(Some) German students seem to have a warped understanding of what a university should be. To be fair to them, it is not the fault of the present generation: generations before them have blackmailed governments to turn institutions of research and higher learning into some kind of social laboratories, in which students decide whether they wish to attend or not, and in which students have gotten used to have a voice in the running of the university departments, in which they study.
And so, lecturers are prohibited, “for ‘data protection’ reasons”, from maintaining attendance lists. Nor may they make class participation a factor in a student’s seminar grade.
Occasionally students go beserk, as has recently been the case in one German university, where a body purporting to represent the students came out with a public statement censuring the department head for co-signing a petition calling the government to revisit its policies leading to grave constraints on free speech.
“Once again” the students’ statement reads, “the centre forces us to make a public statement. The head of the centre signed the plaidoyer on behalf of the entire institute. We as students were not included in any way.”
They were, indeed, not asked, nor should they have been. A university is not a joint venture but an institute which teaches and carries out research. Students can apply and if considered good enough, may come and attend classes to study. If they pass the required exams, they get a degree. That’s the deal, no more and no less.
Nobody forces anyone to study at a specific university. They can choose to study elsewhere. The only way of dealing with such demands is showing those students the door. Unfortunately, the political class in Germany does not have the balls to do so.
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