Despite South Africa’s higher education system being at an unstable, bottom end of a massification phase, the country can be proud of the system becoming racially diverse. Furthermore, there are greater opportunities for black students and students from working class backgrounds to access higher education, while 60% of the student population are now women.

This is according to Professor Shireen Motala, who holds the Department of Higher Education and Training and National Research Foundation South African Research Chair in Teaching and Learning at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.

She was one of the speakers at a recent colloquium titled, ‘Expanding access to higher education when the capacity of public universities to enrol students is limited’, hosted by the Council on Higher Education (CHE). The CHE publishes information regarding developments in higher education, including reports on the state of higher education, and promotes the access of students to higher education institutions, among others.

Higher education and research have to take centre stage in shaping Africa’s future – from data sovereignty to artificial intelligence and global health innovation. This was a central message of the continent’s university leaders, researchers and policy experts who participated in Science Summit 2025, which has been taking place alongside the United Nations General Assembly in New York, United States.

During a high-level side event on 22 September, convened by the Science for Africa (SFA) Foundation and themed, ‘Africa’s Scientific Leadership: A Catalyst for Global Progress’, academic leaders underscored that Africa’s universities are not just centres of teaching, but critical hubs for leadership, data-driven innovation, and equitable partnerships.

The challenge and opportunity were in ensuring that learning institutions are equipped to train, support and empower the next generation of scientific leaders who can shape both Africa’s future and global progress. Africa’s science leaders called for innovation bonds, pooled funds, and capital market instruments to anchor African-led research systems.

African governments and families keep faith with universities: they fund them, staff them and send their brightest to them. However, the return in tangible capabilities, local manufacturing, resilient health systems, and export-ready firms lags behind the ambition set out in the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which explicitly calls for “well-educated citizens and a skills revolution underpinned by science, technology and innovation”.

South Africa’s own R&D (research and development) spend ticked up to ZAR28.28 billion (about US$1.6 billion) in 2022-23 (exact figures for 2023-24 are not yet available). Yet, across the continent, R&D intensity and conversion into deployable products or processes remain modest relative to the need. Meanwhile, the labour market is flashing red: South Africa’s youth unemployment rate rose to 46.1% in the first quarter of 2025, a stark proxy for wasted talent and opportunity.

The import bill tells the same story. In the pharma sector, for instance. Africa still imports the majority of its pharmaceuticals (70%-90%) and produces a tiny share of the vaccines it uses. Even where factories exist, pharma manufacturing often runs at only 30%-60% of capacity, limiting our ability to cushion supply shocks or localise value.

The main points of a post-war strategy for Sudanese universities and the responses of academics were included in an article published in University World News in August 2025. In this strategy, Ahmed Madawi, the minister of higher education and scientific research, outlined three priorities: reconstruction and rehabilitation, quality assurance, and digital transformation.

The plan included rebuilding war-damaged infrastructure and student housing, particularly in Khartoum State; improving working conditions for faculty; as well as expanding scholarships and advanced training opportunities. It also emphasised developing digital infrastructure by investing in e-learning, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence (AI).

In addition, the strategy called for stronger partnerships between public and private universities to raise the quality of education and research. Several academics offered insights on what is needed for a successful recovery.

African higher education institutions and historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the United States are exploring ways to advance sustainable partnerships, a development that has resulted in a pledge to strengthen academic ties, joint and dual degree programmes and faculty exchanges.

The collaboration will also explore innovative financing models to make HBCU education more accessible by providing financing options, including loans for African students. An online symposium to explore partnerships between African universities and HBCUs, including harnessing the contribution of the academic diaspora, was held on 17 September.

The symposium was held by the Association of African Universities (AAU), in partnership with the Historic African Diaspora Placement Program (HADIP) and the United Negro College Fund Institute for Capacity Building (UNCF ICB) and brought together government leaders, university presidents, provosts, policymakers, researchers, philanthropists and resource partners from both continents.

In celebration of the International Day of the Girl Child, Glo Foundation, Globacom’s corporate social responsibility arm, is committing N5 million to encourage girls nationwide to pursue studies in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

To achieve this, the foundation has launched the “Glo Innov8” National STEM Competition for Girls in Senior Secondary Schools nationwide. The initiative, designed as a STEM-driven challenge, would award winning schools with prizes worth N5 million.

