Afghanistan

SDSU Awarded $2 Million World Bank Contract to Work in Afghanistan

The Afghan Ministry of Higher Education has awarded San Diego State University a nearly US$2 million contract to assist Nangarhar University, located in Jalalabad, in re-establishing higher education programs. Funded by the World Bank, the contract will establish a three-year project to help Nangarhar University train faculty in English language instruction, develop a four-year English language program, create an International Learning Center and expand information technology resources. The two universities have been working together since March 2004, with funding from charitable and private sources.

— SDSUniverse
Jan. 16, 2007

Australia

Northeastern Joins two Other U.S. Universities with Campuses Down Under

Northeastern University is preparing to offer classes in Australia, joining two other U.S. universities already operating branch campuses in that country. According to officials from Northeastern, one of the main reasons for setting up in Australia is the high proportion of international students studying there — students Northeastern hopes to recruit for its graduate programs. Northeastern is offering postgraduate degrees in business under a tie-up arrangement with Swinburne University. Students will graduate with dual degrees from both campuses. Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Mellon became the first international university to set up a campus in Australia last year. For-profit education provider Kaplan is currently seeking accreditation to offer undergraduate and graduate degrees through vocational program provider Tribeca Learning, which it acquired last year. Swinburne officials have been quoted as saying that the Australian-American university partnership might also look at joint opportunities in other countries, especially in Asia.

— News.com (The Australian)
Dec. 2, 2006

Diploma Supplement Template in the Offing

A consortium of 14 universities will draw up a template for an Australian diploma supplement to help graduates move between jobs and institutions in Australia and abroad, the government announced in January. The decision to adopt an Australian diploma has been inspired by the Bologna process, a European higher education reform movement comprising 45 countries working toward harmonizing degree structures. The European supplement, which is already in use, is a document of several pages that is attached to a credential and describes the nature, level, context, content and status of the studies successfully completed by the individual named on the original qualification. The aim of the supplement is to assist students and employers, both at home and abroad, in verifying academic credentials and facilitating academic and professional mobility.

— The Australian
Jan. 10, 2007

1 in 3 Foreign Students Lacks Necessary English Skills for University Study

A third of all foreign students studying in Australia speak such poor English that they should never have been admitted in the first place, according to a report by researchers at Monash University. The report, which is based on results of language tests of foreign students who graduated from Australian universities and who obtained permanent resident visas in the 2005-06 academic year, states that a third of all students applying for visas fell short of required spoken-language skills. In recent weeks fuel has been added to the fire with Australian academics quoted in newspaper reports as having been pressured to inflate grades for international students. The release of the report has prompted education officials to publicly state that they will toughen English-language requirements from July of next year. There are currently 239,000 foreign students in Australia. About a third will seek to stay and work — a process the government encourages to meet skills shortages.

— The Age
Jan. 29, 2007

1,000 Saudis to Study in Australia on Government Scholarships

In September last year the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education released the names of the recipients of the King Abdullah Scholarships. Over 990 recipients will make up the initial cohort of students heading to Australia through this program.

— Australia Education International
Jan. 24, 2007

China

Rising Tuition Pricing Students out of Market

According to a report released by the China Youth and Children Research Center in December, tuition at Chinese universities has increased 25-fold since 1989, far faster than growth in personal income, which is putting higher education out of the reach of many students. By comparison, the national research institute found that the annual incomes of urban residents had only quadrupled over the same period.

— The Chronicle of Higher Education
Jan. 25, 2007

Enrollment Growth to be Limited

The Ministry of Education announced in January that it will allow higher-education enrollments to grow by only 5 percent this year as it attempts to reduce the burden on universities, which have been struggling to accommodate record numbers of students in recent years. State-run Xinhua News Agency reported that China’s universities and colleges would enroll 5.7 million students in 2007, an increase of 5 percent from a year earlier and down from double-digit growth in recent years. The announcement is in line with current higher education policies designed to reduce enrollment growth while improving the quality and conditions of higher education. The government also announced that enrollment increases for this year would focus on the less-developed western regions of China, where the ministry wants to expand higher education. In 1999, under public pressure to provide more educational opportunities, Chinese universities enrolled a record 1.6 million students, up 48 percent from 1998. In 2005, five million new students were enrolled, 4.7 times more than in 1998, said the news agency.

— Xinhua
Jan. 25, 2007

New Policy to Improve the Vocational Education Sector

In November 2006, the Chinese Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission launched the State Pilot Tertiary Vocational Institutions Capacity Building Plan. The details of the plan focus on addressing capacity building in China’s vocational education sector by increasing funds to 100 pilot tertiary vocational institutions and 1,000 pilot secondary vocational institutions over three years from 2006.

— Australia Education International
Jan. 31, 2007

Fewer Enrolling in Graduate Studies

After dramatic increases in tertiary enrollments over the past decade — especially at the graduate level – there are signs that enthusiasm for pursuing higher degrees is on the wane, largely because holding a master’s degree or doctorate no longer offers any guarantee of finding a suitable job. According to figures from the Ministry of Education, the total number of candidates enrolling for master’s programs nationwide this year is roughly the same as in 2006. However, in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing, the number has dropped considerably. In Beijing, for example, there are about 5,000 fewer applicants for master’s programs this year than last year. At elite Tsinghua University alone, the total number of applicants has decreased this year by 1,000, to 12,000. The drop in applications is generally attributed to the fact that employers are currently thought to be more interested in hiring those with practical experience than with higher degrees. In 1982, there were only 11,000 graduate students across the country, while in 2006, the number grew by 30 times to reach 340,000, mainly thanks to the education authorities’ decision to expand postgraduate student enrollment in 1999.

