4 May 2023  Issue No: 404

Higher government subsidies for vulnerable students to enable them to study free of charge, a ban on fee hikes and greater transparency about the cost of education are some of the recommendations that have been made to Kenyan President William Ruto to tackle the spiralling funding crisis in the tertiary sector.

Academics in 5,000 institutions in 107 low- and medium-income countries will benefit from the Cambridge Open Equity Initiative, a pilot project that will allow them to publish their research in about 400 open-access journals that are owned by the Cambridge University Press – at no cost to them.

An interdisciplinary research network of French institutes and African universities has been launched to provide a mobilisation framework for the sustainable management of land and territories in the area of the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel. It aims to reverse the degradation of vital ecosystems and address climate crises.

The Ethiopian Education and Training Authority, which appears to have embarked on an effort to reform itself, deserves the attention and support from the government and all members of society who have been demanding a more robust and dependable quality assurance system.

The African research community is looking forward to a fairer, equitable, inclusive and diverse collaborative research environment in the future – one of the major benefits that come with the publication of the Cape Town Statement on Fostering Research Integrity through Fairness and Equity.

Law students of the University of Abuja have been helping prison inmates to access the justice system, reducing the high rate of pre-trial detention in correctional centres and have increased awareness about the pre-trial and trial rights of citizens – while, at the same time, learning practical legal skills.

The higher education community in Sudan, including several universities, their academics and students, has taken a stand as part of a pro-democracy movement to call for an end to the war in the country and for humanitarian support for citizens affected by the military clashes between the national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

The illiberal takeover of higher education in countries such as Hungary holds urgent lessons for countries such as Israel and emphasises the importance of intellectual resistance on the part of students and faculty, which may include the establishment of alternative institutions or exile.

Listening to people at the ASU+GST summit in the United States, Ethan Mollick, an associate professor in the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, wondered if new AI breakthroughs had already catapulted humanity into a post-singularity era. “There’s a fundamental shift that’s already happened,” he said.