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Australia

Education 4th-Largest Export Industry

Foreign students now constitute 18 percent of student enrollments at Australian institutions of higher education, according to a recently issued government report, ”Education Without Borders: International Trade in Education.” Spearheaded by Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Education Minister Brendan Nelson, the report says 15 percent of total revenues for Australian universities comes from international enrollments, and that education has become the country’s fourth-largest export industry.

The report, issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs, was released shortly after a recent Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) survey that found the Australian university sector has the highest proportion of foreign students enrolled of the 30 industrialized countries surveyed. In academic year 2002-03, Australia enrolled almost double the number of international students, as a percentage of total enrollments, than its nearest competitors (with the exception of Switzerland). International enrollments in Britain, Germany and France accounted for approximately 10 percent of total enrollments.

Also according to the OECD survey, higher education services constituted almost 15 percent of total Australian service exports; in 1994, the figure was just above 10 percent. The top fields of study for international students in Australia between 2002 and 2004 were business and management, information technology, arts and humanities and engineering. Most international students enrolled in Australian universities study on Australian soil, but the proportion of offshore students is growing.

— The Australian
Sept. 15, 2005

Government: 8,000 Foreign Students Wrongfully Deported

The government is attempting to contact 8,000 foreign nationals who had their study periods in Australia cut short due to erroneous visa cancellations. The government said the students would have their visas reinstated so their studies could continue.

The cancellations were made after “defective” paperwork led Australia’s Immigration Department to cancel the visa of a Bangladeshi student enrolled in a cooking program in Australia. A court ruling in favor of the student raised questions about the decision to cancel thousands of other visas since 2001. Most of the affected students are thought to have left Australia; some may have been detained by the government before they were forced to leave. If the allegations are true, the government could face lawsuits from students seeking compensation for wrongful incarceration.

The Immigration Department said it is notifying all of the affected students through advertising, letters to educators and its Web site.

— The Chronicle of Higher Education
Sept. 21, 2005

Overseas Students May Face Additional Fee

If the proposed Education Services for Overseas Students Act becomes law, overseas students will pay a compulsory “student service fee” — despite plans to introduce tough new laws banning universities from charging domestic students the same fee. The changes would set up a two-tiered system, with universities facing million-dollar fines if they charge fees to domestic students. This may affect Australia’s large overseas student market, which accounts for 18 percent of all university students.

One of Australia’s biggest universities is refusing to make the nonacademic service fee compulsory, however. The University of Melbourne calls the fee unfair, and will not charge its 8,000 overseas students such a fee next year. Some overseas students have said the fees will lead to “institutionalized discrimination.”

— The Australian
Sept. 26, 2005

Survey Reveals Asian Students Prefer Australian Universities to US, UK Competitors

Asian students are looking to Australia, rather than Britain or the US for a university education, even though they believe standards are lower, according to a recent survey. The shift is linked to a perception that Asians are no longer welcome in the US, which they believe is more concerned with anti-terror measures than attracting foreign students.

JWT Education interviewed 332 undergraduates from 10 key Asian markets, including China, Malaysia and South Korea in a study that was funded by the British government. Only 11 percent of those students at Australian universities said they would have preferred to be in the US. In a prior study conducted in 2000, 33 percent felt that way. There was a smaller decline in the proportion of those who wished they could have studied in Britain (15 percent in 2000 and 8 percent this year).

Students interviewed in the study perceived Australian universities as academically inferior to those in the US and Britain. Australian education ranked third, above rivals such as Canada, Germany and New Zealand.

— The Australian
Oct. 12, 2005

China

MBA Program Links Shanghai, Hong Kong, London

Fudan University’s School of Management will team up with business schools in London and Hong Kong to launch an international master of business administration program. Jointly initiated by Hong Kong University and London Business School, the one-year, full-time MBA program will be offered in Hong Kong, London and Shanghai. Students will be required to take an eight-month business management course in Hong Kong before working a three-month internship in London. The final month of the course will be spent writing a thesis at Fudan University in Shanghai.

The Shanghai school also began hosting an executive-education partnership with Columbia Business School in August. In the second phase of the program, planned for July 2006, Chinese executives will study at Columbia and visit leading financial institutions in New York City. Approximately 50 participants were chosen from China’s banking, investment, insurance, regulatory and government sectors.

