'When the students are at the gate, it’s too late for polite discussion'

By Karen MacGregor – Africa Editor. In Africa Features, Stephen Coan covers Universities South Africa’s recent Research and Innovation Dialogue. Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor said the time for talk was over and transformation had to be tackled, while Anastassios Pouris proposed funding instruments to raise South Africa’s competitiveness in science and technology.
Also on the topic of financing, Wachira Kigotho reports on funding models for African universities proposed at a recent gathering of experts in Kenya, including tapping Africa’s growing number of billionaires.
Presenting the 2016 Worldviews Annual Lecture on Media and Higher Education, Rajani Naidoo disputed the idea that competition can be unthinkingly applied to answer all of the unsolved problems of higher education.
In the first part of a six-month series on “Transformative Leadership” in which University World News is partnering with The MasterCard Foundation, Chris Roche describes the term ‘transformative leadership' – where the actions of broad-based social movements bring about greater social justice – and discusses the role of universities in this process. Also, the President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins affirms the role of the university in enabling citizens to develop the intellectual tools to address great challenges of our time.
In Commentary, Goolam Mohamedbhai says a recent meeting of experts in Washington and its outcomes should be considered the start of a larger global venture addressing the serious issue of corruption in higher education. Read more...