Global Edition

GLOBAL

The consensus of cooperation and collaboration is waning

Angel Calderon

Collaboration has been critical for researchers, institutions and nations to achieve common goals. However, the global higher education and research community is entering uncharted territory due to the threat of seismic geopolitical shifts that are likely to result in detrimental impacts for the SDG agenda.

BANGLADESH

Mohiuddin Alamgir

A new political organisation in Bangladesh constituted largely by students and youth previously associated with right-wing, left-wing and centrist politics but united in their participation in the protests that toppled the former regime, has been established with a pledge to usher in a new political system.

FINLAND-UNITED STATES

Jan Petter Myklebust

Nearly 900 scientists have signed a petition demanding that UNIFI, the Council of Rectors of Finnish Universities, and Arene, the Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences, take action to defend academic freedom in Finland from interference by the Trump administration in the United States.

NORWAY

Jan Petter Myklebust

The Norwegian government is being pressed to seize the opportunity to lure top United States researchers disaffected by US President Donald Trump’s flurry of executive orders that have thrown the US research ecosystem and academic freedom into chaos.

GHANA

Francis Kokutse

At a time when most of his peers are struggling to get into junior high or senior high school, 13-year-old Melchizedek Adio Baafawiise has become one of the youngest undergraduates to be admitted to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana, where he studies physics.

GLOBAL

Three internationally respected experts are speaking at the University World News-ABET free webinar on “Lifelong learning for the new world” on 25 March – Jonathan Michie OBE of the University of Oxford, Maria Slowey of Dublin City University, and Hanne Smidt of the European University Association.

AFGHANISTAN

Manija Mirzaie

A number of determined former art school women students in Afghanistan are clinging to their dreams of pursuing their passion for fine arts. This is despite braving current crippling restrictions against women’s higher education and arts education under the oppressive Taliban regime.

GLOBAL

Fabrizio Trifiró

A recent podcast series confirmed that despite its diversity, the international education community shares a common vision of how we should live together in a global world – a vision that embraces diversity and encourages the coming together of perspectives to tackle shared challenges.

AFRICA

Mark Paterson and Thierry M Luescher

Universities in Africa should be prioritising the production of skilled graduates rather than knowledge, which they can access through other means, says Ghanaian entrepreneur Fred Swaniker, who is the founder and chief executive of a network of higher education institutions called the African Leadership Group.

AFRICA-ASIA

Que Anh Dang, Maria Theresa Vollmer, Billian Otundo, Emnet Woldegiorgis and Emmanuel Johnson

Accelerated learning is seen as a viable alternative to traditional education models in response to societal demands for flexibility and efficiency, particularly in Africa and Asia. However, concerns over quality assurance and long-term consequences necessitate a critical assessment of policy implementation beyond official discourse.

UNITED KINGDOM

Nic Mitchell

The University of Edinburgh in Scotland is the latest leading higher education provider to announce widespread cutbacks and job losses amid a financial crisis that has engulfed the United Kingdom’s higher education sector and prompted calls for an urgent, longer-term solution to ensure the sector’s stability.