Why Did China Just Slash 12,000 University Courses? Africa, Watch and Learn According to data from China’s Ministry of Education, universities across the country have revoked or suspended roughly 12,200 undergraduate programmes between 2021 and 2025. That’s more than 30% of all degree courses – a sweeping change designed to prepare graduates for an economy increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence (AI) and new national industrial priorities. So, which subjects are bearing the brunt? •Creative fields have been hit particularly hard: photography, animation, illustration and product design. The University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, for instance, suspended its product design major, explaining that AI now handles core tasks such as modelling and rendering with remarkable ease. •Language programmes have also taken a knock. Majors in English, Japanese, German and translation have been significantly scaled back as machine translation tools have improved dramatically in quality and reliability. •Other areas seeing cuts include marketing, public administration, human resource management and logistics management. It’s worth noting that “suspended” or “revoked” doesn’t always mean these subjects are disappearing for good. In many cases, universities are simply pausing new admissions while they overhaul the curricula, turning them into more interdisciplinary, technology-focused programmes that better match today’s job market. China is essentially pruning what it sees as outdated or easily automated courses to make room for what it believes the future demands. For African nations still expanding their higher education systems, there’s a clear signal here: relevance to the real economy matters more than ever.