By Nicola Jenvey. Regardless of geographical distances, political agendas and student bodies, countries in Africa faced similar challenges in respect of massification, quality, funding, leadership and internationalisation of higher education. More...

By Nicola Jenvey. African universities must work cohesively to build the continent’s human capital, specifically in mathematics, science, physics and health sciences, while also realising that more women must be included in higher education. More...

By Munyaradzi Makoni. The African Union Commission has launched an African passport, signalling open, visa-free access to all 54 of the continent’s member nations. However, if this free passage is to benefit higher education and science, it must be accompanied by harmonised qualifications, greater bureaucratic efficiency and infrastructure to support academic mobility, experts say. More...

During the past few years many new private institutions had opened as the numbers of young people qualified to enter higher education increased but places in public universities remained low, reported Midi Madagasikara of Antananarivo. More...

The first batch of government-sponsored students into private universities will start classes in September 2016 and will cost taxpayers KES700 million (US$7 million). Kenyatta said the move will provide a chance for more students to pursue courses of their choice. More...

By Sharon Dell – Acting Africa Editor. In Africa Analysis, Goolam Mohamedbhai expresses the hope that African governments will reconsider their policy of upgrading polytechnics to universities or, like Mauritius, create institutions to replace the converted polytechnics.
Countries in the global South are rapidly catching up with top student destination countries like Australia and the United Kingdom, according to the director of the Center for International Higher Education at America’s Boston College Hans de Wit, writes Karen MacGregor in a Special Report on the first international symposium of the Higher Education Forum for Africa, Asia and Latin America. Nicola Jenvey reports, among other issues, on the influence of national governments on university leadership and governance.
In Africa News, Munyaradzi Makoni writes about the launch of an African passport by the African Union Commission and its implications for academic mobility, and Esther Nakkazi covers the suspension of loans to over 2,000 students after a probe revealed thousands of ‘ghost’ students and other irregularities.
In World Blog, John Richard Shrock laments that the SAT college entrance test in the United States is moving in the wrong direction, becoming more like the Chinese gaokao which encourages teachers to teach to the test and students to memorise rather than understand.
In Commentary, John Aubrey Douglass and Patrick Lapid contend that the ‘progressive tuition model’, which charges wealthier students more to reduce the cost and debt for poorer students, appears to be working in some US universities. Rankings expert Angel Calderon explains why this year’s Academic Ranking of World Universities brought some surprises, with some institutions experiencing a marked change in standing. More...