15 June 2023  Issue No: 410

The continued fighting in Sudan has sparked fears of a new wave of ethnic violence in Darfur, a site of atrocities and human displacement since 2003. Staff and students of higher education institutions have, as part of various civil society organisations, become increasingly vocal in their concern about events in the west of the country.

A ground-breaking initiative to create a venture builder model harnessing the best in technology at higher education institutions throughout South Africa is getting off the ground with building blocks patiently being put together through a participatory and collaborative approach.

The American University in Cairo has been playing a pioneering role in achieving a sustainable campus – a response to the alarming environmental challenges that have been caused by climate change, including resource scarcity around the water-energy-food nexus, pollution and waste.

At the heart of inclusive internationalisation, which embodies decolonisation of knowledge and epistemic plurality, is collaboration, cooperation and coming together across borders and differences, and sometimes across comfort zones. Internationalisation is about mutual care, mutual respect and mutual acknowledgement, whereby we work together in shaping a better future.

“Political corruption is detrimental to education, particularly through its effect on unemployment. In a corrupt environment, skills are not put to envy … but, rather, individual relationships [are],” a study on the effect of corruption on human capital development via public investments has found.

Universities are in a unique position to provide innovative solutions to challenges facing the African continent, but if universities are to be the engine of development, research must be approached in a trans-disciplinary manner, according to Sharon Fonn, professor of public health at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.

An international and multidisciplinary research group is trying to make sense of the contemporary global science landscape by investigating and developing approaches to managing the opportunities and risks of international scientific collaboration amidst rising geopolitical competition and the prevailing logic of zero-sum competition.

Compared to other countries in Asia, such as China, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Singapore, which represent a rather saturated market for United Kingdom transnational education or TNE, Vietnam represents a growing opportunity for the UK due to its increasing GDP and limited local education provision.

While some big-name US universities have seen more applications from Chinese students this year, lesser known institutions are less popular than before COVID. US recruiters working in China attribute the decline to the pandemic-related border closures as well as shifts in US-China relations.