SAR Urges Universities to Stand Firmer on Academic Freedom
Wachira Kigotho | 28 August 2024 | University World News
African universities have been urged to support scholars and students who face violent attacks and are denied academic freedom because of their ideas and opinions.
Clarissia Bourdeau, a programme associate with the membership and university relations team at Scholars at Risk (SAR), made the call when she addressed the 26th annual conference of the International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA) in Johannesburg on 23 August.
SAR is an advocacy group that supports and raises awareness of academics’ and students’ right to think and to express their ideas freely without threats, coercion or intimidation. Addressing the conference’s theme, ‘Navigating Internationalisation in Challenging Times’, Bourdeau said African higher education stakeholders should always consider the intrinsic value of academic freedom and the challenges facing scholars and institutions.
She defined academic freedom as the right to teach, the free expression of ideas and opinions, freedom to carry out research and publish results without censorship, and the freedom to participate in professional or representative academic bodies.