Republic Polytechnic Act

THE SCHEDULE

CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC POLYTECHNIC

PART I

PRELIMINARY

Interpretation
1. —(1)   In this Constitution, unless the context otherwise requires —

"Act" means the Republic Polytechnic Act;

"Board" means the Board of Governors of the Polytechnic;

"Chairman" means the Chairman of the Board;

"Constitution" means the Constitution of the Polytechnic;

"Deputy Principal" means a Deputy Principal of the Polytechnic;

"Polytechnic" means the Republic Polytechnic;

"Principal" means the Principal of the Polytechnic;

"registered student" means a student who is registered for a course or subject at the Polytechnic, leading to the award of a diploma, certificate or other academic distinction of the Polytechnic;

"regulations" means regulations made under this Constitution;

"School" means such Schools of the Polytechnic as may be constituted by the Board on the recommendation of the Senate;

"Senate" means the Senate of the Polytechnic.

(2)   In this Constitution —

(a) a reference to a specified section is a reference to that section of this Constitution;

(b) a reference to a specified subsection is a reference to that subsection of the section in which the reference occurs; and

(c) a reference to a specified paragraph is a reference to that paragraph of the subsection in which the reference occurs.

PART II

OFFICERS OF POLYTECHNIC

Appointment, powers and duties of Principal and Deputy Principal
2. —(1)   There shall be a Principal who shall be appointed by the Board on such terms and conditions as the Board may determine.

(2)   The Principal shall be the chief executive and academic officer of the Polytechnic and shall be responsible to the Board —

(a) for the proper administration and the academic management of the Polytechnic in accordance with the policies determined by the Board;

(b) for the proper enforcement of regulations; and

(c) for the welfare and discipline of the staff and students of the Polytechnic.

(3)   For the purpose of giving effect to subsection (2), the Principal shall have such powers as are necessary or proper for that purpose.

(4)   The Principal shall be entitled to be present and speak at any meeting of any committee of the Polytechnic, but shall not be entitled to vote at the meeting unless he is a member thereof.

(5)   There shall be one or more Deputy Principals who shall be appointed by the Board on such terms and conditions as the Board may determine.

(6)   A Deputy Principal shall perform such duties as may be assigned to him by the Principal (or by the Board if the Principal is unable to so assign).

Secretary
3. —(1)   There shall be a Secretary of the Board who shall be an officer of the Polytechnic and shall be appointed by the Board on such terms and conditions as the Board may determine.

(2)   The Secretary of the Board shall —

(a) attend all meetings of the Board unless excused by the Chairman;

(b) maintain proper records of the meetings; and

(c) carry out such other duties as may be assigned to him by the Board.

(3)   In the absence of the Secretary of the Board, the Chairman may appoint a suitable person to act as secretary for a particular meeting.

(4)   The Secretary of the Board shall not, unless he is a member of the Board appointed to serve in that capacity, be entitled to vote on any question before the Board.

Other officers
4.   The Board may appoint such other officers as it may think necessary.

PART III

BOARD OF GOVERNORS AND SENATE

Board of Governors
5. —(1)   There shall be a Board of Governors which shall consist of the following members:

(a) a Chairman;

(b) a Deputy Chairman;

(c) the Principal; and

(d) such other persons, being not less than 9 and not more than 15, as may be determined by the Minister.

(2)   Every member of the Board, except the Principal, shall be appointed by the Minister and shall, unless the Minister otherwise directs, hold office for a period of 3 years from the date of his appointment and shall be eligible for reappointment.

Powers of Board
6. —(1)   The Board shall administer the affairs of the Polytechnic other than those vested by the Act or this Constitution in some other authority of the Polytechnic or in an officer.

