Equity policies in higher education : a legal evaluation of institutional responses

Abstract

ABSTRACT Higher education equity policies have for as long as they have existed provoked serious legal controversy, especially in the largest system of higher education, i.e. the USA. In as much as these legal troubles have not arisen (yet) in Ghana, it can’t be taken for granted that such problems are far-fetched. In that sense this study is a work ahead of its time; in drawing analogies from American case Law, the work attempts to predict the possible legal issues that may arise in the Ghanaian jurisdiction and the possible legal solutions. It does this in the context of the Gender affirmative action policy and the less endowed School policy implemented by the University of Ghana. To achieve this broad goal, the work proceeded by identifying the main features of these policies, the rationale for their adoption and the procedures for their implementation. Within an analytical framework of the filter model, carved out of the tenets of sociological jurisprudence, the project, using a legal methodology, evaluated the legal merits of these policies against the standards set by the Constitution of Ghana, as well as the Narrow tailoring analysis and Instrumental test evolved by American Jurisprudence. After carefully examining the legal literature as well as policy documents available, it was discovered that the two policies as implemented are bereft of the crucial standards of fairness and non-discrimination required by the constitution and therefore have weak legs to stand on in Law. It was also discovered that the procedures for their implementation are not sufficiently narrowly tailored to pass the legal test. For these reasons, the work ends by suggesting ways of improving such policies to make them more legally passable.