Regional
Purdue Team Helping Rebuild Afghan Higher Education
A Purdue University [1] graduate and two faculty members recently returned from Kabul after participating in ongoing efforts to rebuild higher education in Afghanistan.
Graduate student Wasim Anwar, engineering faculty member Ray Eberts and professor of agricultural economics Kevin McNamara made the trip in December. While there, they provided research and training support for the rebuilding of Afghanistan’s agricultural sector and assisted in the redevelopment of agricultural and engineering education at the university level.
Another crucial objective of the trip was to conduct computer training for participants from the major Kabul universities so they would be able to participate in a future distance-learning pilot program. Purdue plans to donate computers to the institutions — Kabul University, Polytechnic Institute and Education University — after faculty there complete their training. The first stage of the computer-training program was completed on this trip. The same Afghan faculty members will visit Purdue in April to continue their training. The project will eventually allow training of faculty members, many of whom have only bachelor’s degrees
“The 40 computers we have for them will be sent with them after completing the training.” Eberts told World Education News & Reviews.
With the help of a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development [2], Purdue hopes to have the pilot distance-learning project running within the next six months. However, more funds are needed to fully implement the project.
“We have still not solved the problems of how to pay for the distance learning for full implementation of the project.” Eberts said.
Purdue University also will focus efforts on developing curricula.
“The curricula are a conglomeration of influences: American (more than 20 years ago), Soviet (22 to five years ago) and Taliban (within the last five years),” Eberts said. “With all those influences, instead of deleting some classes when others were added, they just added more classes to the curricula. Revisions are needed.”
Discussing U.S. involvement in the rebuilding of Afghanistan, Eberts suggested that more could be done. “The U.S. government has indicated to us that their immediate priorities do not include rebuilding higher education. The government wants to first concentrate on food assistance and building of primary and secondary schools.
“We agree with these priorities, but believe that some money should be made available for higher education because Afghanistan needs to train teachers to teach in the schools and train technicians and engineers to help rebuild the infrastructure,” he said. “In comparison to the U.S. government efforts to rebuild Kosovo and Bosnia, our government is spending less than one-fifth of that spent in these other countries.”
Eberts indicated that faculty members of Kabul University had renewed hope for the future, but he sensed that without concrete evidence of progress those hopes could diminish quickly.
“I fear that Afghanistan will revert to its old problems because we have not done very much to change the underlying problems that had such serious consequences for the U.S. in the last couple of years,” he said.
— Nick Clark
January 27, 2003
Australia
China Ranks as Top Mainland Market
China has overtaken Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong to become Australia’s fastest-growing market for overseas university students.
A study by IDP Education [3] Australia — a nonprofit company set up by Australian universities to recruit overseas students — shows that China is now the single largest market for universities in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, with more than 60 percent annual growth.
Including overseas campuses and tertiary institutions, China now ranks as the fourth-largest source overall after Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia, for Australia’s entire higher education system. However, for onshore enrollments at Australian universities, China is now Australia’s largest market for international students.
Overall figures for foreign students at Australian institutions of higher education show Singapore as the No. 1 sending country, with 24,005 students; 21,697 for Hong Kong; 21,696 for Malaysia and 20, 486 for China.
Over the last year, the number of international students at Australian universities increased 9.2 percent, to 157,296 students. Higher education is now one of Australia’s largest export industries, earning more than US$4 billion in the last financial year, which ended in June.
— IDP Education Australia [4]
Nov. 21, 2002
EU, Australia Launch Joint Project
Australia and the European Union announced recently a joint pilot project on study-abroad opportunities between the two regions.
The project, Learning through Exchange Agriculture, Food Systems and Environment, will enable 36 students from each region to join the master’s program and to study abroad for one semester. The project aims to provide opportunities for the exchange of ideas and enhanced multilateral cooperation in the fields of agriculture, food systems and the environment.
Both sides have committed 500,000 euro to the three-year project, and four institutions from each region will be involved in the project.
