4 - A Review of Academic Freedom in Africa through the Prism of the UNESCO’s 1997 Recommendation
Corresponding Author(s) : Terence Karran
Journal of Higher Education in Africa,
Vol. 14 No. 1 (2016): Journal of Higher Education in Africa
Abstract
An assessment of the level of compliance of the UNESCO Recommenda- tion in Europe, Australia, USA and other jurisdictions indicates that the document has been honoured more in its breach than in its observance. Having returned to an ethos of a democratic culture and a refinement of the role of the university in the globalization era, it is time for Africa also to be assessed on the level of compliance with the UNESCO Recommendation. This assessment is done based on four indicators identified in the UNESCO Recommendation: institutional autonomy, institutional governance, indi- vidual rights and freedoms, and tenure. The conclusion reached is that academic freedom has indeed found its way back into African universities after its complete roll-back during the post-independence era. However, the university reforms undertaken in the globalization era in many African universities have undermined greater respect for academic freedom and made hollow the gains made in the respect of freedom in this era.
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- UNESCO is the intergovernmental organization with responsibility for setting standards or norms within education.
- As the Recommendation concerned employment conditions, there was also consultation with the ILO.
- ILO, ‘UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel, 1997.
- Text adopted by the 29th Session of the General Conference of UNESCO’ (GB.271/LILS/9, 271st Session, Geneva, March 1998).
- UNESCO,1997, ‘Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel’, in Records of the General Conference, Twenty-ninth Ses- sion, 21 October to 12 November 1997, Volume 1 Resolutions, Paris: UNESCO, Paragraph 74, p. 34.
- See for example: Karran, T.,2007, ‘Academic freedom in Europe: a preliminary comparative analysis’, Higher Education Policy 20 (3): 289–313.
- See for example Gerber, Larry G., 2001, ‘“Inextricably linked”: shared gov- ernance and academic freedom’, Academe 87 (3): 22–24. Also, Latif, M.A., 2014, ‘Academic freedom: problems in conceptualization and research’, Higher Education Research and Development 33 (2): 399–401.
- UNESCO Recommendation, Paragraph 27.
- UNESCO Recommendation, Paragraph 18.
- Adopted on 5 October 1966 at a conference held in Paris at the UNESCO head- quarters and organized in close cooperation with the ILO.
- Page, J., 2007, ‘Australian universities and international standards: Australian compliance with the 1997 UNESCO Recommendation Concerning the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel’, Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management 29 (1): 95–101.
- UNESCO Recommendation, Paragraph 17.
- Democratic representation of academic unions in decision-making bodies of the institutions of higher education. UNESCO Recommendation, Paragraphs 31, 32.
- UNESCO Recommendation, Paragraphs 25–30.
- Paragraph 46 of the UNESCO Recommendation states this as ‘Security of
- employment in the profession, including tenure or its functional equivalent’. There are also
- special rights for disabled persons, women and part-time teaching personnel.
- Kenneth Good v. Republic of Botswana Communication 313/05 26 May 2010.
- Lebeau, Y., and Mills, D., 2008, ‘From “crisis” to “transformation”? Shifting orthodoxies of African higher education policy and research’, Learning and Teaching 1 (1): 58–88; Lulat, Y.G.-M., 2003, ‘The Development of Higher Educa- tion in Africa’, in Teferra, D. and Altbach, P.G., eds, African Higher Education: An International Reference Handbook, Bloomington: Indiana University
- Press; and, G. Mohamedbhai, 2008, The Effects of Massification on Higher Education in Africa, Accra: Association for the Development of Education in Africa and Association of African Universities.
- Adopted by delegates from six academic staff associations at the end of the Inaugural Workshop held in April 1990.
- Adopted in Kampala in 1990.
- The Bologna Process in Africa: a case of aspiration, inspiration, or both?’, 25 May 2008. Available athttp://globalhighered.wordpress.com/2008/05/25/the bologna-process-a-case-of-aspiration-and-inspiration-in-africa/
- Revitalising Higher Education in Africa. Report of First Experts’ Meeting, held 27–28 October 2005, Johannesburg. Available at http://www.aau.org/au_experts/ docs/midrand_rep.pdf
- Ghana, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, South Sudan, Namibia, the Gambia and Zimbabwe.
- Explicit recognition means specific use of the term �academic freedom’ in ad- dition to other rights essential to the full exercise of academic freedom.
- Algeria, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Gabon and Ethiopia.
- Direct recognition of academic freedom by including constituent elements ofacademic freedom, such as �scientific research’ or �artistic creativity’.
- Indirect recognition.
