WORLD CONFERENCE ON H.E.

Seeking Alternative Funding Sources

There is a widely-held view that the days of publicly-funded higher education are over. Many governments see education expenditure as simply a drain on the public purse, rather than an investment. Institutions like the World Bank make no secret of their view that the best way to fund education is to put the whole cost on students through a loan scheme or a graduate tax. They concede that the likelihood of such a policy being implemented is "very distant". However, the prevalence of such views at a time when public finances are under strain everywhere could condemn state-funded education to death by a thousand cuts under the guise of promoting "alternative funding sources".

This means shifting the costs in whole or in part to students, or seeking private funding through sponsorship, selling goods or services, or donations.

Making students pay more will mean fewer students. It will discriminate against poorer students, and it will make it harder to attract students to professions that are not in a high-income bracket, such as nursing or teaching. It will also make it more difficult to attract mature students who may have family commitments that make it difficult to take on extra expense. It is, to say the least, a perverse way to respond to a need to get more people into higher education.

The conference was not opposed to private funding in principle. In many ways, it has advantages. It can lead to partnerships between colleges and companies and greater communication between the two sectors. It can even in circumstances help protect academic freedom from the overweening power of the state.

But it also has dangers. It can skew research policies, for instance, towards applied rather than pure research. And most dangerously, it can lead to control of educational institutions passing from teachers to managers. These institutions are not private companies, and they cannot be run as if they are. They have a particular culture which is essential to their function: a culture of enquiry and creativity that cannot be measured in terms of profit and loss, and which must be protected at all costs.

Selling goods and services has its uses. Universities can and should do research under contract to private institutions. But it is dangerous to allow this to become the main component of an institution's research programme. It has the inevitable consequence of further restricting pure research, which is the lifeblood of academia.

 

Back to Basics

The problem with these reactions to the crisis in higher education is that they are all focused primarily on the financial question, how can we meet the demands for more students and more skills and spend less money? But this is the wrong way round. The underlying question that should be addressed is what kind of principles we base our education system on. Once they have been established, the financial question can be resolved in the light of those principles. In other words we should ask what we should pay for, and not how much should we spend.

For El, the most important principle is that education is a public good for which the public should be prepared to pay. Market forces simply do not apply, and it makes no sense to pretend they do. However you structure it, charging students for education as if it were a commodity is simply rationing by price. It contradicts the world-wide imperative to get more people into higher education and promote life-long learning. If governments are serious about this - and there is no doubting the strength of the demand that they be so - they will have to face the fact that only they can fund the expansion of the sector.

Recognising this fact alters the whole perspective. The question then becomes one of cost-effectiveness, rather than one of cost. The criteria become educational, rather than managerial. ICT, for example, can make and is making a huge contribution to improving access to higher education, and to the way courses are delivered on campus as well. It can help make institutions more efficient and more cost-effective; but those are judgements that will have to be made by teachers rather than by accountants.

Labour costs should be judged in the same way. There will be savings if part­-time staff replace full-time staff, and temporary staff replace permanent staff. It will cost less to cut support services to the bone and shift the workload onto teachers. Institutions can meet budget targets by keeping wages low. This, sadly, is how many governments are trying to curtail public spending. And the result is alienated and demoralised staff who with the best will in the world cannot be expected to deliver the high quality education that students and society expect and need.

Private funding has a vital role to play, especially in promoting research and keeping institutions apprised of the kind of skills companies need; but it should augment public expenditure, not replace it. In the same way, there should be close partnerships between education and the private sector, but the education experts should have the final say in educational matters. The relationship between pure and applied research exemplifies this. The private sector clearly needs applied research that will deliver new products quickly; but this kind of research can only flourish in the kind of creative and inquisitive culture inspired by pure research, which can be stimulated by the public sector.

 

The Role of the Trade Unions

El and its affiliates need to go on the offensive on behalf of higher education. The conference put forward a variety of projects that will help establish the principles that should underpin the future of higher education. They include:

q       supporting the UNESCO instrument on the Status of Higher Education Teaching Personnel;

q       developing an El code of management practice in higher education;

q       developing a World Charter on Academic Freedom;

q       issuing a policy statement on distance learning;

q       issuing guidelines for members on ICT and distance learning;

q       issuing a policy statement on intellectual property rights.

These elements will make up an action programme that will help produce a higher education system fit for the next century and beyond. At its core is the belief that high quality education depends on high quality teachers with fair wages, good working conditions, and well-structured career paths. This cannot be done if the aim of educational policy is to do it as cheaply as possible. The question governments need to ask themselves is not what does it cost, but what is it worth?

 

RESULTS OF THE EUROPEAN REGIONAL

FORUM AS A CONTRIBUTION TO THE UNESCO WORLD CONFERENCE

ON HIGHER EDUCATION

 

PREAMBLE

In the framework of the preparation of the 1998 UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education the Association of European Universities (CRE) and UNESCO's European Centre for Higher Education (CEPES) have organised the European Regional Forum in Palermo bringing together almost 400 university leaders, teacher representatives and students, representatives of public authorities and the world of work, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations interested in higher education and its development.

The Conference was prepared on the basis of 20 case studies of how European higher education institutions of different types and from different regions are addressing the issues of: teaching and learning, preparation for the world of work, advancement of knowledge through research and the transmission of cultural values in a European and a global context, as well as of how they intend to deal with these issues in the future.

A further input for the discussions was provided by a comparative analysis of these case studies. The keynote address entitled "Europe in a Period of Mutation and Change" focused on the future role of higher education from the point of view of a large industrial concern, underlining the importance of lifelong learning and the importance of graduates with both professional skills and broad personal competencies. A panel of stakeholders added its comments.

The discussions were based on these various inputs   organised   around   the   four   case   study themes  while  taking into the account the four main dimensions of the World Conference for Higher Education, namely relevance, quality, internationalisation, finance and management.

 

EUROPEAN AGENDA FOR CHANGE - MAIN DIRECTIONS

 

I.    Mission

1.         No chain being stronger than its weakest link, higher education should be a strong part of a strong educational system, as well as play a key role in opening new futures by contributing in close collaboration with other partners, to the innovation chain. Similarly higher education institutions have a key role to play in European society by contributing to equitable and sustainable development and to the culture of peace. They should act critically and objectively on the basis of rigour and merit, actively promoting intellectual and moral solidarity by serving individual needs. In a world of in-depth transformations, higher education institutions are expected to act responsibly and responsively. They are to foresee, anticipate and influence changes in all quarters of society, and be prepared and able to differentiate and to adapt accordingly.

