Higher education, skills training rises up the China-Africa agenda
In Africa Features, Wachira Kigotho unpacks a World Bank report that shows steady progress in research but a decline in the fields of STEM – science, technology, engineering and maths. Munyaradzi Makoni charts developments in Eritrea’s challenged higher education sector that indicate the country may be turning a corner after a war-torn past.
In a Q&A, Brendan O'Malley interviews Ukraine’s Minister of Education and Science Serhiy Kvit about the country’s struggle to reform higher education and shake off a Soviet-era legacy of state control. Problems that are limiting Ukraine’s attractiveness to international students – such as low quality, red tape and corruption – are described by Ararat L Osipian in a Special Report on student mobility that also features articles from Germany and Saudi Arabia.
In Commentary, Paul Ayris says that the League of European Research Universities' Statement on Open Access has the power to change the way research is published and disseminated across the globe. Lucy Shackleton warns that the United Kingdom, in turning its back on the European Union, will put up barriers to international collaboration that will limit its competitiveness. And Elizabeth Nixon warns that more power to students as the ‘sovereign consumer’ is likely to be profoundly damaging. Read more...
The ‘ink of scholars’ – A profound role for universities
By Karen MacGregor. The profound importance of good leadership for universities – and for African societies – was described by Ebrima Sall, executive secretary of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, or CODESRIA, at a recent workshop in Tanzania. Read more...
Key role for universities in agricultural innovation
By Reuben Kyama. Higher education plays a key role in providing young people with access to employment and micro-business opportunities in Africa, according to experts at a recent summit held in Cape Town, South Africa. Read more...
The man behind Kenya’s largest private university
By Gilbert Nganga. When the history of Kenyan higher education is written, the name of Dr Simon Gicharu is likely to feature prominently. In the past 19 years Gicharu has built a downtown college into the thriving private Mount Kenya University, with 50,000 students, a 4,000-strong workforce and campuses across East Africa. Read more...
East African Science and Technology Commission launched
By Wagdy Sawahel. The East African Science and Technology Commission, or EASTECO, has been officially launched in the Rwandan capital Kigali with the aim of promoting and coordinating the development of science and technology in the region. Read more...
South Africa – Turbulence continues; Stellenbosch ‘demotes’ Afrikaans
By Karen MacGregor – Africa Editor. In Africa Features, Sharon Dell reports on turbulence in South Africa where politicised, violent protests continued at some institutions and some Afrikaners responded angrily to a top research university’s management decision to make English the primary language, in response to transformation demands. Wachira Kigotho unpacks research that finds Kenya’s ‘village universities’ expanding access, but also deep concerns about quality.
In Africa Analysis, Eric Fredua-Kwarteng defends his concept of the developmental university, arguing that their developmental role in helping solve Africa’s problems should start now.
In Commentary Matthew Francis says academics have made tremendous advances in understanding why and how people join violent extremist groups like ISIS, and are sharing this research with intelligence agencies. Jeremy Rappleye and Edward Vickers give pointers as to how Japan can produce the more globalised education system its policy-makers want. Draft education reforms in Vietnam have sparked controversy over the teaching of history in schools, and Ly Pham contends that universities must train teachers to build critical thinking skills. Alain Mayeur describes a new Internet portal for online learners and teachers in France.
Finally, in Global Features, Nicola Jenvey finds higher education to be the top beneficiary of philanthropy, garnering 30% of total million-dollar global donations. Read more...
Explaining the #FeesMustFall Movement
By . One of the more interesting policy debacles in higher education this year has been the fracas over tuition fees in South Africa, which has led to what some are calling the biggest set of anti-government protests since the end of apartheid. More...
How Africa is tackling ‘next generation’ fears in academia
There is anxiety in many quarters about a shortage of academics in Africa’s universities. These worries have led to a spate of programs to identify, develop and retain a “next generation” of scholars for the continent. Many of these initiatives are being driven by international agencies. But their success actually depends on local commitments by governments, institutions and individual academics. More...
University autonomy vs public accountability in HE act?
By Sharon Dell. The famously imprecise line between institutional autonomy and public accountability is under the spotlight in South Africa as Higher Education and Training Minister Dr Blade Nzimande prepares to amend the Higher Education Act in a process that will become public in the new year. Read more...