason why the amendment has appeared on the Order Paper is because of the rank of Chief Director, which is too high. But the point is that if it is “not below a Director”, it is appropriate.
Indeed, there should be a further amendment to what my hon. Colleague has already indicated. It is always the President who nominates those people and we know that usually the President would rely on his Minister. So what he said is the prerogative of the Ministry -- [Interruption.] No, it is the President who normally would nominate the other persons of whom one must always be a woman. That is a legislative formula that we have in this House; and I think that the further amendment of “not below a Director” should be appropriate. The Ministry must have representatives on that council.
Mr. Osafo-Maafo noon
Mr. Speaker,
this last paragraph, “two other persons nominated by the Minister”, has nothing to do with the staff of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports. It is not likely that they may be. If you take the case of the universities, the President nominates four others, even though the Ministry is there -- four others. They are people in the country who the Minister thinks can be of assistance and support to the growth and development of the institute. So they are not staff of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports and I do not want us to confuse the two.
So the Ministry's representative should be there and the two others should also be there. There are always people outside the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports, who have knowledge of journalism and related matters. So I think it has nothing to do with it and therefore we should stick to this: “a representative of the Ministry responsible for Education, not below the rank of a Director” as we have all virtually agreed, and leave it there; because that is necessary. You would want to open it up to the generality, the private sector as it were, to enrich the representation.
Question put and amendment agreed
to.
Mr. Speaker noon
Hon. Members, item
(vi). Hon. Member, what is your wish here?
Mr. H. Iddrisu noon
Mr. Speaker, I have
no intention to abandon this amendment but I would now, with your indulgence, further seek to change clause 4 (1) (i); instead of the two other representatives, one must come from the National Council for Tertiary Education. So Mr. Speaker,
Mr. Speaker noon
Hon. Member, you are
now dealing with clause 4 (1) (i); do you want to add to it?
Mr. H. Iddrisu noon
Yes, if you would grant me leave. Because of the amendment that has been accepted, it would be difficult for me to ask for the change of (c). So where the Minister is to nominate two other persons, it is my submission that one of those persons must come from the National Council for Tertiary Education.
Mr. Speaker noon
My point is that wait till
we come to (x). But in respect of this (iv), are you abandoning that, now that we have already admitted?
Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, for now, once they have voted for somebody responsible for Education, I may want to stand it down until a later period.
Mr. Manu 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to
move, clause 4, subclause (1), paragraph (d), line 1, delete “of the Faculty”. So that the rendition will be “The Head of School of Communications Studies, University of Ghana, Legon”.
Question put and amendment agreed
to.
Mr. Manu 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move,
clause 4, subclause (1), paragraph (f), delete and substitute “one representative of the Alumni”.
Mr. Speaker, we have realized that these days, alumni of institutions are playing crucial roles in institutions' development and we think that if we give representation to the alumni on the
council, they will serve a better purpose for the development of the institution.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise
to oppose this amendment. Mr. Speaker, there is a large army of members of alumni of every institution in this country and we would be opening the floodgates if we say members of alumni of Ghana Institute of Journalism. Since its establishment, they have trained quite a respectable number of people. I think that the representation by way of convocation is more important. As for alumni, they always operate as another group outside that complements or supports the institute in its work. We do not need to insist that on its governing body, one must have a representative of the alumni.
Mr. Manu 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, tertiary institutions, universities included, have their alumni associations. I, talking now, am a member of the University of Cape Coast Alumni Association, and if one is given a place on the council, it is the association that would elect one member of theirs to represent the alumni on the council; and it does not mean that convocation would not be represented. If you look at the Bill, convocation was to have two representatives. What we are doing, in effect, is that we have given one place to alumni and one place to convocation; both would be represented.
I therefore move that the House approves the amendment proposed by the Chairman of the Committee.
Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
Chairman, we are
debating.
Mr. F. W. A. Blay 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I will
definitely agree with the principle that alumni should be included. But again, the argument put up by the Chairman appears to be contradictory, in the sense that it is rather removing that clause
Mr. F. W. A. Blay 12:20 p.m.


