11 March 2021  Issue No: 304

The Southern African Development Community or SADC is considering a regional visa for students, researchers, scientists and academics in a development that could also see them enjoy benefits such as customs exemptions if it is approved. This forms part of ongoing efforts in the region to enhance mobility in the education sector.

Africa lags behind other regions in terms of gender equality regarding recruitment, retainment and the promotion of women in higher education, a report by UNESCO says. Women are under-represented at senior faculty level and in higher education decision-making bodies, with persistent wage gaps. Sexual harassment is ongoing.

Universities around the world have a big problem with violence against women. But they also have a particular role to play in tackling it, both through supporting women and through innovative, research-based programmes that engage men in understanding its roots, including the dominant role of social norms.

Higher education in post-genocide Rwanda has experienced significant growth over the past 25 years – from a single public university (the National University of Rwanda) to more than 30 universities and higher learning institutions, of which 26 are private. In 2019, the total enrolment in all of the higher learning institutions was 86,140 students. Just more than half were enrolled in private institutions.

Leading anglophone international higher education destination countries like the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia have seen their market share of international students reduced in recent years, yet their recovery strategies lack proper investment and are based on a false analysis of the challenges in the coming years.

Experiential learning methodologies must evolve with the move to greater blended and online learning post-COVID to increase student engagement and foster holistic skills development. Immersive and interactive experiential approaches, which were beginning to feature more regularly across campuses, should be used within digital learning.

On average 56% of university students worldwide said their mental health suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the share rose to more than 70% in Brazil, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, a survey of the hopes and fears of 17,000 students in 21 countries found.