12 December 2019  Issue No: 256

In the 21st century, to attain Agenda 2030, Africa must emphasise a pragmatic educational philosophy, powered by technology and the needs of society.

For too long African universities have been copying the way things are done in the West. They need instead to study the curricula, teaching methods and systems in other regions and adapt them to ensure that higher education produces skills and knowledge relevant to Africa.

Some academics have expressed surprise and confusion over the recent revelation by the executive secretary of the National Universities Commission of Nigeria, Professor Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, that the commission discovered about 100 fake professors in the universities system.

African universities have been relatively late in joining the ‘anti-fake news’ movement which confronts the rising tide of false information. But it’s not too late to join, according to experts.

If our universities fail to review the current curricula and policies, then they should be blamed for the high rate of unemployment that will hit our graduates.

The 15th annual general meeting (AGM) of the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) and the third annual Forum for African Women Vice Chancellors (FAWoVC) were held at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana from 2-6 December. The theme of the AGM, which attracted over 900 participants from Africa and beyond, was “Delivering on Africa's universities Agenda for Higher Agricultural Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (AHESTI): What will it take?”

The second Higher Education Forum for Africa, Asia and Latin America (HEFAALA) symposium was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 25-27 July 2019. In this follow-up special report, we publish a selection of papers delivered at the conference.

More higher education institutions are taking up the challenge to reinvent their entire mission, vision and values to bring them in line with social responsibility and sustainable development. There is no future for universities if they do not.

Students have been prime movers or at the centre of many of the recent waves of mass protests. Not many are related to campus issues, although concerns about tuition fees and austerity since the recession motivated many early protests. The main linking factor, however, is a general opposition to social inequality.

International collaboration, financial and strategic support and government policy consistency that endures beyond changes in political administrations are vital to maintain accelerating global gains in access to higher education, heard delegates at the global summit for World Access to Higher Education Day, held in Scotland on 26 November.

Students from India continue to flood into Australian universities at a greater rate than from any other nation, but their presence is creating growing problems due to a too-frequent inadequate command of English and academic misconduct.