that gives two representatives from the convocation and instead substituting it with a represen-tative from the alumni. Where do we place the representative of convocation? There is no amendment here that has been proposed. So I would have agreed if it is going to be one member or a repre-sentative from the alumni and another member or a representative from the convocation. To me, that would be more acceptable.
Mr. Chireh 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I was at the
committee meeting and we agreed actually that this should be the amendment but that the convocation should still be there; so it is an omission.
Mr. Manu 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, if I may
clarify, there has certainly been a mix- up so the amendment for paragraph (f) should be, “delete “two” and in its place substitute “one”, so that there would be one representative of convocation, and then there would be a new paragraph that would indicate “one representative for the alumni”. That is what it should be. The draftsperson should therefore take note and do things as I have proposed.
Question put and amendment agreed
to.
Mr. Manu 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to
move, clause 4, subclause (1), paragraph (g), delete “one” and substitute “two”.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose the amendment. The original provision of one representative of the media industry should be maintained. Mr. Speaker, what is the justification for wanting to increase it to two, other than that they are not only doing journalism, they do public relations, they do information communication technology? We would have been asking for one --one more representative of each of the people

in those areas. I think that we should maintain the one representative of the media industry. Therefore, I stand opposed to the amendment.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that the original clause should be left to stay. One representative of the media industry should be more than enough to represent the interest of the media industry and bring their perspectives to bear on discussions at meetings of the council and, indeed, policies of the institute.
So I invite the Chairman to withdraw the amendment.
Mr. Manu 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I humbly withdraw the amendment proposed.
Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
It is being withdrawn by the Chairman himself.
Mr. Speaker 12:20 p.m.
Hon. Member for Bawku Central, are you not allowing him to withdraw?
Mr. Ayariga 12:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am concerned about a pattern that I have noticed; that for representation of specific institutions, we know who is going to be the representative. For instance, when we say Students' Representative Council (SRC) President, we know who is going to be the SRC President. When we talk about the media industry, the question is, who nominates the representative? For the others, we know the hon. Minister does the nomination.
Somebody is proposing that the President -- when we say a representative of the media industry, the question is who chooses the representative of the media industry? It is not provided for. We are about to see a situation where all sorts of players in the media industry would arrogate to themselves the right to choose
who should represent them on the council.
So inasmuch as I am not in disagre- ement with having a representative from the media industry, we need to define the nominating authority. Who nominates the representative of the media industry?
Mr. Speaker 12:30 p.m.
Hon. Member for Bawku Central, what do you make of this clause 4 (2)?
Mr. Ayariga 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, subclause (2) talks about appointments, not the nominations. After they have been nominated, the President does the appointment. So before the appointment, who nominates who so that the President will appoint?
Mr. Manu 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, per the amendment being proposed by the hon. Member for Bawku Central, he seems to be looking at the media industry as a chaotic industry where there are no rules and regulations. Mr. Speaker, to the best of your Committee's knowledge, the National Media Commission is there to regulate the activities and co-ordinate the activities of the media industry. So if he wants to know who would do the nomination, I will inform him that the National Media Commission would organize a meeting at which a representative would be nominated for them.
rose
Mr. Speaker 12:30 p.m.
Hon. Member for Bawku Central, I will suggest that if you think you have an amendment you come back properly. In the meantime, let us deal with “one representative for the media industry”. You can come back.
Mr. Ayariga 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the confusion is already being made apparent
Mr. Speaker 12:30 p.m.
Hon. Member, let me call you before you contribute. Do you see the point that I am making?
Mr. Ayariga 12:30 p.m.
Yes, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker 12:30 p.m.
Yes, let us deal with this “one” instead of “two” then you can come back later to the question of the media industry.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, with your indulgence, I will move a further amendment that “one representative of the media industry nominated by the Ghana Journalists Association”.
Mr. Speaker 12:30 p.m.
