Institute of Education (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 1/1984

Read the first time on 17th January 1984.

An Act to amend the Institute of Education Act (Chapter 176 of the Revised Edition).

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows:

Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Institute of Education (Amendment) Act 1984.

Amendment of section 4

2. Section 4(1)(a) of the Institute of Education Act (referred to in this Act as the principal Act) is deleted and the following paragraph substituted therefor:

“(a)	the provision of courses of study for the training of teachers and other persons in the various fields of sports and education;”.

Amendment of section 5

3. Section 5 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting subsections (1) and (2) and substituting the following subsections:

“(1) The management of the Institute and of its properties and affairs shall be vested in the Council consisting of —

(a)	a Chairman to be appointed by the Minister;
(b)	a Deputy Chairman to be appointed by the Minister;
(c)	the Director;
(d)	heads of colleges established under section 11A; and
(e)	not less than 8 nor more than 14 other members as the Minister may from time to time appoint.

(2) A member of the Council whose appointment was made by the Minister shall, unless his appointment is revoked under subsection (5) or unless he resigns during his period of office, hold office for a period of 3 years.”;

(b)

by deleting subsection (4) and substituting the following subsection:

“(4) If a member resigns, dies or has his appointment revoked or otherwise vacates his office before the expiry of the term for which he has been appointed, the Minister may appoint a person to fill the vacancy for the residue of the term for which the vacating member was appointed.”; and

(c)

by deleting subsection (6).

Repeal and re-enactment of section 7

4. Section 7 of the principal Act is repealed and the following section substituted therefor:

“Meetings of the Council

7.—(1) The Council shall meet for the despatch of business at such times and places as the Chairman may from time to time appoint.

(2) At every meeting of the Council 7 members shall form a quorum.

(3) All questions arising at any meeting of the Council shall be decided by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting, except that in the case of an equality of votes, the Chairman or, in his absence, the Deputy Chairman shall have a casting vote.

(4) The Chairman or, in his absence, the Deputy Chairman shall preside at all meetings of the Council; in the absence of both the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman, the members present shall elect one of their number to preside at the meeting.

(5) Subject to the provisions of this Act and any regulations made under section 21, the Council shall have power to regulate its own procedure.”.

Amendment of section 10

5. Section 10(b) of the principal Act is amended by deleting the word “departments” and substituting the word “schools”.

New section 11A

6. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 11, the following section:

“Establishment of colleges

11A.—(1) The Institute may establish such number of colleges as the Council may think fit.

(2) A college shall be responsible to the Council for the organisation of such courses of study within the purview of the college and may exercise such other functions as may be conferred on it by regulations.

(3) The Council shall appoint a person to be the head of a college, and the head shall have such designation as may be prescribed by regulations, and if owing to absence on leave or for any other reason the head of a college is unable to perform his duties the Council may appoint a person to perform those duties for such time as the disability may continue.

(4) The head of a college shall be responsible to the Council for the organisation of teaching and research in his college.

(5) The Council shall establish an academic board for a college which shall advise the Council on academic matters pertaining to the college.

(6) The Council may from time to time assign to an academic board of a college such duties as the Council may think fit.

(7) An academic board of a college shall consist of —

(a)	the head of the college who shall be the chairman; and
(b)	such other persons as the Council may from time to time appoint.”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 12

7. Section 12 of the principal Act is repealed and the following section substituted therefor:

“Common seal

12.—(1) The common seal of the Institute shall be kept in such custody as the Council directs.

(2) All deeds, documents and other instruments requiring the seal of the Institute shall be sealed with the common seal of the Institute, and such instruments to which the common seal is affixed shall be signed by the Director and another member of the Council.

(3) All courts, judges and persons acting judicially shall take judicial notice of the common seal of the Institute affixed to any document and shall presume that it was duly affixed.”.

Repeal and re-enactment of sections 15 and 16

8. Sections 15 and 16 of the principal Act are repealed and the following sections substituted therefor:

“Accounts and financial statements

15.—(1) The Institute shall keep proper accounts and records of its transactions and affairs and shall do all things necessary to ensure that all payments out of its moneys are correctly made and properly authorised and that adequate control is maintained over the assets of, or in the custody of, the Institute and over the expenditure incurred by the Institute.

(2) The Institute shall, as soon as practicable after the close of each financial year, prepare and submit financial statements in respect of that year to the auditor of the Institute.

Audit of accounts

16.—(1) The accounts of the Institute shall be audited by the Auditor-General or such other auditor as may be appointed annually by the Minister in consultation with the Auditor-General.

(2) A person shall not be qualified for appointment as an auditor under subsection (1) unless he is an approved company auditor under the Companies Act (Cap. 185).

(3) The auditor or any person authorised by him is entitled at all reasonable times to full and free access to all accounting and other records relating directly or indirectly to the financial transactions of the Institute.

(4) The auditor shall in his report state —

(a)	whether the financial statements show fairly the financial transactions and the state of affairs of the Institute;
(b)	whether proper accounting and other records have been kept, including records of all assets of the Institute whether purchased, donated or otherwise;
(c)	whether the receipts, expenditure and investment of moneys, and the acquisition and disposal of assets by the Institute during the financial year were in accordance with the provisions of this Act; and
(d)	such other matters arising from the audit as he considers necessary.

(5) The auditor shall, as soon as practicable after the accounts have been submitted for audit, send a report of his audit to the Institute.

(6) The auditor shall also submit such periodical and special reports to the Minister and to the Institute as may appear to him to be necessary or as the Minister or the Institute may require.

Presentation of financial statements and auditor’s report to Parliament

16A.—(1) The Institute shall, as soon as the accounts of the Institute and the financial statements have been audited in accordance with the provisions of this Act, send to the Minister a copy of the audited financial statements, signed by the Director, together with a copy of the auditor’s report.

(2) Where the Auditor-General is not the auditor of the Institute, a copy of the audited financial statements and any report made by the auditor shall be forwarded to the Auditor-General at the same time they are submitted to the Institute.

(3) The Minister shall as soon as practicable cause a copy of the audited financial statements and of the auditor’s report referred to in subsection (1) to be presented to Parliament.

Annual report

16B.—(1) The Institute shall, as soon as practicable after the end of each financial year, submit to the Minister an annual report of the activities of the Institute during that year.

(2) The Minister shall as soon as practicable cause a copy of every such report to be presented to Parliament.”.

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