African universities should use technology to expand access to higher education, ensuring that the disadvantaged, including those living with disabilities, marginalised groups and refugees, are not denied an opportunity at education.

The institutions should use technology to compensate for and fill gaps created by the lack of adequate infrastructure in institutions to promote inclusion in higher education, making sure that the disadvantaged have equal opportunities in learning.

Technological advancements, where properly applied and with the right and adequate investment, will easily fill the gaps created by a lack of learning facilities friendly to people with disabilities, enabling them to attend lectures and to conduct their research from home.

Algeria’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has launched the country’s first university holding company and investment fund to promote the role of universities in sustainable economic growth, industrial diversification and national competitiveness.

Kamal Beddari, the minister of higher education and scientific research, announced these initiatives at the conference of national universities held at the ministry’s headquarters on 30 October, according to the official ministerial Facebook page.

The university holding company focuses on enabling institutions to effectively manage and support spin-off companies derived from their research and innovation efforts. It aims to establish a bridge between academia and the national economy to convert the results of scientific research into productive economic projects.

Kenya’s public higher education system has been shaken by a six-week-long strike by university lecturers which has just ended. Although teaching and learning have resumed, the strike was a reminder of a recurring crisis rooted in the ongoing funding and governance problems of the higher education system.

The industrial action, led by the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), has thrown the academic calendar into disarray, leading to significant immediate and future consequences for students, universities and the country’s intellectual capital.

“Over the past weeks, we faced challenging times that tested our resilience and our commitment to excellence in education,” said Professor Margaret Hutchinson, the acting vice-chancellor of the University of Nairobi.

The Ibadan Zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Friday warned that a full-scale strike may be imminent, citing what it described as the federal government’s discourteous and lackadaisical handling of the ongoing industrial dispute.

Addressing journalists at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, the zonal coordinator, Professor Biodun Olaniran, accused government officials of misleading the public with false claims while frustrating efforts to conclude the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement.

According to ASUU, the Union’s core demand is the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement—currently being handled by the Alhaji Yayale Ahmed-led committee—to produce a new salary structure that will replace the Consolidated University Salary Scale (CONUASS), which has been eroded by persistent inflation.

The Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN), in collaboration with Plan International Nigeria, has trained teachers from different fields of learning, ahead of its reformed Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE).

Speaking with newsmen at the five-day technical workshop on the “Reformed Professional Qualifying Examination and Digital Literacy Model Design on Friday in Abuja, Dr Ronke Soyombo said that the new PQE streamlined 23 subjects into five.

Soyombo, who is the Registrar of TRCN, listed the streamlined subjects to include competency domains: literacy, numeracy, digital literacy, pedagogy and safeguarding, saying this would enhance improved learner outcomes.

The Federal Government has officially flagged off the pilot phase of the ‘Teachers on Artificial Intelligence (AI)’ training programme, aimed at equipping educators with the knowledge and skills to integrate AI-powered solutions into the Nigerian education system.

The initiative marks a significant milestone in government’s drive to align teaching and learning with the demands of the 21st-century digital economy and with teachers of unity colleges as first beneficiaries.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. Abel Olamuyiwa Enitan, underscored the crucial role of technology in shaping the nation’s future in education.

Represented by his Technical Aide, Mrs. Collins Callista, he expressed optimism that the training would provide teachers with the opportunity to explore a variety of AI-powered educational solutions that enhance teaching effectiveness and learning outcomes.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has urged the federal government to embrace dialogue and make education its top priority. The Union warned that continued neglect in education would harm the country’s future, adding that the only way to protect the country’s future is through investment in education.

The statement was made at its National Executive Council meeting in Jalingo. ASUU stressed that the one-month window it gave the government to renegotiate earlier dialogues must be utilised to “quickly resolve all the issues, to keep our children in school.”

The union accused some officials of sabotaging negotiations. It also described fragmented payments and partial steps as pointless, while adding that the problem is not a lack of money but a lack of political will. It appealed to students, traditional rulers, labour and civil society to press the government to give lecturers a living wage to enable universities to function properly.

