Page 161 - Šolsko polje, XXXI, 2020, 3-4: Convention on the Rights of the Child: Educational Opportunities and Social Justice, eds. Zdenko Kodelja and Urška Štremfel
P. 161
teršek ■ public universities in post-socialist states could become ‘un-academic’ ...
school and study period (October 2020). The measures taken by the gov-
ernment – not only the Slovenian one, as this applies to most EU mem-
ber states – the study process will occur via the world wide web, at least
in the first semester. Parallel to this, there will be a process of even greater
bureaucratisation of professors’ work: by filling in forms and tables about
the hours of their lectures and other work done.
But that is not all. Governments, including the one in Slovenia,
are adopting new legal solutions that make vaccination compulsory for
all children attending kindergartens and schools, and for all pupils and
students. The government predicts28 that refusal to vaccinate will bring
a ban on the enrolment and admission of children, pupils and students
to kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools and universities.
Of course, I cannot delve into this issue in this article. It is too exten-
sive. However, I can say with certainty that all other issues, except for the
new virus and post-pandemic measures, have disappeared from the public
agenda: from the media, from Parliament, from public discourse.
That is why I am announcing or proposing a thesis: If the state may
be said to have hitherto intervened extensively and roughly in the autono-
my of the university, from now on that autonomy will be completely abol-
ished. Universities will become a matter of complete control, supervision
and ‘ownership’ of the whole state. All of this may mark the beginning of
the end of ideas about social progress, the knowledge society and freedom
in a constitutional democracy, as provided for in international law and in
the constitutions of European countries. Perhaps a social darkness awaits
us, the gloom of the modern Dark Ages. And technological development
is clearly something that can shed light on this subject.
Post scriptum
When I had a discussion with Prof. Mladen Dolar (Teršek, 2018a), I asked
him about his thoughts on “political idiocy”, the philosophy on “natural
law” and “unwritten laws”, “morality” and the general social meaning,
the political importance of philosophy. In indirect connection to the ac-
ademia community and university environment, I set out my translation
of one of his answers here:
28 National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the Act Amending the
Communicable Diseases Act at its session on 29 September 2020. An initiative to review the
constitutionality of this legal regulation has already been submitted to the Constitutional
Court of the Republic of Slovenia. It should be noted that the final decision of the
European Court for Human Rights in the case Vavrička and Others vs. the Czech Republic
has been awaited on for some time, which includes the question of the admissibility of the
legal regulation from the constitutional law and international law viewpoints. For more
on this, see Teršek (2020).
159
school and study period (October 2020). The measures taken by the gov-
ernment – not only the Slovenian one, as this applies to most EU mem-
ber states – the study process will occur via the world wide web, at least
in the first semester. Parallel to this, there will be a process of even greater
bureaucratisation of professors’ work: by filling in forms and tables about
the hours of their lectures and other work done.
But that is not all. Governments, including the one in Slovenia,
are adopting new legal solutions that make vaccination compulsory for
all children attending kindergartens and schools, and for all pupils and
students. The government predicts28 that refusal to vaccinate will bring
a ban on the enrolment and admission of children, pupils and students
to kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools and universities.
Of course, I cannot delve into this issue in this article. It is too exten-
sive. However, I can say with certainty that all other issues, except for the
new virus and post-pandemic measures, have disappeared from the public
agenda: from the media, from Parliament, from public discourse.
That is why I am announcing or proposing a thesis: If the state may
be said to have hitherto intervened extensively and roughly in the autono-
my of the university, from now on that autonomy will be completely abol-
ished. Universities will become a matter of complete control, supervision
and ‘ownership’ of the whole state. All of this may mark the beginning of
the end of ideas about social progress, the knowledge society and freedom
in a constitutional democracy, as provided for in international law and in
the constitutions of European countries. Perhaps a social darkness awaits
us, the gloom of the modern Dark Ages. And technological development
is clearly something that can shed light on this subject.
Post scriptum
When I had a discussion with Prof. Mladen Dolar (Teršek, 2018a), I asked
him about his thoughts on “political idiocy”, the philosophy on “natural
law” and “unwritten laws”, “morality” and the general social meaning,
the political importance of philosophy. In indirect connection to the ac-
ademia community and university environment, I set out my translation
of one of his answers here:
28 National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the Act Amending the
Communicable Diseases Act at its session on 29 September 2020. An initiative to review the
constitutionality of this legal regulation has already been submitted to the Constitutional
Court of the Republic of Slovenia. It should be noted that the final decision of the
European Court for Human Rights in the case Vavrička and Others vs. the Czech Republic
has been awaited on for some time, which includes the question of the admissibility of the
legal regulation from the constitutional law and international law viewpoints. For more
on this, see Teršek (2020).
159
