Education

DRC: CODESRIA: Safeguarding academic freedom in the University of Kinshasa

2008-05-30, Issue 376

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/education/48489

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The African social science research community has been paying close attention to the evolution of the situation at the National University of Kinshasa. It is now four months since academic activities have been paralyzed as a result of a lecturer’s strike for decent wages. For a couple of days now, students have become prey to the police because they decided to conduct a march to pressure the government to respond positively to the lecturers’ demands.

CODESRIA
Safeguarding Academic Freedom in the University of Kinshasa!

The African social science research community has been paying close attention to the evolution of the situation at the National University of Kinshasa. It is now four months since academic activities have been paralyzed as a result of a lecturer’s strike for decent wages. For a couple of days now, students have become prey to the police because they decided to conduct a march to pressure the government to respond positively to the lecturers’ demands. According to reports that we have received, this situation is worsening by the day, making it impossible to carry on with normal pedagogic activities in this institution of higher learning and research. Worse still, the declining teaching conditions imperil the knowledge production process which is indispensable for development. Meanwhile, the blind intervention by the police endangers the lecturers and students who form the cornerstone of the future of the DRC and of the entire continent.

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa is an organization which promotes academic freedom in African universities. It fights so that African scholars and researchers can enjoy best possible working conditions which allow them to function without any external constraints. As it was recalled at the Kinshasa Conference on Academic Freedom in the DRC, jointly organized by CODESRA and the University of Kinshasa in 2004, these exigencies not only include decent conditions for work on the campus, but also the free expression of their thoughts and freedom to undertake research on issues of their choice. Given that the DRC scholarly and research community is one of the most active within CODESRIA, the Council cannot remain indifferent to the degradation of the working conditions to which our Congolese colleagues are subjected. Such silence would run contrary to the principles of academic freedom and solidarity for which our organization has been fighting since its creation in 1973. No university can develop without the guarantee of academic freedom therein, just as much as no democracy can survive devoid of scrupulous respect for freedom of expression. These freedoms constitute the basis upon which scholars and researchers can assume their social responsibility.

CODESRIA and the entire community of African social science researchers exhort the relevant authorities in the DRC to take urgent measures so that academic freedoms may be respected and guaranteed for our colleagues at the University of Kinshasa, and notably for the demands of our Congolese colleagues for better working and living conditions, as well as a raise in their salaries, be met. The Council assures our colleagues of its support in their fight for a properly functioning university, deeply involved in the development of the DRC and of the African continent. The Council also takes this opportunity to call the attention of the authorities to the fact that they would be held accountable for all unfortunate incidents which may result from this crisis.

Colleagues from across Africa wishing to send messages of support to the lecturers and students of the University of Kinshasa are invited to do so by sending an e-mail to the following address:
academic.freedom@codesria.sn .

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