27 March 2022  Issue No: 685

The phenomenal growth of higher education in the Global South between 2006 and 2013 is over, according to a new report, and experts say the focus is increasingly turning to issues such as improving quality, the role of private providers, and funding.

The European Qualifications Passport for Refugees offers a vital opportunity for refugees such as those now fleeing Ukraine to hone their skills, help their host countries, and be in a stronger position to go back and rebuild their country once the crisis is over.

Based on unprecedented insight from a new global report produced by Higher Education Strategy Associates or HESA, University World News, in partnership with HESA, is hosting a free webinar on global trends in higher education enrolment and public financing of higher education on 31 March.

The new National Student Safety Survey in Australia reveals that universities are too quick to protect accused staff and too slow to respond to reports of incidents – and pansexual students are three times more at risk and disabled students two times more at risk of sexual harassment than other students.

Among the many performance-based funding models available to African universities, performance contracts are a good option because they allow for a tailored approach to individual institutions and emphasise negotiation between governments and universities over goals to be achieved in return for funding.

Understanding the barriers to learning encountered by students from under-represented groups has become even more crucial during the current health crisis, pointing to the need for more qualitative research, incorporating student voices, to guide universities in their delivery of specialist support services.

The Greek government is pushing for Greek universities to internationalise to aid the modernisation of Greece. Doors are opening for more joint degrees, English-taught degrees and summer schools, and international science collaboration and international students may be enticed by relatively low costs and high quality of life.

As a continent, we must move from climate theory to climate action and, therefore, it is critical to build alliances and partnerships between different role-players in terms of climate change. This calls for the inclusion of local contexts and indigenous knowledge in climate adaptation strategies, says Professor René Pellissier.

University libraries remain critical building blocks in the academic process and finding ways to encourage students to read remains a challenge. One method has been the use of InstaNovels to combine students’ social media and mobile device attachment with the activity of reading.

All universities and colleges in Shanghai – which has around 30 universities and a similar number of colleges – are in lockdown amid the COVID-19 resurgence in Eastern China, China’s state broadcaster has reported, as multiple Chinese cities face the worst COVID outbreaks since early 2020.