Global Edition

UNITED STATES

Graeme Atherton

Donald Trump’s attempts to weaken the United States Department of Education, which administers student aid and other programmes intended to improve higher education access, may have an impact beyond US borders as some political parties across the world attempt to replicate his brand of authoritarian, right-wing populism.

GLOBAL

Researchers in fear as US ‘dismantles its soft power’

Nathan M Greenfield

The uncertainty and seemingly wanton destruction behind the Trump administration’s slashing of research programme budgets for the National Institutes of Health and other agencies, and via the shuttering of USAID, have left researchers across the world afraid to speak out for fear of jeopardising other projects.

CHINA-SOUTH AFRICA

Desmond Thompson

Researchers from South Africa and China have set a new world record in quantum communication, establishing the longest intercontinental, ultra-secure quantum satellite link to date. It also marks the southern hemisphere’s debut in quantum satellite communication.

SWEDEN-NORDIC COUNTRIES

Jan Petter Myklebust

The recent attacks by the Trump administration on United States higher education and research institutions – seen as global leaders in scientific research-based progress – have prompted the Swedish academic community to call on the government to strengthen constitutional and statutory protections for academic freedom.

MYANMAR

Padone

The withdrawal of US$45 million in scholarships awarded by the United States development agency USAID has left 400 Myanmar students, many of them studying abroad, in limbo – unable to return to their country, unable to continue to pay for their education, and desperate for support.

INDIA

Shuriah Niazi and Yojana Sharma

Moves by the United States to detain and deport foreign students due to alleged links to pro-Palestinian causes or for taking part in solidarity campus protests are casting shadows over Indian students’ American dreams. Meanwhile, the Indian foreign ministry has urged compliance with local laws.

GLOBAL

Karen MacGregor

Universities and colleges top the list of providers that lifelong learners would choose for future studies, initial results of a survey of more than 10,000 people globally have shown. “So, universities haven’t been left behind – yet,” Professor Jonathan Michie OBE of the University of Oxford told a University World News-ABET webinar.

GLOBAL

James Yoonil Auh

The emergence of the augmented mind is not a futuristic speculation – it is the new condition of learning. It calls for a paradigm shift in how we understand knowledge, assessment and intellectual growth. Educators must design learning environments that embrace co-processing rather than resist it.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Academic Affairs Division

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Academic Affairs Division

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Academic Affairs Division

GLOBAL

Stig Arne Skjerven

Will the Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education eventually supersede regional conventions? In reality, the recommended approach is one of complementarity, where the benefit for a state might be maximised by ratifying both the relevant regional and global convention.

AFRICA

Mark Paterson and Thierry M Luescher

Africa’s development depends on the higher education sector embracing change and producing leaders capable of addressing the complex governance and technological issues that will determine the continent’s future, says Patrick Awuah, the founder of Ghana’s first private university.

AFRICA

Wachira Kigotho

How can barriers be broken and gender equality be accelerated in African universities? Who is responsible for women’s under-representation in leadership roles and harassment in those institutions? Who can be counted on to advocate for gender social justice and safe campuses in African universities?

UNITED KINGDOM

Nic Mitchell

The number of international students in the United Kingdom has dropped by 7% overall and postgraduate taught entrant enrolments from outside the European Union have fallen 10%. But that is not the only reason why universities are in financial difficulty, with one needing support to avoid running out of cash by June.