NEWS: Our correspondents worldwide report
GLOBAL
Trump’s denial triggers 500 marches for science globally
Brendan O'Malley
The world’s first March for Science will be held on Saturday 22 April, led by a flagship event in Washington DC, and satellite events in 514 locations across the world. The march was triggered by anger at the dismissal of scientific evidence on climate change by US President Donald Trump and alarm at a trend towards discrediting scientific consensus and restricting research and the communication of scientific findings.
AUSTRALIA
India to deepen university and training collaboration
Brendan O'Malley
India has pledged to work with the Australian government, universities and vocational education trainers to establish themselves in India following the two-day visit to Delhi of a 130-strong delegation of Australian university and training leaders led by Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham and joined by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last week.
RUSSIA
More Russian students are choosing to study abroad
Eugene Vorotnikov
Amid the ever-growing cost of tuition at Russian universities, increasing numbers of local students are choosing to study in European universities, according to data of the Moscow city government, as well as some leading experts in the field of higher education in Russia.
UNITED KINGDOM
UK public does not want fewer international students
Nearly three-quarters – 73% – of the British public would like to see the same number or more international students coming to study in the United Kingdom, after discovering the contribution they make to the economy and the jobs they generate.
THAILAND
Vice-rectors resign en masse over anti-corruption rule
Suluck Lamubol
All 13 vice-rectors at Thailand’s prestigious Mahidol University resigned en masse at the end of last month after Thailand’s anti-corruption agency announced that the vice-rectors of public universities needed to declare their assets under a new law.
KENYA
Two key universities suffer from lack of leadership
Maina Waruru
Two of Kenya’s largest universities are suffering leadership crises after operating without permanent or substantive vice-chancellors for nearly a year – in contravention of the law.
NEW ZEALAND
New insight into what international students do next
Brendan O'Malley
The first comprehensive information about what international students do after completing their degree shows more than half are still in New Zealand after five years and nearly two in five are still there after eight years.
NIGER
University shuts down amid violent student protest
Wagdy Sawahel
A demonstration by students protesting against the living and studying conditions at the Abdou Moumouni University campus in Niger's capital Niamey has forced the authorities to shut down the university following violent clashes between students and security forces.
UNITED STATES
Where every tertiary student is a potential data point
Sarah Brown, The Chronicle of Higher Education
Big data is enabling universities to conduct large-scale experiments to test how they can help students better achieve outcomes by tracking and understanding different types of learners and adapting learning conditions to the student.
UGANDA
Amnesty condemns academic’s arrest for insulting president
Esther Nakkazi
Ugandan university lecturer and activist Dr Stella Nyanzi has been arrested on charges of 'cyber harassment' and 'offensive communication' against the office of the president, a move that has been condemned by rights group Amnesty International and civil society groups.
COMMENTARY
GLOBAL
To remain a gateway to work, universities must change
Tom P Abeles
The world of work is changing rapidly, undermining the traditional model based on a jobseeker presenting a CV listing their qualifications. Universities will need to adapt, but those in the developing world are intent on copying a model in the developed world that is fast becoming outdated.
GLOBAL
Higher education for refugees – A call for action
Roger Chao Jr and Stig Arne Skjerven
The international community needs to develop a global policy on refugees and that starts with recognition of prior learning and supporting the widening of access to higher education, particularly in refugees’ host countries. It would reduce the cost of hosting refugees and enable them to contribute to society and help secure peace.
UNITED STATES
Why fewer international students could be good news
Marcelo Barros
The negative effects associated with the unplanned growth in the enrolment of international students at United States universities in the past 10 years have been too significant to ignore. Reports of a reduction in numbers of international students in the US could be positive since it will allow universities to focus better on how to improve what they offer.
AUSTRALIA
Right time for Australia and India to engage on HE
Craig Jeffrey
The Australian prime minister and education minister were in Delhi last week pushing for more collaboration between the countries' universities. As providers from competitor countries such as the United Kingdom deepen their involvement in the Indian higher education sector, this is a crucial time for Australia to promote engagement.
WEBINAR
GLOBAL
Brand is key challenge for international recruitment
Nic Mitchell
Brand awareness is the most important challenge facing universities in recruiting international students, according to a poll at a global webinar on international student mobility trends: shifting recruitment priorities and strategies in a world in turmoil. Establishing strong feeder partnerships was top of the audience members' priorities if their university could spend more money.
WORLD BLOG
GLOBAL
Transforming higher education’s creative capacity
Patrick Blessinger
The ability to think creatively is vital in the current era where automation threatens jobs and innovation is all-important. Through creative curricula and learning activities universities and their faculty can develop the creative learning needed for the future.
FEATURES
PAKISTAN
Attacks on universities, scholars, students unabated
Ameen Amjad Khan
Even as the international community is raising its voice against the killing of higher education professionals in Pakistan, the assassination of intellectuals and violent killing of students continues, with the latest victim a student rounded on by a student mob and killed for alleged blasphemy on Thursday.
SOUTH AFRICA
High dropout rates – Technology to the rescue?
Venilla Yoganathan
With a high proportion of university students in South Africa dropping out before graduation, many in their first year of study, higher education institutions are turning to technology in an attempt to arrest the declining pass rate. But the complex problem may need a more radical approach.
SWEDEN
The value of PhDs has shifted but is still disputed
Jan Petter Myklebust
A researcher’s examination of the changes in Swedish doctoral education over the past 70 years found dramatic improvements when it switched to four-year PhDs and allowed published articles to replace a single thesis, but the value of the doctorate is still a bone of contention with employers.
