Argentina

School System Suffers with Economy

Argentina is facing its worst economic crisis in many years. Even the country’s system of education is suffering financial hardships. Proposed budget cuts threaten to greatly curtail the ability of universities to handle dramatic enrollment increases. With massive inflation, many people have opted for the more affordable public universities over private education. Enrollments at public institutions have nearly doubled in the last couple of years.

Without more money, school officials believe, they cannot accommodate the students of 2002, much less plan for the future. Making matters worse, foreign institutions have started canceling their study-abroad programs to Argentina, thus cutting off a significant source of revenue for the troubled economy.

— The Chronicle of Higher Education
March 8, 2002

Increase in Student Migration Feared

Due to the current recession, Argentina’s universities are witnessing a significant increase in the number of graduates seeking validation for their academic qualifications. Some educators believe this recent trend signifies the beginning of a migration of graduate students out of the country.

Some universities have seen an increase of 500 percent for applications to validate qualifications.

— The Times Higher Education Supplement
March 1, 2002

Canada

Students Choose Canada

In the wake of the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks on the United States, more international students are choosing to study in Canada, thanks in part to that country’s less stringent visa procedures. Unlike the United States, Canada did not place restrictions on international students after the attacks.

According to a United Nations survey, Canada ranks as one of the best places in the world to live. And many foreign students insist that studying in Canada costs far less than what it costs in the United States.

In 2001-02, Canada issued 11,700 student visas, compared to the 7,400 it granted in 2000-01, and the 3,804 it gave out the previous year.

— China Daily
Jan. 31, 2002

Centennial College First in Ontario to Offer Networking Degree

Centennial College has become the first institute of higher learning in Ontario to offer an applied degree in networking. The new Computer and Communications Networking Program is designed to produce graduates who are “bilingual,” or competent in both the technology and the business applications that rely on networks. The program puts Ontario’s first community college in the company of some of Canada’s most prestigious universities offering a comparable quality education.

The four-year program is among the first of its kind to be approved by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, a landmark move permitting community colleges to offer applied degrees in academic fields not presently taught at universities. Despite a perception that the “dot-bomb” has wiped out jobs, Statistics Canada identifies computer-infrastructure employment as a high-growth field, and employers are keen to gain access to graduates of applied-degree programs.

Centennial’s enrollment has grown from 514 full-time students in 1966 to 12,000 full-time and 30,000 part-time today.

— Canada Newswire
March 27, 2002

Canada Doubles COL Contribution

The government of Canada has roughly doubled its annual contribution to the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) from CAN$630,000 to more than $1.2 million. The increased contribution will improve educational materials, expertise and technologies that are made available to developing countries.

The COL welcomed the decision. “Education is recognized as a fundamental right of all individuals. It is also a means to reduce poverty and infant mortality and improve maternal health and family well-being,” COL President Gajaraj Dhanarajan said.

COL, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, is funded on a voluntary basis by the 54-member Commonwealth, and Canada is one of its major contributors. It was founded in 1987 to encourage the development and sharing of distance-education knowledge, resources and technologies.

— Commonwealth News and Information Service
March 21, 2002

Mexico

New Fox Plan to Deliver Education to Poor

President Vicente Fox recently launched a program called Opportunities, aimed at delivering education and other services to Mexico’s poorest citizens.

The new program will replace Progresa, a program created in 1997 under former President Ernesto Zedillo who was criticized for using program funds for political purposes. The new Opportunities program is part of Fox’s Contigo plan to combat Mexico’s social problems.

“The biggest challenge for Mexico is to defeat poverty and marginalization,” Fox said in kicking off the new program. “There are 40 million (poor) Mexicans who demand this.”

The plan is backed by a US$1 billion loan from the Inter-American Development Bank.

— The News Mexico
March 7, 2002

Fox’s New Education Push For Mexico

Education officials in Mexico have set a goal, under the leadership of President Vicente Fox, to encourage more teen-agers to extend their schooling beyond the ninth grade. The bedrock of this new plan is a 269-page blueprint for eradicating the educational disparities that exist within certain regions of the nation.

For Fox, education is his government’s top priority for developing Mexico, a country in which 27 percent of the people live in extreme poverty. His plan for education -the Programa Nacional de Educación 2001-2006 emphasizes increased access to schooling at the level of media superior, or 10th through 12th grades.

The implementation of this plan has been hindered by a recession in Mexico (on the heels of the economic downturn in the United States), and so far Fox has not yet been able to deliver on his promises. Officials in his administration, however, say that noticeable improvements will take time, and point to many of Fox’s achievements within the realm of education.

These include establishing the Escuelas de Calidad (Schools of Quality) program and the dispersal of grants to improve schools in low-income urban areas.

— Education Week
March 20, 2002

The United States

Company Gets Nod to Lead Philadelphia School System

Edison Schools Inc., the nation’s largest private operator of public schools, has just received a bigger stake in the Philadelphia school system. Edison had previously submitted a plan—endorsed by Gov. Mark Schweiker—to take over the city’s school system, but the proposal was denied. However, a commission overseeing the state takeover of the city’s schools voted in March to let Edison advise officials on how to restructure the district’s administration, allocate staff, evaluate classroom management and come up with an 18-month plan for reform.

A member of the commission said the plan will bring in “some of the best management expertise in America” to revamp the district’s education system while retaining control. The recent vote comes after a long dispute over the prospect of Edison taking on a leading role in Philadelphia’s education system. The objections came from parents, unions and anti-privatization groups.

Philadelphia’s school system is the seventh-largest in the nation, with 265 schools and more than 200,000 students, most of whom score in the bottom quarter on state academic tests.

— CNN.com
March 27, 2002

SAT May Face Big Changes

The SAT, the nation’s most widely administered college entrance exam, may get a facelift in coming years. The College Board is considering major modifications to the SAT to counter criticism about the exam’s true testing ability.

The possible changes include the addition of a writing section, an intensified critical reading component, excluding – or decreasing the size of – the section on analogies and an increased math section to include more advanced math. Critics say the changes would better reflect what students learn in school.

The College Board, which administers the test, will consider the proposals and vote on them by June; if changes are made, they will go into effect in 2006.

— The Washington Post
March 26, 2002

Online Program Scores Practice TOEFL Tests

International students can now practice for the writing portion of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) by submitting their essays to the ScoreItNow! online service and get immediate scoring and feedback on their work. Each year the TOEFL is taken by 800,000 people worldwide, and remains the most accepted measure of English language ability.

ScoreItNow! uses retired TOEFL essay topics and an automated essay scoring system developed at Educational Testing Service (ETS) and delivered by ETS Technologies (a subsidiary of ETS). Essays are scored within a matter of seconds.

Students from across the globe can now log on, write their responses to former TOEFL essay questions and receive a score. The service costs $10, which entitles the student to write two essays and receive scores for both.

— ETS
February 2002