Autonomy as a Social Compact
Policy Brief
2007-02
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University of Cape Town
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Abstract
This paper by André du Toit of the University of Cape Town (UCT) is one in a series of research papers on the topic of academic freedom, institutional autonomy and public accountability in contemporary South African higher education. These perspectives have been commissioned as part of the enquiry of an independent Task Team, convened by the Council on Higher Education (CHE), to investigate the past decade of regulation of South African higher education by government and other agencies, and to promote debate on conceptions of autonomy, freedom and accountability, in general, and in the specific context of higher education transformation. Amid concerns and claims by some that the nature of government involvement in South African higher education in the second decade of democracy is in danger of moving from ‘state steering’ to ‘state interference’, the CHE believed it important to undertake a sober and rigorous investigation of the issues, so giving effect to the CHE’s responsibilities independently to advise the Minister of Education, to monitor and evaluate higher education, and to contribute to higher education development. Specifically, the Higher Education, Institutional Autonomy and Academic Freedom (HEIAAF) Task Team investigation – ongoing between 2005 and 2007 – has aimed to: • stimulate research and writing; • build shared understandings of institutional autonomy, academic freedom and public accountability, through the creation of various public fora, public discussion and debate on these important principles; and • develop consensus, as far as is possible, on the nature and modes of government involvement in higher education transformation, and on the relationships between government and other regulatory bodies, and higher education institutions.
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du Toit, A. (2007). Autonomy as a Social Compact. CHE HEIAAF No. 4. Pretoria: The Council on Higher Education.