Under the leadership of the United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS), a new ambitious plan is afoot to expand access to higher education, especially in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in the least developed countries (LDCs).

This plan, formally communicated at the convening of a High-level Expert Group Meeting on an Online University for the LDCs, is intended to establish an online university that can provide a rapid response to the dismal numbers of citizens with access to higher education in these regions.

The vision stems from Sustainable Development Goal 4, which has an overarching vision to enable all learners to acquire the knowledge and skills to promote sustainable development. Exploring the feasibility of establishing the university is in accordance with a call from member states as stipulated in the Fifth UN Conference for Least Developed Countries which adopted the Doha Programme of Action for the LDCs.

The chairperson of the education committee in Ghana’s parliament, Peter Nortsu-Kotoe, has blamed corruption and nepotism for the deepening crisis in Ghana’s foreign scholarship scheme, which has left the government owing around £40 million (US$54 million) to universities in the United Kingdom and the United States, reports Mohammed Ali for Graphic Online.

Some universities have reportedly begun blacklisting Ghanaian students due to the non-payment of tuition fees and stipends, Mr Nortsu-Kotoe disclosed during a radio interview on Citi FM on Tuesday 15 July 2025. According to him, the problem stems from how scholarships were awarded, including expensive short-term programmes and irregular selection processes.

He noted that the committee began receiving complaints as early as June and July last year about Ghanaian students being turned away from lectures or forced to return home because their fees had not been paid.

Walk into almost any pub­lic school in Nigeria, and you feel the weight of his­tory pressing down on the desks. Much of the system still oper­ates to the rhythm of colonial-era reg­ulations and syllabuses, which were conceived for a world that no longer exists. The design, the assumptions, the teaching style—all of it points backwards.

Students memorise facts to pass exams, teachers rush to «com­plete the syllabus,» and education officials track school success by the number of children registered, not by what or how they learn. The result is a production line that manufactures certificates but struggles to produce thinkers, innovators, or adaptable workers.

Across the country, you hear the same complaints from employers: graduates who struggle with writing, problem-solving, collaboration, or ba­sic digital skills. The disconnect is no longer anecdotal—it›s structural. It is an indictment of decades of denial, neglect, and inertia.

As part of its bold commitment to invest in the future of its host communities, the NNPC/Heirs Energies Joint Venture, through the OML 17 Host Communities Development Trust (HCDT), has officially launched the OML 17 University Scholarship Programme (USP).

The scholarship will provide financial and educational support to 300 qualified first-year students from OML 17 host communities who are currently enrolled in any course of study at government-owned universities across Nigeria.

This initiative is part of the Trust’s broader mission to promote sustainable development through education and human capital investment, in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). Applications for the scholarship will open on 21st July 2025, followed by an online testing and screening process.

The Ministry of Education has secured additional funding of $117m in the delivery of Basic Education Reforms under the Ghana Accountability for Learning Outcomes Project (GALOP). This additional financing secured from the World Bank, and its international partners, is expected to scale up interventions in low-performing basic schools, and improve accountability systems in the basic education system.

The Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Clement Apaak,who represented the Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrissu announced this at the inaugural meeting of the GALOP Project Oversight Committee in Accra on Monday.

The meeting was to strengthen collaboration and find ways of expanding access as well as improving quality of education at the Basic level. Dr Clement Apaak emphasised the critical role of the Committee in ensuring that all project activities are effectively implemented and aligned with national education priorities, and responsive to the needs of Ghanaian learners.

For the first time, under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), students must select between three streams STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics), Social Sciences, and Arts & Sports Science. This is more than a curriculum milestone. It marks a pivotal shift in how the next generation of workers, entrepreneurs, and innovators will be shaped.

With the government mandating that all schools offer STEM as a pathway and setting a national target of 60% STEM uptake by Year 10, the spotlight is firmly on how well learners understand the long-term implications of their choices.

And rightly so. STEM is a powerful engine for economic transformation. From digitalisation and IT to healthcare, engineering, agriculture, and green energy, STEM-related fields are driving job creation, innovation, and competitiveness worldwide.

