21 April 2019  Issue No: 241

Recent measures taken by the United Kingdom government to stamp out the use of essay mills by its students come as a blow to thousands of Kenyan university students and graduates who rely on contract academic writing as a major source of income.

The demands on managers, staff and students of Ghanaian higher education institutions are growing, placing pressure on all parties involved and contributing to rising tensions between the various players in the institutions. Amidst all the turmoil, institutions are in danger of overlooking the importance of mental health and well-being.

Sudanese universities and academics, having played a major role in the push for change in Sudan, last week rejected the military takeover of the country, vowing to continue their protest action until a civilian government is in place.

Students are perfect targets for South Africa’s burgeoning takeaway food industry. Universities have a responsibility to educate undergraduate students on the perils of unhealthy eating choices.

The 2019 UNESCO Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, launched at the Economic Commission for Africa conference of ministers in Marrakech, Morocco in March, finds that tertiary education graduates are five times more likely to migrate abroad than those with primary education. University World News spoke to Manos Antoninis, director of the GEM Report, about the implications of brain drain for some of Africa’s poorest countries.

Promises to replace the popular Erasmus student and staff mobility scheme if the United Kingdom leaves the European Union may sound good, but they are much more difficult to fulfil in reality. Reputedly among Europeans’ favourite EU programmes, some 40,000 Brits travelled abroad under Erasmus+ during 2016-17 while nearly 63,800 European staff and students trained in the UK.

Global developments suggest that the time for internationalisation as an ‘in-house’ issue is over. Universities have to take their responsibility to society more seriously and put social engagement at the heart of internationalisation.

The move to a market-oriented governance model has not improved higher education. Unless the academic community is placed at the heart of the sector, it will lose many of those innovative and transformative characteristics that have made higher education internationally successful.