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Academic Freedom

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Academic Freedom
Academic freedom in Kenya

Freedom is a basic to education in modern democracies. Freedom in education can be categorized in the various aspects such as; Freedom of the child, academic freedom and freedom to read. Mc’Garry and Ward, (1966) puts it: A free society and a free world imply a free educational system and a freedom within the framework of maximum control. In such a closed society they maintained, freedom in education may consist of ability to say or do in consequential things. The legal idea of academic freedom originated in Germany in 1850. The Prussian Constitution declared that “science and its teaching shall be free.” In Germany, academic freedom is known as the right of faculty to teach on any subject, that was freedom of scientific research, and the right of students to attend any lectures, and the absence of class roll calls writes standler (2000). Academic freedom spread to America in the early 20th Century (Post, 2000). Most American universities at that time were proprietary; professors were understood to be the employees of whoever owned the university, whether that was a private or state. Then the professors began to conceive of themselves not as mere employees, but as professional scholars who were answerable to the professional judgment of their peers, they began to create the idea of academic freedom.
Still, academic freedom has limits. In the United States, for example, according to the widely recognized "1940 Statement on Academic Freedom and Tenure", teachers should be careful to avoid controversial matter that is unrelated to the subject. When they speak or write in public, they are free to express their opinions without fear from institutional censorship or discipline, but they should show restraint and clearly indicate that they are not speaking for their institution. Academic tenure protects academic freedom by ensuring that teachers can be fired only for causes such as gross professional incompetence or behavior that evokes

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