The Conversation

The UK’s high potential individual visa demonstrates short-sightedness about the experience, insights and skills that graduates from the global South could bring to the UK. Shutterstock

UK work visa for elite graduates is exclusive and based on flawed assumptions

Orla Quinlan, Rhodes University

The UK is offering an elite visa for well-off graduates from elite institutions to stay temporarily in the UK.

COVID left South African pupils far behind in maths and language skills

Ursula Hoadley, University of Cape Town

Learning is a cumulative process and in language and maths, it is especially critical as every year of learning sets up the building blocks for the next year of learning.

Even learners in affluent schools lost around two-thirds of a school year. shutterstock

Here’s how much learning South African children lost in the pandemic

Servaas van der Berg, Stellenbosch University and Chris van Wyk, Stellenbosch University

Time out of school erased a year’s worth of schooling for public school learners in South Africa.

What it will take for South Africa’s ailing power utility to keep going

David Richard Walwyn, University of Pretoria

If South Africa fails to implement the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan, it will lead to the demise of Eskom as an energy producer as users turn to alternative electricity sources.

Les forêts tropicales du bassin du Congo, en Afrique centrale, sont parfois appelées le deuxième poumon de la Terre (après l'Amazonie) en raison de leur capacité à stocker du carbone. Guenterguni via Getty Images

La littérature du Bassin du Congo offre des pistes pour faire face à la crise climatique

Nsah Mala, Aarhus University

Les textes littéraires peuvent mis à contribution pour la communication environnementale car ils sont en mesure de représenter la complexité du changement climatique.

Dropping out of school has long term significant consequences for adolescent girls and young women. AJ_Watt via GettyImages

South Africa’s COVID school closures hit girls hard – but they showed resilience too

Zoe Duby, South African Medical Research Council

Many young women faced challenges with online learning and studying at home during COVID, but some showed resilience and a determination to achieve their educational goals.

Textbook writers must record multiple perspectives to allow pupils to examine all sides and decide on ethical issues for themselves. Shutterstock

What school textbooks in South Africa say about the Cold War – and why it matters

Linda Chisholm, University of Johannesburg and David Fig, University of Cape Town

The US and the Soviet Union are both seen as responsible for the Cold War and presented as manipulating more vulnerable states.

The Congo Basin’s rainforests in central Africa are sometimes called Earth’s second lungs (after the Amazon) because of its ability to store carbon. Guenterguni via Getty Images

Literature from the Congo Basin offers ways to address the climate crisis

Nsah Mala, Aarhus University

Literary texts are useful for environmental communication and can deal with the complexity of climate change.

Mwai Kibaki. TONY KARUMBA/AFP via Getty Images

Mwai Kibaki: president who squandered the opportunity to fix Kenya

Shadrack Wanjala Nasong'o, Rhodes College

He will be remembered as the leader who plunged the country into unmitigated chaos

Farmer-herder conflicts in some parts of the continent are in part driven by environmental degradation. Luis Tato via Getty Images

Climate may not directly drive conflict but it’s critical for building peace

Grazia Pacillo, CGIAR System Organization; Ana Maria Loboguerrero, CGIAR System Organization; Elisabeth Gilmore, Carleton University; Peter Läderach, CGIAR System Organization, and Tanaya Dutta Gupta, CGIAR System Organization

Under certain conditions, climate can amplify security risks, with implications for lasting peace.

Household waste in the Port of Durban after the 2019 floods. Photo courtesy of Douw Steyn, Plastic SA

Green policies are in place for South Africa’s major port city: but a key piece is missing

Richard Meissner, University of South Africa

Experts in city government are missing the perspective of residents.

The constitutional right to food puts food systems and agricultural development firmly on the national development agenda. By subman/GettyImages

There’s a place for big and small farms in securing South Africa’s food supply

Fenji Materechera-Mitochi, University of the Witwatersrand and Mary Scholes, University of the Witwatersrand

South Africa needs a more holistic approach to farming systems.

The farmers’ predicament can’t be viewed in isolation and must be understood within the context of global processes beyond their control. Christopher Scott via Getty Images

Policies must reflect why Zimbabwe’s small tobacco farmers use trees for firewood

Ellen Fungisai Chipango, University of Johannesburg

The state controls and regulates small farmers’ environmental practices without addressing what forces them to follow these practices.

