5 November 2020  Issue No: 290

With the available international funding for doctoral training and research in Africa set to decline after COVID-19, experts are foreseeing a range of changes in how students conduct their postgraduate studies, with blended and sandwich options expected to be the new norm.

State cuts in funding for public higher education within Zambia have pushed more costs onto students, making it harder for them to learn and graduate, the country’s education union leader has said. The cuts have also encouraged a sprouting of private universities offering poor quality education, he told University World News.

The research agenda and the contribution of African scientists have gained more traction over the past decade as universities renew and rediscover their research mission. While this renewed focus on research is to be applauded, recent reports on institutional practices and culture and commentaries that highlight marginalisation and rampant bullying in higher education have led us to rhetorically question if this could be a clarion call to education systems, institutions and researchers on the continent to take the investigation of intellectual cultures more seriously.

To withstand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN Refugee Agency has been calling on governments, the private sector, civil society and other key stakeholders to improve the access of refugees to university education. Higher education experts have echoed the call, highlighting the vulnerability of African students in refugee camps in particular.

On 25 November University World News, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, will be bringing together experts and practitioners from the International Association of Universities, the Talloires Network of Engaged Universities and the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program in an online webinar on how universities can improve their social impact.

The higher education sector has a huge role to play in an inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. To do so, it needs UNESCO to strengthen the mechanisms for international collaboration and sharing of ideas and recognise higher education as a key stakeholder.

Tecnológico de Monterrey or Monterrey Tec is redesigning itself to develop students as entrepreneurial and socially minded leaders who can adapt to the future. It has revamped the role of professors and increased the focus on cutting-edge technologies, challenge-based learning and personal competencies, such as flexibility, leadership skills and values.

Canada’s meteoric rise in international student numbers faces sustainability problems in a post-COVID world, especially if Joe Biden ousts Donald Trump in the United States election and India’s economy continues to slump. It needs to rethink its offering to students and put employability at its heart.

Joe Biden is ahead in the polls but that is no guarantee of victory in the United States presidential election. For higher education, he identifies affordability, student debt, student success and consumer protection as the top four issues. His big-picture emphasis aims to “strengthen college as a reliable pathway to the middle class”.