Crackdown on academic freedoms endangers scholars and students

Widespread state repression, armed conflict, and authoritarian policies systematically undermine academic freedoms

- VRIJENDRA

My previous column summarized the 2024 Free to Think report, which highlighted the worsening plight of scholars worldwide. In several countries, state and private security forces have violently suppressed student protests over education, politics, and societal issues.

In Ethiopia, police beat students protesting a university's refusal to offer additional courses disrupted by conflict. Sri Lankan students protesting the approval of private medical universities faced tear gas and water cannons. In Mauritania, police attacked students demanding better housing, transportation, and fairer scholarship policies.

Protesting students often faced severe repercussions, including suspensions, expulsions, and campus bans. In Morocco, 15 students were suspended for two years for peacefully boycotting classes to protest reducing medical studies from seven to six years, fearing it would lower educational standards. In Turkey, Boğaziçi University suspended 16 students and revoked their campus access for protesting faculty restructuring. A German student was barred from attending a talk by Israel's ambassador after liking a social media post encouraging a boycott of the event.