10 February 2019  Issue No: 236

The reasoning behind the Mozambican government’s decision to merge and split universities – first announced in 2016 – appears to be based on little concrete evidence of potential benefits and insufficient consultation with academic stakeholders in the institutions concerned.

The Zimbabwe National Students Union, the country's biggest student union, has condemned the violence perpetrated against civilians by government security forces, and threw its weight behind last week’s 'Black Wednesday' demonstration called by women’s rights organisations in Zimbabwe.

South African Higher Education and Training Minister Naledi Pandor had an opportunity to defend the government’s fee-free policy for poor students against recent suggestions by the World Bank that, while attractive, the policy will strain the fiscus and is “ultimately unsustainable”.

Studying information systems combined with leadership classes and project experience with students from multiple disciplines have enabled one young Kenyan to develop an award-winning app that could save small tea farmers billions of shillings in wasted crop.

The rise of nationalism and the increasing cost of tuition present a threat to the aspirations of internationalisation of higher education. The realisation of these aspirations requires reinvesting fees into the student experience and access as well as immigration policies that provide pathways for international students.

Thousands of foreign students caught up in an English-language test cheating scandal in Britain five years ago are still in limbo, unable to prove their innocence, with their visas revoked before they were able to complete their courses and their immigration status under a cloud.

One of the biggest failures of international higher education cooperation over the past 25 years has been the inability to thoroughly demonstrate its added value by means of rigorous empirical research, particularly in terms of improved learning outcomes or the political benefits.

Business schools are entering an era of hyper-competition to attract international talent, earn reputation and grow resources at a time of tightening visa rules and post-work opportunities and increasing activity from alternative providers. How can they survive and thrive in this context?

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and the CHEA International Quality Group (CIQG) held their annual conferences last week. On the agenda were how to build trust in universities in a hostile environment, how to address corruption in higher education and how to adapt higher education to a world of changing demand and innovative modes of provision. University World News was the media partner.