Their call came during a webinar co-organised by the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), L’Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) and the International Association of Universities (IAU) on 23 March, which looked at the pivotal year for higher education and the Agenda 2030 SDGs.

Opening the 90-minute debate between university representatives from Africa, the Caribbean and Europe, Joanna Newman, secretary general of the ACU, said most development agencies still believed their focus should be on primary education or up to Year 12, and many people saw higher education as part of an ivory tower.

“But if you want to have good basic education you need universities to help with pedagogical material, you need to have good teacher training and good departments of education,” she said.

She said her organisation has defined six priorities and has been contacted by partners from the Americas “to provide Caribbean practical solutions to the needs of our region”.

The six priorities are:
• Digital transformation.
• Climate change and environmental justice.
• Public health and chronic diseases.
• Tourism and sustainable development.
• Transportation and logistics.
• And because we have post-colonial societies, issues like race and gender.

Turning to the response to COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdowns and campus closures, Aduol said apart from the struggle to move to online teaching, African universities had tried to prove their relevance by making hand sanitisers, face masks and PPE.

“We also came up with structures that would allow markets to keep on functioning while responding to issues of social distance,” he said, adding that universities had gained “some respect” for helping society directly during times of crisis.

Of course, there isn’t a crystal ball that can tell us exactly what skills will be needed and what won’t be needed. However, with the help of the University of the Witwatersrand, we’ve come up with five skills we believe you’ll need to succeed in your future career, whatever it ends up being.

Cognitive flexibility

The rise of digital technologies means you’re going to need to be able to handle the plethora of opportunities and challenges that come with it.

Do you have the ability to adapt to change and conceptualize complex multiple ideas all at once? If so, you’re showing qualities that reside in advanced multi-taskers and which are highly valued by employers and recruiters.

Digital literacy and computational thinking

As the world continues to rely on highly technical and continuously evolving technologies, the need for those with the digital skills to match also increases.

You’ve most definitely heard of STEM, but have you heard of SMAC (social, mobile, analytics and cloud)? Although it may seem like we’re being bombarded with digital buzzwords, being digitally literate offers capabilities beyond what was once thought possible when it comes to emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and data science.

“We need to train scholars to deal with the challenges of the 21st century, some which we may not yet have encountered,” says Professor Adam Habib, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Witwatersrand<.

“We need to work across sectors to develop the technology required for us to leapfrog across eons of poverty, unemployment and inequality, and in so doing to create a new world order that prioritizes humanity before profits and power.”

A master’s degree in artificial intelligence or e-Science can help advance your digital skillset and accelerate your technical acumen in these emerging fields, from learning about data visualization and exploration, to computational intelligence, and natural language technology. 

Judgement and decision-making

Although robots and automation technology may be better than humans in other ways such as calculations and diagnostic solving, it’s still going to be humans that deal with the subjective side of data analytics.

Considering we’re on the cusp of the fourth industrial revolution, we’re still going to need to have somebody who is able to show the world what numbers mean and their significance.

Emotional and social intelligence

For everything that can be replaced by digital technologies and artificial intelligence, emotional and social intelligence remain uniquely human capabilities.

In some sectors, these qualities are absolutely crucial. The demand for jobs in healthcare, for example, are on the increase – demonstrating how some roles will always require a human element. Your future job is more than likely going to include working closely with others, so having empathy, the ability to collaborate, as well as excellent communication skills is something you’re most definitely going to need. 

Creative and innovative mindset

Despite a report by the World Economic Forum in 2018 suggesting robot automation will create more jobs than they displace, you’ll still do well to keep on top of your creativity skills and maintain an innovative mindset.

Much like having an excellent sense of social intelligence, natural creativity is something which can’t be easily replicated by the latest digital technologies. As long as you can think outside the box, you’ll be just fine.

Although the majority of the German states had already been offering low-cost or completely free tuition, only now, with the removal of fees in Lower Saxony, can the nation call itself completely free of tuition fees.

One of the German states to scrap tuition fees as far back as 2012 was the state of Hamburg. Hamburg’s senator for science, Dorothee Stapelfeldt, explained to The Hornet the reasoning behind the move. “Tuition fees are socially unjust,” she said. “They particularly discourage young people who do not have a traditional academic family background from taking up studies. It is a core task of politics to ensure that young women and men can study with a high quality standard free of charge in Germany.”

