Temasek Polytechnic Bill

Bill No. 3/1990

Read the first time on 22nd February 1990.

An Act for the establishment and incorporation of a polytechnic to be known as Temasek Polytechnic and for matters connected therewith.

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

Short title and commencement

1. This Act may be cited as the Temasek Polytechnic Act 1990 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Interpretation

2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“Board” means the Board of Governors of the Polytechnic established pursuant to this Act;

“Chairman” means the Chairman of the Board;

“officers” means the officers of the Polytechnic;

“Polytechnic” means the Temasek Polytechnic established and incorporated under this Act;

“Polytechnic Constitution” means the Constitution of the Polytechnic set out in the Schedule;

“prescribed” means prescribed by this Act, the Polytechnic Constitution or the regulations;

“Principal” means the Principal of the Polytechnic;

“registered student” means a student registered for a course or subject in the Polytechnic leading to the award of a diploma or certificate of the Polytechnic;

“Registrar” means the Registrar of the Polytechnic;

“regulations” means the regulations made under the Polytechnic Constitution;

“Senate” means the Senate of the Polytechnic established pursuant to this Act.

Establishment and incorporation of Temasek Polytechnic

3.—(1) There is hereby established a Polytechnic to be known as Temasek Polytechnic consisting of a Board of Governors, a Senate, the members of the academic staff and the officers of the Polytechnic.

(2) The Polytechnic shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal and shall by that name be capable in law of —

(a)	suing and being sued;
(b)	acquiring, owning, holding and developing or disposing of property, both movable and immovable; and
(c)	doing and suffering all such other acts or things as bodies corporate may lawfully do or suffer.

Objects and powers of Polytechnic

4.—(1) The objects of the Polytechnic are —

(a)	to provide instruction and training in technology, science, commerce, arts and other subjects of learning;
(b)	to aid by research and other means the advancement of knowledge and its practical application; and
(c)	to promote the exchange of knowledge and skills with business and industry.

(2) The Polytechnic may —

(a)	provide such facilities for its students as it considers desirable;
(b)	institute lectureships and other posts and offices and make appointments thereto and employ such other staff as the Polytechnic considers necessary;
(c)	fix, demand and receive fees and other charges;
(d)	promote the formation of or acquire any interest in any undertaking; and
(e)	do all such things as may be necessary, incidental or conducive to the attainment of all or any of its objects.

Board of Governors and Senate, their constitutions, powers and duties

5.—(1) The respective constitutions, functions, powers and duties of the Board and the Senate shall be prescribed by this Act and the Polytechnic Constitution.

(2) The Board shall, subject to the provisions of this Act and the Polytechnic Constitution, be the supreme governing body of the Polytechnic and, subject to the provisions of this Act and the Polytechnic Constitution, it shall administer the property and manage the affairs of the Polytechnic.

(3) Subject to the provisions of this Act and the Polytechnic Constitution and to the financial control of the Board, the Senate shall have the regulation of all matters relating to education in the Polytechnic.

(4) No act or resolution of the Board or the Senate shall be invalid by reason only of any vacancy in, or any want to qualification by or invalidity in the election or appointment of any member of, any such body.

Schools of Polytechnic

6.—(1) There shall be Schools of Science and Technology, Business and Design and such other schools as may be constituted by the Board on the recommendation of the Senate.

(2) There shall be a head of each School with such powers as may be conferred by the Board.

(3) The Board may, on the recommendation of the Senate, form, dissolve or reform such schools and any department, centre, unit and other sub-divisions of any school as it may from time to time consider desirable.

Committees generally

7.—(1) The Board, the Senate and the Principal respectively may establish such committees as they think fit.

(2) Unless otherwise expressly provided, any committee may consist partly of persons who are not members of the Board or the Senate or officers of the Polytechnic, as the case may be.

(3) Subject to the provisions of this Act and the Polytechnic Constitution, the Board, the Senate and the Principal respectively may, with or without restrictions or conditions as they think fit, delegate any of their powers and duties to any committee.

Officers and academic staff, their appointments, powers, duties and emoluments

8.—(1) The officers of the Polytechnic shall be the Principal, one or more Deputy Principals, the heads of the Schools, the Registrar and such other persons who are appointed by the Board as officers of the Polytechnic.

(2) The Principal, the Deputy Principals and the Registrar and other officers shall be appointed by the Board in accordance with the Polytechnic Constitution.

(3) The academic staff of the Polytechnic shall be the heads of the Schools, lecturers and such other persons as may be designated as members of the academic staff by the Polytechnic Constitution and they shall be appointed by the Board on the recommendation of the Principal.

(4) The powers and duties of the officers and members of the academic staff, the periods and conditions for and upon which they hold office and their emoluments shall be such as are prescribed by this Act, the Polytechnic Constitution and the terms of their respective appointments; but the Board may assign to any officer, and in the case of any member of the academic staff on the recommendation of the Principal, such further powers and duties as the Board may think fit.

Polytechnic Constitution

9.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Polytechnic shall be governed in accordance with the provisions of the Polytechnic Constitution set out in the Schedule.

(2) The Minister may, after consulting the Board, make any addition or amendment to or re-enact with amendments the Polytechnic Constitution.

(3) Every such addition, amendment and re-enactment of the Polytechnic Constitution made in accordance with subsection (2) shall be published in the Gazette and may be published in such other manner as the Board may direct.

