Vice-President calls for leadership development in Africa’s public universities to promote academic freedom 

The Vice-President Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang has urged Academic Staff Associations (ASAs) across Africa to ensure leadership development in their public universities to promote academic freedom and democratisation. 

She said such an approach will help consolidate not only intellectual discourse but promote networking and collaboration, advocacy and representation, dissemination of knowledge, standards-setting and accreditation among others.

The Vice-President said this at the maiden edition of Academic Freedom Conference in Ghana, organized by the Africa Coalition for Academic Freedom (ACAF) in collaboration with Scholars at risk Network (SAR). 

The Conference was on the theme: “Safeguarding Academic Freedom in Africa: A Continental Dialogue for Collective Action,” and sought to advance research and promote the culture of respect for Academic freedom in Africa.

The Vice-President said ASAs should engaged in constructive dialogue so that all relevant actors, including the government, university management and students would avoid seeing a conflict of perception of their mission and the purpose for which it was established.

Mr Alex Segbefia, Chief of Staff to the Vice-President, who delivered the speech on her behalf, urged participants to see the university as a critical watchdog for the promotion of higher education and democratic enhancement in society.

He said the lack of a continental body to represent the interests of academics before the African Union and its human rights bodies such as the African Commission and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights constituted a major gap and commended ACAF for the conference to bridge the gap.

Prof Kwodwo Appiagyei-Atua, Regional Director, ACAF, said the three-day event aimed to collectively assess the current state of academic freedom in each African country, share experiences and identify challenges. 

“The Conference is to be used as a forum for the National Academic Staff Associations across the continent to form sub-regional groupings (South, North, East, West and Central Africa bloc) under the coordination of ACAF,” he said. 

These sub-regional groupings would lead to an eventual formation of a continent-wide association of Academic Staff Association.

The conference brought together 45 institutions, high education policy experts, human rights advocates and intellectuals engaged in knowledge production and dissemination outside the university. 

Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Minister for Education, said it was the responsibility of governments across the world to place value on harmony and cooperation in its relationship with academic staff unions and to recognise them as an important component of university governance to protect the institutional autonomy of the university.

Speaking on his behalf, Mr Saaka Sayitu, In Charge of Accreditation, Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), said Article 21(1)(b) of Ghana’s Constitution gave direct recognition to academic freedom.

He urged participants to have deliberations and post-conference activities that would yield democratic and developmental dividends. 

Source: GNA 

The post Vice-President calls for leadership development in Africa’s public universities to promote academic freedom  appeared first on Ghana Business News.

Read Full Story