No fees for international students, but some for postgraduates

While tuition is now free at all universities in Germany, there is still a nominal cost that all students will be charged. This cost, usually no more than €250 (US$315) per semester, is in place to cover administration, student support services and other unavoidable costs.

Students at master’s level may also still be expected to pay some tuition fees if they did not study in Germany for their bachelor’s degree. These ‘non-consecutive’ students can expect to pay fees of around €10,000 (US$12,644) per semester. Those who did study in Germany at undergraduate level, and are planning to enroll in a postgraduate program directly, may also be entitled to free or partial tuition fees.

It is likely that this change to legislation will help universities in Germany continue to attract prospective students from around the world, consolidating its place among the most popular international study destinations.

The report, conducted by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and Kaplan International Pathways (Kaplan), also found that international students are also finding graduate jobs in sectors with acute skills shortages – debunking the idea that they could be taking jobs that would otherwise be held by UK students.

The amounts don’t take into account tuition fees, which also inject billions every year into the economy. The report found that EU students contribute £1.2 billion, while non-EU students contribute £2 billion, and contributions also varied across different study levels, with master’s graduates contributing the most, at £1.6 billion.

UK Universities: #WeAreInternational

The report was welcomed by both the National Union of Students (NUS) and the #WeAreInternational campaign, which was launched in 2013 by the University of Sheffield to celebrate and emphasize the importance of diversity in the university’s student and staff, in response to concerns from international students about negative media coverage and some political statements on immigration in the UK.

Within this campaign, the university points out that the contribution of international students goes far  beyond their financial value, with their research demonstrating that these students are also well ingrained in the city’s life, working and volunteering in hospitals, charities and schools as well as enriching Sheffield’s culture with music, food, dance and language events throughout the year.

A spokesperson for the UK-wide #WeAreInternationalcampaign said: “This report underpins the case to reinstate the competitive post-study work rights for which students themselves have long lobbied.

“Far from the idea that international students who undertake a period of work after their courses should be discouraged, we now know international graduates are a national asset. It is in our interest and theirs to make sure our visa system reflects that.”

Responding to a demand for information made in parliament by the opposition Green Party in March, the government revealed that there had been a sharp fall in the number of visa applications submitted by international students and researchers.

Processing abroad of applications for stays in Germany can now take up to one year, parliament was also told.

From 2019 to 2020, the number of visa applications for international students and researchers fell by almost 40%. In 2019, a total of 78,985 visa applications were processed, with 70,672 visas being granted. The corresponding figures for 2020 were just 49,073 and 43,207 respectively.

Pre pandemic Germany had nearly 400,000 international students studying at its universities, according to Studying in Germany.

Thirty-one out of 173 German diplomatic missions abroad are either granting no visas at all or are only doing so in a very restricted manner. In the same period, the overall number of international first-year students fell from 32,229 to 22,830.

The federal government explains that the spread of the virus has led to a sometimes considerable reduction of staff capacities for handling visa applications at the consulates abroad, resulting in longer waiting periods for applicants.

Many visa offices have had to restrict public hours and take measures to protect visitors as well as staff. Additionally, operations are sometimes constrained by measures, including lockdowns, taken by authorities in the respective countries.

Understandably, living your entire life through a computer screen can cause motivation and focus to take a dip here and there. For many who’ve never had to study remotely before, making the adjustment is likely to have been taxing.

So, it’s worth paying attention to what universities are doing to ensure their students are getting the most out of their studies when at home, with even more distractions readily available.

QS in Conversation recently held a virtual panel on this topic, featuring: Dr Betty Vandenbosch Chief Content Officer at Coursera; Alex Chisholm Head of Analytics at QS Quacquarelli Symonds; Dr Gog Soon Joo Chief Futurist, Chief Skills Officer, Chief Research Officer at SkillsFuture Singapore.

Are students performing better with online learning weaved into their academic year?

In the online space, a student is in control of their learning experience; how they curate and learn, and also if they repeat tasks. But what needs to be done by educators to encourage students to undertake their studies?

Vandenbosch said: “I think the most important thing is that students and faculty together have to recognize that it’s a different world.

“In online education, the instructional design helps faculty put together a course that is engaging and helps people.

“With instructional design you can have worked examples, readings, peer experiences, projects, guided projects, all sorts of things you can do to help students learn better than just watching a video and taking notes. That’s what’s going to make the difference in helping students stay engaged online.”