I will suggest that you think about this. In the meantime, let us go on. Chairman of the Committee, you are therefore abandoning your amend-ment -- are you not?
Mr. Manu 12:30 p.m.
Fine, sir.
Mr. Speaker 12:30 p.m.
You are abandoning that? That is (ix).
Mr. Manu 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the “two representatives” that has been withdrawn.
Mr. Speaker 12:30 p.m.
Yes, so it is withdrawn. That is all right; that is withdrawn.
Mr. Manu 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 4, subclause (1), paragraph (i), after “persons” insert “one of whom shall be a woman”.
Mr. Speaker, your Committee looked at the Bill and we felt that affirmative action should reflect in this case and so we propose that a woman be made part of the council.
Mr. Chireh 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I support
the amendment but I want to say that to be consistent with our own rules, it should be “by the President”. The nomination should be by the President and not the Minister because the President has a bigger view and can decide who comes in there, but the Minister may be narrowed in maybe selecting his own or somebody else. So it should be by the President.
Mr. Ayariga 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think the President appoints the Minister and so I do not see the danger in having the Minister who is appointed by the President appointing a nominee to the Council. In any case, the President is the final appointing authority by subclause (2) of that clause. So I think that it is all right for the Minister to nominate. I also think that in nominating, he cannot act in a way that does not serve the interest of the President since the President is the person who appointed him. So I think that we need to abandon the amendment proposed by my hon. Colleague.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to support the amendment. I believe that we have over the years in our public utterances made claims that we wanted to achieve affirmative action or increase the participation of women in our decision- making process. To that extent, I think that we should qualify it that, of the two of those other persons to be nominated by the Minister, one shall be a woman.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Clause 4 as amended ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 5 -- Functions of the Council.
Mr. Manu 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that this particular subclause is in the disjunctive - I mean it is to manage the institute and initiate policies for the institute. That is my understanding of this particular subclause. One does not manage policies. One manages an entity so it is to manage the institute and initiate policies for the institute. That is the meaning. I therefore ask the hon. Chairman to reconsider his proposed amendment.
Mr. Speaker 12:30 p.m.
Hon. Member for Wa West, what do you say?
Mr. Chireh 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, from the argument of the Minister for Education, Science and Sports, if we leave it as it is, it means that we manage and initiate policies and he says we cannot manage policies. Therefore, the whole idea should be to remove “manage” because we are not talking about the management of the institute; we are talking about policies. So I will further amend it by saying we should remove “manage” in the whole clause and say “initiate policies”.
Mr. Ayariga 12:30 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I do not think it will be very appropriate for us to delete “manage” because the first and primary function of the council is to manage the institute and so if we delete the word “manage” entirely from that clause, then we would have a problem. So I think
that we should rather consider rephrasing the entire thing to capture one object which is to manage and the other being to initiate policies and implement those policies. Beyond that we need to be careful because it is not only the institute that can initiate policies in relation to the institute. The Council can initiate policies in relation to the institute, and the Ministry also has a role in terms of initiating policies that must be implemented or executed by the institute. So Mr. Speaker, with your indulgence, I think that we need to reframe the entire clause.
Mr. Speaker 12:40 p.m.
Hon. Members, at this stage, I would suggest that we abandon this and leave it to the draftsmen to come out with something much better, if at all.
Hon. Chairman, what do you think?
Mr. Manu 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, it is accepted.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 5, add a new subclause.
Mr. Speaker, if you look at the intentin of the people drafting this Bill, the Council shall be the highest decision-making body of the Institute. We have identified some responsibilities for the Council. But conspicuously missing is a very important function of the Council, which is that, and so I move that we add a new subclause as follows:
“The Council shall with the approval of the Board, award degrees, diplomas, certificates and other qualifications.”
So that, Mr. Speaker, we have clearly
defined that as part of the obligations of the council which will be the highest decision- making body of the institute.
