Many of the business schools that prop up universities, in both China and the West, are bankrolled by Chinese families’ ambition. But amid economic slowdown and a growing recognition of the limits of Western practices, the return on investment is now being questioned, as three academics explain

Students’ recent firebombing of Nelson Mandela’s alma mater has raised more questions about whether the country’s universities can break out of a cycle of corruption, underfunding and violent protest. They can – but only with strong leadership and political will, hears Juliette Rowsell