Top Stories
GLOBAL
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Countries affected have over half the world’s population
Nathan M Greenfield
Over the past decade, academic freedom has declined in more than 22 countries, including India, China, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States, according to the Academic Freedom Index: Update 2023, which claims to be the ‘first comprehensive overview of academic freedom worldwide’.
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GLOBAL
Hector Ulloa, Sunniva Whittaker and Svein Stølen
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UNITED STATES
Nathan M Greenfield
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EUROPE
Nic Mitchell
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News
INDIA-AUSTRALIA
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Shuriah Niazi and Kalinga Seneviratne
The opening of a branch campus by Australia’s Deakin University in India follows a long-standing relationship between the university and Indian academic partners and comes in the wake of a bilateral trade agreement and the finalisation of a joint education qualifications recognition mechanism.
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AFRICA-GLOBAL
Sharon Dell
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AFRICA-EUROPE
Wagdy Sawahel
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CHINA
Mimi Leung
The weighting of English in China’s highly competitive national college entrance exam, the gaokao, has re-emerged as a contentious issue at the annual joint sessions of the legislative body, the National People’s Congress, and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
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IRAN
Shafigeh Shirazi and Yojana Sharma
After a period of calm earlier this year, new campus protests broke out this month over the apparent mass poisoning of Iranian schoolgirls as well as canteen-related poisonings on university campuses. The protests have led to students being banned from entering university premises.
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IRAQ
Wagdy Sawahel
Iraq has launched the ‘Study in Iraq’ initiative for admitting Arab and foreign students into Iraqi universities. However, the academic community is divided on the readiness of universities for such an initiative and whether the priority should be on reforming higher education institutions first.
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AFRICA-GLOBAL
Wagdy Sawahel
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Special Report Series: AI and Higher Education
GLOBAL
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This is part of a weekly University World News special report series on ‘AI and higher education’. The focus is on how universities are engaging with ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence tools. The articles from academics and our journalists around the world are exploring developments and university work in AI that have implications for higher education institutions and systems, students and staff, and teaching, learning and research.
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AFRICA
Winston Ojenge
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GLOBAL
Mark Carrigan
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UNITED STATES
Karen MacGregor
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Commentary
EUROPE
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Alenka Flander, Eleonora Erittu and Giorgio Marinoni
Creating bridges between research and practice in the field of international student mobility is as urgent as it is complex and necessitates targeted action. Data, like that derived from a recent survey of researchers and practitioners, improves our understanding about what works best.
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GLOBAL
Andrea Pizziconi
A new survey aims to measure how pervasive the practice of sex for education, fees, grades and jobs has become around the world in the hope that people will not be able to ‘unsee’ what is essentially a pandemic hiding in plain sight.
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GLOBAL
Patrick Blessinger, Enakshi Sengupta and Serpil Meri-Yilan
Networks built on a foundation of shared values empower their members through multiple perspectives and collaborative approaches, which is especially important in higher education. As such, social networks are now a primary mechanism through which faculty and students can build their social capital.
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SOUTH AFRICA
Ylva Rodny-Gumede
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World Blog
PAKISTAN
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Hamid Ali Khan
Short-term changes in research and publishing-related policies in universities and long-term changes to the education system more broadly are needed in Pakistan to produce research that not only has the promise of global impact but is connected to and usable by communities.
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SDGs
EUROPE-ASIA
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Kalinga Seneviratne
After national governments, higher education institutions are the second most commonly involved organisations in addressing the Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs around the world and, while they obviously face resource constraints, universities are nonetheless in a prime position to involve young people in SDG-related work.
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JAPAN
Suvendrini Kakuchi
Scientists based at Hokkaido University in north Japan are supporting their country’s transition to green growth and its commitment to the global Sustainable Development Goals through research that explores the value of regenerative farming – the production of food that does not harm the environment.
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SYRIA
Miassar Alhasan
In the face of conflict, persecution and earthquakes, academics from Northwestern Syria, which lies outside the control of the al-Assad regime, are working to achieve international recognition of new higher education institutions in Northwestern Syria to enable students to pursue their studies.
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Top Stories from Last Week
GLOBAL
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Mamphela Ramphele
Nothing short of a human revolution would be an appropriate response to the depths of the multiple crises humanity faces. Yet universities are legacies of an era of monastic, hierarchical and siloed teaching and learning approaches. How can they be reinvented to become transformative?
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CANADA
Nathan M Greenfield
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CHINA-GLOBAL
Yojana Sharma
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UAE
Karen MacGregor
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TUNISIA-AFRICA
Elizia Volkmann
Students from Sub-Saharan African countries may abandon their studies in Tunisian universities and colleges in the wake of the mass arrests of compatriots, xenophobic attacks and racial violence. Some embassies have asked their citizens to stay home. Others have started repatriation efforts.
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GLOBAL
Pete Moss
Do students really think about an institution’s approach to climate action when deciding where to apply? The answer is a resounding ‘yes’. Sustainability is increasingly part of international students’ criteria for choosing a university, making it the right choice for the climate and recruitment.
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Sponsored Article
Aftab Dean
A new university ranking system aims to serve as a catalyst for positive transformation in higher education, ensuring that universities create an environment grounded in integrity and sustainability that inspires and supports students and staff in the development of novel solutions to global challenges.
Promoted by Globethics.net.
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Sponsored Article
University of Pretoria staff
In the publication of its first progress report on its contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals, the University of Pretoria is navigating new territory at the same time as it is acknowledging its clear stewardship role in protecting the environment and biodiversity.
Promoted by the University of Pretoria.
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Sponsored Article
UAE University staff
Water scarcity has long been an issue in countries such as the United Arab Emirates. But the country’s National Water and Energy Center, based at the United Arab Emirates University, is providing solutions for the efficient exploration, development, use, storage and sustainability of the precious resource.
Promoted by United Arab Emirates University.
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