19 April 2020  Issue No: 594

Some 40% of potential international students are considering changing their study abroad plans, up from 31% three weeks ago, as more countries introduce tighter lockdowns to tackle the spread and rising death toll from the coronavirus, a new survey by Studyportals shows.

African students in Guangzhou, China, have been thrown out of their homes, forcibly quarantined and refused entry into public areas as xenophobic hostility towards Africans escalates in the wake of warnings by Chinese President Xi Jinping of “new difficulties and challenges” related to a possible “second wave” of the pandemic.

To create a better post-COVID-19 world requires democratic civic universities dedicated to producing knowledge and educating ethical, empathetic students for just and sustainable democratic societies. Although positive steps have been taken in this direction over recent decades, they have not gone far enough.

After the coronavirus pandemic is over, higher education teachers should resort to hybrid teaching – combining online and offline or traditional in-class teaching – so that they and their students will become more familiar with online teaching and be better prepared for future emergencies.

Higher education leaders in South Africa are looking to move to a European model for open access publishing of scholarly articles as soon as possible, according to the body that coordinates the country’s public universities.

Universities UK is running a series of three webinars as part of the International Higher Education Forum, exploring the recruitment challenges facing higher education, managing risk in transnational education operations, and whether it is possible to develop a green international education strategy.