30 April 2020  Issue No: 267

Leading South African social scientists are calling for greater engagement in shaping the mitigation policies being produced by the government to manage the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Despite the impact of COVID-19, academics are hopeful that the salaries of professors who teach science in all Uganda’s public universities will be almost doubled with effect from next year, in accordance with promises made by the state president.

Remote teaching right now is the lesser of two evils. The prime evil would be the complete collapse of the public higher education system and all that it stands for, followed by its replacement with a profit-driven system that serves only those who can pay.

Against estimates that COVID-19 containment measures will result in an immediate decline in African GDP growth from 3.2% to 1.8% in 2020 – with further adverse impacts if the pandemic is not contained – universities are being challenged to consider their roles in mitigating socio-economic impacts.

The novel coronavirus pandemic and the response to it promises to be less of a turning point than the catalyst for a speeding up of a trend towards declining power in the West – and this will affect international higher education enrolment, especially in the United States.

Higher education is not about preparing students for the world of work today. It needs to be flexible enough to equip students with the professional attributes and learning tools that will set them up for life, to be creative, adaptable contributors to society.

Many countries may be forced over time to introduce higher tuition fees to help pay for rebuilding after the COVID-19 economic turmoil, which could reduce a key comparative disadvantage for United Kingdom universities recruiting international students, the online forum of Universities UK International was told.