By Damtew Teferra. At the 16th International Conference on Private Higher Education in Africa organised by Saint Mary’s University and held in Addis Ababa from 25 to 27 July 2018, I proposed that Ethiopian legislators must be holders of a bachelor degree. More...

By Mahmood Mamdani. It is striking, in the postcolonial era, how little the modern African university has to do with African institutions. It draws its inspiration from the colonial period and takes as its model the discipline based, gated community that maintained a distinction between clearly defined groups: administrators, academics and fee-paying students.
The origins of this arrangement lay in 19th-century Berlin, and Humboldt University, founded in 1810 in the aftermath of Napoleon’s conquest of Prussia. The African university makes its appearance later in the 19th century. At the southern end of the continent, colleges were started from scratch – Stellenbosch, Cape Town, Witwatersrand. In the north, existing institutions such as al-Azhar in Cairo, a centre of Islamic scholarship, were “modernised” and new disciplines introduced. More...

By Maina Waruru. The Pan African University (PAU) has appealed to applicants for patience after it received over 13,000 applications for its 400 places in its various thematic institutes located in Kenya, Nigeria, Cameroon and Algeria for the upcoming academic year of 2018-19. The total of 13,048 applications is the highest number since the institution became operational in 2012. More...

By Esther Nakkazi. A scholarship programme targeting bright but disadvantaged young people is giving them a chance not only to succeed academically and professionally, but play a long-term role in uplifting their own communities. More...

By Kudzai Mashininga. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) region has approved the establishment of the SADC University of Transformation to train citizens in innovation to facilitate industrialisation in the region. More...

By Sharon Dell. The resignation of the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) board chairperson has raised further concerns about instability in the scheme which came under excessive pressure after the announcement last December of free higher education for poor students in South Africa. More...

By Sharon Dell. Work-integrated learning (WIL) has become a “social, economic and educational imperative”, which deserves greater support than it currently receives from all stakeholders, including higher education institutions, government and industry, says Carva Pop, president of the Southern African Society for Cooperative Education (SASCE). More...

By Sharon Dell. Work-integrated learning (WIL) in the higher education space may be considered a 'silver bullet' when it comes to effectively combating societal inequality by enhancing graduate employability, but when it comes to its implementation, the concept continues to be the subject of some wrangling among stakeholders. More...

The Zambia National Students Union, an umbrella body for all student unions in Zambia, has called on the minister of higher education, Professor Nkandu Luo, to ensure that the ministry intensifies inspection of all universities and colleges to ensure competent lecturers are employed and adequate facilities are provided, reports Lusaka Times. More...

By Christabel Ligami. Africa is likely to miss out on the fourth industrial revolution if universities do not focus on entrepreneurship courses or transform their current education curricula so as to give graduates the right skills for the job market, according to education experts. More...