By Karin Goodwin. Higher education institutions have a key role to play in helping Africa to meet new United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, leading academics told a European conference recently. Read more...

By Wagdy Sawahel. A US$15 million initiative to strengthen science granting councils in Africa held its inaugural forum in the Kenyan capital Nairobi this month. Initially science councils will be supported in 12 countries – Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Read more...

By Karen MacGregor – Africa Editor. In a Special Report from the 9th Annual Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Conference held in Durban last week, the University of Southern California’s William Tierney speaks of the need to consciously develop social capital among low-income, first-generation students to help them succeed in university.
We outline a study of Nelson Mandela’s educational experiences that reveals him to be an exemplar of lifelong learning, and Nicola Jenvey describes Adam Habib’s take on the transformation of South African higher education, which should be founded on achieving a radical outcome – not violence.
In Africa Analysis, Savo Heleta appeals to the international community to help prioritise the rebuilding of higher education in countries that have suffered violent conflict, and Jo Beall argues that a core challenge for Africa is to encourage international collaboration to strengthen the competitiveness of its universities in ways that do not undermine national priorities.
A second Special Report forms part of a series of articles ahead of the International Council for Open and Distance Education conference next month, with The American University in Cairo’s Aziza Ellozy focusing on the importance of well-trained faculty for online learning.
In World Blog, Hans de Wit stresses that internationalisation should be extended to all students and not just the mobile minority. And in Commentary, Philip Altbach and Jamil Salmi reflect on whether the successful 'recipes' of the most innovative universities can be transferred to other institutions, and Thomas Estermann and Enora Bennetot Pruvot issue a plea for reliable funding for Europe’s Horizon 2020 programme. Read more...

By Wagdy Sawahel. Although Sub-Saharan African countries have allocated large shares of government spending to education, the region’s university enrolment rates are among the lowest in the world and a severe mismatch still exists between the skills young Africans have and those employers need, according to a new ‘State of Education in Africa’ report. Read more...

By Karen MacGregor – Africa Editor. In a Special Report ahead of next month’s conference of the International Council for Open and Distance Education, we interview Professor Mandla Makhanya – vice-chancellor of the University of South Africa, which is hosting the event – about global developments in this transforming field of higher education and the challenges and prospects for African universities.
In News, Wachira Kigotho attends the launch of the Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa, a major initiative that will help drive efforts to boost the quality and quantity of research on the continent.
Geoff Maslen reports in Africa Features on last week’s revelation by a global team of researchers of the discovery of ancient human relative Homo naledi, and a record number of fossilised bones, in a cave in South Africa. Munyaradzi Makoni covers a Leadership Dialogue on Global Trends in Technology and e-Learning, where vice-chancellors agreed the need for further investigation and more data to support efforts to drive effective online learning practices.
In Commentary, Lynn Davies contends that legislation against terrorism and political dissent can cause such dissent to withdraw to unsupervised spaces and could make us less safe – it is better to educate against extremism. Angel Calderon warns higher education institutions to prepare for a range of new scenarios as the next 25 years could see a shift in cross-border mobility of students, academics, skills and ideas. And Jane Knight and John McNamara report that a major survey on transnational education paints an overall positive picture of its impact in host countries, especially in providing increased access for local students. Read more...

By Chris Havergal. South Africa’s higher education minister has claimed that racism is “rife” at the country’s historically white universities, after a film detailed alleged discrimination against black students. More...

By Chris Havergal. More than 20 years on from the end of apartheid, the pressure for South Africa’s universities to shed their old identities and to embrace transformation is greater than ever. More...