4 June 2020  Issue No: 272

If the systematic weakening of higher education institutions at the hands of patronage student politics is not countered, South African universities could become little more than undergraduate training grounds for unproductive, competing national political elites.

Ghana’s universities and schools are to reopen on 15 June to allow for final-year university, senior high and junior high school learners to resume classes which will lead to their respective exit examinations, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said.

COVID-19 and its aftermath presents an opportunity for African universities to promote themselves as attractive future international study destinations to the rest of the world, including the Global North.

Malawian universities have since May started admitting students on merit and affirmative action based on gender, disability and albinism after the controversial quota system was abolished earlier this year as part of what government claims are measures to improve overall access to tertiary education.

How are universities adapting to ensure education continues and students have access to high quality learning opportunities? In the third of a six-part dialogue series hosted by the Alliance for African Partnership (AAP), university leaders from Africa and the US last week shared approaches to challenges of infrastructure, equity and quality during the pandemic. The next webinar – dealing with the economic, food security and livelihood impacts of COVID-19 in Africa – is on 10 June.

Universities need to change and come together to address global challenges. To do this they need to create neutral international platforms where partners are respected as equals and where partnerships that are targeted at local needs draw on both local knowledge and global solutions.

United States colleges and universities are bracing for declines in international student enrolments in the coming autumn (fall) semester with a loss of up to US$4.5 billion in revenue, according to a pair of reports examining the impact of COVID-19 on US higher education.