From makeshift furniture in Gaza to metro classrooms in Ukraine and solar-powered tablets in Sudan, the UN is working to bring education to millions of crisis-affected children. Of the 234 million school-age children affected by conflict globally, 85 million children are completely out of school.

The figures are "unprecedented," Helena Murseli, who leads the UN Children's Fund's (UNICEF) Global Education in Emergencies team, told UN News. "These are not isolated incidents. They are part of a global pattern of escalating conflict that affects children's right to learn," she said.

In the short and long-term, the consequences of missing out on education during violent crises are severe.
"Education is not just lifesaving, it's also life-sustaining and life-changing," Ms. Murseli emphasised. "When schools close, families also lose their anchor. Children miss the structure, the safety, the normalcy that education provides," she said. "The day-to-day reality becomes about immediate survival, rather than building a future for them."

A non-profit organisation, Arclight Foundation, has called on the Nigerian government to urgently implement its technology education policies to prepare students for a future shaped by artificial intelligence, automation, and digital transformation.

The Chief Executive Officer of Arclight Foundation, Abisola Obasanya, made this call at the 2025 Nigeria National Competition of the World Robot Olympiad (WRO) held in Lagos with the theme “The Future of Robots.” The event attracted innovators, education policymakers, and government stakeholders.

Obasanya emphasised that robotics education is not an extracurricular activity but a tool for national development. She explained that the Foundation is raising solution-driven Nigerians who can think differently, innovate locally, and function globally.

The Chairperson of Oyo State Post Primary Schools’ Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), Mrs Olubukola Oladipo, has hailed Governor Seyi Makinde for increasing staff strength in secondary schools from 13,730 in 2019 to 26,436 after just six years in office.

Mrs Oladipo made this known during a session of Omituntun 2.0 Inter-Ministerial Briefing. She said the state government recruited 10,500 teaching and non-teaching workers in the second term of Governor Makinde.

She said the recruitment had brought about massive improvement in students’ academic performance in internal and external examinations, apart from creating employment opportunities for youths and also improving the standard of living of teaching and non-teaching workers.

The Lagos State Government is set to establish additional five technical colleges with the existing five to make 10 across the five divisions of the state. According to the government, the creation of more colleges is to encourage more students to enroll in technical schools.

The Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Tolani Alli-Balogun, made this known at this year’s Lagos Youth Skills Day under the theme, ‘Equipping tomorrow’s leaders with skills for a brighter future,’ held at Ikeja on Thursday.

The Commissioner said the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, approved the creation of five additional technical colleges in order to accommodate more students willing to have vocational study. “We met with the governor who said creating more technical colleges to existing five was overdue. No nation has ever developed without input from technical colleges.

Targeting efficient education financing, Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), yesterday, announced the successful disbursement of tuition and upkeep loans to over 396,000 students across the country, many of whom were first-generation entrants into higher institutions.

NELFUND also said it was developing a centralised job portal to give beneficiaries early access to employment opportunities in Nigeria and abroad. Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed the developments yesterday during a media engagement series in Abuja to mark one year since the scheme was launched.

Sawyerr said the agency did not guarantee jobs, but it was set to play a pivotal role towards youth employment. Sawyerr, during the agency’s 2025 media engagement held virtually, described the job initiative as a transformative step in democratising access to higher education through sustainable, interest-free financing.

In a strategic move to bolster regional cooperation and expand educational opportunities for Somali students, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Somalia to Algeria, H.E. Yusuf Ahmed Hassan (Yusuf Jeego), held a high-level meeting today with Algeria's Minister of Higher Education, Prof. Kamel Badaari.

The bilateral meeting, which took place in Algiers, centered around strengthening diplomatic and academic cooperation between Somalia and Algeria, with both parties emphasizing the long-standing historical, cultural, and political ties that bind the two North and East African nations.

During the discussions, Ambassador Yusuf Jeego and Minister Badaari explored ways to enhance educational collaboration, particularly focusing on increasing the number of scholarship opportunities available to Somali students in Algerian universities and technical institutions.