NEWS – Our correspondents worldwide report
BANGLADESH
PM vows to scrap job quotas after huge student protests
Mushfique Wadud
Nationwide student protests paralysed campuses in Bangladesh last week as students demanded reform of the quota system reserving government jobs for particular groups. More than 100 people were wounded in clashes with police at the University of Dhaka on 9 April as rubber bullets and tear gas were fired to disperse the crowd.
AUSTRALIA
Foreign students’ economic contribution soars by 22%
Geoff Maslen
Foreign students contributed a record AU$32 billion (US$24.7 billion) to the Australian economy in 2017, up by 22% on 2016 figures, as selling education becomes the nation’s third largest export industry.
CHINA
Top-down research environment stifles success – Study
Yojana Sharma
China’s higher education and research system hamstrings researchers with bureaucratic requirements, rewards quantity over quality and stifles the creativity and critical thinking necessary to achieve innovative breakthroughs, a comprehensive study of the country’s research environment has found.
RUSSIA
Putin to boost science research funding by 150%
Eugene Vorotnikov
Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised to increase funding of national science by 150% over current levels by the end of the year, according to the press service of the Presidential Administration of Russia.
INDIA
New anti-plagiarism laws not tough enough – Academics
Ranjit Devraj
India’s tough new anti-plagiarism law drawn up by the higher education regulatory body, the University Grants Commission, which sets out graded punishments depending on the seriousness of the misdemeanour, has been widely welcomed by academics – but many said there needs to be even stronger deterrence to curb copycat tendencies among students and lecturers.
GERMANY
Rise in vocational graduates enrolled at universities
Michael Gardner
A recent survey by the Centre for Higher Education demonstrates that more and more holders of vocational education and training qualifications are enrolling at German universities. In 2016 there were 56,900 students enrolled at universities solely via vocational experience and qualifications – twice as many as in 2010.
ZIMBABWE
Chinese partnership to boost HE infrastructure
Kudzai Mashininga
Zimbabwe and China have developed a framework that will pave the way for skills and infrastructure development at Zimbabwean universities and in other sectors as the African government pushes to create university towns.
GHANA
Minister calls for ‘rethink’ on higher education funding
Francis Kokutse
The way in which tertiary education is funded across Africa needs a rethink because the present model, which was introduced in the colonial era, can no longer be sustained, according to Ghana's Minister of State in charge of tertiary education Kwesi Yankah. Concerns around the sustainability of higher education in Ghana are growing in anticipation of increased enrolment in the wake of a recently introduced free senior high school policy.
NIGERIA
Plagiarism seen to be aiding drop in education standards
Alex Abutu
The quality of Nigerian university graduates continues to be a source of concern with many of the country’s academics and stakeholders pointing to the prevalence of plagiarism and academic dishonesty in universities as a contributing factor.
CGHE 2018 CONFERENCE
The third international conference of the Centre for Global Higher Education or CGHE, held in London on 11 April and titled “The New Geopolitics of Higher Education”, explored issues such as the growth of research, universities and inequality, implications of populist politics, free speech and social rights, and the changing global balance of power in higher education. This is the first of two Special Reports on the event.
GLOBAL
The role of universities in an era of authoritarianism
Michael Ignatieff
The turn towards authoritarian rule in Russia, China, Turkey and Eastern Europe, among other places, has led to attacks on academic freedom. The role of universities is to stand up for truth. It is vital at this moment in history that universities believe in this role and have the courage to defend it.
HUNGARY
CEU president resists move to Vienna after Orbán victory
Yojana Sharma
The president of the embattled Central European University or CEU, Michael Ignatieff, said last week: “I don’t want to move the entire operation to Vienna.” This in the wake of a landslide election victory last Sunday by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party, delivering him a third successive term in power.
GLOBAL
Nations join emerging multi-polar global science system
Yojana Sharma
Research-intensive universities now operate as a single network on a world scale with more and more nations entering this open system particularly built around science research. It is a global network “open to enter but intensively integrated inside”, says Simon Marginson, director of the Centre for Global Higher Education.
GLOBAL
The international transformation in student loan systems
Bruce Chapman and Lorraine Dearden
Income-contingent student loans are growing in popularity as a way of funding higher education. A well-designed system has very significant advantages over the alternative traditional student loan systems, which are heading towards extinction.