 

II.   Teaching and Learning

General Assumptions

2.         Given the growing individual demand for higher learning, and the resulting pressures on higher education institutions, there is a need for ever more institutional diversification, for new policies of access to higher education, and for a structured development of lifelong learning. In order to better respond to the needs of diversification, a wider and more imaginative institutional profiling is expected to occur within higher education systems, thus leaving less room for categorisation of institutions. At the same time more programmatic diversification within the institution is required.

3.         Lifelong learning for personal and professional development, for career change, transferable skills, and to match supply and demand for highly trained personnel is essential. Higher education institutions must be able to offer corresponding courses in continuing education, and in alliance with employers and other social partners, so as to ensure that they are widely available and contribute to a coherent system of higher education. Thus it is essential to define the links in the overall "educational chain", and the relations between them, so that individuals can independently manage their learning at whatever level.

4.         In response to this increasingly differentiated demand, coherence means flexibility with regard to: access, content, breadth, depth and duration of programmes, means of delivery, examination and validation. Thus, new policies of access should be designed on the basis of merit and equal opportunities, expanding student profiles and reaching out to hitherto underprivileged groups of society.

5.         Higher education institutions should pay increased attention to promoting strategies for the conceptualisafion and the management of educational innovation, particularly with reference to organisation of contents, learning materials, teaching methods, and graduates' personal profiles as a response to the multiple challenges of their environments.

Required Action

6.         The shift from teaching to learning implies: self-managed learning, a coaching role for the teacher, professional support services, investment in new delivery and quality assurance mechanisms especially in off-campus operations. It should also lead to a new definition of scholarship balancing discovery and transmission as well as the integration and application of knowledge. A crucial lever for change is a creative and well-defined personnel policy which opens up teaching as a career, supported by appropriate staff development programmes. Particular attention should be paid to the promotion of opportunities for women, including in top positions in higher education.

7.         It also involves a new approach to curriculum development taking into account multi- and interdisciplinarity, flexibility of choice but in a coherent system which allows for modularisation, credit transfer, the validation of work experience and the organisation of the academic year in semesters both at national and international level.

8.         Modern information and communication technologies have major implications for the provision of education and training, and require a fundamental restructuring of the ways in which teaching and learning objectives are delivered. Higher education institutions have a key role to play in exploiting, for themselves and together with other partners, the potential of innovative information and communication technologies for academic development.

9.         Given the increased demand for higher education, and its democratisation, there is a pressing need to share good practice and ensure academic quality standards by incorporating a culture of quality and the instruments for quality assurance at both systemic and institutional level.

10.       The new roles both of the teachers and the students as well as the changing relationship to government and world of work imply the definition of a new and explicit "educational contract" between the different partners, setting out rights and responsibilities for all concerned. It will be especially important to ensure that the voice of the students is heard at all stages of the learning process.

11.       The paradigmatic shift from teaching to learning requires the establishment of a European Centre for Teaching and Learning to act as an observatory of good practice and innovation bringing together higher education institutions and their stakeholders at local, national and international level.

 

III. Research

General Assumptions

12.       Research, seen as the process leading to the systematic development of new knowledge, is central to the effectiveness of all higher education, while the type of research and the resources and time allocated to its promotion may vary according to the mission statement of the institution and its position within a coherent system of higher education. Accordingly, uniformity of research missions should give way to differentiated institutional policies focused on achievable and competitive performances.

13.       Research is important for the contribution of higher education to the innovation chain, by a strategic mobilisation of multilateral co-operation between city and regional governments, higher education institutions, industry and business. In addition, it contributes to a constant supply of qualified young researchers. At the same time a strong link between research and teaching opens opportunities for involving good researchers in the teaching process.

14.       Multi- and interdisciplinary research is required more and more to solve pressing societal problems, thus also contributing to sustainable human development. There is, however, increasing concern about the ability of the public purse to provide adequate finances to meet these escalating needs.

Required Action

15.       To ensure continued high quality research governments need to provide adequate funding for basic research infrastructure, but within a competitive framework. Research funding allocations should be based on quality criteria and transparent auditing procedures. Care should be taken to avoid a mismatch between stakeholders' needs for interdisciplinary research and governmental/peer processes of research audit and funding, which may be focused on single disciplines. Research in the social sciences and the humanities should not be neglected.

16.       Support mechanisms at national and international level to stimulate and sustain research groups in less developed systems of higher education should be strengthened in order to support institutional development rather than exacerbating brain-drain phenomena.

17.       Institutions are encouraged to develop Codes of Practice together with their partners for resolving questions of intellectual property regarding the results of externally funded research. Similarly, Codes of Ethics for the choice and conduct of research projects should be elaborated.

18.       Strategies for diversifying funding sources should be actively sought. Institutions attracting research funding in this way should ensure that their services are realistically costed and priced, and that a percentage of this extra income is used to build up an internal development fund for emerging projects or poorly funded areas.

19.       Networking with corporate laboratories, multi-national corporations, especially at regional level, has a particular role to play in enhancing the quality and scope of institutional research as well as its resource base.

General Assumptions

20.       In a labour market which is dynamic and heterogeneous, universities should not base their longterm orientations on labour market or manpower planning, but on social demand. They therefore have to prepare their students for meeting the challenges of an intrinsically uncertain labour market. In addition to their professional qualifications, graduates require a broad set of attributes in terms of personal and transferable skills and competencies in order to increase their employability in a knowledge society.

Required Action

21.       To sustain a well-rounded individual development, full participation of stakeholders, in particular representatives of students, teachers, the world of work and public authorities, in higher education policy formation, decision-making and curriculum development is essential. As intelligent providers, higher education institutions need to develop their knowledge of the markets, anticipate needs, be aware of competition and invest in processes of quality assurance.

22.       Students have to prepare for an increasingly diversified market, from employment in large industrial concerns to small enterprises, from working in the public sector to the service sector, and not forgetting individual entrepreneurship. There is a special need for the promotion of more constructive relations of higher education institutions to the world of small and medium size enterprises as the sector employing the largest number of graduates.

23.       Higher education institutions should provide systematic information in schools and enterprises to guide students' choice, provide placements as an integral part of degree courses, offer research training in a work environment, as well as career guidance services at all times.

 

V. Transmission of Cultural Values in a

European and Global Context

General Assumptions

24.       Higher education institutions are as much concerned with the creation as with the transmission of cultural values. Although it is misleading to speak of "European" values per se, in the specific European context, and in terms of the European university tradition, a framework does exist in terms of cultural unity through diversity: this means agreeing to disagree in order to pursue open, critical and constructive dialogue.

25.       As a consequence, higher education institutions have a key role to play, not only as centres of, but also as incubators of cultural diversity, multi-racial harmony and understanding. This means they have a particularly important role to play in creating a civil society and in preparing young people for shaping and living in a democratic society, a place where higher education plays an active role in public debate on ethical and policy questions.

