Universities must push the boundaries in pursuit of excellence

 

It has been more than a year since the Covid-19 pandemic struck globally. Now is the time to plan for the long term. The Malaysian higher education sector has to seriously and boldly transform our institutions. So far, administrators have been projecting for the next semester and next academic year. Suggestions should be in the pipeline for the next two decades, minimum.

By now, we all know it is not going to be “business as usual”. We have fewer students and less funding. About a year ago, the higher education ministry announced Covid-19-related research grants to public and private universities.

The deadline for submissions was the end of April 2020. The time frame for the conduct of research and submissions of findings was six months. The areas of research focus are the economy, public health, security, tourism, trade, information technology, education and food security. We also have the National Higher Education Strategic Plan 2020, ready to provide recovery solutions. Excellent.

As we approach April, Malaysians would like to know the outcome of the studies conducted on education. Will there be new directions in pedagogy, vetting academic honesty, provisions for academic freedom and alternative metrics to the world university ranking exercise?

Has any research project been submitted on reforming university academic culture? What about suggestions for creating congenial spaces on campus, encouraging healthy discourse among students and lecturers, on subjects of politics, ethnicity, religion and national unity?

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s latest National Unity Policy Blueprint is an excellent foundation to jump-start such reforms on campus.

Will the ministry and top university administrators propose a more global south perspective to the global university ranking entities? After all, it is they who monopolise higher education standards worldwide, and charge hefty prices for their services. It would be excellent if the post-pandemic era welcomes more academic freedom and university autonomy, meaning less politicisation of higher education.

What about our universities suggesting that these criteria be included in the world university ranking exercise? At present, all these remain questions and suggestions. We still do not know what our post-pandemic higher education master plan will be.

The lesson of Noam Chomsky and Edward Said

University ranking metrics do not include the state of academic freedom or university autonomy. Established performance indicators are disengaged from these fundamental concepts. They are the very foundation of university culture and intellectual creativity.

For example, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US is known for its many achievements as well as the presence of Noam Chomsky, a prolific and highly controversial scholar, as well as a thorn in the side of the US government.

Yet, thousands of American undergraduates and PhD students worldwide have access to him, his talks, academic publications and popular writings. We all benefit because the university continues to endorse his contributions.

American academic culture prioritises the right to academic freedom and institutional autonomy. Another professor worth acknowledging is the late Edward Said, an equally-controversial and globally publicised intellectual whose scholarship was never stifled. Said’s academic career was at Columbia University.

It is useless for us to chase ambitions of establishing “Harvards of the East” or “Oxfords of the North” without these fundamental freedoms.

Isn’t academic freedom and university autonomy important enough to be reflected in the rankings metrics? Of course they are, provided university administrators are free of governments who may otherwise dictate student enrolment, what should be taught and whether campus culture should be straight-jacketed.

Unless there is less top-down interference, I doubt there will be much innovation in the anticipated post-Covid-19 education master plan.

Four reasons not to fear academic freedom

The following explains why progressive governments never fear academic freedom or university autonomy.

First, throughout the world, academic freedom encourages professors to pursue and publish research without fear of retribution. Provided they write factually, ethically (i.e., do not plagiarise) and respectfully, controversial topics can remain in the public domain to be debated intelligently by all classes of society. A matured citizenry will welcome and learn tremendously from it. An immature and crooked leadership may not.

Second, exposing the truth about anything will inevitably have long-term benefits. We need truth to map our post-pandemic trajectory, in all aspects of our national recovery. It also allows lecturers to discuss controversial subject matter in the classroom, encouraging students to engage in a variety of perspectives.

Third, the pandemic has unleashed a very significant aspect of our human development. This is especially so in areas that challenge dominant narratives and worldviews, such as globalisation, business practices and how powerful countries resort to manipulating poorer nations into submission.

Fourth, controversy is essential in our quest to create the next generation of critical thinkers. Our post-pandemic nation needs a new kind of teaching that pushes students to examine their deeply held assumptions and prejudices. University academics have to push their intellectual boundaries.

The quality of education that students receive would be impaired if professors constantly force themselves to tread lightly, look over their shoulders or worry about pursuing knowledge that will result in their silencing and stifling. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.