3 October 2019  Issue No: 251

We would like to inform readers of the University World News-Africa edition that we are considering changing the day on which the newsletter is sent out – from Sunday to Thursday – and we will implement this change on a trial basis over the next few weeks. In this way we hope to better serve our rapidly growing readership base by bringing our unique blend of news, views and analysis to you during the working week when your colleagues are around to share and discuss some of the issues raised in our stories. We welcome your feedback on this change. Please also note that we have activated WhatsApp article sharing on our mobile site.

In the new knowledge domains of climate change, HIV and AIDS, and gender, countries in the Global South are showing they can punch above their weight – despite their distance from centres of knowledge production and additional national challenges.

Despite low levels of investment in research and the country’s limited researcher capacity, South Africa’s research performance is disproportionately high and the country clearly “punches above its weight in this area”, according to a new report on the state of research in South Africa.

The overarching body for all students in Ghana, the National Union of Ghana Students, will soon hold a unity congress to elect a single, united set of officers to steer the activities of the union for the 2019-20 academic year. Against the backdrop of a past marked by division and political interference, hopes are high for a united and representative outcome.

The World Intellectual Property Organization, in collaboration with the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization, has launched a pilot project on the use and application of intellectual property (IP) aimed at fostering innovation in universities and research and development institutions by supporting them in their use of IP systems.

Figures show falling demand from international students for distance learning, particularly in United Kingdom and Australian degree enrolment. Is this a short-term blip and how have some institutions managed to buck the trend and increase their student numbers using different and focused approaches?

Higher education needs to let go of the myth of making students job-ready, reject neoliberalism and develop the values of global citizens instead. This means cultivating a feeling of belonging and an attitude and practices that carry an important responsibility, to do good for the entire human community.

A new phase of promoting higher education that emphasises digital learning through massive open online courses or MOOCs has emerged in India, says the latest UNESCO report, and it is connecting students to global learning platforms and making learning more dynamic.