By Christopher Arko
Accra, March 20, GNA–Professor Ernest Kofi Abotsi, Dean, School of Law, University of Professional Studies, Accra says the dwindling academic freedom in Africa universities is stifling generation ideas and rather reflecting the established order.
“It is important for us to remember that the institutions of higher learning are supposed to be marketplaces of ideas, where people challenge ideas, create ideas, and lead society in a new field”
Prof. Abotsi was speaking at the launch of the Africa Coalition for Academic Freedom (ACAF) and a Website in Accra.
The conference which was on theme: “Academic Freedom as catalyst for democratic enhancement in Africa”, brought together representatives of CSO’s, academia and institutions of higher learning to forge partnerships aimed at advancing the organisation’s objectives.
ACAF is an organisation which champions the rights of members of the academic community on the African continent to discover and question knowledge and ideas through research, teaching and learning.
Prof Abotsi also stated that the universities which are supposed to bear the torchlight of society when society experiences challenges were gradually becoming reflectors of the chaos of society.
He therefore charged the people in academia to ensure that institutions of higher learning became a place of creativity, adding that creative thinking could not happen “if all they do is to reflect their existing knowledge.”
Professor Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua, Regional Director, ACAF, stated that ACAF was anchored in the belief that the state of academic freedom in Africa was dedicated to the quasi-colonial education landscape which is dominated by massification, high students lecturer ratios, poor remuneration for lecturers, undue interference in the affairs of the university and poor allocation of resources for research.
He said the factors had affected the ability of the African university to realise its objective which are the production, dissemination and application of knowledge which are in the eco-system of academic freedom.
He said though many African countries, including Ghana had given the due recognition to academic freedom in their post-cold war constitutions, it had no translated significantly to improving the culture of respect for academic freedom on the continent.
Prof Appiagyei-Atua also explained that the Scholars at Risk organization had identified certain indicators for freedom violations.
He said some of the issues did not reflect the African realities, adding that there were a number of violations which took place but were not on the radar screen in African countries.
It is against this backdrop that ACAP was set up as the first organisation of this kind strictly devoted to championing academic freedom concerns on the continent.
He said ACAP also believed that academic freedom was a catalyst to promote human rights in general, democracy, respect for the rule of law, sustainable development in the larger society.
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