GLOBAL
Higher education and equality – Action urgently needed
Karen MacGregor
Significant gains in widening participation and promoting equality in universities could be made by shifting from an admissions system based on ‘formal’ meritocracy to one of ‘fair’ meritocracy, says Vikki Boliver, professor of sociology at Durham University in the United Kingdom. This means taking a contextualised approach to entry requirements and not naively thinking that students compete on a level playing field when demonstrating merit through the exam system.
UNITED KINGDOM
Equity both about getting in – and on – at university
Karen MacGregor
Higher education in the United Kingdom is riddled with inequalities, says Ben Whittaker, National Union of Students director of student voice and influence. For many students, opportunities slam shut every step of the way. Improving equality is not only about students getting in – but also on – at university.
COMMENTARY
EUROPE
Turning talk on higher education diversity into action
Colin Scott
For universities to act effectively on diversity requires more than policies. Leaders need to set down governance structures and implementation mechanisms which change the organisational culture of higher education.
GLOBAL
Get serious about tackling sexual assault on campus
Miriam E David
Recent activism around sexual assault in the workplace has highlighted the scale of the problem, but now concerted action is needed. Recent studies and court cases indicate that universities have a lot to do to show that they are serious about tackling the issue.
GLOBAL
Predatory conferences – A case of academic cannibalism
James McCrostie
Universities need more education about the dangers of predatory conferences, to take greater steps to avoid hosting predatory conferences and to start refusing to hire, promote or give funding to researchers attending and doing the organising.
ETHIOPIA
What could a new head of state mean for higher education?
Ayenachew A Woldegiyorgis
Ethiopia’s new prime minister Abiy Ahmed has pledged to improve the quality of education at all levels and has placed education at the centre of his government. But will this be enough to overcome the challenges the country faces?
SOUTH AFRICA
The SDGs are challenging the way we teach our students
Willem Fourie
Far from being a set of technically-driven policies, the Sustainable Development Goals represent a vision for a more equitable world, the achievement of which involves all social actors. A new, somewhat unconventional masters programme aims to teach graduates the skills they need to operate in a fundamentally new development landscape.
FEATURES
DENMARK
Tax agreement could deter academics from going abroad
Jan Petter Myklebust
The Danish government and the Danish People’s Party struck a tax agreement in February that will introduce a residence requirement for the right to receive unemployment benefits. But the proposal has sparked outrage among academics, who say it will deter Danish researchers from gaining international experience and will damage Danish science.
WORLDVIEWS
GLOBAL
Campus free speech – Minority rights, democratic values
Daniel Sekulich
Are students and academics free to speak their minds on university and college campuses in North America? And how should higher education institutions respond when one person’s free speech silences or harms another? These issues were highlighted during the fourth annual Worldviews Lecture, held on 5 April at the University of Toronto. University World News is a partner to Worldviews.
WORLD BLOG
GLOBAL
The importance of listening to university stakeholders
Nita Temmerman
Exercises that bring students, staff, community groups, industry, government and others together can be useful for moving universities forward and showing how central they are in societies.
NEXT EINSTEIN FORUM 2018
The Next Einstein Forum (NEF) Global Gathering, held every two years, is a unique international science forum with a strong focus on Africa. The forum connects science, society and policy in Africa and the rest of the world – with the goal to leverage science for human development. This year, the NEF Global Gathering was held in Kigali, Rwanda from 26-28 March under the theme “Connecting Science to Humanity”.
AFRICA
Greater investment needed to nurture ‘culture of science’
Gilbert Nakweya
Science and technology are seen as key to Africa’s transformation and growth but greater investment in higher education and research institutions is needed if a 'culture of science' is to take root and grow, the recent Next Einstein Forum in Kigali, Rwanda has heard.
AFRICA
Bridging the gap for women in science and technology
Munyaradzi Makoni
Attempts to bridge the gap between women and men in science and technology fields are unlikely to be fully successful unless there are equal opportunities for women at the levels of education, career advancement and leadership positions, participants at the recent Next Einstein Forum held in Kigali heard.
PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMME
GLOBAL
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