29 September 2022  Issue No: 376

A group of African countries has launched the African Network of National Implementation Structures, a framework that will coordinate and campaign for the recognition of higher education qualifications, as well as facilitate academic mobility and inter-university cooperation across the continent.

Universities have an obligation to restore democracy education as a core element of their institutional mission and should make rigorous study of democracy a requirement for all students, Ronald J Daniels, president of Johns Hopkins University, told the Magna Charta Observatory anniversary conference last week.

Given the growing influence of China among Africa’s youth, colleges and universities in the United States need to re-examine their recruitment strategies to make them more inviting, inclusive and affordable for African students, most of whom require full or nearly full financial support.

Academic dishonesty is on the rise in universities in Africa – and globally – including dissertation fraud. Whereas the age-old practice of plagiarism continues, academic authorities now also have to contend with dissertation mills – companies and individuals earning money by writing up research for postgraduate students.

Egypt has launched its first intellectual property strategy that will be implemented by the higher education sector and research institutions, among others. The aim is to create a research environment that can prepare a generation capable of innovation which, in turn, can be converted into intellectual property.

The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, a network of six centres of excellence which are based in South Africa, Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon, Tanzania and Rwanda, has been nurturing innovative, critical thinkers who can drive the continent’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, agenda.

Professor Lydia Aziato has just been named the vice-chancellor of the University of Health and Allied Sciences in Ho in Ghana’s Volta Region. She is the fourth woman vice-chancellor in Ghana. The child of peasant farmers, Aziato did not allow her background to become a barrier to her success.

A recent study made some alarming findings on the extent of plagiarism and other forms of unethical academic behaviour at Moroccan tertiary education institutions, but also proposes measures to combat this scourge. These measures include the integration of educational training into the curriculum of Moroccan students and researchers.

Post-pandemic forever universities are resilient and embrace change. And their leaders have prepared for the inevitability of future disruptions by doing the hard work of changing the way their schools are governed, how information is communicated and who is involved in making decisions.

In its emphasis on specific learning objectives and employability, the draft Higher Education Commission of India bill of 2018 works against Kant’s notion of a university as a place where scholars freely engage in criticism of existing knowledge for the pursuit of truth.

Hopes of a breakthrough in international efforts to reform how researchers and research organisations are assessed are rising, with European universities, research centres, public and private funders, national and regional agencies and other stakeholders being encouraged to create a coalition committed to change.