Commenting on the project, Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Education and Culture, stated she was confident that cooperation between the two regions would progress from the initiative and that “Australian universities and postgraduate students would be well represented in Erasmus World, a project starting in 2004 that will support high level masters with a European dimension and deliver grants to students from all over the world.”
— Cordis News [5]
Nov. 19, 2002
Diplomacy School First in Southern Hemisphere
The federal government and Australian National University [6] are cooperating to establish the Asia Pacific School of Diplomacy, the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.
Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said a number of students from developing countries in the region will attend the school on Australian government scholarships.
The school, which is expected to begin enrollments from mid-2003, will provide intensive double-degree courses equipping diplomats for the advanced stages of their careers. Students who enroll will undertake two master’s degrees: one in international diplomacy and one in a specific area of interest, such as strategic and defense studies or international affairs.
— Minister for Foreign Affairs [7] news release
Jan. 13, 2003
China
State Sending More Students Overseas
The Ministry of Education recently stated that 3,025 scholars will be sent abroad in 2003 with financial support from the China Scholarships Program. In 2002, the program enabled 2,235 to study abroad.
Priority for the scholarships will be given to applicants from seven key fields — telecommunications and information technology, high technology in agriculture, life sciences and health, material science and new materials, energy and the environment, engineering science and applied social science — in addition to subjects related to the World Trade Organization.
— China Daily [8]
Dec. 6, 2002
China Weighs More Scholarships for Overseas Students
While many Chinese students are busy applying to study at foreign universities, education officials in China are vowing to provide better services for a growing number of foreign students pursuing higher education in China.
According to the Education Ministry, China’s education administration is considering enlarging the scope of fellowships and scholarships provided to foreign students. In 2001, some 2,100 foreign students filed applications for scholarships awarded by the Chinese government.
In 2001, 62,000 foreign students enrolled at more than 360 Chinese colleges and universities. These students majored in not only the traditional fields of language, Chinese medicine and opera, but also a wider range of disciplines, including the humanities, engineering and sports.
The largest group of overseas students in China is from South Korea, with Japan and the United States sending the second and third most students, respectively. The 2002 “open doors” report by the Institute of International Education [9] showed that China was the 10th most popular destination for U.S. students studying abroad.
— People’s Daily [10]
Nov. 26, 2002
Internet Project to Boost Language Learning
The United States and China are planning a Web-based project to help students and educators learn a second language. The initial focus will be on English, Chinese and Spanish, which are expected to be the dominant languages on the Internet.
The two countries’ education ministers have recently signed a memorandum of understanding to go ahead with the “E-Language Project.”
— Education Week [11]
Oct. 30, 2002
Chinese Language Exam Gains Popularity Among Foreigners
According to Cui Xiliang, director of the HSK Center of the Beijing Language and Culture University, approximately 144,000 foreigners took the Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK) in 2002, 40,000 more than the previous year. South Koreans represented the largest pool of examinees, followed by Japan, the United States, Germany and Italy.
The test was developed in the early 1990s, with approximately 200 taking the exam annually. Growth rates of 40 percent to 50 percent in the number of examinees have been the norm since the late 1990s. HSK Center research shows that only 15 percent of those sitting the exam do so in order to study in China; 35 percent take it to advance their professional career, and the remaining 50 percent do so to gauge their level of proficiency in Mandarin Chinese.
— People’s Daily [10]
Jan. 8, 2003
New Regulations for Chinese Schools Abroad
New legislation governing overseas schools run by Chinese universities went into effect in February. The government hopes the regulations will help promote foreign exchanges and cooperation in the education sector.
China is encouraging local universities and colleges to open schools overseas. The legislation defines these schools as educational institutes run independently by Chinese universities or jointly with their legal counterparts in other countries and regions. These schools must give lessons and grant qualifications or academic degrees to overseas citizens. Those providing undergraduate or postgraduate education should be approved by the Ministry of Education [12] to gain accreditation.
In recent years, more Chinese universities have actively participated in international competition and cooperation. So far, nearly 20 Chinese universities and institutes have opened overseas schools. That number is expected to rise rapidly with China’s entry into the World Trade Organization.