The competition, according to the foundation, is geared at inspiring young girls to “Compete, Innovate and Win,” while also strengthening their confidence and expanding their knowledge in STEM subjects. “This is our modest way at Glo Foundation of celebrating and encouraging the girl child to focus more on the studies of STEM subjects and pursue careers in these areas in the future so as to become problem solvers for the country,” the organisation stated.

In its bid to make technical education accessible to all Nigerian children, the Nigerian Government has announced tuition-free education in all Federal Technical College (FTC) across the country. The government said this will cover other approved charges including boarding fee, uniforms, textbooks, exercise books, prospectus and identity cards.

Others are stationery, clubs and societies, medical, vocational, utilities, security, website/e-result, Skool Media, extra lessons, and insurance. This, it explained, is in line with its free-education policy and ensure that Federal Technical Colleges fulfil their mandate of producing skilled graduates for national transformation.

A statement late Wednesday by the Director, Press and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Education, Folasade Boriowo, urged parents to report illegal demands directly to the Ministry through: Hotline: 08036576733, 08036373796; email: tse@education.gov.ng.

Sharp global cuts to education funding are likely to push an additional 6 million children out of school by 2026. This will undo years of progress and worsen educational inequalities. These deep reductions jeopardize not only children's access to learning but also the essential services that schools offer.

This situation puts millions of young lives and their futures at serious risk. Many children in conflict zones or humanitarian crises may not receive or could be denied an education. This situation could worsen a crisis that threatens education and the continent's economic and social future.

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) warned that global cuts in education funding could leave an additional six million children out of school by 2026, with West and Central Africa among the hardest hit regions. Official Development Assistance for education is expected to fall by $3.2 billion - a 24% drop from 2023 - with just three donor governments accounting for nearly 80% of the cuts.

A former Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Emeritus Peter Okebukola, has launched another method for delivering quality Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.

The new approach, the ‘Model-And-Surpass Pedagogy (MSP)’ was officially unveiled at the 2025 international conference of the International Research Group (IRG), co-hosted by the Commonwealth Association of Science, Technology and Mathematics Educators (CASTME) which ended on September 18.

Okebukola who, in 1992, emerged the first African to win the UNESCO Kalinga Prize for the Communication and Popularisation of Science, invented the Model-And-Surpass Pedagogy which was formally presented to the global education community by Professor Jomo Mutegi, a past President of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST), an international organisation headquartered in the US for promoting quality science education.

Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, the founder of Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), has stated that the future and progress of the country will largely depend on the quality of graduates produced by higher education institutions.

Babalola emphasized the importance of students maintaining integrity both academically and ethically, as this will enable them to contribute meaningfully to the nation’s development. He highlighted that education is the foundation for innovation and opportunity.

His remarks came during the inaugural induction ceremony for 95 pharmacy graduates from ABUAD, conducted by the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN). Notably, 25 of these students graduated with distinction. He encouraged the new graduates to utilize the knowledge and skills they acquired at the university to make a significant impact in the health sector of the nation.

Accredited secondary schools in Nigeria are projected to spend about N1.6 trillion on computers to meet the West African Examinations Council (WAEC)’s requirement for mandatory Computer-Based Testing (CBT) approval of centres for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

WAEC mandated that every school should have at least 250 functional computer systems, a robust server, a local area network, CCTV cameras, and other essential infrastructure to qualify as a CBT centre for the WASSCE 2025.

WAEC, in a statement, explained that this requirement was part of its comprehensive migration to a CBT format for candidates, with a timeline for full implementation. “Schools that cannot meet these standards will be assigned to designated external centres, and WAEC will not lower its standards for hosting schools,” the statement read.

The Federal Ministry of Education has announced what it calls a “future-ready” curriculum, one that stretches from the first years of primary school all the way to senior secondary and technical colleges. On paper, it looks comprehensive and hopeful.

Primary pupils will no longer drown under overloaded timetables, history has been restored to its rightful place, and technical colleges are being asked to rethink their offerings. At the university level, the Core Curriculum and Minimum Academic Standards (CCMAS) have already begun to reshape programmes.

But where the reform speaks loudest and where it will be tested most severely, I believe, is in the secondary school. For the first time, every child in JSS1 will be required to take at least one trade subject. The choices are not abstract. They are tactile, tangible, relevant, and urgent, like solar installation, garment making, livestock farming, cosmetology, GSM and computer repair, and horticulture.