Strong local academic communities as resources for strengthening sovereignty

By Sharon Dell – Africa Editor. In Africa Analysis, Mark Paterson discusses a new book which suggests that African governments need to nurture their local academic communities if they want to resist the imposition of policy prescriptions by foreign powers, and against the backdrop of the failure of knowledge transfer between donors and recipient countries, while Goolam Mohamedbhai says the repositioning and growth of private higher education and the blurring of the boundaries between the public and private higher education sectors mean that more attention needs to be paid to understanding the private sector.
   In Africa Features, Munyaradzi Makoni writes about a regional masters programme in public policy that is highlighting the innovative potential of African universities, while Wagdy Sawahel discusses the controversial issue of campus dress codes.
   In news from around the continent, Christabel Ligami reports on a new qualifications framework in Kenya which aims to crack down, inter alia, on the issuing of fake certificates; Ochieng’ O Benny reports on a partnership facilitated by the World Bank between a South Korean research institute and four African universities to improve research capacity; and Kudzai Mashininga reports on the announcement of a lifting of the freeze on academic appointments by Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe during a ceremony at which he received another honorary degree.
   In World Blog, Patrick Blessinger and Enakshi Sengupta say learning how to think and live as global citizens who are able to create a more globally sustainable, fair and just world is a top education priority confronting the world. More...