Africa university rankings must speak to development goals – Summit

By Karen MacGregor – Africa Editor. In Africa Features, we report on a rankings conversation held at the inaugural Times Higher Education Africa Universities Summit in Johannesburg, at which university leaders called for ‘bespoke’ indicators that encourage positive behaviour and speak to development goals.
Wachira Kigotho outlines an analysis showing that many African universities are facing challenges from conflicts spawned in the Arab world and propelled by Islam.
And in Africa Analysis, Nico Cloete compares the toppling of statues of colonialists Christopher Columbus and Cecil John Rhodes in Argentina and South Africa, and yearns for more complex notions of history to trump populist rhetoric.
In World Blog, Hans de Wit warns that growing international mobility in schools could create an awkward gap at universities if curricula are not internationalised. In News, Brendan O’Malley reports on a new European study that calls for international mobility to be made an integral part of an internationalised curriculum to ensure internationalisation is for all.
In a bumper Commentary section, among others Tom Abeles says the evolution of artificial intelligence will not replace university teachers but will challenge their role. Conor King uncovers evidence that it is not what or where you study that matters most to subsequent income earned, but rather whether you do study. And Munawar A Anees and Maryam Iraj worry that rampant plagiarism is undermining Pakistan’s universities. Read more...