Required Action

26.       These values should permeate all higher education curricula; their transmission, especially as far as ethical considerations are concerned, should not be limited to special courses. Special emphasis should be placed on language training, multidisciplinarity, independent and critical learning associated with team-work. With the help of higher education institutions, this process should start in primary and secondary education.

27.       Attention should be paid to incorporating the European dimension as an integral part of teaching and research, sustaining the diversity of the learning experience through student and staff mobility. This means strengthening existing provision for the recognition of degrees and diplomas, in particular through the implementation of the UNESCO-Council of Europe Joint Convention, and supporting the further development of a coherent credit transfer system Furthermore, all efforts should be made to remove practical, administrative and legal obstacles to academic exchange at institutional, national and international level. In this respect, the importance of networking and true international partnerships for cooperation in teaching, research or service is paramount.

 

VI.  Organisational Change and Development

28.       A constructive partnership between government, business and industry, and higher education institutions is a critical element in the implementation of an Agenda for Change in higher education. The role of government is expected to shift from bureaucratic control to policy steering, stable funding formulas, quality monitoring, project-based investment and providing a cushion against the wider excesses of the demands of the free market. Business and industry should be encouraged to define more clearly their needs as clients and to work together with higher education institutions as training providers. Higher education institutions should be entrusted with a greater institutional autonomy, thus enhancing their capacity for change, for acting responsibly, effectively, and entrepreneurially as "learning organisations", while making them more accountable in terms of performance. Inter-institutional alliances should be a substantial lever for institutional change and development.

29.       In view of the common assumptions on trends affecting future university development in Europe, the growing systematisation of institutional management is a welcome development as is the corresponding awareness of the need for internal strategic planning and rethink, both for intrinsic reasons and in response to initiatives from national higher education planners.

 

Organised by CRE/CEPES -

Conference of European Rectors, and the

Centre for Research into Higher Education of UNESCO

and attended by an IFUT delegation.

 

24-27 September 1997

 

WORLD DECLARATION ON HIGHER EDUCATION

 

SUMMARY OF DECLARATION FROM UNESCO CONFERENCE OF OCTOBER 1998

1. Higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit, in keeping with Article 26.1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As a consequence, no discrimination can be accepted in granting access to higher education on grounds of race, gender, language, religion or economic, cultural or social distinctions, or physical disabilities.

2. The core missions of higher education systems (to educate, to train, to undertake research and, in particular, to contribute to the sustainable development and improvement of society as a whole) should be preserved, reinforced and further expanded, namely to educate highly qualified graduates and responsible citizens and to provide opportunities (espaces ouverts) for higher learning and for learning throughout life. Moreover, higher education has acquired an unprecedented role in present-day society, as a vital component of cultural, social, economic and political development and as a pillar of endogenous capacity-building, the consolidation of human rights, sustainable development, democracy and peace, in a context of justice. It is the duty of higher education to ensure that the values and ideals of a culture of peace prevail.

3. Higher education institutions and their personnel and students should preserve and develop their crucial functions, through the exercise of ethics and  scientific and intellectual rigour in their various activities. They should also enhance their critical and forward-looking function, through the ongoing analysis of emerging social, economic, cultural and political trends, providing a focus for forecasting, warning and prevention. For this, they should enjoy full academic autonomy and freedom, while being fully responsible and accountable to society.

4. Relevance in higher education should be assessed in terms of the fit between what society expects of institutions and what they do. For this, institutions and systems, in particular in their reinforced relations with the world of work, should base their long-term orientations on societal aims and needs, including the respect of cultures and environment protection. Developing entrepreneurial skills and initiatives should become major concerns of higher education. Special attention should be paid to higher education's role of

service to society, especially activities aimed at eliminating poverty, intolerance, violence, illiteracy, hunger, environmental degradation and disease, and to activities aiming at the development of peace, through an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach.

5. Higher education is part of a seamless system, starting with early childhood and primary education and continuing through life. The contribution of higher education to the development of the whole education system and the reordering of its links with all levels of education, in particular with secondary education, should be a priority, Secondary education should both prepare for and facilitate access to higher education as well as offer broad training and prepare students for active life.

6. Diversifying higher education models and recruitment methods and criteria is essential both to meet demand and to give students the rigorous background and training required by the twenty-first century. Learners must have an optimal range of choice and the acquisition of knowledge and know-how should be viewed in a lifelong perspective, based on flexible entry and exit points within the system.

7. Quality in higher education is a multidimensional concept, which should embrace all its functions and activities: teaching and academic programmes, research and scholarship, staffing, students, infrastructure and the academic environment. Particular attention should be paid to the advancement of knowledge through research. Higher education institutions in all regions should be committed to transparent internal and external evaluation, conducted openly by independent specialists. However, due attention should be paid to specific institutional, national and regional contexts in order to take into account diversity and to avoid uniformity. There is a perceived need for a new vision and paradigm of higher education, which should be student-orientated. To achieve this goal, curricula need to be recast so as to go beyond simple cognitive mastery of disciplines and include the acquisition of skills, competencies and abilities for communication, creative and critical analysis, independent thinking and team work in multicultural contexts.

8. A vigorous policy of staff development is an essential element for higher education institutions. Clear policies should be established concerning higher education teachers, so as to update and improve their skills, with stimulus for constant innovation in curriculum, teaching and learning methods, and with an appropriate professional and financial status, and for excellence in research and teaching, reflecting the corresponding provisions of the Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel approved by the General Conference of UNESCO in November 1997.

9. National and institutional decision-makers should place students and their needs at the centre of their concerns and should consider them as major partners and responsible stakeholders in the renewal of higher education. Guidance and counselling services should be developed, in co-operation with student organizations, to take account of the needs of ever more diversified categories of learners. Students who do drop out should have suitable opportunities to return to higher education if and when appropriate. Institutions should educate students to become well-informed and deeply motivated citizens, who can think critically, analyse problems of society, look for solutions to the problems of society, apply them and accept social responsibilities.

10. Measures must be taken or reinforced to ensure the participation of women in higher education, in particular at the decision-making level and in all disciplines in which they are under-represented. Further efforts are required to eliminate all gender stereotyping in higher education. To overcome obstacles and to enhance the access of women to higher education remains an urgent priority in the renewal process of systems and institutions.

11. The potential of new information and communication technologies for the renewal of higher education by extending and diversifying delivery, and by making knowledge and information available to a wider public should be fully utilized. Equitable access to these should be assured through international co-operation and support to countries that lack capacities to acquire such tools. Adapting these technologies to national, regional and local needs and securing technical, educational, management and institutional systems to sustain them should be a priority.

12. Higher education should be considered as a public service. While diversified sources of funding, private and public, are necessary, public support for higher education and research remains essential to ensure a balanced achievement of its educational and social missions. Management and financing in higher education should be instruments to improve quality and relevance. This requires the development of appropriate planning and policy-analysis capacities and strategies, based on partnerships between higher education institutions and responsible state authorities. Autonomy to manage internal affairs is necessary, but with clear and transparent accountability to society.

