Study Shows that 25% Public University Academic Staff Fail to Exercise Academic Freedom Due to Fear of Political victimisation
A study presented at the National Symposium on Academic Freedom showed that 25% of academic staff at public universities were afraid to exercise academic freedom due to fear of political victimisation.
The study was conducted using a web-based/online questionnaire survey of 150 academic staff from the University of Zambia (UNZA), Copperbelt University (CBU), Mulungushi University, Chalimbana University, Kwame Nkrumah University and Mukuba University.
The study was conducted and presented by Dr. William Phiri, a Lecturer at Chalimbana University, during the National Symposium on Academic Freedom which was held at Government Complex in Lusaka from 15th and 16th December, 2021.
Dr. Phiri stated that the study further reviewed that 20% of the respondents failed to exercise academic freedom due to government policies, whilst 18% failed due to intimidation from top university management.
“The study further showed that 16% failed to exercise academic freedom due to the restrictiveness from higher education institution regulatory bodies, whilst 15% felt that fellow academics hindered them from doing so,” Dr. Phiri stated.
Dr. Phiri further stated that the research showed that there was a greater understanding of academic freedom amongst academic staff from the older public universities like UNZA, CBU and Mulungushi, which stood at 83.3%, compared to 8% among the newer public universities like Chalimbana, Kwame Nkrumah and Mukuba.
“This greater understanding amongst the older and much more established public universities was due to the existence of policies, systems and structures that supported academic freedom, with veteran and experienced academicians at senior lecturer, associate professor and full professor levels,” he explained.
The research further presented proactive measures that would counter threats to academic freedom which included shared governance and tenure.
“Shared governance, which is democracy in action, is a set of practices under which the university faculty and some staff members participate in significant decisions about the operation of their institution,” Dr. Phiri said, adding that this was intended to ensure that academic decisions were made for strictly academic reasons and not for political, commercial or bureaucratic reasons.
Dr. Phiri further explained that tenure did not mean a lifetime job guarantee but it guaranteed due process in termination and, as such, academic freedom would be protected as the university could not fire a tenured Professor unless it presented compelling evidence.
The National Symposium was organised by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and the Zambia National Education Coalition (ZANEC), in collaboration with the Ministries of Education and Technology and Science, and was held under the theme, “Academic Freedom in Higher Education: Practice and Challenges.”
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