31 October 2019  Issue No: 253

African women vice-chancellors have a unique perspective on gender-inclusive higher education. A group of them is to discuss strategies to boost the number of women studying and teaching science, technology and innovation-focused subjects, and ensure their entry into leadership positions.

Limiting the reliance on examinations for assessing students and moving towards more continuous assessment would help develop students’ employability skills and enable the creation of courses that respond better to the needs and issues in African society.

In a move aimed at improving quality, Libya's private universities are set to lose their autonomy and will be brought under the ambit of public universities. While the decision has been welcomed by the Center for Quality Assurance and Accreditation as a means to crack down on unaccredited institutions, on the ground, opinion is strongly divided.

The introduction of a new national open access policy requiring public higher education institutions in Ethiopia to ensure that publicly-funded research is deposited in a national repository and that all research complies with international data standards has been welcomed by the sector.

Students should avoid becoming victims when classes are suspended due to strike action by lecturers and put their minds to picking up useful and potentially lucrative skills.

This year is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi and the perfect opportunity to reflect on how his philosophy can feed into contemporary concerns with community-university engagement and the social responsibility of education for the common good.

The original Magna Charter Universitatum was fuelled by concerns over ‘economisation’ of higher education. The new one now being debated needs to address with clarity the need for university autonomy and academic freedom in times when political extremism, populism and nationalism are on the rise.

Last year I was imprisoned for nearly seven months in the United Arab Emirates. Reflecting on my experience, I believe that research practice and its risks require better acknowledgement and respect, and freedom to research should be protected, if academics are to continue to contribute to the generation of knowledge.

The global outpouring of grief for producers and other workers killed in a major arson attack on one of Japan’s most acclaimed animation companies – Kyoto Animation Studio – in July, in which 35 were killed and 30 injured, illustrates the strong universal appeal of Japanese animation, that has also attracted increasing numbers of foreign students to study in Japan.