World policy

Pakistan’s labour shortages illustrate that well-rounded graduates also need to be properly prepared for specific industries, says Tahir Shah

Evidence shows that universities outside the golden triangle are among the best at creating successful companies, says Brian McCaul

Encouraging pandemic-hit graduates to continue their studies will only delay problems unless universities embrace student employability, says Sabrina Wang

Legislation is urgently needed to ensure good governance and fair pay and conditions, says Nahid Neazy

It makes no sense for universities to control all pre-specialism, hospital-based training, says Fistra Janrio Tandirerung

Gavin Williamson’s directive will embolden other groups to demand the enforcement of their interests by ministerial fiat, says Geoffrey Alderman

Regulation of international branch campuses can be onerous, but China has begun to show flexibility in areas of national strategy, says Hongqing Yang

Some locked-down students have no electricity at home, never mind broadband service, say Abdur Rehman Cheema and Mehvish Riaz

The establishment of online learning and the routine use of email were long overdue, argues Ali Adnan Mohammed

The country’s deep belief in cooperation coexists with a quiet opportunism about recruitment and funding, say Tim Seidenschnur and Georg Krücken 

Chinese universities’ pursuit of excellence with socialist characteristics aims to put them in the company of Harvard and Oxford, says Futao Huang

Recent attacks on high-profile scholars by government and by a university executive should give us pause, say Christopher Vaughan and Daniel Ncayiyana

The focus on conducting research in independent institutes is holding the country back, say four academics

Confining students with disabilities to ‘special-education castles’ within Chinese universities does not provide true opportunity, says Zhang Yuexin

System consolidation, regulatory simplification and undergraduate flexibility are positive steps, says Pushkar

Despite Auckland’s lockdown, the country’s handling of Covid-19 is increasing its attractiveness to students, says Roger Smyth

The Research Australia report has exposed the fault lines in health research funding, says Ross Coppel 

Falling staff-student ratios and low quality in some graduate programmes are prompting concern that more will mean worse, says Zhang Ruomei

Academic research is not having any significant impact on the national economy or health of society, laments Tahir Shah

There’s no evidence that lower fees will lead to more enrolments, and employability for ‘work relevant’ degrees is low, says Gavin Moodie

The government and universities are not doing enough to protect their students from the effects of the lockdown, says Futao Huang

Doctoral graduates’ occupation of Higher Education Ministry will do little by itself to solve a structural problem, says Kenneth Nsah

Historical data from New Zealand give cause for optimism on student demand. But how much is unclear, says Roger Smyth

A plan to put foreign students in supervised quarantine before studying could rescue international programmes, says Roger Smyth

England’s main skills challenge is not over-education but preparing workers for the emerging economy, says Tim Blackman 

The disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on poorer students makes the case for a stripped-down ranking in 2020, says Conor King  

New institutions will add nothing unless there is a greater emphasis on quality, says Eric Fredua-Kwarteng

The UK’s existing oversight by external visitors and professional bodies is the best way to safeguard standards, says Colin McCaig 

Slashing research will be a dangerous temptation for politicians desperate for savings, warns Jan Palmowski

‘Levelling up’ research spending may imperil regional universities’ sustainability, warn Grace Gottlieb and Graeme Reid 

Slightly higher fees would be a reasonable price for a system that responds to student numbers and preferences, says Andrew Norton 

Focusing on how to deliver the UK government’s big ambitions for science could arrest the troubled funder’s drift, says John Womersley 

Consulting citation data would ameliorate the all-too-human shortcomings of departmental review, says a Russell Group professor

Employers value higher and degree apprenticeships. Restricting access to them would be counterproductive, says Jane Longmore

Canada’s excess of directive funding programmes risks hobbling scientific imagination and progress, says Jim Woodgett

Sinn Féin’s desire for an all-Ireland education system could see it reject fee rises north of the border, says Diana Beech

The UK’s structures for supporting and nurturing research leaders are woefully underdeveloped, says Matthew Flinders

The appointment of Manuel Castells as the country’s universities minister signals a change in fortune, says José Martinez-Sierra

India’s students have surprised many observers by standing up together to protest against injustice, says Pushkar

Questioning the BBC’s agenda in highlighting the problem in Ghana and Nigeria does not make it any less serious, says Eric Fredua-Kwarteng

Actions by the current government suggest official discomfort with the basic purpose of public universities, says Jayati Ghosh

Ongoing falls in Australian postgraduate recruitment suggest a trend away from structured education for people in mid-career, says Andrew Norton

The apparently political murder of an undergraduate at a top Bangladeshi university by other students has stunned a nation, writes Nahid Neazy

The school system’s focus on relative over absolute standards makes it difficult to judge applicants’ potential, says Conor King

The plan promises big leaps in innovation, quality assurance and lecturer training, say Youmin Xi and Xiaojun Zhang  

Fees reform has not quelled popular anger over exploitation, but academics can play a key role in constitutional reform, says Robert Funk

Requirements for obtaining the national scientific qualification and good performance despite stagnant funding have contributed to improved citation performance, argue Michele Ciavarella and Pietro D’Antuono

The competition among 20 Georgian institutions for international medical students raises a host of quality concerns, says Michèle Wera

As mistrust between the EU and UK deepens, politics could scupper British association to the next framework programme, says Jan Palmowksi

Time, money, planning and monitoring are key to improving standards, say Eric Fredua-Kwarteng and Samuel Kwaku Ofosu 

Improved citation performance amid falling funding is the result of gaming, say Alberto Baccini, Eugenio Petrovich and Giuseppe De Nicolao

History suggests that universities will lure students with the chance to repay fees via post-graduation work, says Peter Brady

President Bolsonaro’s education cuts and opposition to racial quotas will hit current policies, says Marry Ferreira

Free of Communist-era secretiveness, the new president might be willing to tackle abuses of power on campus, says Ararat Osipian

A bold policy to internationalise Turkey’s universities by teaching in English should be abandoned, says Sinan Bayraktaroğlu

Ongoing efforts to iron out regional anomalies are creating as many problems as they solve, says Ceren Ergenc

Pan-continental prosperity will suffer if the UK’s near-absence from the European University project is a sign of things to come, says Martin Paul

Tuition comprises less than half the cost of attending US universities, but taxpayers may be unwilling to cover it, says Anthony P. Carnevale

Students from poorer regions who enter their local workforce after graduation should also be celebrated, says Sir David Bell

Several years on from Rhodes Must Fall, the hoped-for revolution in South African university teaching has not happened, says Saloshna Vandeyar