19 October 2023  Issue No: 425

Only 3.2% or 27,267 of the 845,099 students who wrote Ethiopia’s 2023 national school-leaving examination from July to August 2023 achieved the required 50% to qualify for tertiary education, the ministry of education recently announced. The results have been vehemently criticised. What will the ministry do?

A potential jump in the number of universities in Nigeria has been applauded by several academics, but they cautioned that standards must not be compromised as the National Universities Commission considers licence applications from 270 new private higher education institutions.

Universities in Cameroon and in Africa, in general, have been enjoined to lead in the global action to fight climate change. Considered vital hubs of research and teaching, their role in driving solutions to climate change on the continent is key, academics say.

There has been an explosion of new universities on the African continent in the past 20 years. In this brief contribution, through an analysis of institutions’ strategic plans, Emeritus Professor Crain Soudien looks at the emergent directions taken by a selection of these new universities.

The sharing of data advances science by increasing scientific reproducibility and robustness, creating new opportunities for collaboration and enhancing the potential of research to inform interventions or policy decisions. However, many researchers remain reluctant to share data, a survey of researchers in 43 Sub-Saharan African countries has found.

In Nigerian universities, very few women have become student union government presidents in the past 20 years, discouraging many aspiring female students from pursuing bigger political dreams. For young women, the dismantling of gender biases remains part of an ongoing battle.

Efforts by both China and India to deepen cooperation with Africa in the higher education and research space are evident in several recent high-profile initiatives, which reveal more about the geopolitical goals and engagement style of the countries.

There is a lot that American colleges can do to fill the information gap in college admissions that widened during the pandemic, and to counter the high anxiety levels among Chinese parents prepared to move heaven and earth to get their children into prestigious institutions.

International student mobility researchers need to ensure that their research not only gets before policy-makers but is read and used. The findings of a survey of international student mobility scholars and practitioners enabled a refined understanding of how effective policy briefs might be designed.

With 11 international students among the hundreds killed and injured in escalating violence since the attack by Hamas militants on Israel from the Gaza Strip on Saturday 7 October, governments are concerned about the safety of their citizens, including students in both Gaza and Israel.

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.