University graduates in Ghana must serve society for a year – study suggests it’s good for national unity: Almost 70 years after independence was gained across the continent, many African countries continue to face the complex task of managing ethnic diversity and building national cohesion. National cohesion is a broad and often abstract concept. It …
‘Reel justice’: a unique collaboration between university filmmakers and police: How can universities build better relationships with the communities around them? Academia is increasingly considering this question. And finding innovative ways to demonstrate value and connect with wider society. This was on my mind when I learnt about a fascinating collaboration between the police and …
University funding is in crisis – and none of the political parties have a clear plan to fix it: EF Stock/Shutterstock The past 14 years of Conservative-led government have, in many ways, been a successful period for the UK’s universities. Student numbers have increased by 12% to 2.9 million. Real terms income has grown by …
BCX Alibaba Cloud Academy and Arovy University join forces to empower African students for the digital economy!: BCX Alibaba Cloud Academy and Arovy University have joined forces in a strategic partnership aimed at empowering students to cultivate essential skills for the expanding digital economy in Africa. The basis of this initiative is the Alibaba Cloud …
Studying engineering is tough: 6 insights to help university students succeed: Support and a sense of community are among the ways that students build academic resilience. ASphotowed/iStock/Getty Plus Engineering courses are a popular choice among South African university students. But these courses are also gruelling and the attrition rates are high. The Council on Higher …
Rishi Sunak wants more maths at school – but finding the teachers will be hard when university departments are closing: Jacob Lund/Shutterstock Oxford Brookes University recently announced it will no longer be offering mathematics degrees. This follows reported reductions or proposed cuts at other universities. This is a problem for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s vision …
South African university students use AI to help them understand – not to avoid work: Students are not adopting digital and AI-powered tools uncritically. tzido/iStock When ChatGPT was released in November 2022, it sparked many conversations and moral panics. These centre on the impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) on the information environment. People worry …
Global university rankings now include social impact: African universities are off to a strong start: Universities across Africa can drive prosperity through innovation. Westend61 World university rankings are released towards the end of each year. Institutions globally scramble to see how they have fared. Have they risen or fallen? If so, by how much and …
University Drop-Out’s Big Ideas Make Waves In Tech Industry: Born and raised in Thembisa, Johannesburg, young Mongezi Masombuka (30) is the founder and Managing Director of a successful IT and business solutions company and is steadily making waves in the tech industry. Having only recently celebrated his 30th birthday, Masombuka has already conquered a myriad …
What happens if a university goes bust?: fongbeerredhot/Shutterstock Governments face difficult choices when industries fail. They can stand by while private businesses collapse and see the resulting loss of jobs and revenue. Or they can step in and use public money to prop up these firms. The Scottish government intervened in 2019 to rescue Ferguson …
How reading ‘dark academia’ novels can help new students feel more at home at university: Giammarco Boscaro/Unsplash Over the next few weeks, over a million new university students will be heading to campus. Many of them may be nervous about what lies ahead, which is understandable given that most of them will be in a …
Foundation year courses are about to become cheaper – but this could make it harder for disadvantaged students to go to university: Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock The UK government has announced that the maximum tuition fee for foundation years in English universities will be cut from £9,250 to £5,760. The reduction will apply to all classroom-based courses, such …
San and Khoe skeletons: how a South African university sought to restore dignity and redress the past: A facial reconstruction of one of the Sutherland Nine, a woman named Saartje. Reconstruction by Dr Kathryn Smith/Professor Caroline Wilkinson It has been nearly 100 years since the skeletonised remains of nine people were removed from their graves …
University is expensive – how a mid-course work placement can help with costs and careers: fizkes/Shutterstock Students are struggling financially. A 2022 survey from the Office for National Statistics found that half of students in England felt they were were facing financial difficulties, and that one-quarter of students had borrowed more to cope with the …
COVID’s ongoing toll on university students’ mental health – new findings: Kmpzzz/Shutterstock Even before the pandemic, university students were at high risk of developing mental health problems. Transitioning to adulthood is already a period of heightened vulnerability, and for students, this can be combined with added stressors such as living away from home, financial hardship …
Sex, money and love: what South African university students say about romance and dating in a material age: Young women are not, as some believe, passive sexual beings. DavideAngelini/Shutterstock Transactional sex – the exchange of consensual sex for material support like gifts, money or food – occurs on university campuses in many parts of the …
Sudan’s university students have a long history of political activism: Student activists have been galvanising forces in several popular uprisings. Ebrahim Hamid/AFP via Getty Images The latest fighting to erupt in Sudan has plunged the nation into a fresh crisis. Since 15 April, conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces and the paramilitary group Rapid Support …
It’s important to rethink the purpose of university education — a philosopher of education explains why: Universities should be in the business of fostering understanding. Goodboy Picture Company/Getty Images Most philosophers of education or philosophically inclined scholars of education in the past century and a half would agree with the claim that, ideally, education should …