Students slam plans to repossess university buildings

Government proposal could impound flexibility and reduce academic freedom, they say

Norway’s students have criticised government plans to bring academic buildings under direct public control, saying that this could undermine the social missions of universities and academic freedom.

Five Norwegian student leaders wrote in the Forskerforum, a magazine devoted to Norwegian research and higher education, that taking control of university buildings away from academic institutions could damage activities there. The students said that “if we are to carry out outstanding research, education and innovation then it is a bad idea to take away the right of control over our own buildings”.