26 October 2023  Issue No: 426

African universities scored poorly on all metrics of student satisfaction in the 2023 Global Student Satisfaction Awards save for online classroom experience, where South African institutions scored higher than the global average. The awards are based on data from students in 126 countries, including South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt.

Academic unions in Nigeria have faulted President Bola Tinubu’s directive to pay lecturers half of the salaries that the government withheld during an Academic Staff Union of Universities strike of eight months last year – on condition that it will not grant a similar waiver to unions in the future.

Support from higher education institutions in refugee host countries has helped to increase the global enrolment of refugees in higher education – from 1% in 2019 to 7% in 2023, which is nearly halfway to the United Nations target of at least 15% enrolment by 2030.

For the first time in modern history, a coalition of university leaders and academics spanning two continents aims at lifting research collaboration into a new era. How did this groundbreaking agreement, already involving 250 researchers from about 100 universities across 60 countries in 20 newly created Clusters of Research Excellence, come about?

The presence of artificial intelligence within the academic sphere has cast a shadow on traditional methodologies and ways of doing things. As a philosopher and social scientist, I am acutely aware that this technology carries both risk and reward for humanity.

Learning about business models and Shark Tank pitches sounds like it belongs in an MBA, yet these topics form part of a new masters degree programme offered to engineers or scientists with at least one, but preferably more, years of field experience. Enrolments for the hybrid degree are growing fast.

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?

The notion of standing in solidarity with those who are suffering and the commitment to creating a more peaceful, just and equitable world are at the core of being a global citizen – with or without national affiliation – which is what international educators should be.

When knowledge comes with a price tag, it is locked behind financial barriers and risks transforming academia from a space of intellectual inquiry and public benefit into a marketplace where one’s financial means can dictate the breadth and depth of intellectual engagement.

An algorithm developed by a PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania and nine other researchers that is able to ‘read’ university application essays and determine pro-social and leadership qualities also makes it possible to filter out readers’ biases and contribute towards a more diverse student intake.

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.