— People’s Daily Online [10]
Jan. 8, 2003
Office to Help Sino-Foreign Schools
The Ministry of Education [12] has set up a special office to represent the interests of Sino-foreign schools in China.
Currently, there are 712 Sino-foreign jointly run schools, 270 intermediate service agencies for self-supporting students and 52 schools for foreign children in China.
“Although the Ministry of Education has reiterated that non-state schools should be a great supplement to public ones, we still feel inadequate compared with state-run schools because they are more competitive at procuring educational funding,” said Li Jingjing, a teacher with the Beijing-based Northern Institute of Business Management, a Sino-United States school that trains managers from small- and medium-sized firms.
— China Daily [8]
Feb. 14, 2003
India
Western International University Opens in Delhi
The first Indian campus of Western International University [13] (WIU) was recently inaugurated in Delhi. The KK Modi Group and Apollo International joint venture is called the Modi Apollo International Institute [14] and offers business management programs. In the United States, WIU campuses are located in Phoenix, Chandler, Scottsdale and Fort Huachuca, Ariz.
WIU offers coursework and classes equivalent to the programs offered at U.S. campuses. Programs include MBA in management and information technology and a foundation course in management. Bachelor of science courses in management and information technology will be available in June.
All WIU degrees are fully accredited by the Higher Learning Commission [15] of the North Central Association.
— Times of India [16]
Dec. 2, 2002
Welsh Degrees Available in Pune
The autonomous Pune-based institution known as Training and Advanced Studies in Management & Communications [17] has received validation from the University of Wales [18] to offer the following programs: MBA, with specializations in marketing, finance, human resource management and information management; master of science in information systems and bachelor of administration, with specializations in marketing, finance, management and information management.
— The Times of India [19]
Dec. 4, 2002
School Launches 2 New Advanced Degrees
The Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur [20] is offering two new programs for the 2003-04 academic year:
1. Master’s in medical science and technology. The three-year program is offered through the institute’s School of Medical Science and Technology and trains medical professionals in engineering skills to prepare them for medical research in a number of areas, including telemedicine, bioinformatics, genetic engineering, biophysics and nutritional science.
Admission requirements:
- Bachelor’s in medicine and surgery (MBBS)
- A minimum of 60 percent GPA (please refer to WES grading scale [21])
- Mathematics at the +2 level
2. Postgraduate diploma in information technology. This is a two-semester postgraduate program focusing on the foundations of information technology and applications.
Admission requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in any branch of engineering OR a master’s degree in physics, chemistry, mathematics, statistics or computer applications
- A minimum of 60 percent GPA (please refer to WES grading scale [21])
— University News
Jan. 13-19, 2003
Japan
Scandal-Plagued College Changes Name
Sakata Junior College, 70 million yen (US$583,000) in debt and accused of misappropriating 43.5 million yen (US$363,000) in government-funded scholarships, changed its name Aug. 2002 to Mizuho Gakuen Junior College.
The college has been embroiled in scandal since 2001, when approximately 180 of its 330 Chinese students left Sakata in search of jobs. Immigration authorities raided the school for allegedly providing a haven for illegal immigrants. Few of these Chinese students attended lectures, and some were busted for working in sex shops. Ninety-four percent of the college’s students at the time were Chinese.
The current number of Chinese students has dwindled to 26. It is experiencing dire financial difficulties and there have been delays in payments of salaries to its employees.
The lack of operation funds could bring down the college.
— Mainichi Daily News [22]
Nov. 2, 2002
Malaysia
New Body to Promote Malay Education Abroad
The newly created Malaysia Council will have offices at foreign missions worldwide to promote educational opportunities in Malaysia.
The Ministry of Education [23] initiative is part of a wider plan to enhance the country’s international image as a center for academic excellence. According to a ministry spokesman, “Malaysia Council offices will not be set up in countries such as Britain, where our country’s education sector is already known. It is more for the newer markets, such as the Middle East and Southeast Asia.”
