AFRICA NEWS
MAURITANIA
Students arrested in protests over university age limit
Wagdy Sawahel
Two students were arrested after student unions and associations protested outside Mauritania’s Ministry for Higher Education and Scientific Research in Nouakchott after its recent decision to bar more than 1,000 high school graduates aged over 25 from studying at higher education institutions.
ALGERIA
Higher education union threatens strike over ‘injustices’
Azzeddine Bensouiah
The new academic year has barely begun but may soon be disrupted by a strike by the banned National Council of Higher Education Teachers, after it said it would demand the intervention of Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in redressing what it claimed were injustices being suffered by higher education teachers.
SOUTHERN AFRICA
Nine SADC countries geared for qualifications framework
Kudzai Mashininga
Nine Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries are implementing a comprehensive qualifications framework, which will both facilitate mutual recognition of qualifications and ensure the easy movement of students and workers within the bloc’s 16 countries.
KENYA
New accreditation system sets down HE standards
Christabel Ligami
In a move to standardise qualifications, the Kenya National Qualifications Authority has created a new system for the accreditation of student qualifications and has defined entry grades for both degrees and diplomas, according to newly gazetted regulations.
AFRICA ANALYSIS
AFRICA
A unique opportunity to promote scientific collaboration
Rami M Ayoubi and Engin Akcay
Science diplomacy needs to be reformed so that its potential for promoting African development and fostering a culture of peaceful co-existence can be fully realised. Well-selected science diplomats posted abroad could make an exceptional contribution to their country and region.
TANZANIA
Employers need graduates to be taught vital soft skills
Simon Ngalomba
With high graduate unemployment in Tanzania, universities need to shift their focus from increasing enrolment figures at institutions to providing a quality education enhanced by soft skills, both of which are required by employers in a challenging economic climate.
AFRICA FEATURES
SOUTH AFRICA
BRICS University Network can boost 4IR hopes – Minister
Edwin Naidu
In addition to the recent announcement that technical and vocational education and training would get a ZAR2.5 billion (US$176 million) boost to equip them with fourth industrial revolution (4IR) skills, Minister of Higher Education and Training Naledi Pandor said she would soon be asking the National Treasury for more funding – and set up a ministerial committee – to ensure that South Africa did not lag behind in the 4IR race.
NIGERIA
Unions reject fee hike proposal as government backtracks
Tunde Fatunde
With Nigerian higher education institutions in the grip of a funding crisis, teacher and student unions rejected a recent proposal by a government commission to hike fees – calling it “outrageous”, as it would bar disadvantaged students from attaining qualifications – and called on the government to stick to its fiscal obligations.
SOUTH AFRICA
Doctoral qualification standard gets favourable review
Munyaradzi Makoni
Academics have given the thumbs-up to a draft document that aims not only to increase the number of doctoral degrees in South Africa but to improve national standards by providing a watertight system that rigorously guarantees quality.
ALGERIA
HE system under fire after political science is dropped
Azzeddine Bensouiah
Algerian education experts and student unions have lambasted recent sweeping changes made to university curricula that have resulted in specialised courses such as political science being discontinued.
AFRICA BRIEFS
SENEGAL
Threat to cancel courses – ‘Government will pay up’
Senegal's Higher Education Minister Mary Teuw Niane has tried to reassure institutions that the government will pay the more than 16 billion francs it owes them, after they threatened to cancel the courses of thousands of students that the state has been contracted to fund.
REPUBLIC OF CONGO
Francophone HE council to debate quality assurance
Bertrand Mbatchi, secretary-general of Le Conseil Africain et Malgache pour l’Enseignement Supérieur – the francophone African 19-country higher education council – visited Brazzaville for talks with Minister of Higher Education Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua ahead of November’s conference on quality assurance and equivalence of degrees, which will be hosted by the Republic of the Congo.
NEWS – Our correspondents worldwide report
CHINA
Panic over US scrutiny of science talent programme
Yojana Sharma
China's universities, along with the ministry of education, are hastily deleting all references to the country’s flagship international science ‘Thousand Talents’ programme from their websites, in response to United States investigations into whether it facilitates illicit transfer of US technology, intellectual property and know-how.