(2)   Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the Board shall, subject to the provisions of the Act and this Constitution, have power —

(a) to administer and manage the finances, accounts, investments, property, business, and all affairs whatsoever of the Polytechnic, and for that purpose to appoint bankers, counsel, solicitors and such officers or agents as it may be expedient to appoint;

(b) invest the moneys of the Polytechnic in accordance with the standard investment power of statutory bodies as defined in section 33A of the Interpretation Act (Cap. 1);

(c) to purchase, grant, sell, convey, assign, surrender, and yield up, exchange, partition, mortgage, demise, reassign, transfer, and accept leases of real and personal property on behalf of the Polytechnic;

(d) to provide the buildings, premises, furniture, apparatus and other means needed for the Polytechnic;

(e) to borrow money on behalf of the Polytechnic and for that purpose to mortgage all or any part of the property of the Polytechnic, whether real or personal, or give such other security, whether upon such real or personal property or otherwise, as it thinks fit;

(f) to enter into, vary, carry out and cancel contracts on behalf of the Polytechnic;

(g) to publish books and other matters on behalf of the Polytechnic;

(h) in consultation with the Senate, to review the instruction and teaching at the Polytechnic;

(i) to co-operate with other polytechnics and authorities for the regulation and conduct of examinations, for the examination and inspection of schools and other academic institutions, for the extension of Polytechnic teaching and for other purposes;

(j) to propose to the Minister additions to, or the amendment or repeal of any of the provisions of this Constitution;

(k) to prescribe fees;

(l) to appoint officers and other employees and to determine their duties and to fix their remuneration and the terms and conditions of their appointments;

(m) to appoint committees within or without Singapore to select candidates for any office to which the Board may appoint;

(n) to delegate any of its powers to any member of the Board or to any committee thereof or to any officer or other employee of the Polytechnic; and

(o) to do all such other acts and things as may be require to give effect to the powers conferred on the Board by the Act or this Constitution.

(3)   The Board may by regulations provide for any of the following matters or purposes:

(a) the administration of the affairs of the Polytechnic;

(b) the appointment, promotion, conduct, disciplinary control, dismissal and termination of service of the officers and other employees of the Polytechnic;

(c) the welfare, discipline, suspension and expulsion of students;

(d) the form of contracts;

(e) the publications of the Polytechnic;

(f) fees;

(g) the prescribing of anything which is by the Act or this Constitution required to be prescribed by regulations made by the Board; and

(h) generally all matters which by the Act or this Constitution the Board is empowered to regulate.

(4)   All such regulations shall come into operation on the day on which they are made unless otherwise provided by the Board.

Vacation of office of member of Board
7. —(1)   The Minister may revoke the appointment of a member of the Board, except that of the Principal, if the member becomes in the opinion of the Minister unfit to continue in office or incapable of performing his duties.

(2)   A member of the Board, except the Principal, may resign from his appointment by giving written notice to the Minister.

Filling of vacancy in office of member of Board
8.   If the office of a member of the Board, other than that of the Principal, is vacant, the Minister may appoint any person to fill the vacancy and the person shall be appointed for the remainder of the term of his predecessor.

Meetings of Board
9. —(1)   The Chairman shall summon meetings of the Board as often as may be required.

(2)   The quorum at every meeting of the Board shall be 6 members.

(3)   Every decision at a meeting of the Board shall be adopted by a simple 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 a meeting of the Board.

(5)   In the absence of the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman at a meeting of the Board, such member as the members present may elect shall preside at the meeting.

(6)   The Board may grant leave of absence from a meeting of the Board to a member thereof.

(7)   The Board shall not be precluded from holding a meeting or acting in any matter merely by reason of any vacancy in its membership.

(8)   Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Board may make standing orders to regulate its own procedure.

Senate
10. —(1) There shall be a Senate which shall consist of —

(a) the Principal, who shall be the chairman of the Senate;

(b) the heads of the Schools;

(c) such number of officers of the Polytechnic as may be appointed by the Board; and

(d) such number of academic staff as may be determined by the Board as may be elected by all the full-time academic staff.

(2)   The Senate shall meet at least twice in each semester of every academic year and such other times as may be necessary.

(3)   The quorum at every meeting of the Senate shall be one quarter of the total number of members of the Senate.

(4)   The chairman of the Senate shall be empowered to require any officer or other employee of the Polytechnic to attend a meeting of the Senate.