13. The international dimension of higher education is an inherent part of its quality. Networking, which has emerged as a major means of action, should be based on sharing, solidarity and equality among partners. The "brain-drain" has yet to be stemmed, since it continues to deprive the developing countries and those in transition, of the high-level expertise necessary to accelerate their socio-economic progress. Priority should be given to training programmes in the developing countries, in centres of excellence forming regional and international networks, with short periods of specialized and intensive study abroad.

14. Regional and international normative instruments for the recognition of studies and diplomas should be ratified and implemented, including certification of skills, competencies and abilities of graduates, making it easier for students to change courses, in order to facilitate mobility within and between national systems.

15. Close partnership amongst all stakeholders - national and institutional policy-makers, governments and parliaments, the media, teaching and related staff researchers, students and their families, the world of work, community groups - is required in order to set in train movement for the in-depth reform and renewal of higher education.

               u

 

UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel

 

Preamble

The General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), meeting in Paris from 21 October to 12 November 1997, at its 29th session,

      Conscious of the responsibility of states for the provision of education for all in fulfilment of Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948),

      Recalling in particular the responsibility of the states for the provision of higher education in fulfilment of Article 13, paragraph 1(c), of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966),

      Conscious that higher education and research are instrumental in the pursuit, advancement and transfer of knowledge and constitute an exceptionally rich cultural and scientific asset,

      Also conscious that governments and important social groups, such as students, industry and labour, are vitally interested in and benefit from the services and outputs of the higher education systems,

      Recognizing the decisive role of higher-education teaching personnel in the advancement of higher education, and the importance of their contribution to the development of humanity and modern society,

      Convinced that higher-education teaching personnel, like all other citizens, are expected to endeavour to enhance the observance in society of the cultural, economic, social, civil and political rights of all peoples,

      Aware of the need to reshape higher education to meet social and economic changes and for higher-education teaching personnel to participate in this process,

      Expressing concern regarding the vulnerability of the academic community to untoward political pressures which could undermine academic freedom,

      Considering that the right to education, teaching and research can only be fully enjoyed in an atmosphere of academic freedom and autonomy for institutions of higher education and that the open communication of findings, hypotheses and opinions lies at the very heart of higher education and provides the strongest guarantee of the accuracy and objectivity of scholarship and research,

      Concerned to ensure that higher-education teaching personnel enjoy the status commensurate with this role,

      Recognizing the diversity of cultures in the world,

      Taking into account the great diversity of the laws, regulations, practices and traditions which, in different countries, determine the patterns and organization of higher education,

      Mindful of the diversity of arrangements which apply to higher-education teaching personnel in different countries, in particular according to whether the regulations concerning the public service apply to them,

      Convinced nevertheless that similar questions arise in all countries with regard to the status of higher-education teaching personnel and that these questions call for the adoption of common approaches and so far as practicable the application of common standards which it is the purpose of this Recommendation to set out,

      Bearing in mind such instruments as the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education (1960), which recognizes that UNESCO has a duty not only to proscribe any form of discrimination in education, but also to promote equality of opportunity and treatment for all in education at all levels, including the conditions under which it is given, as well as the Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers (1966) and the UNESCO Recommendation on the Status of Scientific Researchers (1974), as well as the instruments of the International Labour Organization on freedom of association and the right to organize and to collective bargaining and on equality of opportunity and treatment,

      Desiring to complement existing conventions, covenants and recommendations contained in international standards set out in the appendix [available on request] with provisions relating to problems of particular concern to higher education institutions and their teaching and research personnel,

      Adopts the present Recommendation on 11 November 1997.

 

I.    Definitions

      1.   For the purpose of this Recommendation:

      (a)  'higher education' means programmes of study, training or training for research at the post-secondary level provided by universities or other educational establishments that are approved as institutions of higher education by the competent state authorities, and/or through recognized accreditation systems

      (b)  'research', within the context of higher education, means original scientific, technological and engineering, medical, cultural, social and human science or educational research which implies careful, critical, disciplined inquiry, varying in technique and method according to the nature and conditions of the problems identified, directed towards the clarification and/or resolution of the problems, and when within an institutional framework, supported by an appropriate infrastructure;

      (c)  'scholarship' means the processes by which higher-education teaching personnel keep up to date with their subject, engage in scholarly editing, disseminate their work and improve their pedagogical skills as teachers in their discipline and upgrade their academic credentials;

      (d)  'extension work' means a service by which the resources of an educational institution are extended beyond its confines to serve a widely diversified community within the state or region regarded as the constituent area of the institution, so long as this work does not contradict the mission of the institution. In teaching it may include a wide range of activities such as extramural, lifelong and distance education delivered through evening classes, short courses, seminars and institutes. In research it may lead to the provision of expertise to the public, private and non-profit sectors, various types of consultation, and participation in applied research and in implementing research results;(e)

      (e)  'institutions of higher education' means universities, other educational establishments, centres and structures of higher education, and centres of research and culture associated with any of the above, public or private, that are approved as such either through recognized accreditation systems or by the competent state authorities;

      (f)   'higher-education teaching personnel' means all those persons in institutions or programmes of higher education who are engaged to teach and/or to undertake scholarship and/or to undertake research and/or to provide educational services to students or to the community at large.

 

II.    Scope

      2.   This Recommendation applies to all higher-education teaching personnel.

 

III.  Guiding Principles

      3.   The global objectives of international peace, understanding, co-operation and sustainable development pursued by each Member State and by the United Nations require, inter alia, education for peace and in the culture of peace, as defined by UNESCO, as well as qualified and cultivated graduates of higher education institutions, capable of serving the community as responsible citizens and undertaking effective scholarship and advanced research and, as a consequence, a corps of talented and highly qualified higher-education teaching personnel.

      4.   Institutions of higher education, and more particularly universities, are communities of scholars preserving, disseminating and expressing freely their opinions on traditional knowledge and culture, and pursuing new knowledge without constriction by prescribed doctrines. The pursuit of new knowledge and its application lie at the heart of the mandate of such institutions of higher education. In higher education institutions where original research is not required, higher-education teaching personnel should maintain and develop knowledge of their subject through scholarship and improved pedagogical skills.

      5.   Advances in higher education, scholarship and research depend largely on infrastructure and resources, both human and material, and on the qualifications and expertise of higher-education teaching personnel as well as on their human, pedagogical and technical qualities, underpinned by academic freedom, professional responsibility, collegiality and institutional autonomy.