AUSTRALIA
One in seven students go without food or necessities
Geoff Maslen
Nearly one million Australians are now studying at university, but for most life is hard, with one in seven going without food or other necessities because they cannot afford the costs and four in five having to find paid work to survive.
EUROPE
Medicine academies demand post-Brexit research deal
Brendan O’Malley
The Federation of European Academies of Medicine has called on European Union and United Kingdom Brexit negotiators to reach an agreement that will secure continued medical research co-operation post-Brexit and ensure continued unhindered movement of researchers in particular.
INDIA
Students threaten campus walkout over sedition charges
Shuriah Niazi
Sedition charges against two Kashmiri students at India’s Aligarh Muslim University, and their suspension from the university, led to a threat by more than 1,200 other Kashmiri students to quit the university and leave for home if the sedition charges are not dropped.
UNITED KINGDOM
Birmingham opens door to Chinese students with gaokao
Brendan O’Malley
The University of Birmingham has announced that it will accept the gaokao exam for high-flying Chinese students wishing to join its undergraduate courses in 2019 in place of A-levels or the International Baccalaureate and claims to be the first Russell Group university to do so.
DENMARK
Government takes steps to lure and retain foreign talent
Jan Petter Myklebust
A new strategy for strengthening international recruitment for the workforce will help the hiring of international researchers by reducing the income threshold and will encourage international students to stay on and work by giving them a more flexible route into employment after graduation.
AUSTRALIA
Federal review of standards of HE courses announced
Organisations that offer higher education courses in Australia are to face a federal review of their standards. The review was called by Education Minister Dan Tehan who has asked Emeritus Professor Peter Coaldrake to conduct the examination.
COMMENTARY
PANAMA
Why HE is key to Panama’s 21st century economy
Philip G Altbach and Nanette A Svenson
Panama is a crucial regional and global crossroads and likes to compare itself with Singapore, but its higher education and research sectors have been particularly disadvantaged, badly managed and resource-starved and need reform if the country is to capitalise on its geographical advantages.
WORLD BLOG
GLOBAL
Can universities become more agile?
Nita Temmerman
Some traditional universities have become too big and bureaucratic and appear to have lost sight of their main functions. Smaller institutions have smaller classes, offer more contemporary content, better industry links and are more nimble and responsive to society.
TRANSFORMATIVE LEADERSHIP
GLOBAL
A critical moment for universities to take a lead
Brendan O’Malley
What is the role of universities in driving positive change in the world? How can they prepare students to face the challenges ahead? These key questions will drive our second series on Transformative Leadership, published in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, starting this week.
GLOBAL
Transformative leaders are critical in today’s world
Nadine Burquel
Transformative leaders who inspire academics and students, are deeply connected to changing local and national needs and are able to help their institutions compete with more agile external providers are critical to the future development of universities in a fast-evolving world.
STUDENT VIEW
AUSTRALIA
What it's like to be a student on the poverty line
Mark Pace
National survey findings showing that one in three students regularly miss lectures or classes to work validate the financial hardship that thousands upon thousands of Australian students experience every day, in what seems to be a perpetual war on young people.
THE PUBLISHING CRISIS
GLOBAL
The rise and rise of predatory journals
Ryan Allen
The rise of university rankings, triggering comparison and competition between universities around the world, and over-reliance on decision-making through numbers has pressured academics to simply publish as much as possible, even if that means resorting to publications that are on the fringes of legitimacy.
UWN UNIVERSITY PARTNER
ITALY
A pioneer in the development of education technology
Brenda Dionisi
An Italian university has carved a place for itself in the international distance learning space for its research into and novel use of emerging technologies – including interactive virtual classrooms, Second Life, talking textbooks and holograms – plus teaching via nine languages. Enrolment has jumped 40% in a year.
FEATURES
EUROPE
Funding for Europe’s universities rising, but not enough
Rebecca Warden
Governments have increased funding for European higher education over the past decade but this recovery is not happening fast enough to produce a catch-up effect, the European University Association reports, and some countries – Greece, Spain, the United Kingdom and Ireland – have faced 20% cuts.
HONG KONG
Hong Kong steps up research collaboration with China
Mimi Leung
Hong Kong will top up its research endowment fund to the tune of HK$20 billion (US$2.6 billion) to boost innovation as it steps up research collaborations with the Chinese mainland and with other countries, the Hong Kong government has announced.
