Press release:
Government has noted that His Excellency the State President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika’s encouragement to lecturers of the University of Malawi and all other universities to engage in rigorous research and publication for the development of this country has drawn negative reactions in some quarters.
Speaking at the fundraising dinner for the University of Malawi Golden Jubilee Celebrations at Bingu International Conference Centre in Lilongwe on Saturday, 30th May 2015, His Excellency the President said “a good university is known by its research and publications. So it is high time we put our universities on the world map through our research and innovations. As lecturers, let us not waste time writing and commenting on trivial public issues.” The President does not regret making these remarks.
Government wishes to explain that in making these remarks, His Excellency the President, himself an accomplished scholar, was simply underlining the contribution that research universities brings to the socioeconomic development of a country.
Many similar observations have been made by other accomplished scholars world over and have never been misunderstood as an attempt to curtail freedom of speech among university lecturers or regulate academic freedoms in places of higher learning.
For instance, speaking on the importance of research in universities, Philip G Altbach, research professor and director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College in the United States, said: “Research universities in low- and middle-income countries have crucial roles to play in developing differentiated and effective academic systems, and in making it possible for their countries to join the global knowledge society and compete in sophisticated knowledge economies.”
While research universities in the developing world have not yet achieved the top levels of global rankings, they are “extraordinarily important” in their countries and regions – and are steadily improving their reputations and competitiveness on the international stage – wrote Altbach in an article titled “Advancing the National and Global Knowledge Economy: The role of research universities in developing countries”.
In the context of Malawi, His Excellency the President understands, from his vast knowledge of higher learning, that research universities have the potential for significant income generation. For instance, students are often willing to pay higher fees because of the prestige attached to a degree from them, quality academic programmes and access to top professors. Research universities also generate intellectual property and discoveries and innovations with value in the marketplace.
This is the reason the learned Altbach said that research universities in developing countries are at the top of the academic hierarchy and are central to the success of any modern knowledge-based economy.
It is in this context that His Excellency the President Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika gave his encouragement to the university lectures in Malawi. And it is in that context that he has to be understood. Understanding him differently can only be regrettable.
HON. KONDWANI NANKHUMWA MP,
GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON &
MINISTER OF INFORMATION, TOURISM AND CULTURE