Nigeria and United Arab Emirates (UAE) yesterday reached agreement to collaborate on digital education and skills development as part of efforts to deepen participation in the global digital economy.

At the formal signing ceremony for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) yesterday in Dubai, Federal Ministry of Youth Development signed for Nigeria while UAE Digital School, under the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI), signed for the UAE.

The agreement seeks to expand access to digital education and practical skill development for Nigerian youth through the platform of Nigerian Youth Academy (NiYA). The partnership followed earlier engagements held in July 2025 between Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, and key UAE government officials and development partners.

The Federal Government has abolished the use of indigenous languages as a medium of instruction in Nigerian schools, making English the sole language of teaching from early childhood to tertiary level. Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, announced the new directive on Wednesday at the Language in Education International Conference 2025 organised by the British Council in Abuja.

The two-day conference, themed “Language, Education and Inclusion: Empowering Every Learner,” brought together policymakers, educators, and experts from across Africa, South Asia, and the UK to discuss strategies for improving learning outcomes through language.

Dr. Alausa explained that while preserving Nigeria’s local languages remains important for cultural identity, English offers a more effective and globally competitive medium for learning. “The English language should be used to teach our students at all levels as a means of instruction,” he said. “Over the years, the use of mother tongues in schools has contributed to poor performance in national examinations. The national policy on language has therefore been cancelled.”

The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Prof. Chris Piwuna, has said the Federal Government does not prioritise education because its officials do not consider the sector’s problems as national concerns requiring collective responsibility.

Piwuna, who spoke during The Toyin Falola Interviews on Sunday, in a virtual conversation titled “A Conversation with the ASUU President,” said the indifference of key government officials towards the education sector has made it difficult to achieve sustainable reforms. According to him, members of the Federal Executive Council often view education challenges as the sole responsibility of the Minister of Education.

ASUU has long relied on strikes to press for its demands. In recent years, the union has often justified industrial action as prompted by government proposals that it views as a “total departure” from the agreed terms of the 2009 FGN–ASUU Agreement, as well as unresolved issues such as outstanding promotion arrears, withheld deductions, and inadequate funding and renovation of public universities.

“When we empower teachers, we empower an entire generation. There is an urgency for us educators to empower our teachers,” Shehu stated during the recent 2025 SET4LYF national convening, a stakeholder engagement themed ‘Teaching Entrepreneurship with a focus on Teachers.

Shehu, who was represented by Olakunle Akinsola, Director of Educational Research (NERDC), emphasised that empowering teachers is central to building a generation of job creators and innovators. He made this known in a keynote address entitled, ‘The Teacher as the Catalyst: Repositioning Educators to Deliver a Practical, Skills-Based Entrepreneurship Curriculum.’

He highlighted the need to reimagine entrepreneurship education beyond business creation to cultivating curiosity, problem-solving, and resilience in students. Olaolu Akogun, Country Director, SET4LYF, said Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN) aims to strengthen collaboration among key stakeholders and drive sustainable transformation in Nigeria’s education ecosystem.

A recent skills workshop for 28 early-career researchers from 16 African countries held in Nairobi, Kenya, took participants through sessions ranging from scientific writing and responsible AI to science communication, mentoring, transdisciplinary research – and even how to deal with imposter syndrome.

Participants were beneficiaries of the Seed Grant for New African Principal Investigators (SG-NAPI) Programme, which has seen grants extended to 120 early-career researchers from the region, excluding South Africa, over the past three years, with each researcher receiving between US$60,000 and US$67,000 in grants.

Researchers represented the following countries: Benin, Cameroon, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Launched in 2021 by the World Academy of Sciences for the developing world (TWAS) with funding from Germany’s Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space, the SG-NAPI programme supports researchers returning to Africa after obtaining their PhDs abroad in fields such as agriculture, biology, chemistry, Earth sciences, engineering, ICT, mathematics, medical sciences, and physics.