29 January 2023  Issue No: 724

The need to achieve greater inclusion in higher education responds to a strong social justice imperative, and higher education systems in which opportunities are equally distributed have become the basis for sustainable development and for the construction of fair and democratic societies.

In the wake of China’s economic downturn and concerns over a decline in college-age student numbers, the education ministry, after years of unbridled expansion, has directed provinces to rein in plans to build new universities and is now pushing a ‘quality over quantity’ line.

A new definition of higher education internationalisation can create an opportunity for South Africa to become an ‘active and self-determined’ contributor and partner in the global field of internationalisation of higher education instead of merely replicating dominant concepts and definitions from the Global North.

Quality assurance in the last 25 years has contributed relatively little to solving the structural problems of the higher education sector and the challenges facing the evolution of the sector in Latin America, as evidenced by its minimal competitive participation at the global level.

Universities must focus on equipping their students with leadership and technical skills and foster collaborative and experimental forms of learning and knowledge production that can provide practical solutions to development challenges, according to Arturo Condo, the president of EARTH University in Costa Rica.

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals depends in part on preserving and strengthening democracies around the world and higher education institutions have a remarkable role to play – through increasing access to quality education, raising awareness and engaging with community and stakeholders – in achieving them.