      6.   Teaching in higher education is a profession: it is a form of public service that requires of higher education personnel expert knowledge and specialized skills acquired and maintained through rigorous and lifelong study and research; it also calls for a sense of personal and institutional responsibility for the education and welfare of students and of the community at large and for a commitment to high professional standards in scholarship and research.

      7.   Working conditions for higher-education teaching personnel should be such as will best promote effective teaching, scholarship, research and extension work and enable higher-education teaching personnel to carry out their professional tasks.

      8.   Organizations which represent higher-education teaching personnel should be considered and recognized as a force which can contribute greatly to educational advancement and which should, therefore, be involved, together with other stakeholders and interested parties, in the determination of higher education policy.

      9.   Respect should be shown for the diversity of higher education institution systems in each Member State in accordance with its national laws and practices as well as with international standards.

 

IV.  Educational Objectives and Policies

      10. At all appropriate stages of their national planning in general, and of their planning for higher education in particular, Member States should take all necessary measures to ensure that:

      (a)  higher education is directed to human development and to the progress of society;

      (b)  higher education contributes to the achievement of the goals of lifelong learning and to the development of other forms and levels of education;

      (c)  where public funds are appropriated for higher education institutions, such funds are treated as a public investment, subject to effective public accountability;

      (d)  the funding of higher education is treated as a form of public investment the returns on which are, for the most part, necessarily long term, subject to government and public priorities;

      (e)  the justification for public funding is held constantly before public opinion.

      11. Higher-education teaching personnel should have access to libraries which have up-to-date collections reflecting diverse sides of an issue, and whose holdings are not subject to censorship or other forms of intellectual interference. They should also have access, without censorship, to international computer systems, satellite programmes and databases required for their teaching, scholarship or research.

      12. The publication and dissemination of the research results obtained by higher-education teaching personnel should be encouraged and facilitated with a view to assisting them to acquire the reputation which they merit, as well as with a view to promoting the advancement of science, technology, education and culture generally. To this end, higher-education teaching personnel should be free to publish the results of research and scholarship in books, journals and databases of their own choice and under their own names, provided they are the authors or co-authors of the above scholarly works. The intellectual property of higher-education teaching personnel should benefit from appropriate legal protection, and in particular the protection afforded by national and international copyright law.

      13. The interplay of ideas and information among higher-education teaching personnel throughout the world is vital to the healthy development of higher education and research and should be actively promoted. To this end higher-education teaching personnel should be enabled throughout their careers to participate in international gatherings on higher education or research, to travel abroad without political restrictions and to use the Internet or video-conferencing for these purposes.

      14. Programmes providing for the broadest exchange of higher-education teaching personnel between institutions, both nationally and internationally, including the organization of symposia, seminars and collaborative projects, and the exchange of educational and scholarly information should be developed and encouraged. The extension of communications and direct contacts between universities, research institutions and associations as well as among scientists and research workers should be facilitated, as should access by higher-education teaching personnel from other states to open information material in public archives, libraries, research institutes and similar bodies.

      15. Member States and higher education institutions should, nevertheless, be conscious of the exodus of higher-education teaching personnel from the developing countries and, in particular, the least developed ones. They should, therefore, encourage aid programmes to the developing countries to help sustain an academic environment which offers satisfactory conditions of work for higher-education teaching personnel in those countries, so that this exodus may be contained and ultimately reversed.

      16. Fair, just and reasonable national policies and practices for the recognition of degrees and of credentials for the practice of the higher education profession from other states should be established that are consistent with the UNESCO Recommendation on the Recognition of Studies and Qualifications in Higher Education of 1993.

 

V.   Institutional Rights, Duties and

Responsibilities

      A   Institutional Autonomy

      17. The proper enjoyment of academic freedom and compliance with the duties and responsibilities listed below require the autonomy of institutions of higher education. Autonomy is that degree of self-governance necessary for effective decision-making by institutions of higher education regarding their academic work, standards, management and related activities consistent with systems of public accountability, especially in respect of funding provided by the state, and respect for academic freedom and human rights. However, the nature of institutional autonomy may differ according to the type of establishment involved.

      18. Autonomy is the institutional form of academic freedom and a necessary precondition to guarantee the proper fulfilment of the functions entrusted to higher-education teaching personnel and institutions.

      19. Member States are under an obligation to protect higher education institutions from threats to their autonomy coming from any source.

      20. Autonomy should not be used by higher education institutions as a pretext to limit the rights of higher-education teaching personnel provided for in this Recommendation or in other international standards set out in the appendix.

      21. Self-governance, collegiality and appropriate academic leadership are essential components of meaningful autonomy for institutions of higher education.

 

      B.  Institutional Accountability

      22. 1n view of the substantial financial investments made, Member States and higher education institutions should ensure a proper balance between the level of autonomy enjoyed by higher education institutions and their systems of accountability. Higher education institutions should endeavour to open their governance in order to be accountable. They should be accountable for:

      (a)  effective communication to the public concerning the nature of their educational mission;

      (b)  a commitment to quality and excellence in their teaching, scholarship and research functions, and an obligation to protect and ensure the integrity of their teaching, scholarship and research against intrusions inconsistent with their academic missions;

      (c)  effective support of academic freedom and fundamental human rights;

      (d)  ensuring high quality education for as many academically qualified individuals as possible subject to the constraints of the resources available to them;

      (e)  a commitment to the provision of opportunities for lifelong learning, consistent with the mission of the institution and the resources provided;

      (f)   ensuring that students are treated fairly and justly, and without discrimination;

      (g)  adopting policies and procedures to ensure the equitable treatment of women and minorities and to eliminate sexual and racial harassment;

      (h)  ensuring that higher education personnel are not impeded in their work in the classroom or in their research capacity by violence, intimidation or harassment;

      (i)   honest and open accounting;

      (j)   efficient use of resources;

      (k)  the creation, through the collegial process and/or through negotiation with organizations representing higher-education teaching personnel, consistent with the principles of academic freedom and freedom of speech, of statements or codes of ethics to guide higher education personnel in their teaching, scholarship, research and extension work;

      (i)   assistance in the fulfilment of economic, social, cultural and political rights while striving to prevent the use of knowledge, science and technology to the detriment of those rights, or for purposes which run counter to generally accepted academic ethics, human rights and peace;

      (m)      ensuring that they address themselves to the contemporary problems facing society; to this end, their curricula, as well as their activities, should respond, where appropriate, to the current and future needs of the local community and of society at large, and they should play an important role in enhancing the labour market opportunities of their graduates;

      (n)  encouraging, where possible and appropriate, international academic co-operation which transcends national, regional, political, ethnic and other barriers, striving to prevent the scientific and technological exploitation of one state by another, and promoting equal partnership of all the academic communities of the world in the pursuit and use of knowledge and the preservation of cultural heritages;

      (o)  ensuring up-to-date libraries and access, without censorship, to modern teaching, research and information resources providing information required by higher-education teaching personnel or by students for teaching, scholarship or research;

      (p)  ensuring the facilities and equipment necessary for the mission of the institution and their proper upkeep;

      (q)  ensuring that when engaged in classified research it will not contradict the educational mission and objectives of the institutions and will not run counter to the general objectives of peace, human rights, sustainable development and environment.

