Academic freedom: What is it and why is it important?

Traditionally understood, academic freedom refers to the freedom for academic communities to teach, learn, engage in research and advance scholarly inquiry, without interference.

- RAMYA KUMAR, SHAMALA KUMAR AND SIVAMOHAN SUMATHY

It encompasses the freedom to comment on internal university matters and also on issues of public interest without facing institutional censorship. These freedoms are vital for universities to function as places of learning and scholarship that promote critical dialogue and inquiry. They also allow university communities to hold power to account, whether inside or outside the university, and thus play a vital role in democratising society.

At a seminar on academic freedom, held at the University of Jaffna recently, the discussion opened with a question from a university teacher: “Does academic freedom mean we have the freedom to stay away from work?” While there was consensus among those present that academics at the pinnacle of the university hierarchy do enjoy considerable academic freedom in teaching, research and expressing opinions, others, especially those at lower ranks, shared concerns about what they believed was an abuse of academic freedom by teachers who do not turn up regularly to work, fail to fulfil the required number of teaching hours, place the teaching load on juniors, etc. In this article, we look at how academic freedom is framed within the state university system and the limits of our understanding and its implications.

State universities and academic freedom