Academic freedom and university autonomy: Preliminary thoughts from Africa (original) (raw)
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Although the cradle of university education is traced to Africa, modern university education in Africa emanated from European systems which set the tone for their replication on the continent through colonialism. For ideological and other reasons, African universities were subjected to significant violations of their institutional autonomy after independence, which trickled down to affect academics and students alike and thereby violated academic freedom generally. One major area where the abuses centred was the appointment of political leaders to occupy the high echelons of university management and to run the universities as political organs of the one-party systems in vogue at the time. Discussion of this subject has mainly centred on critiquing the excesses of immediate postcolonial governments, sometimes with no linkage to academic freedom. Where academic freedom is introduced into the discourse, the key components of the concept of academic freedom are not clearly delineated and discussed in a manner that links one component to the other. This paper aims to fill this gap. It does so by developing a theoretical framework for academic freedom which is used to analyse and categorise violations of academic freedom under its five pillars – institutional autonomy, self-governance, tenure, individual rights and freedoms for academics, and individual rights and freedoms for students. The paper also examines the factors responsible for the violations of academic freedom and their impact on the evolution of higher education in Africa
Academic Freedom and Autonomy in the Universities: Past and Present
Journal of Applied and Advanced Research, 2019
Academic freedom and autonomy have since mediaeval times been considered the hubs around which critical and independent thinking revolved. Men like Socrates, Copernicus, Galileo and Bertrand Russell suffered many indignities in defence of these ideals. Hiring and firing Vice-Chancellors always raise the issue of academic freedom in universities to choose their teachers and operate within their ivory towers without any interference. Besides observations, the work relied on literature review. The paper defines academic freedom and autonomy, carefully details how university councils, academic boards and other committees have resisted outside intrusions into these cherished ideals. Unsuccessful onslaughts at the freedom and autonomy of universities have only called for more consultations and collaboration between governments and university leaderships. This ideal relationship is to harmonise scholastic pursuits with national goals and aspirations. While one cannot expect the government, as financiers of public universities, to look on unconcerned about what happens inside its universities. An appreciation of each other's expectations and roles can harness national development without any players feeling traumatized and befuddled. Increased participation of academics in partisan politics and scrupulous regard for merit and committee work in universities will not only improve government understanding of universities, but also create peaceful industrial atmospheres in universities to render both interference and censure unnecessary.
CHALLENGES TO ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND INSTITUTIONAL AUTONOMY IN SOUTH AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES
Academic freedom can be defined as the absence of outside interference, censure or obstacles in the pursuit and practice of academic work. This freedom is embedded in the right to education. The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights views education as a window to other rights. Institutional autonomy speaks to self-regulation or the right of self-government; self-determination; autonomy with respect to local or internal matters. Academic freedom (and institutional autonomy) is a constitutional right in South Africa. There is debate whether there is a threat to the constitutionally guaranteed academic freedom in South Africa. This comes from the background that universities often function as centres of political and intellectual dissent, and regimes are thus reluctant to allow institutions the freedom and autonomy that may contribute to instability. This paper looks at academic freedom and institutional autonomy in South Africa before and after 1994. The pre-1994 era grouped the universities into two – the open universities, which enjoyed many privileges and the " other " universities which were tightly controlled by the government. The post-1994 era saw the national Constitution guaranteeing academic freedom. The new government adopted new policies creating a unitary tertiary education system. This was built around the " cooperative governance " framework. However, with dynamics in the higher education system, this framework had to be amended. The amendments give the government more powers to intervene where necessary. Whatever justification, increased government involvement has implications on academic freedom and institutional autonomy.
Reconsidering University Autonomy and Governance: From Academic Freedom to Institutional Autonomy
See http://www.palgraveconnect.com/pc/doifinder/10.1057/9781137040107 Although concepts such as “academic freedom” and “institutional autonomy” look simple and clear, they ought not to be treated as the “last station” of a long and winding historical journey. Rather, we should think of these concepts as under continuous negotiation. In Europe and around the world, the concept of academic autonomy has passed through turbulent times over the last half-century. Between the 1960s and 1980s, the universities grew into a mass system. Among the consequences of that development were renewed ideas of university autonomy. In the 1960s and immediately afterward, academic freedom remained in the forefront of debates, although differently in the East than in the West. Still, between 1980 and 2000, institutional autonomy was increasingly central to debate. Today, academic freedom is a primary concern only in rare cases where democracy is still not characteristic of public life. I argue that the s...
Institutional Autonomy: Implications for Teaching and Research in Public Universities in Uganda
International Research in Higher Education, 2016
This paper focused on examining the implications of institutional autonomy for teaching and research in public universities in Uganda. What constitutes university autonomy and what are its likely effects on establishing a balance between teaching and research in public universities in Uganda is the pertinent question raised in this paper. The paper argues that the university as an autonomous institution at the heart of societies produces, examines, appraises and hands down culture by research and teaching. Thus, research and teaching must be morally and intellectually independent of all political and economic interference. Literature reviewed through a constructivist epistemological lens revealed that much as official government documents pronounced institutional autonomy for public universities in Uganda, teaching and research seem to be influenced by external forces to a greater extent. Based on resource dependence theory, we conclude that pseudo autonomy constrains faculty independence in both teaching and research. We recommend that public universities in Uganda ought to revisit the professional work of the academics in the wake of increasing demands in order to balance between research and teaching.
University Autonomy and Academic Freedom: A Commitment to Truth
2019
This paper analyzes several aspects of university autonomy, explores the conditions of Nepali universities and suggests what Nepal needs to do to ensure autonomous academic environment at the universities for creation and expansion of knowledge. Based on the reflections of thinkers, educationists and the personal experience of the writer as a faculty at Tribhuvan University of Nepal, I conclude that Nepali universities are under the political and bureaucratic gaze; they are far from becoming the enclaves of free thinkers and knowledge seekers. As a result, academic freedom is doubtful until universities gain autonomous decision-making powers in structural, academic, financial and administrative fronts.