21st November 2018 9:00
By Blue Tutors
The Office for Students (OfS) has said that uncomfortable ideas should not be suppressed at university and need to be discussed openly. In a report on the BBC, the head of the OfS, Sir Michael Barber, said that universities need to be places of “vigorous debate” where “the pursuit of truth is not a platitude but a daily quest”.
The OfS came in to operation in January and is designed to look after students in higher education in England, replacing the Higher Education Funding Council. Barber said that in the interest of looking after students, they will champion free speech.
The worry is that when students feel uncomfortable about an idea, universities choose to suppress it, rather than encourage students to challenge the idea through argument. Barber added that “feeling uncomfortable is an essential ingredient of learning and pursuit of truth”. He wants universities to be bold when inviting speakers, and thinks that we need diversity of perspective to encourage debate.
Sir Michael said that freedom of speech is one of the most precious freedoms ever established, and, more than anywhere else, universities should be places where it is cherished. The OfS should be an unashamed champion of free speech and, if they intervene, it will only ever be to extend the boundaries of free speech, rather than restrict them.