      23. Systems of institutional accountability should be based on a scientific methodology and be clear, realistic, cost-effective and simple. In their operation they should be fair, just and equitable. Both the methodology and the results should be open.

      24. Higher education institutions, individually or collectively, should design and implement appropriate systems of accountability, including quality assurance mechanisms to achieve the above goals, without harming institutional autonomy or academic freedom. The organ­izations representing higher-education teaching personnel should participate, where possible, in the planning of such systems. Where state-mandated structures of accountability are established, their procedures should be negotiated, where applicable, with the institutions of higher education concerned and with the organizations representing higher-education teaching personnel.

 

VI.  Rights and Freedoms of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel

      A.  Individual Rights and Freedoms: Civil Rights, Academic Freedom, Publication Rights, and the International Exchange of Information

      25. Access to the higher education academic profession should be based solely on appropriate academic qualifications, competence and experience and be equal for all members of society without any discrimination.

      26. Higher-education teaching personnel, like all other groups and individuals, should enjoy those internationally recognized civil, political, social and cultural rights applicable to all citizens. Therefore, all higher-education teaching personnel should enjoy freedom of thought, conscience, religion, expression, assembly and association as well as the right to liberty and security of the person and liberty of movement. They should not be hindered or impeded in exercising their civil rights as citizens, including the right to contribute to social change through freely expressing their opinion of state policies and of policies affecting higher education· They should not suffer any penalties simply because of the exercise of such rights. Higher-education teaching personnel should not be subject to arbitrary arrest or detention, nor to torture, nor to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. In cases of gross violation of their rights, higher-education teaching personnel should have the right to appeal to the relevant national, regional or international bodies such as the agencies of the United Nations, and organizations representing higher-education teaching personnel should extend full support in such cases.

      27. The maintaining of the above international standards should be upheld in the interest of higher education internationally and within the country. To do so, the principle of academic freedom should be scrupulously observed. Higher-education teaching personnel are entitled to the maintaining of academic freedom, that is to say, the right, without constriction by prescribed doctrine, to freedom of teaching and discussion, freedom in carrying out research and disseminating and publishing the results thereof, freedom to express freely their opinion about the institution or system in which they work, freedom from institutional censorship and freedom to participate in professional or representative academic bodies. All higher-education teaching personnel should have the right to fulfil their functions without discrimination of any kind and without fear of repression by the state or any other source. Higher-education teaching personnel can effectively do justice to this principle if the environment in which they operate is conducive, which requires a democratic atmosphere; hence the challenge for all of developing a democratic society.

      28. Higher-education teaching personnel have the right to teach without any interference, subject to accepted professional principles including professional responsibility and intellectual rigour with regard to standards and methods of teaching. Higher-education teaching personnel should not be forced to instruct against their own best knowledge and conscience or be forced to use curricula and methods contrary to national and international human rights standards. Higher-education teaching personnel should play a significant role in determining the curriculum.

      29. Higher-education teaching personnel have a right to carry out research work without any interference, or any suppression, in accordance with their professional responsibility and subject to nationally and internationally recognized professional principles of intellectual rigour, scientific inquiry and research ethics. They should also have the right to publish and communicate the conclusions of the research of which they are authors or co-authors, as stated in paragraph 12 of this Recommendation.

      30. Higher-education teaching personnel have a right to undertake professional activities outside of their employment, particularly those that enhance their professional skills or allow for the application of knowledge to the problems of the community, provided such activities do not interfere with their primary commitments to their home institutions in accordance with institutional policies and regulations or national laws and practice where they exist.

      

    B.  Self-governance and Collegiality

      31. Higher-education teaching personnel should have the right and opportunity, without discrimination of any kind, according to their abilities, to take part in the governing bodies and to criticize the functioning of higher education institutions, including their own, while respecting the right of other sections of the academic community to participate, and they should also have the right to elect a majority of representatives to academic bodies within the higher education institution.

      32. The principles of collegiality include academic freedom, shared responsibility, the policy of participation of all concerned in internal decision-making structures and practices, and the development of consultative mechanisms. Collegial decision-making should encompass decisions regarding the administration and determination of policies of higher education, curricula, research, extension work, the allocation of resources and other related activities, in order to improve academic excellence and quality for the benefit of society at large.

 

VII. Duties and Responsibilities of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel

      33. Higher-education teaching personnel should recognize that the exercise of rights carries with it special duties and responsibilities, including the obligation to respect the academic freedom of other members of the academic community and to ensure the fair discussion of contrary views. Academic freedom carries with it the duty to use that freedom in a manner consistent with the scholarly obligation to base research on an honest search for truth. Teaching, research and scholarship should be conducted in full accordance with ethical and professional standards and should, where appropriate, respond to contemporary problems facing society as well as preserve the historical and cultural heritage of the world.

      34. 1n particular, the individual duties of higher-education teaching personnel inherent in their academic freedom are:

      (a)  to teach students effectively within the means provided by the institution and the state, to be fair and equitable to male and female students and treat those of all races and religions, as well as those with disabilities, equally, to encourage the free exchange of ideas between themselves and their students, and to be available to them for guidance in their studies. Higher-education teaching personnel should ensure, where necessary, that the minimum content defined in the syllabus for each subject is covered;

      (b)  to conduct scholarly research and to disseminate the results of such research or, where original research is not required, to maintain and develop their knowledge of their subject through study and research, and through the development of teaching methodology to improve their pedagogical skills;

      (c)  to base their research and scholarship on an honest search for knowledge with due respect for evidence, impartial reasoning and honesty in reporting;

      (d)  to observe the ethics of research involving humans, animals, the heritage or the environment;

      (e)  to respect and to acknowledge the scholarly work of academic colleagues and students and, in particular, to ensure that authorship of published works includes all who have materially contributed to, and share responsibility for, the contents of a publication;

      (f)   to refrain from using new information, concepts or data that were originally obtained as a result of access to confidential manuscripts or applications for funds for research or training that may have been seen as the result of processes such as peer review, unless the author has given permission;

      (g)  to ensure that research is conducted according to the laws and regulations of the state in which the research is carried out, that it does not violate international codes of human rights, and that the results of the research and the data on which it is based are effectively made available to scholars and researchers in the host institution, except where this might place respondents in peril or where anonymity has been guaranteed;

      (h)  to avoid conflicts of interest and to resolve them through appropriate disclosure and full consultation with the higher education institution employing them, so that they have the approval of the aforesaid institution

      (i)   to handle honestly all funds entrusted to their care for higher education institutions for research or for other professional or scientific bodies;

      (j)   to be fair and impartial when presenting a professional appraisal of academic colleagues and students;

      (k)  to be conscious of a responsibility, when speaking or writing outside scholarly channels on matters which are not related to their professional expertise, to avoid misleading the public on the nature of their professional expertise;

      (I)   to undertake such appropriate duties as are required for the collegial governance of institutions of higher education and of professional bodies.

