17 June 2021  Issue No: 318

At a time when challenges call for the mobilising of researchers, no country in Africa is spending 1% of its gross domestic product or GDP on research and development, although, globally, spending on science and the number of scientists have been rising in the past five years, a trend that was pushed further by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to UNESCO.

A manifesto to foster scientific, technological and educational cooperation between Africa and Europe on advanced Earth observation and data processing systems and their applications for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals has been signed. It could help to boost human capital development for space science and technology through the higher education sector.

The International Association of Universities invited education leaders to share their perspectives on ‘Imagining higher education in a post-pandemic world’. Reflecting on Africa, this article addresses and helps to set the tone for several of the themes to be discussed at the upcoming Association of African Universities general conference titled ‘The Future of African Higher Education’.

Travelling is a worthwhile experience for most people – especially young people in their prime. Globalisation continues to offer more opportunities and is one of the main catalysts of internationalisation in academia. The opportunity to pursue higher learning opportunities in Stockholm, Sweden, was exhilarating, but also made me anxious.

When Professor John Ssebuwufu received a certificate of recognition for his ‘exceptional’ contribution to higher education from the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture at Makerere University, he was thinking of many things, such as rewarding staff, that he could have done differently to impact university education more.

Africa has the world’s youngest population. Young Africans, therefore, will significantly determine Africa’s growth trajectory and its overall impact on the global economy. In the last edition of the Alliance for African Partnership public dialogue series, the difficulties and aspirations of the youth were interrogated by youth leaders, researchers and other stakeholders. In this special report, some youth leaders are responding to the challenges.

What will international higher education look like after COVID-19? There are five factors that will have a major impact: from climate change and commercialisation to COVID itself. While a revolution does not seem likely, there are serious challenges – and opportunities – ahead.

The UNESCO Qualifications Passport for Refugees and Vulnerable Migrants is paving the way for Syrian refugees’ access to higher education in Iraq. The passport addresses a global problem of national recognition authorities and higher education institutions lacking the tools needed to evaluate refugees’ qualifications.

The United States took top spot but suffered significant decline overall in the QS World University Rankings 2022 published on Tuesday, as did Japan and South Korea. But it was another strong performance from mainland China, which continues to rise, and from Australia and Canada.