Statement on the draft Amendment to the Higher Education Act

Statement of AS VŠVU:

AS AFAD expresses its support for the Declaration of Comenius University in Bratislava on the draft Amendment to the Higher Education Act and on the future of academic self-government in Slovakia dated 28 January 2021. It also joins the declarations of the academic senates of other universities in Slovakia in a related spirit. We support academic freedom and self-government and we believe in the importance of an intellectually independent, respectful and inclusive academic environment, guided by the core values ​​of human curiosity and creativity, in terms of the broadest, not just instantly economically verifiable, benefit to society.

Statement of the Student Part of the AS AFAD:

We, students of the AFAD, appreciate the possibility of managing our own academic affairs, values ​​and direction of the school through our directly elected representatives. We consider this right to be one of the most important elements of the academic freedom achieved after 1989. We are therefore very concerned to hear about our efforts to curtail these freedoms without a wider discussion with us. We believe that the study of art is based on the values ​​of humanism, freedom, knowledge and cultural development of society, which are important elements in society and stand above national economic interests. We therefore express our full support for all efforts to preserve these values ​​and freedom in academic self-government.