— Shanghai Daily News
Aug. 24, 2005

Ministry Begins Authentication of Foreign Degrees

China’s Ministry of Education has introduced an academic credential-authentication service for Chinese students returning from study periods abroad. The service also is offered to employers wishing to verify the academic credentials of job applicants. According to one official, the ministry will authenticate degrees and diplomas received from accredited overseas higher educational institutions and overseas joint venture schools approved by the government. Students can log onto the ministry’s Web site to complete the authenticating process. According to ministry statistics, only 6,000 students had their degrees notarized before the end of 2004.

— People’s Daily
Aug. 16, 2005

Hong Kong

A-levels to be Scrapped

Hong Kong has announced plans to replace its British-influenced examination system in favor of a new International Baccalaureate (IB)-style diploma. The former British colony, now a Chinese Special Administrative Region, recently announced its intention to replace the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examinations (GCSE equivalent) and A-levels with a three-year diploma.

Students will spend three years in junior secondary school and three years in senior secondary school, ending at age 17 or 18. The curriculum also will be different: Students will study four mandatory subjects and two or three electives, which can include vocational courses. It also will include independent inquiry study, similar to the IB extended essay. Fifteen percent to 35 percent of the school day will be devoted to other learning experiences, including moral and civic education, community service and aesthetic, physical and career-related activities. The new academic structure will be phased in beginning in 2009. The government also envisions an extension of the standard length of study for an undergraduate degree program from three years to four.

— Education World
August 2005

India

India, Britain to Increase Research Collaboration

British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced in September the creation of a research fund to encourage collaboration between academics in the United Kingdom and India under a US$17.52 million deal. The program, known as the UK/India Education Initiative, will encourage increased academic mobility between the two countries. Currently, only 100 British nationals study in India, whereas 17,000 Indian students study in the United Kingdom annually.

— The Guardian
Sept. 8, 2005

7 Schools Seek IIT Status

Seven engineering colleges are being considered for an upgrade to the coveted status of an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) after yearlong talks with the Human Resources and Development Ministry.

Gaining entry to an IIT is perhaps one of the most competitive admission processes in the world. Many of India’s most successful business leaders, some of whom have established themselves both in India and in the United States, have graduated from IITs. The seven schools are:

• Aligarh Muslim-Zakir Hussain-College of Engineering and Technology Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh (http://www.geocities.com/ZHCET/)
• Andhra University-College of Engineering, Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh (http://www.indiaxpress.com/au/coe/)
• Banaras Hindu University-Institute of Technology (IT-BHU), Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh (http://www.indiaxpress.com/au/coe/)
• Bengal Engineering College, Howrah, West Bengal (http://www.becs.ac.in/)
• Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, Kerala (http://www.cusat.ac.in/)
• Jadavpur University’s Engineering and Technology Departments, Calcutta, West Bengal (http://www.jadavpur.edu/)
• Osmania University-College of Engineering and College of Technology (both participated), Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh (http://www.osmania.ac.in/)

The colleges have been asked to prepare detailed project reports that identify areas in need of improvement and the means to achieve this process. No time frame has been set yet, but it is expected the announcements for the new IITs will be made between 2007 and 2010.

— Rediff
Aug. 18, 2005

Unrecognized Universities Listed

The Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education has released a list of universities operating in the state that are not recognized by the University Grants Commission. The degrees, diplomas and certificates issued by the following institutions will not be recognized for employment or academic purposes: Maithili University, Darbhanga, Bihar; Commercial University Ltd., Delhi; Delhi Vishwavidya Peeth, Delhi; United Nations University, Delhi; Vocational University, Delhi; St. John’s University, Kerala; Raja Arabic University, Nagpur; Kesarwani Vidyapeeth, Jabalpur; DDB Sanskrit University, Tamil Nadu; Mahila Gram Vidyapeeth Vishwavidyalaya, Prayag; Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishvidyalaya, Varanasi; Indian Educational Council of Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow; Gandhi Hindi Vidyapeeth, Prayag; National University of Electro Complex Homeopathy, Kanpur; Netaji Subash Chandra Bose University, Aligarh; Uttar Pradesh Vishwavidyalaya, Mathura; Maharana Pratap Shiksha Niketan Vishwavidyalaya, Pratapgarh; Uttar Pradesh and Bharatiya Shiksha Parishad, Lucknow.

