16 July 2020  Issue No: 278

To keep universities shut is a huge injustice to the lifelong learners who see the university as a window to better their lives. The longer we wait to open the universities, the deeper we entrench inequalities.

Malawi’s higher education sector will not reopen this week despite earlier government recommendations that the country’s COVID-19 lockdown, in place since March 23, be lifted. The country is facing spiralling infection rates and death rates from the coronavirus.

Universities, as the ultimate custodians of ideas, are central to bringing about change and generating knowledge and solutions for the betterment of humankind, especially in crises. But as the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted, they need to be more nimble and less risk averse if they are to fully fulfil their mandates.

Somaliland’s higher education capacity may have been growing, but a lack of financial and human resources and the continued lack of international recognition of its country’s self-declared independent status continue to impede progress, say local education leaders.

How can universities strengthen both local and regional collaborations, while leveraging the already existing international collaborations? In this, the sixth and final edition of the dialogue series hosted by the Alliance for African Partnership or AAP, representatives of philanthropic foundations, global financial institutions and private sector organisations unpack the implications of COVID-19 for partnerships and engagement.

Education and livelihoods are at risk from the COVID-19 pandemic in Herat, Afghanistan. The province needs international higher education partnerships and investment in universities so that they can track the impact of the virus and research solutions as well as help the economic recovery.

It is not enough to be published in a scientific journal. The proliferation of journals means we should question whether they are the work of independent learned societies or of private groups listed on the stock exchange, and interrogate the aim of these groups and their publications.

Now is the time for the international community to recognise the fundamental importance of higher education to achieving all 17 Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs and for universities to dedicate themselves to helping the world achieve them, say leaders of three global university associations.