By Michelle Paterson – Acting Editor. In News, Nic Mitchell unpacks the European University Association’s Trends 2015 report, which includes a warning that the impressive strides made in higher education co-operation could be harmed by widespread global conflicts, including those based on religious fundamentalism and resurgent nationalism.
Internationalisation of higher education is also the topic of a recent study from the European Parliament, and in Features, Peta Lee looks at how the approaches and progress in internationalisation differ between countries. Also in Features, Munyaradzi Makoni reports on research from South Africa which emphasises a renewed focus on the developmental role of universities to boost their impact on economic development.
In Commentary, Eugene Sebastian and Rahul Choudaha examine China’s strategy to use education as a tool to drive its economic ambitions along the New Silk Road and the opportunities this brings for international students and institutions. With a more optimistic mood in Iran following the recent nuclear negotiations, Ali Ansari encourages greater academic engagement, despite concerns about academic freedom.
Justin Sanders says there should be greater commitment at secondary and tertiary education levels to developing international competencies in students, and Eric Fredua-Kwarteng and Francis Ahia believe that universities in Ghana need to engage more with their local and national communities and this should be expressed in their mission, vision and values statements.
In World Blog, Margaret Andrews emphasises the importance of research in the marketing strategies of higher education institutions and recommends starting with the data from admissions statistics. A Special Report carries the first article by Karen MacGregor in a series to be published in the coming weeks on the theme of open and distance learning, leading up to the world conference of the International Council for Open and Distance Education in October. Read more...