— India Edu News
Aug. 7, 2005

Canadian, Indian Schools Team Up

A Canadian-Indian educational joint venture recently was announced in Chennai. Vinayaka Centennial Canadian Business School, a collaboration between Canada’s Centennial College (CCC) and India’s Vinayaka Missions Research Foundation, a deemed university, was inaugurated in late September by the Canadian High Commissioner to India.

The joint venture will offer a three-year bachelor’s degree in business and advanced diplomas in international business, human resources management and business operations management. Indian students have the option of spending their second and third year studying at the Ontario campus of CCC, backed by paid co-op work opportunities. Under recently introduced visa regulations, students would be eligible for a two-year work permit (one year if Toronto-based), upon successful completion of the program.

— The Hindu
Sept. 20, 2005

U.S. Universities Join E-Learning Network

The University of California system and four U.S. universities (Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, State University of New York at Buffalo and Case Western Reserve) will join Indian institutions, led by Coimbatore-based Amrita University, to enhance science, engineering and information technology education in India through a new satellite e-learning network.

Funding for the U.S. participation will come from Qualcomm Inc., Microsoft and Cadence Design Systems Inc. Faculty from the five institutions will spend a quarter to full semester at Amrita University. Professors will give lectures at Amrita University’s e-learning center, which then will be beamed to multiple institutions of higher education across India, via the country’s education-dedicated satellite — edusat — which was launched to much fanfare in 2004 (see November/December 2004 issue of WENR).

— NewKerala
July 22, 2005

Private Schools No Longer Forced to Fill Quotas

The Indian Supreme Court ruled unanimously in August that colleges that do not receive financial assistance from the Indian government are now no longer required to use state admission quotas for students from minority groups and lower castes.

The ruling asserts that private universities have complete independence in choosing the students they wish to admit, as well as the tuition fees they wish to charge. Prior to the ruling, the Indian Constitution reserved nearly a quarter of all student places for members of indigenous tribal groups or lower castes.

The court did rule, however, that the admissions processes, though now more autonomous, must be transparent, nonexploitative and based on merit. The ruling will be effective with the 2006-07 academic year.

— The Hindu
Aug. 12, 2005

Program Gives Boost to Education of Girls

In an effort to bolster India’s female population and encourage population-control initiatives, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced in September that it will provide free education to the grade-6 through grade-12 daughters of single-child families. In addition, female researchers will receive fellowship offers from the Indian Ministry of Education for postgraduate studies, while families with only two girls are eligible to receive a 50 percent reduction in fees.

The plan will be available to all income groups, and will apply to all CBSE-affiliated schools. The deal is effective immediately.

— BBC News
Sept. 22, 2005

First Islamic University to Open

India has the world’s third-largest Muslim population, however it has no Islamic university. This will soon change with the opening next year of the Islamic University of Science and Technology in the restive majority-Muslim state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Offering both secular and religious subjects, the new university will accept students of all religions and ethnic backgrounds. The institution will be self-financed with no grants from either the state government or the University Grants Commission (UGC), which is responsible for regulating the nation’s universities. The university will, however, abide by UGC guidelines and seek affiliation. Courses will be taught in English and will include Islamic studies, microbiology, biochemistry, and bio-informatics and computer sciences.

— Pakistan Times
August 03, 2005

Japan

Private Campuses Moving Downtown

As a reaction to Japan’s birth-rate problems, an increasing number of private universities in Tokyo have announced plans to move their campuses downtown. In the 1970s and ’80s, many universities moved to suburban areas, placing importance on the study environment. Students today, however, are looking for more convenient options because of poor accessibility. For example, Hosei University is buying land and buildings near its Ichigaya campus, spending more than US$175 million.

Some of the relocated schools have had positive results. Toyo University received 5,000 more applications this year than in 2004, and Toita Women’s College’s food and nutrition department received 104 more applicants than the previous year.

