An independent commission set up by the Minister of Higher Education of Quebec recommends the adoption of a law on university freedom to protect teachers against censorship and guarantee the “freedom to learn” of students.
“In their educational context, classrooms cannot be considered as“ safe spaces ”, in particular when this concept is defined by the existence and maintenance of an environment free from any confrontation. ‘ideas or questioning,’ indicates the report of the Independent Scientific and Technical Commission on the recognition of academic freedom in academia, unveiled Tuesday morning.
“All ideas and all subjects without exception can be debated in a rational and reasoned manner within universities”, specifies the commission chaired by Alexandre Cloutier, vice-rector for partnerships, international and indigenous affairs at the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi (UQAC).
The 71-page report recommends guaranteeing by law the freedom of education essential for the transmission of knowledge at the university. Each institution should set up a committee on academic freedom whose mandate would consist of “hearing disputes relating to academic freedom, analyzing the implementation of academic freedom within the institution and formulating recommendations to the responsible for policy on academic freedom ”.
This recommendation is far from unanimous. For the Higher Education Council (CSE), each university should rather be left with the task of “adopting an institutional policy on academic freedom including details of its nature, definition, scope, and application to academic activities. ” teaching, research and creation as well as knowledge transfer […] as well as the mechanisms for protecting this freedom, ”recalls the Cloutier report.
Further details will follow.
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