12 October 2023  Issue No: 424

Reflexive pedagogies imply a radically different conception of pedagogy from what we are used to, as traditional pedagogies have failed to provide higher education institutions with an educational basis to develop students’ intellectual capacity and skills to engage in the world as productive citizens.

African university scientists have expressed the urgent need to collaborate to strengthen the human resource capacity of researchers and other experts in traditional medicine and primary healthcare. Traditional remedies are seen as a key to unlocking health challenges in Africa, raising questions about quality control and accessibility.

Working in partnership, two universities – in Ireland and Uganda – have been awarded €1 million for developing a new way to identify sepsis in newborn babies as part of a broader Sustainable Development Goal research challenge focused on SDG 3: ‘Good health and well-being’.

Africa’s educational institutions must be producing scientists, engineers and technologists of all types, but must also subject African students to common educational, cultural, literary and social experiences and thereby produce a Pan African personality that has transcended tribalism, micro-nationalism and other balkanising demarcations.

The late South African Professor Hoosen Coovadia, who died in Durban on 4 October, played a pivotal role in the training of medical students at universities in Africa and inspired a generation of researchers with his world-class works. He was a leading researcher in the field of HIV/Aids.

From alleged government interference, a traditional threat to institutional autonomy worldwide, to societal pressures aimed at changing university policy, the University of Zambia could be facing threats to its institutional autonomy as several outside elements have attempted to influence internal decision-making processes, policies and activities.

Higher Education Reform Experts South Africa, or HERESA, a three-year pilot that will come to an end in November, was “a success with tangible impact”, project coordinator Dr Sershen Naidoo told University World News at the end of the initiative’s final workshop in Johannesburg from 2-4 October.

Chicago State University in the United States on 2 October released information related to the qualification of Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Tinubu’s academic record forms part of an ongoing challenge to undo the outcome of his election as president in February.

Closing the education financing gap to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4 (quality education) is a question of justice and any plans to widen access and success need to be serious about the role of wealth inequality in depriving young people of their right to education.

An opportunity to take American students on a short-term study course to the United Kingdom, aimed at providing a better understanding of higher education today, highlighted the benefits of study abroad opportunities – for those who have the necessary financial, administrative and legal resources.

A recent survey conducted by the American Association of University Professors shows that over 60% of professors in Florida, Texas, Georgia and North Carolina are unhappy about the right-wing political climate in their states and many are looking to relocate to other states.

As the United Arab Emirates prepares to host COP28, the global summit on climate action and sustainable development, University World News is running a weekly Special Briefing exploring the contribution of Gulf states’ universities to climate action and to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.