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An Accra Human Rights Court has ordered the Methodist University College (MUC) to reinstate 65 students sacked two years ago.

It further described the decision to revoke the admission letters offered by the Christian-based University College as illegal, and with no basis in law.

A cost of GHC10,000 was awarded against the defendants, which include the MUC, the Ministry of Education and the National Accreditation Board.

The MUC terminated the admission of some students a year after they were admitted to pursue various programmes, on the grounds that they had not met the requirement s set up by the National Accreditation Board.

Others had their certificates withheld, after completion of their programmes at the university based on the same claims.
Similarly, higher diploma certificate holders who were admitted to level 200 and 300 were also sacked, while those who graduated had their certificates withheld.

The affected students on May 17, 2013, filed a motion seeking the enforcement of their fundamental human rights, specifically their right to education.

A written address filed by their lawyers to the court stated among others that, the students relied on a Daily Graphic issue of January 7, 2014, which carried an advertisement by MUC for admission of students for the 2011/12 academic year.

The said publication was put in the public domain by the university after obtaining accreditation and re-accreditation, and the entry requirements from the National Accreditation Board, the institution mandated by law to regulate the operations of tertiary institution in the country.

For students to be admitted, the motion said they must obtain passes in core Mathematics, English Language, Integrated Science and Social Studies not exceeding aggregate 24.

It said based on that, the students applied for various programmes for which they were admitted, and paid fees ranging between GHC1,400 and GHC2,686, depending on the courses a student offered.

However, after staying in the school for an academic year, the National Accreditation board issued a directive on May 28, 2012 under the authorship of its Executive Secretary, Mr Kwame Dattey, directing the university to withdraw the students from the school because their grades (the students) were fraught with deficiencies.

According to the National Accreditation Board, the West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination and Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination grades of D7 and E8 are not credit passes and, therefore, should not be used in computing the overall aggregate score of 24.

But the students opposed that interpretation by the Board on the grounds that the West African Examination Council’s interpretation of D7 and E8 on the results slip meant a pass and not a fail.

They contended that the Council had sat on the Board that approved the accreditations and entry requirements for all tertiary institutions since 2000, with same published in the media as advertisements.

It is the case of National Accreditation Board that the MUC ought to have reverted to the equivalences of other qualifications and having failed to do so, the students who applied with the Higher National Diploma, Diploma in Business Studies, RSA Par II and III ought to be sacked from the university.