Mr. Adjei-Darko 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I have a little problem with this amendment. Mr. Speaker, the hon. Member in defending the amendment even said that the Council is the highest body of the institute. So for the highest body to seek approval from a lower body, which is the Board, I do not think that is a proper amendment that we should consider.
Mr. Chireh 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, if you look at the Bill, it allocates powers and functions to various bodies set up under the Bill. And one of the things he is trying to do is to take one function and give it to another.
Apart from that a higher body cannot have the approval of a lower body to do something. The Council is the highest. But if you look at the award of the degrees, it is given to the academic board. And in fact, if you go further, you will see that these are clear. So I would plead with him to withdraw the amendment.
Mr. Ayariga 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, it has not been shown anywhere in the Bill that the Board has been given the mandate to award degrees and diplomas, et cetera. Mr. Speaker, we all know that normally, it is the Council that awards the degrees.
Mr. Speaker, I agree with the amendment proposed by the hon. Member for Tamale South, except to further amend his amendment to read: “. . . on the recommendation of the board”, not
“…. with the approval of the board”. The argument that a higher body cannot seek approval from a lower body is appropriate. I think that the Board is the one that should really make recom-mendations to the Council so that the Council can then award the degrees.
Mr. Speaker 12:40 p.m.
So you are saying that: “The council shall, on the recommen- dation of the board . . .” Is that what you are suggesting?
Mr. Ayariga 12:40 p.m.
Precisely, Mr. Speaker.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I am opposed to this amendment. The institute awards a degree. So if you look at clause 3 (b), it says:
“The institute shall (b) award degrees, diplomas, certificates and other qualifications . . .”
It is always the institution; it is the university that awards the degrees, not the council of the university. It is the university itself. As regards the processes, it is an internal matter that should not be governed by the law establishing the institute. So it is catered for under clause 3 (b).
Mr. Speaker 12:40 p.m.
Hon. Minister, you said “award degrees, diplomas and other qualifications as may be agreed upon …” You omitted the phrase “by the Council”. That is what I would want to draw your attention to. So if you have any comment thereon, you may please go ahead.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, that is why I am saying that this amendment is not necessary. The governing body of the institute is the Council. So if the institute is awarding degrees, the governing Council does it. The governing Council does not need to seek the approval of any other body in awarding degrees to people or
Mr. Speaker 12:40 p.m.
Hon. Minister, I have another problem. If you could go over to clause 14 (e); you may read that.
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, clause 14(e) says that the Academic Board determines the policy and procedure for the assessment and examination of students; determines the policy and procedure for the award of degrees, et cetera. It determines but it is the Council that awards it.
Mr. Chireh 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I earlier on advised that my hon. Colleague should withdraw the amendment. But with the further amendment by the hon. Member for Bawku Central, that “The Council shall, on the recommendation of the Board …” I support it. This is because clause 14 emphasizes the point. The Board is just to determine so and so on the advice of the Academic Board, the Council then awards the degrees, et cetera. So that further amendment makes it correct.
Mr. Manu 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I oppose the amendment. This is because as we have said, and as is the practice, the Council awards the degree. But when the hon. Member for Tamale South takes his law degree outside, he would say: “I was awarded a degree by the University of Ghana”, he would not say, “by the Council of the University of Ghana”.
So his amendment is misplaced. I therefore oppose it and urge hon. Members to vote against the amendment.
Mr. Ayariga 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, it is true that degrees are obtained from institutions but an agency in that institution awards them. So if you look at all the degrees that we have, they will normally write “the Council”. They should go and look at their degrees and they will find out that it will be
written, “It is being awarded to you by the Council”. So I think that this amendment corresponds to other provisions in this particular Bill.
This is because, if you look at the Bill itself, clause 3(b), it says
“award degrees, diplomas and other qualifications as may be agreed upon by the Council established under section 4…”
And then there are other provisions, which Mr. Speaker has adverted our minds to that clearly support the fact that the Council should be the one that awards the degrees and based on the recommendations of the Board. The Board is simply to set out the procedures, how the assessment should be done, et cetera, and when the Board thinks that you qualify, the Board will then make a recommendation to the Council and the Council will agree that you should be awarded a degree.
