Developing countries must use their resources to stimulate growth worm’s eye view Steven Friedman We must take care lest growth plans become Africa’s chief growth industry. President Thabo Mbeki is investing much in the Millennium Africa Recovery Plan (MAP) he authored with Nigerian President Olusegun Obesanjo and Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and which has been […]
Roshila Pillay and David Macfarlane If you’re not online, you’re heading for oblivion. For public and private education institutions, whether traditionally contact or distance, this is the clear message. A sampling of recent innovations shows that the formerly distinct categories of contact and distance learning are increasingly merging. And it’s a buyer’s that is, learner’s […]
LONDON CALLING Martin Spring The currency to back now could be the euro. Does that come as a surprise? For the long haul the dollar is a better bet as it reflects the superiority of the United States economy, offering higher risk-adjusted returns and greater breadth of opportunities. The US is better managed than Europe […]
Akin Ojumu The Grateful Dead singer Jerry Garcia has been the subject of numerous tributes after his death, but perhaps the most flattering came last year when he inspired the character of God in the short-lived animated series God, the Devil and Bob. Given tongue by a languid James Garner, God, who seemingly hails from […]
After a decade of market imitation, is it possible to be a radical intellectual? Lynne Segal comments Have you had yours yet? One astonished academic after another has sent me copies of letters asking them to consider a little school teaching on the side. It is unclear if the private company soliciting us imagines, correctly, […]
Belinda Anderson profiles Sizwe Nxasana, the gentle, well-considered boss of this soon-to-be public telecoms utility In his pinstriped suit and with his collected manner, Sizwe Nxasana could be mistaken for an ace merchant banker who has just closed a big deal. Rather, he is the head of Telkom, the parastatal that is preparing for South […]
There have been unprecedented gains for workers following the recent volatile industrial action around South Africa Glenda Daniels Organised labour flexed its muscles a week ago and won some far-reaching gains, including medical treatment for HIV-positive miners, training for women, narrowing of the wage gap, meal intervals, leave benefits and a commitment to minimum wages. […]
David Macfarlane All academic study involves extended periods of solitary work, but postgraduate courses most of all. Stepping from relatively structured and supportive bachelor-level courses to master’s and doctoral levels is daunting for many students sometimes overwhelmingly so, as high dropout rates at some institutions demonstrate. The University of the Western Cape (UWC) this year […]
Alun Munslow Over the years the practice of history has witnessed a good many shifts and turns. Since the 1960s, for example, the discipline has experienced a social science turn, a cliometric or statistics turn, a women’s history turn, a cultural history turn and so on. These are not fads. Each has developed and still […]
Lee Elliot Major This year has seen a number of academic business schools in Europe developing e-business programmes, signalling that e-commerce has already established itself as a central component of postgraduate business degrees. The new breed of MBA students is just as likely to be taught the latest thinking on e-strategies, e-marketing and e-technology as […]