2023-06-14 09:34:54
The autonomy of universities has not yet been won. Once again, the High Constitutional Court (HCC) has rejected the bill presented by the deputy and former Minister of Higher Education, Rasoazananera Marie Monique.
Already deemed non-compliant with the constitution in February 2022, a new version of the text was submitted to parliament. It was subsequently voted on and adopted at the level of the National Assembly and the Senate in December 2022. It then returned to the HCC for the purposes of constitutional review before its promulgation.
There are above all two sticking points in the texts. For the HCC, the referred law must be limited solely to the autonomy of universities. The status and regime of Public and Higher Education and Scientific Research establishments such as the Higher Institutes of Technology (IST), the National Center for Tele-Education (CNTEMAD) are not provided for by the fundamental law and must fall within the domain regulatory, notes the HCC.
Similarly, the granting of jurisdictional immunity to teachers and researchers violates the principle of equality of all before the law, explains the HCC in its decision. In the proposed law, teachers and researchers cannot be subject to legal proceedings because of the teaching they provide, the research they carry out or that they publish or that they communicate through the media in the respect for ethics and deontology.
This decision of the HCC will in any case not calm the already tense situation within the universities. After this new rejection, the reaction of the Union of Research Teachers (SECES) is awaited. In April 2022, unhappy with the first rejection of the HCC, He had decided on two days of dead universities and research centers. The union had declared that it was fighting to the end of their demands, until the law on the autonomy of universities, public higher education establishments and national research centers was promulgated.
#HCC #rejects #university #autonomy #law