22 August 2021  Issue No: 656

Afghanistan’s neighbouring countries are opening up to students fleeing the conflict-torn country after the Taliban take-over, amid fears that disruption and uncertainty could make it difficult for them to continue higher education in Afghanistan.

After 18 months of global disruption by COVID-19, including of higher education, it is time to shine light and reflect upon two active areas of response – educational technologies and innovation. How have these pre-existing spheres evolved since institutions shifted online? What’s happening? How might they help tackle inequalities in the sector locally and globally? How might they shape teaching and learning, and higher education’s future? These are some of the questions probed in two Special Reports, published this week and last week.

The widely expected crash in the number of students from European Union countries accepted on undergraduate courses at universities in the United Kingdom, down by 56% – from 22,430 in 2020 to 9,820 on 10 August 2021 – confirmed the worst fears of higher education as the clearing season opened to match unplaced applicants with spare spots on courses.

Amid all the chaos of the pandemic, some good practice emerged in higher education and a lot of it centred around visible leadership, engagement and agility – the need to listen to people’s experiences and to be flexible enough to adapt to changing circumstances.

A policy change to doctoral education in Vietnam, specifically the withdrawal of a stipulation for PhD students to publish in international journals, seems to mark a U-turn by the government and has generated considerable debate. Under the old policy, for three years Vietnam’s publication of articles in prestigious international journals grew by 39% a year.

Many British universities are struggling to find a successful approach to engaging with Europe now ‘the chickens have come home to roost’ with Brexit and European Union student recruitment is shrinking – but a few are responding by setting up international branch campuses on the continent with mixed results.