By Damtew Teferra. At the recently concluded African Higher Education Summit in Dakar, the chair of the African Union Commission Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and Senegalese President Macky Sall pledged to undertake a role of critical importance – to lobby their constituencies in support of revitalising higher education at an upcoming heads of state meeting in June 2015. Read more...

By John Kirkland OBE. One delegate at the African Higher Education Summit in Dakar warned that, unless higher education was given equal priority to that of the primary and secondary sectors, African education would be like a “pyramid without a roof”. What a wonderful analogy. Read more...

By Wachira Kigotho. African countries have been urged to explore creative tax strategies as one way to improve the financing of universities. Dr Patrick Awuah, founder of the private Ashesi University in Ghana, told the African Higher Education Summit that to raise Africa’s enrolment ratio from around 7% to 30% meant governments would have to spend 50 times more on the sector. Read more...

By Kofi Annan. I have long been a believer in the transformative power of education. As Nelson Mandela used to say: “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.”
Education is one of the most effective forms of peace building, a source of hope for each individual and the premise of development and progress in every society. Read more...

By Karen MacGregor – Africa Editor. This week we publish a Special Report on the African Higher Education Summit held in Dakar. The summit covered topics ranging from the rapid expansion and governance of universities to investment in higher education, graduate employability, equity and gender issues, and higher education harmonisation.
John Kirkland OBE argues that building African higher education will take time – but the investment will be worthwhile – and Damtew Teferra outlines five ‘talking points’ for African leaders to consider at a heads of state meeting in June 2015, where higher education revitalisation will be on the agenda.
In World Blog, Hans de Wit wonders what the much bandied-about term ‘international university’ actually means and how it can be defined in ways that enhance education.
In Commentary, Mike Gow contends that Western universities are complicit in creating a study abroad recruitment system that serves neither students nor their parents. Serhiy Kvit, Ukraine’s minister of education, explains why science is at the heart of the reform process, and Maurits van Rooijen writes that when selecting a university students are rightly as interested in the lifestyle it offers as in the institution itself. Read more...