10 September 2023  Issue No: 753

Suspending academic collaboration with China out of hand is unproductive and leads to mutual isolation. An open, mutually respectful and productive academic relationship between China and the West is vital to confront the severe geopolitical, climate, energy and healthcare challenges our world faces.

A union made up of university academics in Libya has announced an open-ended sit-in protest and has suspended studies in all the country’s universities until its full demands – relating in the main to salaries and overseas scholarships – are met by the government.

Poland has been chosen to host the upcoming Magna Charta Observatory anniversary conference to allow delegates to learn first-hand how Polish universities and society were responsive to the crisis sparked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, exemplifying the principles of the Magna Charta Universitatum.

Canada’s recent education-export growth has been unmatched and its contribution to the economy roughly equals that of the aerospace industry. But lack of federal regulation makes Canada highly susceptible to unwanted behaviours and future deflation if student expectations don’t match student experiences.

A former seasonal application reader urges universities in the United States to pay extra careful attention to admission processes and the way they are communicated to the public, particularly in the wake of the Operation Varsity Blues scandal and the more recent Supreme Court affirmative action ruling.

Cameroon has opened its doors for higher education training in renewable energy with the creation of departments in that field at all 11 state universities, a move aimed at creating jobs and accelerating the Sustainable Development Goals in the fight against climate change.

A recent survey in the United States by Gallup published against the backdrop of growing doubts about the worth of higher education revealed a range of benefits, such as finding a job to suit one’s interests as well as a greater confidence in the national democratic process.

A total of 104 government and private higher education institutions in Sudan, as well as research centres and the National Fund for Student Welfare have been damaged and vandalised since April when the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces became embroiled in a war.