A study presented at the National Symposium on Academic Freedom revealed that 25% of academic staff at public universities refrained from exercising academic freedom due to fear of political victimization. The survey, involving 150 academic staff from various institutions, identified factors such as government policies, intimidation from university management, and restrictive regulatory bodies as contributing to this environment of fear. The study highlighted the need for protective measures like shared governance and tenure to ensure that academic staff can engage in scholarly activities without fear of retribution.
The study was conducted and presented by Dr. William Phiri, a Lecturer at Chalimbana University, during the National Symposium on Academic Freedom which was held at Government Complex in Lusaka from 15th and 16th December, 2021.
Dr. Phiri stated that the study further reviewed that 20% of the respondents failed to exercise academic freedom due to government policies, whilst 18% failed due to intimidation from top university management.
“The study further showed that 16% failed to exercise academic freedom due to the restrictiveness from higher education institution regulatory bodies, whilst 15% felt that fellow academics hindered them from doing so,” Dr. Phiri stated.
Dr. Phiri further stated that the research showed that there was a greater understanding of academic freedom amongst academic staff from the older public universities like UNZA, CBU and Mulungushi, which stood at 83.3%, compared to 8% among the newer public universities like Chalimbana, Kwame Nkrumah and Mukuba.