      35. Higher-education teaching personnel should seek to achieve the highest possible standards in their professional work, since their status largely depends on themselves and the quality of their achievements.

      36. Higher-education teaching personnel should contribute to the public accountability of higher education institutions without, however, forfeiting the degree of institutional autonomy necessary for their work, for their professional freedom and for the advancement of knowledge.

 

VIII. Preparation for the Profession

      37. Policies governing access to preparation for a career in higher education rest on the need to provide society with an adequate supply of higher-education teaching personnel who possess the necessary ethical, intellectual and teaching qualities and who have the required professional knowledge and skills.

      38. All aspects of the preparation of higher-education teaching personnel should be free from any form of discrimination.

      39. Amongst candidates seeking to prepare for a career in higher education, women and members of minorities with equal academic qualifications and experience should be given equal opportunities and treatment.

 

IX.  Terms and Conditions of Employment

      A.  Entry into the Academic Profession

      40. The employers of higher-education teaching personnel should establish such terms and conditions of employment as will be most conducive for effective teaching and/or research and/or scholarship and/or extension work and will be fair and free from discrimination of any kind.

      41. Temporary measures aimed at accelerating de facto equality for disadvantaged members of the academic community should not be considered discriminatory, provided that these measures are discontinued when the objectives of equality of opportunity and treatment have been achieved and systems are in place to ensure the continuance of equality of opportunity and treatment.

      42. A probationary period on initial entry to teaching and research in higher education is recognized as the opportunity for the encouragement and helpful initiation of the entrant and for the establishment and maintenance of proper professional standards, as well as for the individual's own development of his/her teaching and research proficiency. The normal duration of probation should be known in advance and the conditions for its satisfactory completion should be strictly related to professional competence. If such candidates fail to complete their probation satisfactorily, they should have the right to know the reasons and to receive this information sufficiently in advance of the end of the probationary period to give them a reasonable opportunity to improve their performance. They should also have the right to appeal.

      43. Higher-education teaching personnel should enjoy:

      (a)  a just and open system of career development including fair procedures for appointment, tenure where applicable, promotion, dismissal, and other related matters;

      (b)  an effective, fair and just system of labour relations within the institution, consistent with the international standards set out in the appendix.

      44. There should be provisions to allow for solidarity with other institutions of higher education and with their higher-education teaching personnel when they are subject to persecution. Such solidarity may be material as well as moral and should, where possible, include refuge and employment or education for victims of persecution.

 

      B.  Security of Employment

      45. Tenure or its functional equivalent, where applicable, constitutes one of the major procedural safeguards of academic freedom and against arbitrary decisions. It also encourages individual responsibility and the retention of talented higher-education teaching personnel.

      46. Security of employment in the profession, including tenure or its functional equivalent, where applicable, should be safeguarded as it is essential to the interests of higher education as well as those of higher-education teaching personnel. It ensures that higher-education teaching personnel who secure continuing employment following rigorous evaluation can only be dismissed on professional grounds and in accordance with due process. They may also be released for bona fide financial reasons, provided that all the financial accounts are open to public inspection, that the institution has taken all reasonable alternative steps to prevent termination of employment, and that there are legal safeguards against bias in any termination of employment procedure. Tenure or its functional equivalent, where applicable, should be safeguarded as far as possible even when changes in the organization of or within a higher education institution or system are made, and should be granted, after a reasonable period of probation, to those who meet stated objective criteria in teaching, and/or scholarship, and/or research to the satisfaction of an academic body, and/or extension work to the satisfaction of the institution of higher education.

 

C. Appraisal

      47. Higher education institutions should ensure that:

      (a)  evaluation and assessment of the work of higher-education teaching personnel are an integral part of the teaching, learning and research process, and that their major function is the development of individuals in accordance with their interests and capacities;

      (b)  evaluation is based only on academic criteria of competence in research, teaching and other academic or professional duties as interpreted by academic peers;

      (c)  evaluation procedures take due account of the difficulty inherent in measuring personal capacity, which seldom manifests itself in a constant and unfluctuating manner;

      (d)  where evaluation involves any kind of direct assessment of the work of higher-education teaching personnel, by students and/or fellow colleagues and/or administrators, such assessment is objective and the criteria and the results are made known to the individual(s) concerned;

      (e)  the results of appraisal of higher-education teaching personnel are also taken into account when establishing the staffing of the institution and considering the renewal of employment;

      (f)   higher-education teaching personnel have the right to appeal to an impartial body against assessments which they deem to be unjustified.

 

      D. Discipline and Dismissal

      48. No member of the academic community should be subject to discipline, including dismissal, except for just and sufficient cause demonstrable before an independent third-party hearing of peers, and/or before an impartial body such as arbitrators or the courts.

      49. All members of higher-education teaching personnel should enjoy equitable safeguards at each stage of any disciplinary procedure, including dismissal, in accordance with the international standards set out in the appendix.

      50. Dismissal as a disciplinary measure should only be for just and sufficient cause related to professional conduct, for example: persistent neglect of duties, gross incompetence, fabrication or falsification of research results, serious financial irregularities, sexual or other misconduct with students, colleagues, or other members of the academic community or serious threats thereof, or corruption of the educational process such as by falsifying grades, diplomas or degrees in return for money, sexual or other favours or by demanding sexual, financial or other material favours from subordinate employees or colleagues in return for continuing employment.

      51. Individuals should have the right to appeal against the decision to dismiss them before independent, external bodies such as arbitrators or the courts, with final and binding powers.

 

    E. Negotiation of Terms and Conditions of

Employment

      52. Higher-education teaching personnel should enjoy the right to freedom of association, and this right should be effectively promoted. Collective bargaining or an equivalent procedure should be promoted in accordance with the standards of the International Labour Organization (ILO) set out in the appendix.

      53. Salaries, working conditions and all matters related to the terms and conditions of employment of higher-education teaching personnel should be determined through a voluntary process of negotiation between organizations representing higher-education teaching personnel and the employers of higher-education teaching personnel, except where other equivalent procedures are provided that are consistent with international standards.

      54. .Appropriate machinery, consistent with national laws and international standards, should be established by statute or by agreement whereby the right of higher-education teaching personnel to negotiate through their organizations with their employers, whether public or private, is assured. Such legal and statutory rights should be enforceable through an impartial process without undue delay.