The existence in Malaysia of Australian, U.S. and U.K. degree-granting institutions with tuitions lower than in their home countries makes Malaysia an attractive destination for students from developing markets.
— Education Travel [24]
January 2003
Controversial English-Language Policy Implemented
This year’s return to school marked the implementation of the government’s controversial decision to teach high school mathematics and science in English.
Teachers are using an array of software and equipment, costing the government US$225 million, to aid teachers in presenting mathematics and science concepts in English. To ensure that teachers implement smooth lesson plans, part of the software allows them to click on tricky words to get Malay translations.
The first batch of students learning with the new methodology are those in Primary 1, Secondary 1 and those in the first year of pre-university-level study.
The government believes the English-language instruction will prepare students for a tougher working environment, where the mastery of English is important. Chinese educators are worried the policy is the start of more government encroachment into the 1,200 Chinese-language primary schools, which are generally run separately from the national school system.
— The Straits Times [25]
Jan. 6, 2003
Nepal
Maoists Close Nepal Schools
A strike called by Maoist students on Dec. 9 shut more than 26,000 schools and colleges across Nepal for a two-week period.
The strike ended when a student group sympathetic to the rebels secured key demands from the government for lower tuition costs. Almost all private and state schools, including universities, had shut down amid fears of rebel retaliation if they stayed open.
Under the agreement reached with the pro-Maoist All Nepal National Free Students, Union-Revolutionary, private school administrators pledged to reduce tuition between 10 percent and 15 percent. They also promised to offset the revenue shortfall by curtailing spending on building construction and maintenance.
Student union leaders have vowed to launch an indefinite strike across the country in two months’ time if the government fails to meet their demands — including its key demand that it is not to be labeled as a terrorist group. The Maoist “people’s war,” which aims to overthrow the constitutional monarchy, has claimed more than 7,000 lives since 1996, according to security forces’ figures.
The pro-rebel student group has also demanded an end to instruction in the Hindu holy language of Sanskrit, which Maoists associate with the caste system and influence from neighboring India. The Sanskrit requirement is also cited as a major reason why few lower-caste students from low-income backgrounds graduate from high school and go on to college.
—Radio Singapore International [26]
Dec. 23, 2002
New Zealand
Government Tightens Control over Language Schools
The government’s Tertiary Education Reform Bill went into effect in January. The bill requires all institutions offering courses for foreign students — including courses of less than three months’ study — to be registered with the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA). The bill also includes an education export levy of 0.5 percent on all foreign students’ tuition fees.
The bill was introduced because the government believes the growing industry needs tighter regulation and centralized input, due in part to an explosion in the number of both NZQA-accredited and non-accredited language schools. The bill is part of a concerted effort by the government to promote New Zealand as a destination for quality educational opportunities. There are an estimated 200 non-NZQA-registered language schools in the country. The hope is that the legislation will bring unregulated institutions under government control and force closures where deemed necessary.
The bill can be viewed in PDF format HERE [27].
— Language Travel Magazine [24]
Feb. 2003
Critic: Assessment Tinkering Doesn’t Work
Peter Lyons in the New Zealand Herald suggests that all is not well with the newly managed assessment system for secondary school graduates. The first results for the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) were released recently, and Lyons believes they are “an abysmal example of change management.”
Critics of the NCEA agree that the previous system of assessment was severely flawed and there was a need to recognize the diverse nature of subjects and to better gauge student capabilities. However, mismanagement has contributed to a growing fragmentation of assessment systems in secondary schools, Lyons argues in the Herald. So much so that many private schools are opting for overseas qualifications, such as the Cambridge exams or the International Baccalaureate.
In the early to mid-1990s, unit standards were to be introduced to replace school qualifications. Since the abandonment of unit standards in favor of the NCEA, few employers are now aware of the value of students’ work under the unit system. This is the risk of constantly tinkering with a qualifications system, Lyons says. Validity comes from public acceptance and awareness of what a qualification actually means, he argues.