So please, Mr. Speaker, let us have it that way, that the Council should be the body that awards the degrees.
Mr. J. B. Aidoo 12:40 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, the intention of the amendment is all right. I think the problem is with the rendition. Mr. Speaker, every tertiary institution awards its own degrees and certificates but does so under the supervision of the Council. So the Council supervises the award of degrees, certificates and so on and so forth, and therefore if the hon. Member who proposed the amendment could change the rendition.
Mr. Speaker 12:40 p.m.
The further amendment proposed is “The Council, on the recommendation of the Board . . .” That is what is being proposed.
Mr. Adjei-Darko 12:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, from the explanation given by the hon. Member for Amenfi East (hon. Joseph Boahen Aidoo), I think that even makes
the amendment unnecessary, because we have already captured it under clause 3 (b), that is --
“the Institute shall award degrees, diplomas, certificates and other qualifications as may be agreed upon by the Council.”
Whatever degree or qualification that is awarded has already been agreed by the Council, so why do you bring it again under the functions of the Council? I think the amendment is not necessary.
Mr. Speaker 12:50 p.m.
Hon. Member, is
your amendment necessary? That is the question.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, let me
justify it. Mr. Speaker, as much as I agree with them that every institution awards degrees or diplomas, the institution does so through a hierarchy of structures, and that is why the Academic Board cannot go announcing that we have conferred a degree on you if the Council has not met over it. Even the Admission Board when it makes admissions, it does so subject to the approval of the Council.
We ourselves in clause 3 (b) are saying that “. . . award degrees, diplomas, certificates and other qualifications as may be agreed upon by the Council” yet in stating the functions of the Council, you omit that obligation which you have created for them. I think that part of the functions of any council of any tertiary institution has to do with the approval of the degrees and diplomas awarded by that institution. It does not mean that the degree is not coming from the institution.
Mr. Speaker, if you take University of Ghana, for instance, the Academic Board presides over your examination; they determine whether you deserve first class or second class, but the Academic Board does not make a pronouncement until the University Council sits over the report of
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 12:50 p.m.
Mr.
Speaker, as I indicated, if you look at the functions of the Council, it manages and initiates policies for the institute, and one of the functions of the institute is to award degrees. So whatever subclause the hon. Member seeks to introduce is catered for under the provisions of the Bill. It is really superfluous and relates to internal workings of the institute and therefore unnecessary. I am therefore urging the House to oppose the amendment.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Clause 5 as amended ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 6 - Tenure of office of members of the Council.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 6, subclause (1), line 2, delete all the words after “reappointment”.
Mr. Speaker, you do not need to add the provision there that “but a member shall not be appointed for more than two terms”. So Mr. Speaker, with this amendment it
would now read:
“A member of the Council other than the Director of the Institute shall hold office for a period of three years and be eligible for re-appointment.”
It should end there, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Manu 12:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think that
ending which he seeks to delete is very vital, because if you say he would be eligible for reappointment, how many times would he be reappointed -- indefinite? But if you look at our Constitution, the President has a two-term mandate and it ends there; he cannot be voted for again. So it goes for the District Chief Executives. So I think the rendition here is perfect so that one can be re-appointed after serving the first term but does not go beyond that. So it is very necessary that we keep the rendition. I therefore oppose the amendment.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 12:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want,
with your leave, to withdraw the proposed amendment but to further crave your indulgence to ask for the deletion of the words “a member”. Because it started with “a member”, you do not need to repeat “a member” even if you are giving them an opportunity for reappointment. So it would now read as:
“A member of the Council other than the Director of the Institute shall hold office for a period of three years and is eligible for reappointment but shall not be appointed for more than two terms.”
We do not need to put “a member” so I ask for the deletion of the words “a member”.
Mr. Speaker 12:50 p.m.
Chairman of the
Committee, what do you say to this?
