When Jesus said to the Pharisees: “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone”, no stone was thrown at the woman. If, on the other hand, we said to the students, the teachers, the trade unions, the members of the government: “Let him who has already violated the university franchises clean the university”, we would have the cleanest universities in the world in Senegal! Car violer les franchises universitaires, de manière hard ou soft, mais toujours volontairement, est un jeu presque permanent dans notre pays.. Et on en a entendu des vertes et des pas mûres avec les nombreux exemples, allant du dramatique au burlesque, sur les violations des franchises universitaires au Sénégal. The violation of university franchises, whether in a hard or soft manner, but always voluntarily, is a game that is almost permanent in our country, and it is a game that is played with the utmost care and attention, with many examples, from the dramatic to the burlesque, of violations of university franchises in Senegal. It was during the day of study on “Academic freedoms in the face of political interference” hosted yesterday Saturday at Ucad by the Autonomous Syndicat de l’enseignement supérieur at the request of the International Network for Academic Freedom (INAF created in 2020). I don’t know what was said in the morning, but in the afternoon there was a round table animated by Buuba Diop who had the advantage of being able to meet at least 4 people who had the university as a living space to talk about their experience as students, professors, secretaries general of the SAES and ombudsmen! So a character who can violate (but I don ‘t think so) but who has been seen violating the university franchise! Buuba, under the moderation of Prof Ndiémé Sow (protégée de Maam Kumba Bang comme lui), recalled what is a university worthy of this name comme espace ouvert. Having attended several universities around the world, his comparison with what he has observed elsewhere – especially in the northern countries – is not to the advantage of Senegalese universities! Buuba Diop a cité des pratiques dont on ne peut se demander comment elles ont pu être commises par des personnes qui s’auto-sacrent ” élite ” présente ou future d’un pays!. (Buuba Diop is a cité of practices which one cannot ask how they could have been committed by people who self-sacrate ” élite ” present or future d’un pays!.)
A day of study on academic freedom: Teachers-researchers seeking greater professional autonomy