Despite a publicity campaign, anecdotal evidence suggests many New Zealanders not involved in the education system are unaware of what is meant by the NCEA.
In concluding, Lyons asserts that unless the NCEA’s resourcing and credibility issues are promptly and adequately addressed, private schools offering alternative, internationally recognized qualifications will become increasingly attractive to parents who can afford them. The result, he says, will be like a country using several types of money because of a lack of faith in its own currency.
— The New Zealand Herald [28]
Jan. 25, 2003
Pakistan
Thousands of Empty Schools Await Faculty, Students
According to a report by The Dawn newspaper, there are more than 2,175 recently built educational institutions in Karachi and the Sindh waiting for staff and students.
The buildings were built over the last 10 years under annual development programs. An estimated Rs5.2 billion (US$90 million) has been spent on the construction of buildings — ranging from primary schools to colleges and technical institutes — most of which are ready for academic activities.
According to an official at the Education Department, most of the buildings, however, have been vacant since they were built. He said that without the availability of sufficient staff, the institutions cannot be run and, thus, the very purpose of these buildings cannot be served.
Almost 2,000 primary schools, 175 secondary buildings and 48 institutions of higher learning are waiting for faculty and students.
— The Dawn [29]
Nov. 26, 2002
Singapore
Australian Law Degrees Recognized
Under the recently concluded Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement, four more Australian universities will have their undergraduate law degrees recognized by the city-state.
They are Australian National University [6], the University of Western Australia [30], the University of Queensland [31] and Flinders University [32]. Before the new agreement was reached, Singapore had only accepted degrees from Monash University [33] and the University of Melbourne [34].
Australia has been seeking wider recognition of its law degrees for many years, and it is hoped that the move will create new opportunities for the export of legal education services.
—The Australian [35]
Dec. 11, 2002
South Korea
New IT University Given the Green Light
A new information technology (IT) university is to open in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, in March. The university’s creation is part of an effort by the government to boost the country’s IT work force.
— The Korea Herald [36]
Dec. 12, 2002
Ministry to Ease Regulations on Foreign Schools
The Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development [37] said recently it plans to allow Korean corporations to establish foreign schools and grant Korean students greater access to them. The ministry expects the new measures to go into effect as early as March after a final review.
At present, only foreign businesses are permitted to open foreign schools. The new plan will empower Korean corporations to set up such schools, provided they have an as-yet undecided amount of capital and a recommendation from the government behind them.
The current system also limits enrollment at international schools to foreigners and Koreans who have lived outside the country for more than five years. Under the new plan, the minimum requirement will be reduced to three years. In addition, the students who finish foreign primary, middle and high schools will be recognized just the same as those from Korean schools, if their schools provide them with more than two hours of classes on Korean language and culture a week.
Currently, the academic backgrounds of international-school students are not recognized officially in Korea.
— The Korea Herald [36]
Jan. 3, 2003
Forgery Spurs Tighter Screening
Seoul National University [38] will tighten its screening of foreign applicants after a student from China was found to have been accepted into the prestigious school with forged documents.
The university has also decided to re-examine the applications of the 240 foreigners accepted for the 2003 academic year. The school will focus on forms submitted by incoming freshmen from China, which account for 104 of the total 240 overseas students accepted this year.
The school will also delay the release of its 2004 list of accepted foreign students so there will be enough time to properly examine all admissions papers from abroad.
— The Korea Times [39]
Jan. 19, 2003
South Pacific Islands
Crisis May Force Tuition Increase
The University of the South Pacific [40] could raise course fees up to 30 percent under a proposal to solve the university’s ongoing financial crisis.
The university, which serves 13 island nations in the South Pacific, is owed millions of dollars in funding and faces a financial crisis brought on by the failure of member governments to keep up their contributions. The Solomon Islands government owes US$2.8 million, while Fiji and Nauru are also listed as governments who are behind in their payments.
Government-sponsored students from the Solomon Islands studying at the Fiji campus have been told they can only return in 2003 if their government settles its debt with the university.
— UNESCO News Service [41]
Dec. 9, 2002