By Christabel Ligami. In spite of some progress, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions in Africa are still too theoretical and are not providing the real skills needed by the agricultural sector, according to experts at the Sixth African Higher Education Week and Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) Biennial Conference, held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 22-26 October. More...

By Christabel Ligami. Recognising the need for more doctoral graduates who can contribute to the science and innovation agendas needed to promote development, African ministers of education, agriculture, science and technology have proposed a three-point plan to escalate postgraduate training and staffing in African universities. More...

By Gilbert Nakweya. Are African universities being taken seriously enough as knowledge-producing institutions capable of developing research-based policies aimed at addressing the continent’s development challenges. More...

By Maina Waruru. African women scholars have been urged to be less cautious and take advantage of international opportunities open to them in respect of scholarships, fellowships, grants, leadership positions and career advancement. More...

By Gilbert Nakweya. Key targets for the first 10 years of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 are being jeopardised by a lack of critical technical skills, and a new skills development agenda led by business and academia is urgently needed, the recent Sixth African Higher Education Week and Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) Biennial Conference heard. More...

By Alex Abutu. The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), the agency tasked with the disbursement of the education tax to public universities, has turned its back on its corruption-plagued past and is “cruising to success”, according to its executive secretary. But Nigerian academics say the agency is still essentially enriching universities abroad instead of investing in higher education in Nigeria. More...

By Tunde Fatunde. The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) is awaiting the outcome of its bid to amend the act in terms of which the university was created, in the latest attempt to resolve a five-year-long imbroglio preventing the university’s law graduates from gaining access to the Nigerian Law School – a prerequisite for any law graduate seeking to practise law. More...

By Eric Fredua-Kwarteng and Samuel Kwaku Ofosu. It is an undeniable fact that Ghana is a country of university degree title lovers and worshippers, particularly doctoral degrees. No matter what the holders of doctoral degrees know and are able to do for themselves, their families, their communities or their nation states, they are accorded a high level of respectability, nobility and honour in Ghanaian society. More...

By Wondwosen Tamrat. The Ethiopian government’s plan to develop its long overdue policy of internationalisation – set down in its 2016 Ethiopian Education Sector Development Programme V (2015/16-2019/20) – will depend upon synergy being created at national, local and institutional levels. More...

By Wagdy Sawahel. A United Nations human rights committee finding on 23 October that the French ban on the full-body veil violated women’s freedom of religion is likely to intensify debate on the issue of the niqab in society, and at universities around the world.
In addition to France, bans and partial bans instituted on veils have remained in place in Belgium, Bulgaria, Austria, Denmark and the Netherlands, according to a Washington Post report. Face coverings were reportedly also banned in cities or towns in Spain, Italy and Switzerland, and legislation was pending for local or national bans in Germany, Latvia, Finland and Luxembourg.
In Africa, bans have been imposed in Chad, Cameroon, Niger and the Republic of the Congo, according to a news report. Cairo University in Egypt banned the niqab for university staff, claiming it hinders communication, especially during lectures, according to a report. More...