African universities must become producers not just consumers of knowledge

By Brendan O’Malley – Managing Editor. In a series on Transformative Leadership in which University World News is partnering with The MasterCard Foundation, Brendan O’Malley interviews the first elected woman President of Mauritius, Ameenah Gurib, who says there has to be a transformation within the African higher education landscape so that universities start to become producers of knowledge that addresses the fundamentals of Africa’s problems. In Commentary on Africa, Damtew Teferra says it is important to view the potential disengagement of the United States in Africa following Donald Trump’s election as US president in the context of the growing interest in Africa from other corners of the world, including Germany’s mooted African ‘Marshall Plan’.
In other Commentaries, Ming Cheng asks Western universities to examine whether international students are indeed gaining the desired international experience at their institutions, based on a case study of Chinese masters students at a British and Australian university; Sarah O’Shea proposes ways that universities in Australia might retain and engage first generation students and particularly those from aboriginal backgrounds; and Emily Johnson shares the views of students across the world arising from an essay contest on the ideal higher education model for their country.
In World Blog, Grace Karram Stephenson says we need to see inclusivity and academic freedom as complementary forces that allow every voice on campus to be heard and protected from harassment.
Lastly, in Features, Arther Mirza reports on a plea by Nadia Murad – a woman who was held captive by Islamic State and personally witnessed the horror of genocide – to students and the youth to counter ideologies of hate and help end terrorism. And María Elena Hurtado reports on an international seminar in Chile that explored how universities should face the challenge of a rapidly changing world in which millions of jobs will be displaced by technology. Read more...