- The fifth indicator is the reference to academic freedom in the constitutions ofAfrican countries.
- Megan Lindow, 2011, Weaving Success: Voices of Change in African Higher Education, New York: Institute of International Education. Kudzai Mashininga, ‘Private universities set to overtake public institutions’, in University World News 4 March 2012, Issue No. 211. Available at http://www. universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120302141207184
- N.V. Varghese, ed., 2006, Growth and Expansion of Private Higher Education in Africa, Paris: UNESCO 2006.
- UNESCO Recommendation, Paragraph 17.
References
UNESCO is the intergovernmental organization with responsibility for setting standards or norms within education.
As the Recommendation concerned employment conditions, there was also consultation with the ILO.
ILO, ‘UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel, 1997.
Text adopted by the 29th Session of the General Conference of UNESCO’ (GB.271/LILS/9, 271st Session, Geneva, March 1998).
UNESCO,1997, ‘Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel’, in Records of the General Conference, Twenty-ninth Ses- sion, 21 October to 12 November 1997, Volume 1 Resolutions, Paris: UNESCO, Paragraph 74, p. 34.
See for example: Karran, T.,2007, ‘Academic freedom in Europe: a preliminary comparative analysis’, Higher Education Policy 20 (3): 289–313.
See for example Gerber, Larry G., 2001, ‘“Inextricably linked”: shared gov- ernance and academic freedom’, Academe 87 (3): 22–24. Also, Latif, M.A., 2014, ‘Academic freedom: problems in conceptualization and research’, Higher Education Research and Development 33 (2): 399–401.
UNESCO Recommendation, Paragraph 27.
UNESCO Recommendation, Paragraph 18.
Adopted on 5 October 1966 at a conference held in Paris at the UNESCO head- quarters and organized in close cooperation with the ILO.
Page, J., 2007, ‘Australian universities and international standards: Australian compliance with the 1997 UNESCO Recommendation Concerning the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel’, Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management 29 (1): 95–101.
UNESCO Recommendation, Paragraph 17.
Democratic representation of academic unions in decision-making bodies of the institutions of higher education. UNESCO Recommendation, Paragraphs 31, 32.
UNESCO Recommendation, Paragraphs 25–30.
Paragraph 46 of the UNESCO Recommendation states this as ‘Security of
employment in the profession, including tenure or its functional equivalent’. There are also
special rights for disabled persons, women and part-time teaching personnel.
Kenneth Good v. Republic of Botswana Communication 313/05 26 May 2010.
Lebeau, Y., and Mills, D., 2008, ‘From “crisis” to “transformation”? Shifting orthodoxies of African higher education policy and research’, Learning and Teaching 1 (1): 58–88; Lulat, Y.G.-M., 2003, ‘The Development of Higher Educa- tion in Africa’, in Teferra, D. and Altbach, P.G., eds, African Higher Education: An International Reference Handbook, Bloomington: Indiana University
Press; and, G. Mohamedbhai, 2008, The Effects of Massification on Higher Education in Africa, Accra: Association for the Development of Education in Africa and Association of African Universities.
Adopted by delegates from six academic staff associations at the end of the Inaugural Workshop held in April 1990.
Adopted in Kampala in 1990.
The Bologna Process in Africa: a case of aspiration, inspiration, or both?’, 25 May 2008. Available athttp://globalhighered.wordpress.com/2008/05/25/the bologna-process-a-case-of-aspiration-and-inspiration-in-africa/
Revitalising Higher Education in Africa. Report of First Experts’ Meeting, held 27–28 October 2005, Johannesburg. Available at http://www.aau.org/au_experts/ docs/midrand_rep.pdf
Ghana, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, South Sudan, Namibia, the Gambia and Zimbabwe.
Explicit recognition means specific use of the term �academic freedom’ in ad- dition to other rights essential to the full exercise of academic freedom.
Algeria, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Gabon and Ethiopia.
Direct recognition of academic freedom by including constituent elements ofacademic freedom, such as �scientific research’ or �artistic creativity’.
Indirect recognition.
The fifth indicator is the reference to academic freedom in the constitutions ofAfrican countries.
Megan Lindow, 2011, Weaving Success: Voices of Change in African Higher Education, New York: Institute of International Education. Kudzai Mashininga, ‘Private universities set to overtake public institutions’, in University World News 4 March 2012, Issue No. 211. Available at http://www. universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120302141207184
N.V. Varghese, ed., 2006, Growth and Expansion of Private Higher Education in Africa, Paris: UNESCO 2006.
UNESCO Recommendation, Paragraph 17.