19 August 2021  Issue No: 324

Universities that form part of the African Research Universities Alliance or ARUA are making advances in three areas: doctoral enrolments, the completion time of doctoral students and the proportion of permanent academic staff with PhDs, according to a report.

Africa’s poor performance in the recent Olympic Games in Tokyo highlighted the role that universities on the continent could play to help prepare sports stars for the international sports stage, similar to the work done by many institutions in other parts of the world.

It is not easy to become and lead as a president of an Ethiopian public university. The impact of ethnic politics on higher education leadership competition and selection is enormous. The key to solving this problem is also addressing issues of ethnic politics at national level.

COVID-19 set off containment measures in Kenya that led to the abrupt closure of learning institutions and the introduction of remote learning and teaching. Both tutors and students experienced a trial-and-error period amid emotional and psychological stress.

Universities are contributing to the upscaling of insect-based food and feed systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, which have economic, environmental and social benefits that could support the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

South Africa’s framework for internationalising higher education fails to touch on the politics of internationalisation, the colonial roots of the concept and the continuation of the use of it to benefit the economies and institutions of the global North. This is a missed opportunity.

After 18 months of global disruption by COVID-19, including of higher education, it is time to shine light and reflect upon two active areas of response – educational technologies and innovation. How have these pre-existing spheres evolved since institutions shifted online? What's happening? How might they help tackle inequalities in the sector locally and globally? How might they shape teaching and learning, and higher education's future? These are some of the questions probed in two Special Reports published this and next weekend.

Never in the history of Afghanistan’s conservative and remote corners have so many girls made it into higher education, as in the past few years of relative peace. Now, amid swift and deadly advances by armed Taliban insurgents, these gains – and their lives – are under threat.