— Daily Yomiuri
Aug. 26, 2005

Public Spending on Education Among Lowest of Industrialized Nations

Japan’s ratio of public spending on educational institutions as a percentage of gross domestic product was 3.5 percent in 2002, putting it 29th among the 30 member states surveyed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The OECD average was 5.1 percent in the reporting year, 2002-03, with the ratios in Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden surpassing 6.5 percent. France’s ratio was 5.7 percent; in the United States, it was 5.3 percent. Despite its relatively low ratio, Japan was ranked second in household spending on education, after South Korea, according to the “Education at A Glance” survey. The authors of the report suggest that Japan needs to do more about its overcrowded classrooms, with the average number of students per class coming to 28.6 at elementary schools, compared with the OECD average of 21.6.

— Kyodo News
Sept. 14, 2005

Pakistan

Government to Register Religious Schools

The government will soon introduce regulations mandating that madrasahs — religious education institutions focusing on religious law, teachings of Prophet Muhammad, classical logic, literature and the Koran — register with the government. Minister of Education Javed Ashraf Qazi said the authorities will close all unregistered madrasahs beginning in December.

All foreign students studying at Islamic schools in Pakistan will be ordered to leave the country, according to a recent statement from President Pervez Musharraf. Approximately 1,400 foreign students are thought to be studying at madrasahs across the country, some of which have been linked to militant groups. The Pakistani government estimates 1.7 million students attend as many as 30,000 of the schools, most of which emphasize memorization of the Koran. The schools have vowed to resist the regulations.

— Los Angeles Times
Aug. 1, 2005

South Korea

Universities, Industry Work to Increase Foreign Enrollments

South Korean universities and private industry have joined forces to attract and train foreign talent. The Korean Herald reports that Samsung Electronics has provided since 2004 tuition fees and living expenses for foreign students enrolled at Sungkyunkwan Graduate School of Business’s full-time English master of business administration (MBA) program. The program is a collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management. Samsung also pays the tuition fees for 10 students per year at Seoul National University’s master’s program in electrical and computer engineering.

Another electronics company, LG, is covering the costs of 12 foreign MBA students from Vietnam and Russia at Korea University (KU). With one semester costing US$11,205, KU’s program is the most expensive domestic MBA in Korea. After graduation, the students will be required to work at LG’s domestic corporation for two years, followed by two years working in their homelands.

— Korea Herald
Aug. 23, 3005

More Foreigners Register for Korean-Language Exam

The number of foreigners applying for Korean-language proficiency tests increased this year, reflecting a growing interest worldwide in the language, the Korean government reported recently. A total of 26,569 foreigners from 25 countries registered for the Test of Proficiency in Korean this year, a significant increase from 17,545 in 2004.

The number of Chinese and Vietnamese applicants increased the most, up 120 percent and 94 percent to 6,002 and 1,278, respectively. Japan had the most applicants at 7,981, followed by China, Vietnam and the United States (1,219). The test is used by foreigners whose native language is not Korean for employment and university application purposes.

— The Korea Herald
Sept. 23, 2005

Taiwan

Chinese Degrees Not Recognized

Government officials recently announced it will not recognize higher education credentials from mainland China. Permitting official recognition of academic degrees in China would have a negative effect on higher education in Taiwan, the government said. The statement came on the heels of President Chen Shui-bian’s comments that Taiwan would not recognize academic degrees from Chinese institutions during his tenure. If Taiwan did recognize the degrees, Deputy Minister of Education Fan Sun-Lu said, many students would go to China to study, and Taiwan’s more than 160 colleges and universities would have trouble filling spots.

Furthermore, Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu noted the rampant problem of fake academic degrees in China, and until the problem is resolved, it will be difficult to accept the Chinese degrees. Taiwan has one of the world’s highest ratios of university graduates and density of universities.

— The Taipei Times
Sept, 7, 2005

Number of Students Opting for Overseas Study Increases

Recent figures released by the government show that more than 30,000 Taiwanese students went abroad to study last year, nearly 80 percent of whom opted to go to English-speaking countries.

A total of 32,525 students applied for visas for academic purposes with foreign representative offices in Taiwan last year, up 23.6 percent over the 2003 figure, but down by 3.7 percent from the peak number posted in 2002, statistics compiled by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) show. The US attracted the largest number of students — 14,054 — while Britain and Australia received the second and third largest volume of visa applications at 9,207 and 2,246 respectively.

Canada and Japan attracted 2,149 and 1,556, both growing by at least 16 percent.

— Taipei Times
Sept. 22, 2005