South African students – From #RhodesMustFall to #FeesMustFall to free HE?

By Karen MacGregor – Africa Editor. In Africa News, Sharon Dell reports on a tumultuous week for South African higher education. Massive countrywide student protests closed universities and culminated in the government freezing fees at current levels.
A Special Report provides follow-on coverage of the 26th International Council for Open and Distance Education World Conference held in South Africa from 14 to 16 October.
In Africa Features, Wachira Kigotho attends a workshop in Nairobi of CODESRIA – Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa – where diaspora and African scholars heard that neglect of the humanities and social sciences had dangerously narrowed Sub-Saharan Africa’s view on development.
In Africa Analysis, Nico Jooste and Savo Heleta argue for a ‘global commons’ for internationalisation of higher education, to neutralise the global North’s dominance of debate and encourage collaboration. Chika Sehoole and James Otieno Jowi report on this month’s African Network for Internationalization of Education annual conference, which called on African universities to contribute to meeting the new Sustainable Development Goals.
In Commentary, Ellen Hazelkorn calls for citizens to be continually educated about science so they can participate in knowledge- and science-based decision-making and innovation.
In Australia, Bob Kinnaird argues that education policies should target wealthier foreign students as poorer students are exploited as temporary workers. Ly Tran and Cate Gribble focus on the benefits of international students to the country.
And in Global Features, Yojana Sharma asks International Association of Universities President Dzulkifli Abdul Razak about his concept of higher education for a single planet. Read more...