Investir dans l'éducation bilingue peut réduire les redoublements et les décrochages scolaires et améliorer les résultats en matière d'alphabétisation. Riccardo Lennart Niels Mayer / EyeEm via GettyImages

L'enseignement bilingue peut favoriser l'alphabétisation, en Côte d'Ivoire c'est moins évident

Mary-Claire Ball, University of Toronto and Kaja Jasinska, University of Toronto

Investir dans l'éducation bilingue peut réduire les redoublements et les abandons et améliorer les résultats en matière d'alphabétisation.

When done unsustainably, agricultural development can harm human health. Nikada via GettyImages

Agriculture is linked with malaria in complex ways: evidence from 16 African countries

Hiral Anil Shah, Imperial College London; Kallista Chan, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and Kris Murray, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

New research quantifies the link between agricultural practices and malaria transmission in sub-Saharan Africa.

South Africa’s no-fee school system can’t undo inequality

Suriamurthee Moonsamy Maistry, University of KwaZulu-Natal

The no-fee school policy in South Africa, while well-intentioned, demands a serious review.

Maria Khoza collecting water from the City of Tshwane municipality after a short closure of the a treatment plant caused by a sewage leakage in 2019. Phill Magakoe/AFP/GettyImages

South Africa has had lots of rain and most dams are full, but water crisis threat persists

Anja du Plessis, University of South Africa

South Africa’s dams are overflowing but the country is still facing water supply challenges.

Moving surplus rhinos to set up new populations, and hunting small numbers of males encourages population growth and range expansion. Michael 't Sas-Rolfes

How legal hunting supports African rhino conservation

Michael 't Sas-Rolfes, University of Oxford

Legal hunting helps rhino conservation for biological and socio-economic reasons.

South African soul star Simphiwe Dana’s new show is about healing

Phuti Sepuru, University of Pretoria

Moya is a show that seeks a spiritual awakening, especially after the trauma and isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bilingual education could be the key to improving outcomes in Cote d'Ivoire. Riccardo Lennart Niels Mayer / EyeEm via GettyImages

Bilingual schooling can boost literacy - but in Côte d’Ivoire it’s not as clear cut

Mary-Claire Ball, University of Toronto and Kaja Jasinska, University of Toronto

Investing in bilingual education can reduce grade repetition, drop-out rates, and improve literacy outcomes.

Scientists’ involvement in media reporting on fire leads to more nuanced and balanced messages. Cathy Withers-Clarke via shutterstock

South African media treat fire as foe – its ecosystem benefits get lost in the blaze

Izak Smit, University of Pretoria; Dian Spear, University of Cape Town; Marina Joubert, Stellenbosch University, and Nicola van Wilgen-Bredenkamp, Stellenbosch University

Fire must be allowed to play its natural role.

Knowledge about groundwater is scarce in some countries, and most development is informal and limited to shallow use. Torsten Pursche via shutterstock

Groundwater could help kickstart green recovery in African countries: how to begin

Bradley Hiller, Anglia Ruskin University

Groundwater has the potential to support broad economic, humanitarian and social development in sub-Saharan Africa, as it has in other regions globally.

Alien pine trees, which use substantially more water than the native vegetation of the Cape Mountains, reduce river flows to dams that supply the city’s water. Martin Kleynhans

Clearing alien trees can help reduce climate change impact on Cape Town’s water supply

Petra Brigitte Holden, University of Cape Town; Alanna Rebelo, Agricultural Research Council; Joyce Kimutai, University of Cape Town; Kamoru Abiodun Lawal, University of Cape Town; Mark New, University of Cape Town; Piotr Wolski, University of Cape Town; Romaric C. Odoulami, University of Cape Town, and Tiro Nkemelang, University of Cape Town

Clearing alien trees before the drought hit could have reduced the impact of climate change on water supply during the ‘Day Zero’ drought.

Institutional management owes it to society to investigate whether their own culture excludes black women and makes them feel like imposters. shutterstock

Black women in South African academia struggle to get ahead: what needs to change

Jean Lee Farmer, Stellenbosch University

The goal posts for black women at historically white higher education institutions are constantly shifting.

Imbokodo is a long overdue series of children’s books on South African women

Xolisa Guzula, University of Cape Town and Athambile Masola, University of Cape Town

The books aim to write women back into history for children to see that women are able to take up powerful positions in society.

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