Mr. Manu 12:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, since it
is a question of grammar and does not destroy the element of the rendition, your Chairman accepts it, sir.
Mr. Speaker 12:50 p.m.
Hon. Members, as
you can see, the original amendment is abandoned but clause 6, subclause (1), line 2 and the beginning of line 3, it is being proposed that we should omit the words “a member”.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Mr. Manu 12:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 6, subclause (4), line 2, delete “Board” and substitute “Council”. Mr. Speaker, it is because the headnote for this part of the clause is dealing with the Council and not the Board. And so I do not know how the “Board” found its way here; it does not belong here; we are talking about the Council, sir.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Clause 6 as amended ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 7 - Meetings of the Council.
Mr. Adjei-Darko 12:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I
wanted to catch your eye before you - the “Board” appears twice so I hope they will take a look at that.
Mr. Speaker 12:50 p.m.
It is going to be a
consequential amendment so it is all right, that would be done.
Mr. Manu 12:50 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 7, subclause (3), line 2, delete “Director” and substitute “Rector”. Mr. Speaker, reasons have been given and this therefore becomes a consequential amendment.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg
to move, clause 7, subclause (3), line 2, delete all the words after “capacity”.
Mr. Speaker, if you look at clause
7(3), it talks about the quorum of the Council, the composition of which is determined under clause 4, as we have already determined. Now, we have a membership of up to 11 and I think that the quorum we are seeking to define there is five members which shall include the Director of the Institute. So to say that, “or a greater number determined by the Council”, which number are we talking about? Are we talking about the numbers as determined in clause 4 or 5? How can you say a greater number of the five?
I think that, Mr. Speaker, it is about construction. Mr. Speaker, with your indulgence, let me quote how the new clause should read --
“The quorum at a meeting of the Council is five members of the Council and shall include the Director of the Institute or the person acting in that capacity.”
It should end there. We do not need to add - “or a greater number determined by the Council in respect of an important matter”. You are determining quorum, and you are saying that it is five, except that it must include the Director of the Institute. If you say a greater number -- of which number? Are you talking of the five which is the minimum for the quorum or the 11 members approved in the Council?
Papa Owusu-Ankomah 1 p.m.
Mr.
Speaker, I believe that that particular addition was put there for a purpose. It says for an important matter which will be determined by the “Council”, the “Council” will determine the quorum which may be greater than the five, there

is nothing wrong with that. For important matters relating to 1, 2 or 3, we shall have a quorum of, let us say, seven, instead of five; it must lie within the power of the Council to determine that.
Mr. Chireh 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think it is
important that this quorum be determined, because if you say that the Council will determine the quorum, first, the Council has to meet to determine that quorum. But I will suggest that, as a Parliament, we should decide that it should be two-thirds when it is an important matter. This is a recurring clause; it is not a new one and I agree entirely that it should be there. But in what form? We should not give the freedom to the Council to decide at any time what is important and therefore what number should be the quorum.
We should say that where it is an important matter -- and in this particular case, I am thinking about when you are talking about a Budget, when you are talking about approval for some important policy or statutes of the Institute. In such a case, we should insist on giving a definite two-thirds majority to be present at the meeting.
Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
Chairman, do you agree to that?
Mr. Adjei-Darko 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I want to go with the rendition as given by the last hon. Member who spoke. This is because where, for example, the decision involves the removal of a Rector and you simply say a greater number, by just adding one, it is greater than five. So let us be specific about the upper sealing for those special occasions which will warrant the special quorum. In fact, we have been practising it in the House. When it comes to resolutions, especially financial matters, we have a specific number which we have to go over and above, otherwise you may not achieve it, even when you have a majority in the House.
Mr. Speaker 1 p.m.
So kindly suggest what the rendition should be.
Mr. Osafo-Maafo 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think the two principles are important; that we should have two different quota -- one for normal operations and one for special matters. As the Minister said, when you want to remove a Rector -- and it happened in one of our Polytechnics -- there was a big problem -- we need two-thirds. Therefore, we do not also want to give it away by just saying a greater number. So let us be specific and let us abide by the conventional two-thirds which would then make sure that in all special matters, the quorum should be two-thirds. I think it is all right.