Powers of Senate
11.   Subject to the provisions of the Act and this Constitution and to the availability of funds provided by the Board, the Senate shall have power —

(a) to provide courses of study for the diplomas, certificates and other awards by the Polytechnic and such other courses of study as may be thought desirable;

(b) to direct and regulate instruction and education in the Polytechnic;

(c) to stimulate the advancement of knowledge by research and publications;

(d) to direct the manner in which examinations may be conducted;

(e) to determine what examinations and courses of study in other polytechnics or places of learning shall be deemed equivalent to examinations and courses of study in the Polytechnic;

(f) to advise the Board on the provision of facilities for educational and other academic matters;

(g) to decide in accordance with this Constitution and the regulations persons who are qualified for the award of diplomas, certificates and other academic distinctions;

(h) to organise the Schools;

(i) to fix the time, mode and conditions of competition for, and to award fellowships, scholarships and other educational endowments and prizes in accordance with the terms thereof;

(j) to require any student on academic grounds to terminate his studies at the Polytechnic;

(k) to provide access to educational activities and programmes for persons who are not registered students;

(l) to advise the Board on any matter which may be referred to the Senate by the Board;

(m) to delegate any of its powers to any member of the Senate or any committee thereof or to any officer of the Polytechnic; and

(n) to do all such other acts and things as may be required to give effect to the powers conferred on the Senate by the Act and this Constitution.

Regulations made by Senate
12. —(1)   The Senate may by regulations provide for any of the following matters or purposes:

(a) the admission and registration of students;

(b) the conditions for the award of diplomas, certificates and other academic distinctions;

(c) courses of study and examinations;

(d) academic dress;

(e) the award of scholarships and other educational endowments and prizes;

(f) the conduct of examinations;

(g) the prescribing of anything which is by the Act or this Constitution required to be prescribed by regulations made by the Senate;

(h) the prescribing of conditions under which persons may be exempted from the provisions of any regulations made by the Senate; and

(i) generally all matters which by the Act or this Constitution the Senate is empowered to regulate.

(2)   All such regulations shall be reported to the Board and shall come into operation not earlier than one semester after the day on which they are made, unless otherwise approved by the Board.

PART IV

EXAMINATIONS

Examinations
13.   Examinations for diplomas, certificates and other awards shall be conducted in accordance with regulations made by the Senate.

PART V

FINANCIAL PROVISIONS

Financial year
14.   The financial year of the Polytechnic shall begin on 1st April of each year and end on 31st March of the succeeding year.

Preparation of estimates
15.   It shall be the duty of such officers of the Polytechnic as may be directed by the Board to prepare for the consideration of the Board the estimates of income and expenditure of the Polytechnic for each financial year.

Estimates
16. —(1)   The estimates of income and expenditure shall be in such form as the Board may direct and shall be presented by the Principal to the Board and approved by the Board before the beginning of the financial year, except that the Principal may present, and the Board may approve, supplementary estimates at any time.

(2)   The annual and supplementary estimates shall be prepared in such form and shall contain such information as the Board may direct.

Power of Board to accept gifts
17. —(1)   The Board may on behalf of the Polytechnic accept by way of grant, gift, testamentary disposition or otherwise, property and moneys in aid of the finances of the Polytechnic on such conditions as it may determine.

(2)   Records shall be kept of all donations to the Polytechnic including the names of donors and any special conditions on which any donation may have been given.

Property, etc., donated for specific purposes to be separately accounted for
18.   All property, moneys or funds donated for any specific purpose shall be applied and administered in accordance with the purpose for which they may have been donated and shall be separately accounted for.

PART VI

STUDENT BODIES

Republic Polytechnic Students’ Union
19. —(1)   There shall be a students’ association to be known as the Republic Polytechnic Students’ Union which shall be constituted by regulations made by the Board and shall consist of such constituent bodies as may be prescribed by those regulations.

(2)   The constitution, membership, functions and other matters relating to the Republic Polytechnic Students’ Union and each of its constituent bodies shall be so prescribed.

(3)   The Polytechnic may impose and collect from the students or any class thereof such fees as it may determine for the benefit of the Republic Polytechnic Students’ Union and its constituent bodies.

(4) The fees collected under subsection (3) may be applied in such manner as the Polytechnic thinks fit for the purposes of the Republic Polytechnic Students’ Union and its constituent bodies.