Academic Freedom in Africa: Linking the Past to the Present and Future in University Values

Abstract

The right to academic freedom derives from other rights and freedoms such as freedoms of thought, conscience, religion, expression, assembly, association and movement; and rights to life, liberty, education and culture. It is therefore a freedom that cannot enjoy a separate existence or be enjoyed in isolation. It needs other freedoms to flourish and its enjoyment promotes or facilitates the enjoyment of other rights and freedoms. On that basis, it can be concluded that the struggle for academic freedom is an integral part of the general struggle for human rights. Like judicial freedom, the enjoyment of academic freedom is not necessarily to promote the interest of the individual academic but as a tool to promote academic excellence, generally. To talk about academic freedom in the African context, it is important to situate the discussion in its past in order to better relate it to the present and future.