Formation Continue du Supérieur

By Christabel Ligami. Pastoralists in the arid and semi-arid areas of East Africa are at the coalface of climate change impacts. A new cohort of masters graduates from the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania are set to enrich the capacity of these farmers to enhance their resilience to climatic variations and address growing food security challenges. More...

By Esther Nakkazi. A three-week head-counting process of Makerere University students and staff aimed at establishing the precise number of students enrolled in the institution and eradicating ghost students and workers, got under way last week. More...

By Gilbert Nakweya. Learning was paralysed last week in Kenyan public universities after unions representing both the institutions' teaching and non-teaching staff announced a nationwide strike over salaries. More...

By Wagdy Sawahel. Academic libraries located in North Africa's universities need to join forces to form consortia or alliances in order to provide access to relevant information resources and services that meet the needs of higher education, according to international library experts interviewed by University World News. More...

By Wagdy Sawahel. The Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University opened its first overseas office this month, in Tunisia, in what has been hailed by the university’s president as an opportunity to “bring the world to Harvard and Harvard to the world”. Among local higher education experts canvassed by University World News, hopes for the initiative seem equally high. More...

By Maina Waruru. International human rights group Amnesty International is calling on the government of Sudan to launch urgent investigations into allegations of arbitrary arrests, detention, torture and persecution of students from the country’s troubled Darfur region by Sudanese security forces. More...

By Tunde Fatunde. Chronic delays in the payment of lecturer salaries by the federal government are causing major disruptions in Nigerian universities and have already brought some to a standstill. Despite the recession, however, salaries and allowances of all political office holders continue to be paid on time. More...

By Sharon Dell. While it is unlikely that South Africa will escape student unrest at the start of the 2017 academic year, authorities are hoping such action will be moderated by the progress made in addressing some of the key challenges that sparked and sustained last year’s violent and highly disruptive protests over fee-free higher education. Read more...

By Brendan O’Malley – Managing Editor. In Commentary, Graeme Atherton says university leaders who ignore the imperative to widen access to higher education do so at their peril in the face of the populist challenge which is changing the global political landscape, as universities may be perceived as part of the elite and a cause of inequality if access remains limited. Ararat Osipian commends the State of New York for being at the forefront of fighting alleged university fraud in its many manifestations, from the recent diploma mills case to the Trump University settlement. While online learning programmes are still new in Africa, Deirdre Carabine of the Virtual University of Uganda is convinced that it is only a matter of time before their true higher education value is recognised. And Marcelo Knobel and Andrés Bernasconi question why universities in Latin America appear to be lagging behind those in other parts of the world and what can be done to bring them up to speed.
In World Blog, Philip G Altbach and Maria Yudkevich affirm that international faculty are an increasingly important part of the global academic environment, and consider some of the trade-offs for universities in attracting foreign academics.
In Features, Munyaradzi Makoni reports on a new partnership between an Ethiopian and a Canadian university to advance inclusive higher education for young people with disabilities in Ethiopia and Africa; Suvendrini Kakuchi reveals the secrets to success of Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Japan in luring high-quality international students, who constitute half of the student body; and Sharon Dell reports that South African higher education authorities are hoping for greater stability in the sector in 2017 as a result of progress made in addressing some of the key challenges that sparked last year’s violent protests.
On Wednesday 8 February University World News, in partnership with The MasterCard Foundation and DrEducation, will be hosting a free international webinar, entitled “Are universities crucibles of transformative leadership?” You are invited to register.
Lastly, University World News and International Higher Education are pleased to announce that they have formed a partnership and will be collaborating on future projects, including two forthcoming books on global higher education. Read more...