By Esther Nakkazi. A scholarship programme targeting bright but disadvantaged young people is giving them a chance not only to succeed academically and professionally, but play a long-term role in uplifting their own communities. More...

By Kudzai Mashininga. Zimbabwe has started implementing a new national qualifications framework which the government says will increase the accessibility, efficiency and relevance of its higher education sector within and outside the country. More...

By Kudzai Mashininga. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) region has approved the establishment of the SADC University of Transformation to train citizens in innovation to facilitate industrialisation in the region. More...

By Sharon Dell. The resignation of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) board chairperson has raised further concerns about instability in the scheme which came under excessive pressure after the announcement last December of free higher education for poor students in South Africa. More...

By Sharon Dell. Far more than a philanthropic exercise, work-integrated learning (WIL) offers a win-win situation for students, universities, industry and society. In addition to boosting the employment rate of students, it offers a path towards sustainable development, nurturing the “brilliant minds” needed to produce “revolutionary solutions” to global challenges. More...

By Sharon Dell. Work-integrated learning (WIL) has become a “social, economic and educational imperative”, which deserves greater support than it currently receives from all stakeholders, including higher education institutions, government and industry, says Carva Pop, president of the Southern African Society for Cooperative Education (SASCE). More...

By Sharon Dell. Work-integrated learning (WIL) in the higher education space may be considered a 'silver bullet' when it comes to effectively combating societal inequality by enhancing graduate employability, but when it comes to its implementation, the concept continues to be the subject of some wrangling among stakeholders. More...

By Sharon Dell – Editor. In Africa Features, Wachira Kigotho discusses the deleterious effects of marketisation on universities in Kenya, while Gilbert Nganga focuses on the austerity measures introduced in the country’s flagship university in Nairobi.
   The concept of ‘The African university’ is taken further in our Africa Analysis by Mahmood Mamdani who traces some of the colonial origins of universities in Africa and suggests possible ways in which to “theorise our own reality” and to “strike the right balance between the local and the global as we do so”. In another analysis, Mia Perry and Deepa Pullanikkatil suggest some “necessary” changes to the traditional methodologies of collaboration between the Global North and South.
   In news from around the African continent, Wagdy Sawahel reports on the recent exposure of a masters-for-money scandal in Morocco, and Esther Nakkazi writes about the launch of a new masters course in machine intelligence in Rwanda to be funded by Facebook and Google.
   In a special report on work-integrated learning and cooperative education, Sharon Dell provides highlights of a recent conference held near Durban, South Africa, which discussed some of the current challenges to the efficient implementation of work-integrated learning in South African institutions.
   In our World Blog this week, William Leonard suggests that the many smaller US colleges that admit students who are not ready for higher education and often drop out after their first year, should reduce their enrolment to achieve sustainability. More...

By Brendan O’Malley – Managing Editor. In Commentary, Ian Jacobs contends that recent evidence shows there are few more worthwhile investments in Australia today than higher education, but universities have failed to communicate this to the public and this is contributing to a climate of criticism. Futao Huang suggests that a policy shift by the Chinese government from quantitative expansion of internationally collaborative programmes to a focus on quality is one of the main reasons for the government’s closure of more than 200 such programmes and five institutions. Philip G Altbach and Ellen Hazelkorn write that the race is on to establish a global teaching ranking as assessing teaching and learning is seen as central to determining the quality of higher education, but using current methodologies to produce comparative data is foolhardy at best. And Mia Perry and Deepa Pullanikkatil suggest some “necessary” changes to the traditional methodologies of collaboration between the Global North and South.
   In our World Blog this week, William Leonard suggests that the many smaller US colleges that admit students who are not ready for higher education and often drop out after their first year, should reduce their enrolment to achieve sustainability.
   In Science Scene, Brendan O'Malley highlights new research showing that social media ‘bots’ and Russian ‘trolls’ have been spreading disinformation about vaccines, disrupting science communication and posing a threat to public health.
   In Features, Yojana Sharma explains why overseas scholars who comment on sensitive topics regarding China are grappling with a dilemma of self-censorship. Brendan O’Malley outlines a report which says the University of California system is nearing a ‘tipping point’ where it cannot continue to grow with California’s population and labour needs without seeking new revenues and state reinvestment. And Sharon Dell reports from a conference in South Africa on the challenges facing the implementation of work-integrated learning in the country. More...