(4) The Interpretation Act [Cap. 1] shall apply for the purposes of the interpretation of the Polytechnic Constitution as it applies for the purposes of the interpretation of an Act, and all expressions defined in this Act shall bear the same meaning when used in the Polytechnic Constitution, unless other provision is made in the Polytechnic Constitution, or a contrary intention otherwise appears.

(5) Regulations made under the Polytechnic Constitution need not be published in the Gazette and shall not be deemed as subsidiary legislation.

Examinations

10. All examinations held by the Polytechnic shall be conducted in such manner as the Polytechnic Constitution and any regulations made thereunder may prescribe.

Power to confer diplomas, etc.

11. The Polytechnic shall have power —

(a)	to award diplomas and certificates and such other academic distinctions as may be specified in regulations made under the Polytechnic Constitution; and
(b)	to provide such lectures and instruction for persons who are not registered students as the Polytechnic may determine, and to grant certificates to such persons.

Form of contracts

12.—(1) Contracts on behalf of the Polytechnic may be made as follows:

(a)	a contract which, if made between private persons, would be required by law to be in writing, and if made according to law to be under seal, may be made on behalf of the Polytechnic in writing under the common seal of the Polytechnic;
(b)	a contract which, if made between private persons, would be required by law to be in writing, and signed by the parties to be charged therewith, may be made on behalf of the Polytechnic in writing signed by any person acting under the express or implied authority of the Board; and
(c)	a contract which, if made between private persons would be valid by law, although made by parole only and not reduced into writing, may be made by parole on behalf of the Polytechnic by any person acting under the express or implied authority of the Board.

(2) A contract made according to this section shall be effectual in law and shall bind the Polytechnic and its successors and all other parties thereto.

(3) A contract made according to this section may be varied or discharged in the same manner in which it is authorised by this section to be made.

Common seal

13.—(1) The common seal of the Polytechnic may from time to time be broken, changed, altered and made anew as the Board thinks fit and shall be kept in such custody as the Board directs.

(2) The common seal of the Polytechnic shall not be used except by resolution of the Board or in such other manner as may be authorised by the Polytechnic Constitution.

(3) All courts and persons acting judicially shall take judicial notice of the common seal of the Polytechnic affixed to any document and until the contrary is proved shall assume that it was duly affixed thereto.

Grants-in-aid

14.—(1) The Minister shall pay to the Polytechnic such moneys as may be provided by Parliament from time to time as grants-in-aid to the Polytechnic.

(2) All moneys paid to the Polytechnic under subsection (1) may be applied or expended by the Polytechnic for the attainment of all or any of the objects of the Polytechnic.

Accounts and financial statements

15.—(1) The Board shall cause proper accounting and other records to be kept of the financial transactions of the Polytechnic 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 Polytechnic and over the expenditure incurred by the Polytechnic.

(2) The Board shall, as soon as practicable after the close of each financial year, cause financial statements in respect of that year to be prepared and submitted to the auditor of the Polytechnic.

Audit of accounts

16.—(1) The accounts of the Polytechnic 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. 50, 1988 Ed.].

(3) The auditor shall be paid out of the funds of the Polytechnic.

(4) The auditor or any person authorised by him shall be 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 Polytechnic and may make copies of, or extracts from, any such accounting and other records.

(5) The auditor shall in his report state —

(a)	whether the financial statements show fairly the financial transactions and the state of affairs of the Polytechnic;
(b)	whether proper accounting and other records have been kept, including records of all assets of the Polytechnic whether purchased, donated or otherwise;
(c)	whether receipts, expenditure and investment of moneys and the acquisition and disposal of assets by the Polytechnic 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.

(6) The auditor shall, as soon as practicable after the accounts have been submitted for audit, send a report of his audit to the Board. He shall also submit such periodical and special reports to the Minister and to the Board as may appear to him to be necessary or as the Minister or the Board may require.

Failure to furnish information to auditor

17.—(1) The auditor or any person authorised by him may require any person to furnish him with such information in the possession of that person or to which that person has access as the auditor or the person authorised by him considers necessary for the purposes of his functions under this Act.

(2) Any person who fails without reasonable excuse to comply with any requirement of the auditor under subsection (1) or who otherwise hinders, obstructs or delays the auditor in the performance of his duties or the exercise of his powers shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000.

Presentation of financial statements and auditor’s report to Parliament

18.—(1) The Board shall, as soon as 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 Chairman, together with a copy of the auditor’s report.

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

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

Annual report

19.—(1) The Board shall, as soon as practicable after the end of each financial year, cause to be prepared and transmitted to the Minister a report dealing generally with the activities of the Polytechnic during the preceding financial year and containing such information relating to the proceedings and policy of the Polytechnic as the Minister may, from time to time, direct.

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

Application of Societies Act to Students’ Union

20.—(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Societies Act [Cap. 311], the provisions of that Act shall apply to the Temasek Polytechnic Students’ Union and its constituent bodies constituted by the regulations.

(2) The Minister charged with the responsibility for the registration of societies may, by order published in the Gazette, exempt the Temasek Polytechnic Students’ Union and any of its constituent bodies from all or any of the provisions of the Societies Act subject to such conditions as may be specified in the order.

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