30 May 2021  Issue No: 645

The mission of universities in the years to 2050 is to take active responsibility in the development of the potential of all humans, promoting well-being and sustainability oriented towards justice, according to a new report by the UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean.

International students are lobbying for entry permits to Japan for 2,000 students, saying current COVID-related restrictions on entry are causing financial loss and mental anguish and are ‘discriminatory’ given that international athletes will be allowed into the country to compete in the Olympic Games.

Iran has been leading the way towards reviving the commitment of MENAT countries – Middle East, North Africa and Turkey – to knowledge and learning through its accelerated scientific research in various fields, outstripping Israel and Turkey as the largest producer of research papers.

Universities are involved in a broad range of forward-thinking green activities. European initiatives need to capitalise more on their expertise and enthusiasm in fostering environmental sustainability. European and national support for peer learning and exchange with other institutions on this topic would be especially welcome.

Benchmarking provides an independent perspective about how an institution stacks up compared to other like institutions. But it’s not enough to just compare. It is about understanding what is working and what could be improved and taking action to drive up quality.

A vibrant space industry in Africa could unlock significant development opportunities and create jobs, but a lack of funding and limited higher education programmes are some of the constraints that should be tackled to enable the sector to expand beyond satellites. In fact, countries that have thriving space programmes have also made it a core mandate of theirs to boost space education.