Mr. Ayariga 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I equally agree that there are two principles that are very important here, one, the need to have a minimum and two, the need to also have some freedom given to the Council to determine when issues are special and when they are not.
Mr. Speaker, the danger here is that, we are not in the best position to determine which issues are very important and which issues are ordinary. And I think that the current rendition gives the power to the Council to determine which issues are very important for which there should be a higher quorum and which issues are less important and I think that, this rendition is the best.
Indeed, there may be issues that they think that the two-thirds is too small a number, given the circumstances of their case. So if we give the Council greater leeway, so that they can determine the quorum depending on the issue that they are dealing with, it will be better because we here cannot imagine all the scenarios and begin to fix quorum for each specific scenario. I think that the current rendition
is the best, that we have a minimum but that in matters that the Council has some different opinion about its level of importance, they should determine the appropriate quorum.
Mr. Chireh 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I would have liked to agree with him, but you see, in our Constitution, Parliament is the master of its own procedures. But the Constitution says that two-thirds must be the number which decides certain matters. I am just saying that if we have a Council -- We think that every Council should work in good faith. But if we have a Council and they have a particular important matter, we are not going to determine what is important for them here.
We are talking about giving them a maximum number that should decide on important matters. We are taking no decision to decide for them what is important and I was just giving examples of what can be considered important.
Importantly, if we do not have any indication as the majority, indeed some Council Members, when it is important, they just add that “Today, we decided that seven will be the majority for that important thing”. This leeway is not fair; it is too broad a leeway for people. We should also limit them to a particular number and I will propose two-thirds of the membership of the Council.
Mr. Agbesi 1 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I think that the rendition, as we have now, should be the best. Because any matter that may come before the Council, they will decide what is so important and the quorum for that matter and to limit it now will not be appropriate. I think that we should give them the leeway to determine the quorum, depending upon the issue before them.
Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
You are disagreeing with the two-thirds membership?
Mr. Adjei-Darko 1:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker,
everybody has been saying we should give the Council the opportunity to determine. Now at what forum are they going to determine? There should be a meeting before they determine it. And what is the quorum for that meeting? So if the matter to be decided on is so crucial, there should be a specific quorum. But if we say the Council should -- Is it the secretary who will sit in his office and say that the Council has decided that because this is important the quorum is six or seven? He should be guided by something. So at what meeting are they going to decide it, after all? So the ceiling is necessary.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 1:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, having
listened to the arguments I think that first of all I need your leave to stand down my original proposed amendment -- to withdraw it. And then I will associate myself with the amendment proposed by hon. Yieleh Chireh so that the clause will now read as follows:
“The quorum at a meeting of the Council is five members of the Council and shall include the Rector of the Institute or the person acting in that capacity or two-thirds of the membership of the Council in respect of an important matter.”
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 1:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg
to move, clause 7, subclause (4), after the word “present” delete all the words so that it will read
“The chairperson shall preside at meetings of the Council and in the absence of the chairperson, a member of the Council elected by the members present”.
It should end there; we do not need
Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
Chairman of the
Committee, what do you say to that?
Mr. Manu 1:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, that is an innocuous amendment and I think it can be accommodated.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Clause 7 as amended ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 8 - Disclosure of interest.
Mr. Manu 1:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 8, subclause (1), line 2, after “writing” insert “to the Council”.
Mr. Speaker, the reason is that if we say a member of the Council who has an interest in a matter for consideration by the Council shall disclose in writing the nature of that interest and is disqualified from participating in the deliberations of the Council in respect of that matter, and we do not indicate to whom he will address his letter, he can write the letter but the letter will be floating around without getting to the appropriate quarters. So we propose that he should write to the Council for the matter to be considered.
Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
Hon. Members, the amendment is for the consideration of the House. Yes, hon. Member for Wa West?
