11 November 2021  Issue No: 336

The demand for study abroad is becoming stronger as COVID-19 appears to wane. Universities could capitalise on the moment by applying 4Ps: plotting a global engagement strategy, pulling in international collaborators, pursuing an integrated communications approach and positioning their websites as gateways.

An ingenious new entrepreneurship course is delivered on an instant messaging application and the approach to the content is a technique that encourages start-ups to treat their business ventures as scientific experiments.

Programme audits as a viable and comprehensive quality assurance mechanism, which have been interrupted in the Ethiopian higher education system, should be reinstated due to the critical role they play in the improvement of institutions.

Kenya experiences climate change-induced crop and livestock losses, forest fires, damage to fisheries and reduced water supply … But, what a student delegate to COP26 has seen in Glasgow is that many negotiators are not aware of how vulnerable Africa is to climate change.

Coordination to increase cross-border information sharing and collaboration in climate-related crises should be strengthened across Africa. African unity – a collective voice – on climate change is also necessary, says Dr Elizabeth Effah, a research fellow on climate change adaptation and mitigation.

Universities in Hong Kong have undergone a significant change in their governance and management under Xi Jinping’s presidency which impinges on academic freedom. The future under the constraints of the National Security Law is unclear, but the city-state’s universities will never be the same.

Black students in the United States remain less likely to gain access to university, more likely to drop out and less likely to graduate, and the latest data shows that the number of black freshmen has dropped by 22.3% compared to 12.3% overall since the start of the pandemic.

The 2021 World Access to Higher Education Day or WAHED online conference is being held on 17 November. ‘WAHED 2021: Who will be going to university in 2030?’ will include more than 20 top speakers from six continents. You are invited to participate in this free event.

Many universities around the world have worked hard to help their local communities through the COVID-19 pandemic, but some have faced the additional extraordinary challenges of how to provide aid and support in the midst of armed conflicts and growing mistrust in their own governments.