Academic Freedom

Talking to a group of students over issues concerning academic welfare and intellectual development at KwaZulu Natal University (UKZN) at Howard College, one of the four Institutions of the University. Most of the students expressed their resentment on the limitations of the educational policy at the Institute. Students from various departments particularly, those from the Social Sciences claimed that the policies impacted on the methodology they adopted in their research work, for instance, students from the Politics Department claimed that the course is so structured with content so modified and streamlined with no room for autonomous research work, and as such their analysis is so limited to those materials prescribed. Students claim that they could not diverge into external sources apart from those prescribed even when there were better contextualized sources, on the same subject.

Currently the University ranks sixth among the continent's best Universities in Africa (Courtesy 2010 World University Ranking at http://www.4icu.org/topAfrica/). The students were claiming that on basis of Statistical rating on the number of graduates leaving the University into the Tertiary sectors, clearly the University surpasses since all its policies are so streamlined just to attain that goal and objective, pre-structured material, tutors on the other hand do not have a diversity of knowledge apart from what they have acquired through the same streamlined policy, hence the capacity for future development or a movement away from such a trend is so limited. The Qualitative aspect of such an academic policy is generally so poor with such graduates so limited in scope in their particular fields, diversity is prevalent only in a few who recognized the need for varied learning apart from University policy.

Interviewing a student in the Engineering department he claimed he was finding it difficult and frustrating to express his academic thought and freedom. This he explained is caused by the expectation that lectures have on him to utilizes standard formulas and techniques. We Engineers are supposed to be the inventors, the pioneers and the innovators but the case is streamlined here. I quoted a student saying" There are many ways or methods that one can use to calculate the Geo-tech of soil but we not allowed to use them, this make us less creative. I think our lectures are not interested in our originality, certainly this not how engineering should be”. The student also said “I would like to study my masters because postgraduates student have more freedom to research and work on whatever they desire" Sadly that might not be the case even in postgraduate studying at University of KwaZulu Natal .
Academic freedom of expression in African universities
Freedom of Intellectual expression in African Universities is being affected by University Officials and Professors in the Faculties. In the interview a student referred to the current situation in South African universities where freedom of academic expression is being judged basing on race or political affiliation. E.g. of UNISA (Vice-Chancellor) who was threatened to be removed from his position because he was suspected to have adhered in the Congress of the People's Political Party. Interviewees continued to stress on the fact that in dictatorship regimes, mostly dominant in Africa, Universities are strategic points for political ends. A foreign student added the 1992 riots at the University of Lubumbashi where students and lecturers were killed by Mobutu's regime for criticizing oppression and bad condition of livelihood of academics. Most of the interviewees also stressed on the impact of policies proposed by most African state governments concerning Media and information dissemination in which they tend to control what is to be streamlined to the public and what is not.
With most of the students referring to the recent South Africa’s Media Tribunals Bill and its negative impacts on media content, a point of interest erupted when the issue was addressed by the UKZN SRC President. The Student Representative Council's (SRC) President was in support of the bill, with a view that intervention is required in the media as less important and non-beneficial issues are increasingly becoming media focus neglecting issues that involve the political, economical and social issues that are currently affecting the country which he viewed as important to democratic structuring. He also stated that the media should not expose the private lives of these ANC officials and claim to be exercising their freedom of speech right while at the end violating the politicians' right to privacy. He also stated that these private issues are being utilized as strategies in terms of boosting the sales of their news articles, he then concluded by advocating that there should be a delimitation as to what the media publishes especially the local media portals, newspapers, television etc.

http://internetstudies.ukzn.ac.za/inst102news/