      55. If the process established for these purposes is exhausted or if there is a breakdown in negotiations between the parties, organizations of higher-education teaching personnel should have the right to take such other steps as are normally open to other organizations in the defence of their legitimate interests.

      56. Higher-education teaching personnel should have access to a fair grievance and arbitration procedure, or the equivalent, for the settlement of disputes with their employers arising out of terms and conditions of employment.

 

      F. Salaries, Workload, Social Security

Benefits, Health and Safety

      57. All financially feasible measures should be taken to provide higher-education teaching personnel with remuneration such that they can devote themselves satisfactorily to their duties and allocate the necessary amount of time for the continuing training and periodic renewal of knowledge and skills that are essential at this level of teaching.

      58. The salaries of higher-education teaching personnel should:

      (a)  reflect the importance to society of higher education and hence the importance of higher-education teaching personnel as well as the different responsibilities which fall to them from the time of their entry into the profession;

      (b)  be at least comparable to salaries paid in other occupations requiring similar or equivalent qualifications;

      (c)  provide higher-education teaching personnel with the means to ensure a reasonable standard of living for themselves and their families, as well as to invest in further education or in the pursuit of cultural or scientific activities, thus enhancing their professional qualifications;

      (d)  take account of the fact that certain posts require higher qualifications and experience and carry greater responsibilities;

      (e)  be paid regularly and on time;

      (f)   be reviewed periodically to take into account such factors as a rise in the cost of living, increased productivity leading to higher standards of living, or a general upward movement in wage or salary levels.

      59. Salary differentials should be based on objective criteria.

      60. Higher-education teaching personnel should be paid on the basis of salary scales established in agreement with organizations representing higher-education teaching personnel, except where other equivalent procedures consistent with international standards are provided. During a probationary period or if employed on a temporary basis qualified higher-education teaching personnel should not be paid on a lower scale than that laid down for established higher-education teaching personnel at the same level.

      61. A fair and impartial merit-rating system could be a means of enhancing quality assurance and quality control. Where introduced and applied for purposes of salary determination it should involve prior consultation with organizations representing higher-education teaching personnel.

      62. The workload of higher-education teaching personnel should be fair and equitable, should permit such personnel to carry out effectively their duties and responsibilities to their students as well as their obligations in regard to scholarship, research and/or academic adminis­tration, should provide due consideration in terms of salary for those who are required to teach beyond their regular workload, and should be negotiated with the organizations representing higher-education teaching personnel, except where other equivalent procedures consistent with international standards are provided.

      63. Higher-education teaching personnel should be provided with a work environment that does not have a negative impact on or affect their health and safety and they should be protected by social security measures, including those concerning sickness and disability and pension entitlements, and measures for the protection of health and safety in respect of all contingencies included in the conventions and recommendations of ILO. The standards should be at least as favourable as those set out in the relevant conventions and recommendations of ILO. Social security benefits for higher-education teaching personnel should be granted as a matter of right.

      64. The pension rights earned by higher-education teaching personnel should be transferable nationally and internationally, subject to national, bilateral and multilateral taxation laws and agreements, should the individual transfer to employment with another institution of higher education. Organizations representing higher-education teaching personnel should have the right to choose representatives to take part in the governance and administration of pension plans designed for higher-education teaching personnel where applicable, particularly those which are private and contributory.

 

      G. Study and Research Leave and Annual

Holidays

      65. Higher-education teaching personnel should be granted study and research leave, such as sabbatical leave, on full or partial pay, where applicable, at regular intervals.

      66. The period of study or research leave should be counted as service for seniority and pension purposes, subject to the provisions of the pension plan.

      67. Higher-education teaching personnel should be granted occasional leave with full or partial pay to enable them to participate in professional activities.

      68. Leave granted to higher-education teaching personnel within the framework of bilateral and multilateral cultural and scientific exchanges or technical assistance programmes abroad should be considered as service, and their seniority and eligibility for promotion and pension rights in their home institutions should be safeguarded. In addition, special arrangements should be made to cover their extra expenses.

      69. Higher-education teaching personnel should enjoy the right to adequate annual vacation with full pay.

 

      H. Terms and Conditions of Employment of Women Higher-Education Teaching Personnel

      70. All necessary measures should be taken to promote equality of opportunity and treatment of women higher-education teaching personnel in order to ensure, on the basis of equality between men and women, the rights recognized by the international standards set out in the appendix.

 

       I.    Terms and Conditions of Employment of Disabled Higher-Education Teaching Personnel

      71. .All necessary measures should be taken to ensure that the standards set with regard to the conditions of work of higher-education teaching personnel who are disabled are, as a minimum, consistent with the relevant provisions of the international standards set out in the appendix·

 

      J.   Terms and Conditions of Employment of Part-time Higher-Education Teaching Personnel

      72. The value of the service provided by qualified part-time higher-education teaching personnel should be recognized. Higher-education teaching personnel employed regularly on a part-time basis should:

      (a)  receive proportionately the same remuneration as higher-education teaching personnel employed on a full-time basis and enjoy equivalent basic conditions of employment;

      (b)  benefit from conditions equivalent to those of higher-education teaching personnel employed on a full-time basis as regards holidays with pay, sick leave and maternity leave; the relevant pecuniary entitlements should be determined in proportion to hours of work or earnings;

      (c)  be entitled to adequate and appropriate social security protection, including, where applicable, coverage under employers' pension schemes.

 

X.   Utilization and Implementation

      73. Member States and higher education institutions should take all feasible steps to extend and complement their own action in respect of the status of higher-education teaching personnel by encouraging co-operation with and among all national and international governmental and non-governmental organizations whose activities fall within the scope and objectives of this Recommendation.

      74. Member States and higher education institutions should take all feasible steps to apply the provisions spelled out above to give effect, within their respective territories, to the principles set forth in this Recommendation.

      75. The Director-General will prepare a comprehensive report on the world situation with regard to academic freedom and to respect for the human rights of higher-education teaching personnel on the basis of the information supplied by Member States and of any other information supported by reliable evidence which he/she may have gathered by such methods as he/she may deem appropriate.

      76. 1n the case of a higher education institution in the territory of a state not under the direct or indirect authority of that state but under separate and independent authorities, the relevant authorities should transmit the text of this Recommendation to institutions, so that such institutions can put its provisions into practice.

 

Xl.  Final Provision

      77. Where higher-education teaching personnel enjoy a status which is, in certain respects, more favourable than that provided for in this Recommendation, the terms of this Recommendation should not be invoked to diminish the status already recognized.

11 November 1997

NOTE This Recommendation arose from work done by the International Conference of University Teacher Organizations (ICUTO) over some years and IFUT was a participant in that.

 

Back to List page