Mr. Chireh 1:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, when we
were discussing this, we came to this point but I emphasized that it should be the chairman. Normally in all the Bills we indicate whom the information should be given to and that any member who has a conflict of interest situation should write to the chairman. So I support the amendment but I think it should be replaced by the “chairman” and not the “Council”.
Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
You mean, “the chairman of the council”?
Mr. Chireh 1:10 p.m.
Yes.
Mr. Adjei-Darko 1:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, this
issue came up but what if it is the chairman himself who is involved? Does he write to himself? So the appropriate thing should be the “Council”, so that when it goes to the Council, it is for the information of the Council and therefore - But immediately we make it “to the chairman”, and if the chairman is the person involved here, he can say that he has written to himself.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Clause 8 as amended ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Clause 9 - Committees of the Council.
Mr. Manu 1:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 9, line 1, delete “Board” and substitute “Council”.
Mr. Speaker, we are talking about the Council and the “Board” should not be seen featuring here.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Clause 9 as amended ordered to stand part of the Bill.
Mr. Speaker 1:10 p.m.
Hon. Members, let us
finish with clause 10.
Mr. Manu 1:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to
move, clause 10, subclause (2), paragraph (g), delete “on” and substitute “for”.
This is because the name of the Council is National Council “for” Tertiary
Education and not “on” Tertiary Education.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Mr. Manu 1:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, clause 10, subclause (2), add a new subclause as follows:
“ (k ) any o the r r e cogn i zed profes- sional body that the Council may approve.”
Mr. Speaker, because with the current dispensation where there is freedom of association, there may come up a professional body whose activities may be found relevant to the work of the institute. That is why we are making room for the unknown, should it happen.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 1:10 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, this is a very unnecessary amendment. Mr. Speaker, if you look at the functions of the institute under clause 3 and objects of the institute under clause 2, its mandate and mission is specific -- train people in media, public relations, information com- munication technology (ICT), et cetera. If we look at clause 10, almost all those groups which have something to do with either public relations or journalism or others have been identified.
We do not need to add a new proviso that any other recognized group -- We have dealt with one representative of the National Media Commission, Ghana Journalists Association and Public Relations Association, so why do we need to add another one which is unknown by saying we should qualify it with a case? I think this is an unnecessary amendment and that we should oppose it.
Mr. Chireh 1:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I support
the amendment. The reason for doing so is similar to what we gave earlier on a related subject - because in any institution which is developing, something may crop up and we need to have somebody on that Council whose advice or whose counsel would be very appropriate for the running of the institute. I think we can put there something like this:
“Where the President or the Council thinks that there is somebody who can advise the Council on a new technology or a new way of doing something, he should be catered for.”
I think that it is very appropriate, that we should have futuristic ideas when we are passing a law.
Mr. J. B. Aidoo 1:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I also
support the amendment in the sense that the list we have here is not exhaustive. Certainly there might be other areas that might not have been captured in this list and therefore the latitude should be given to the Council, as and when it deems fit, to bring in other professional bodies.
Question put and amendment agreed to.
Mr. H. Iddrisu 1:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, even before we proceed on this, it appears that the Chamber is getting emptier and emptier, and this is a very important piece of legislation that affects the future of young people who would want to go into public relations or journalism. To that extent, I want the hon. Minister for Education, Science and Sports to move for an adjournment of today's proceedings so that we can continue tomorrow.
Mr. Speaker 1:20 p.m.
But before you do so, hon. Member for Tamale South, we will abandon, this amendment, (xxii). The mover is not in the House and it is abandoned.
Nii Adu Daku Mante: Mr. Speaker,
I beg to move, that this House do now adjourn till tomorrow at 10.00
in the forenoon to continue with the proceedings.
Mr. J. Y. Chireh 1:20 p.m.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to second the motion.
Question put and motion agreed to.
ADJOURNMENT 1:20 p.m.
  • The House was accordingly adjourned at 1.25 p.m. till 19th July, 2006 at 10.00 a.m.