18 May 2023  Issue No: 406

Academic freedom in universities in Africa has dipped significantly in the recent past as a result of threats by political systems, according to researchers. According to them, violations against academic freedom have become a common phenomenon across public universities in Africa.

Research shows that African students spend too much time on social media. This does not only negatively affect their studies, but also their mental health. And addiction seems to be rising, increasing the risk of depression and anxiety.

South Africa’s Stellenbosch University aims at achieving carbon neutrality by 2030 and, in doing so, positively contributes to the fight against climate change. In pursuit of this goal, carbon footprint reporting – obtaining information from the different departments and divisions – is one of the biggest challenges.

How the higher education sector creates an enabling environment wherein lecturers and students can experiment with the potential and limits of artificial intelligence tools, how it uses the opportunity to develop higher-order critical thinking capabilities, and how it instils a values-driven, integrity-focused approach are some of the challenges brought on by AI.

The effective provisioning of transport to students can contribute to students’ academic performance. The opposite has been experienced by students on several university campuses in Nigeria where a shortage of vehicles and drivers coupled with a fuel hike are affecting students’ ability to study.

Rising costs of living are affecting the mobility of international students and many of them are having to reconsider decisions to study abroad, according to a survey of 21,000 students in 108 countries conducted by IDP Connect, an educational marketing and student recruitment firm.

As policy-makers in several countries are starting to question whether there is really need for an endless increase in university graduates, political interest is shifting towards more equitable post-secondary participation and meeting the skill demands of occupations just below the high-skilled ones.

There is growing pushback against research systems driven by financial rewards for exciting findings, at the expense of rigour and integrity. A key goal of open science proponents is to diversify the things that are rewarded to make research as efficient and effective as possible.