Ei-iE

Growing threats to academic freedom and institutional autonomy require education unions to chart collective strategies for their defense. At the Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Academic Freedom and Democracy, unions shared insights and mapped the way forward.

The event, organized by Education International Asia-Pacific (EIAP) and held in Kochi, Kerala, India, from October 15th-17th, 2025, brought together over sixty educators, union leaders, researchers, and policy advocates from across the region and beyond.

In his welcome remarks, EIAP Regional Director Anand Singh emphasised that “there can be no democracy without academic freedom — and no academic freedom without the professional autonomy of educators.”

He also reiterated EIAP’s commitment to support education unions in defending educators’ rights and ensuring that academic institutions remain spaces of free inquiry and democratic debate.

EI General Secretary David Edwards highlighted that across the Asia-Pacific and globally, growing pressures on democratic institutions and shrinking civic space are accompanied by increasing attacks on the autonomy of educators and researchers.

Education unions are at the forefront of resisting these trends. He noted: “We are not just defending the freedom of individual academics. What is at stake is the very capacity of higher education and research to serve as a force for positive change in society. It is about the pursuit of truth and the very ideals that sustain democratic societies.”

Global and regional perspectives

The opening day of the conference set the stage with two plenary sessions providing global and regional overviews of the state of academic freedom.

Speakers from Argentina, Zimbabwe, Sweden, and the United States presented global perspectives showing how academic freedom is increasingly undermined by authoritarian politics, commercial pressures, and targeted violence against educators.

Experts from Germany, Japan, and New Zealand also examined regional realities, highlighting shrinking democratic spaces, growing precarity among academic staff, and the rise of censorship and self-censorship in higher education institutions.

A session on “Censorship, ideology, and authoritarianism” also featured presentations from India, the Philippines, and Australia, where participants discussed ideological control over curricula, red-tagging and surveillance of unionists, and the silencing of academic staff through political interference.

The day ended with roundtable group discussions centered on strengthening professional autonomy and revisiting international standards, particularly the 1997 UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Higher-Education Teaching Personnel.

Academic freedom is a human right

The second day of the conference explored academic freedom as a human right and a collective responsibility. Moderated by Avelino Jr. Caraan of NATOW/Philippines, the first session, “The right to academic freedom as a human right”, brought perspectives from Thailand, India, and Myanmar. Professor Anita Rampal from India reminded participants that “academic autonomy is not a privilege granted by governments, but a fundamental human right. Its denial is a violation of that right.”

The next session tackling “Technology, artificial intelligence, and surveillance”, moderated by Julie Douglas of New Zealand, focused on the growing use of digital monitoring systems and centralized data platforms that threaten academic autonomy. David Robinson from Canada stressed that “academic freedom must remain free from external interference, whether political, commercial, or digital,” while Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta of The Wire - an Indian nonprofit news and opinion website - warned against the chilling effects of surveillance on classroom discourse and research freedom.

Two parallel workshops further focused on empowering educators through rights-based advocacy and union organizing and on addressing the impact of managerialism, employment precarity, and privatization on higher education workers.

The day concluded with a roundtable discussion moderated by Urmila Singh (from the Fijian Teachers' Union (FTU), featuring speakers from South Korea, the Philippines, and the United States. Samuel Dunietz of the American National Education Association (NEA) highlighted how indirect attacks - such as cuts to research funding or withdrawal of grants - undermine academic freedom. The session reaffirmed that strong collective bargaining mechanisms, legal safeguards, and sustained advocacy are essential to ensure that academic freedom remains protected for the benefit of all educators and students in the region.

Academic freedom is a public good

The final day opened with a keynote session on “Academic freedom as a public good”, delivered by Gurumurthy Kasinathan from IT for Change in India. He stressed that academic freedom must be understood as an essential component of the public interest, calling for teacher unions to lead the public discourse on academic freedom in the digital age. He warned against the creeping influence of commercialisation and surveillance-driven governance in higher education.

Rapporteurs from previous sessions presented summaries and recommendations addressing a wide range of concerns, such as censorship, ideological control, managerialism, and the erosion of academic rights. Delegates underscored the urgent need for cross-border solidarity and collective union action to strengthen democratic spaces in higher education across the region.

In the closing session, EI General Secretary David Edwards called for the development of regional strategies and evidence-based campaigns to address the growing influence of artificial intelligence and data systems on academic and institutional autonomy. EIAP’s Singh commended the discussions’ quality and the spirit of solidarity and proposed the establishment of a Regional Steering Committee on Academic Freedom and Democracy to sustain this momentum through continuous advocacy, monitoring, and documentation of violations across the Asia-Pacific region.

Collective commitment and way forward

The conference concluded with a strong collective reassertion that academic freedom is integral to democracy, quality education, and social progress. Participants pledged to defend it through regional collaboration, joint research, advocacy campaigns, and partnerships with international institutions such as UNESCO and the International Labour Organization.

In their joint closing message, EI and its member organisations reaffirmed their determination to ensure that universities and schools remain spaces of free thought, inquiry, and democratic engagement, and to build regional solidarity to protect educators and students wherever academic freedom is under threat.