STATEMENT BY THE CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SIERRA LEONE, HIS EXCELLENCY
DR. ERNEST BAI KOROMA
AT THE INAUGURATION
OF THE UNIVERSITY COURT
ON 14TH MARCH, 2012

Ministers of Government
Mr. Speaker of Parliament
Hon. Chief Justice
Hon. Ministers of Government
Your Excellencies Members of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps
His Worship the Ag.Mayor of the Municipality of Freetown
Chairman and Members of the TEC
Mr. Pro Chancellor of the University of Sierra Leone
Mr. Vice Chancellor and Principal, University of Sierra Leone
Members of Court and Senate
Senior Academic and Administrative Staff of the University of Sierra Leone
Students Representatives
Distinguishes Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a great honour for me to be here today to participate in the inauguration of the Court of the University of Sierra Leone.

The University Court is the highest administrative and policy making authority of the University to which the Vice Chancellor and Principal reports. The powers and functions of Court as determined by the Universities Act of 2005 are very wide and pivotal to the proper functioning of University of Sierra Leone. I challenge you therefore to use them to help the University to produce the Teachers, Engineers, Administrators, Policy Makers and Planners in sufficient numbers and quality for the public and private sector.

My Government expects much from the University of Sierra Leone for national development and from what I can see here today, especially with respect to the composition of this Court, I have full confidence that we in Government and the nation generally will not be disappointed. My government wants stability in the tertiary education system; strike actions by senior staff, junior staff and students are not in the interest of government and indeed the nation.
Mr. Pro. Chancellor, I am aware that according to the Universities Act of 2005, Court is responsible among other things, for the discipline of staff and Senate for the students. However, I must not fail to use every occasion including this one to again vehemently condemn the noxious practice of Cultism among our students and urge University authorities to confront this menace squarely with a view to bringing it to a definitive end.

I am sure you are all aware of the incident that took place recently in a forest near Bo. Students cannot be denied the opportunity to form and belong to any group of their choice, as long as that group operates according to standards set by the University and within civilized context. We have a responsibility to protect our children and posterity and we cannot afford to fail them. We will therefore stand by the administration in their effort to eliminate this menace.

Because of the myriad of challenges facing universities in the past couple of decades, running an institution like this one can indeed be a herculean task. This is all the more reason why my government is not only grateful to those that are put in charge of meeting these challenges but also determined to ensure that Government continues to give support to the efforts of the University to forge ahead.

However, I must hasten to state, ladies and gentlemen, that if the University wants continued government support in meeting its mission, it must be prepared to be more innovative in its operations with a view to minimizing dependence on government for financial support. I feel constrained to reiterate this stance: if government should continue to put its hard earned resources at the disposal of any of its higher institutions the latter must, in addition to being more innovative, show transparency in the conduct of its affairs.

Thus my Government, through the Strategic Policy Unit at State House, has been talking to the state Universities and other government—subvented higher education institutions with a view to entering into contract with them whereby Government will be able to see the performances of these institutions with respect to the goals they set themselves in meeting their mission and purpose.

This development is a follow up to the performance contracts I signed with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and other government ministries. So far as monitoring the higher education system is concerned, one cannot limit the contract to the Minister since he does not directly supervise tertiary institutions which have their own separate managements. The beauty of performance contracting is that it offers the institution itself the opportunity of constantly monitoring itself to see whether it is meeting the goals it has set itself. Thus I believe that both the University authorities and staff should embrace it from the outset. If all concerned see it from this perspective we shall all eventually be in a position to see where we are going and what we are achieving in meeting national aspirations.

Mr. Pro Chancellor, you have arrived at a time when the salaries of senior and senior supporting academic and administrative staff of the University of Sierra Leone have been improved significantly, and we hope to continue to improve them further in the next couple of years as the national revenue base continues to improve. However, both management and staff must realize that to whom much is given much is expected. For a long time staff salaries in this University had remained static until when my government increased the subvention of the University to allow some increases to be made, which, as already indicated, have been improved again dramatically.

I note with satisfaction the growing number of aspirants for University matriculation over the past years and while it is my wish to see the trend continue, I wish to state emphatically that I have a grouse with some of the entrants to our Universities. It is as if some come here not to get education and discipline, but to spread indiscipline, ignorance and anti-behaviour. The University court has an obligation to hold the line for the sacred values of learning, discipline and civility. You must not relent. I hereby pledge my government's unrelenting support to your obligation to ensure that the right environment is created and maintained for the smooth running of the University's programs. This involves enforcing the rules and regulations that govern the operations of the University, particularly with respect to staff and students discipline. Of course, academic freedom and autonomy is a concept that is still relevant in higher education. This however, does not mean that the individual, be it a student or a member of staff, should be in control.

Education, particularly higher education, is clearly an expensive business and there is hardly any government that can fully fund it. At the same time, however, we owe it to society to make this commodity available to as many persons as possible that meet the University's entry requirements, and the staff must endeavor to provide quality and relevant education for its students.

This may appear to be a very challenging responsibility, but I believe that prudent utilization of the University's resources, particularly the human component, would go a very long way in meeting this challenge. Universities worldwide no longer remain complacent in an ever changing environment. They employ a more business-like approach to ensure the maximal use of their resources to produce even more acceptable graduates for national development.

Trusting that the University will live up to the objects of its establishment, I hereby formally inaugurate the new Court and to wish it very objective and fruitful deliberations for the good of the University of Sierra Leone and our beloved Sierra Leone.

I thank you all