University must address governance issue

The news that the University Council is ‘paralysed’ because the Government had still not appointed the 13 members that represent it may seem dramatic. University courses and students’ lives on campus are unlikely to have been affected much by this inertia. However, it does raise an issue about the governance of this educational institution.

The country’s sole University is owned and financed by the State. So it is to be expected that the Government reserves the right to appoint the majority of members sitting on the council, the main governing body of the University. Like the board of directors of any commercial company, the University council has to endorse certain management decisions to ensure that there is proper oversight on the executive arm.

The members of the University council should be ‘fit and proper’ to deserve the trust of the stakeholders of this institution: the students, the academic staff, the educational authorities and the taxpayers who finance the venture. A governing council with 24 members seems far too large for any organisation and a rationalisation exercise could be a first step to strengthen corporate governance.

The delays in appointing new members on the University council after a change in Administration can and should be avoided. In a democracy, changes in political administration are common and, therefore, the appointment of new council members to represent the Government on the University council should not have taken so long.

The debate on the criteria that should be followed when considering appointing people on the boards of government-controlled entities flares up after every election. Merit should, of course, be the guiding principle but, then, deciding on merit is, at times, very subjective. If there is one place where the appointment of decision-makers should be done purely on merit it must be in the University’s governing bodies.

Unfortunately, in a country where most people are labelled with a political identity mark from when they acquire the right to vote, it is not easy to determine whether public appointments are made purely on merit or whether the political CV of a person is vetted before being considered for a public post.

Some positive changes have taken place in the last few years but many believe that ‘the usual tribal priorities’ that a party in government usually has may still be influencing public appointments. Both main political parties profess that they are in favour of promoting a system based on merit for public appointments. However, when in power, they tend to succumb to grassroots pressures to address the imbalances in public appointments that a previous Administration would have created. Beyond addressing the administrative inefficiencies that are experienced when the University council is not duly constituted, the educational authorities should work on reviewing the governance structure of the University itself as well as other tertiary education institutions.

The sooner this country has an educational system that is insulated from partisan politics, the better will be the chances of upgrading the achievement levels of students.

Over the past few weeks, there have been sad stories about the low achievement records of primary school students in maths and science as well as the poor command of the English language of many of the students at all levels.

A smaller University council with the right mix of skills and competences of people with different political leanings or who are simply apolitical would be a step forward in ensuring a better governance structure. There are valid candidates around to choose from.