— Asia Times
Feb 8, 2007

India

Advisory Body Calls for Major Reforms in University Education

In a report released to the public in January, India’s Knowledge Commission has advised the government that it needs to increase the number of universities in the country to 1,500 by 2015, from 350 now. Such an increase would help raise the proportion of 18- to 24-year-olds entering tertiary education to a minimum of 15 percent, up from 7 percent now, which is only half the average for Asia, according to the authors of the report. The report stresses it is imperative standards are not diluted through the increase. Prime Minister Mamohan Singh received the report in November after requesting the formation of the commission in June 2005. The report recommends an increase in government spending for higher education to at least 1.5 percent of gross domestic product, out of a total of at least 6 percent of gross domestic product for all education, in order for its goals to be met. Government funds would have to be supplemented by alternate sources of funding. The report also calls for a need to establish an independent regulatory authority for higher education that can make serious reforms in university governance, and can clear the way for the introduction of high quality foreign institutions into the Indian tertiary sector.

— The Chronicle of Higher Education
Jan.16, 2007

Top U.S., Indian Business Schools Develop Exchange Partnership

Columbia Business School and the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad in January announced a partnership that will initially focus on student exchange programs. The two schools will design and host an international study program for students of both institutions that will allow for practical, first-hand knowledge of global business through executive presentations and field visits to top businesses both in India and the U.S.

— Ascribe Newswire
Jan. 18, 2007

Japan

Patriotism Back on the School Agenda

Japanese students need to work harder, spend more time in school and face stricter discipline, advisers to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in January report. Also high on the premier’s list of education-related priorities is a revival of national pride in the nation’s classrooms, part of his goal of making Japan a “beautiful country” proud of its past and committed to a greater global role. Parliament in December enacted a law that would help inject more patriotism into Japanese schools, although critics said this would do little to resolve other high-priority problems such as bullying.

— Reuters
Jan. 24, 2007

Chinese University in Osaka, Japan?

The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reports that the Osaka municipal government has entered discussions with Tongji University, a prestigious national university located in Shanghai, on hosting a branch of the Chinese university later in 2007. The Chinese university has reportedly reacted positively to the offer, and the two parties are currently discussing details such as size, location and curriculum. If the project is realized, it will be the first branch of a Chinese university to open in Japan.

— Yomiuri Shimbun
Feb. 12, 2007

Malaysia

Ministry Sets Lofty Goals in Attracting Foreign Students

The Malaysian Higher Education Ministry has its sights set on attracting 20 percent more foreign students each year to the country’s institutions of higher education. As part of its bid to do so, a new division of the ministry has been established specifically to help ease the entry process for foreign students, and to aid them during their stay. According to deputy minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat, Malaysia currently hosts 53,000 international students and would like to see that number grow to upwards of 100,000 by the year 2010. In an effort to become one of the world’s premier study abroad destinations, the Higher Education Ministry has also charged the Malaysian Qualifying Agency with establishing new standards for evaluating the quality of education at all the nation’s universities and colleges. The ministry has also marketed its nation’s educational offerings through promotions in the countries of North Africa, Western Asia, Vietnam, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

— Bernama
Jan. 7, 2007

6 University Colleges to be Upgraded to Universities

Six university colleges will be upgraded to universities in 2007 raising the number of public universities in Malaysia to 18. However, all six will maintain their focus on hands-on training in the area of science, technology and engineering.

The colleges to be upgrade are: Kolej Universiti Kejuruteraan Utara Malaysia, (Universiti Malaysia Perlis); Kolej Universiti Sains dan Teknologi Malaysia (Universiti Malaysia Terengganu); Kolej Universiti Kejuruteraan dan Teknologi Malaysia (Universiti Malaysia Pahang); Kolej Universiti Teknikal Kebangsaan Malaysia (Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Malacca); Kolej Universiti Islam Malaysia in Nilai, Negri Sembilan (Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia); Kolej Universiti Teknologi Tun Hussein Onn (Universiti Teknologi Tun Hussein).

— The STAR
Dec. 13, 2006

New Zealand

Universities to Receive Hundreds of Saudi Students Under Scholarship Scheme

Almost 350 Saudi Arabian students will study at New Zealand universities next year under a scholarship program for Asia and Oceania recently announced by Saudi King Abdullah, according to a statement from Tertiary Education Minister Michael Cullen in February. Under the King Abdullah Scholarship Program, the Saudi government has already sent some 20,000 students abroad for higher studies. Officials said another 8,000 students would benefit from scholarship grants, taking the total tally this year to 28,000.

— Education New Zealand
Feb 1, 2007

Pakistan

Higher Education Standards Questioned Despite Big Increase in Spending

Although spending on higher education amounts to just 0.5 percent of Pakistan’s GDP, it has increased sevenfold since 2002 to approximately US$449-million. Much of the funding has come from the United States and other NATO member countries keen to help slow a perceived rise in Islamic fundamentalism since 9/11. The spending and associated reform measures are being directed by Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission; perceptions on the efficacy of those reforms are mixed. Priority areas for the commission include schemes to enroll more students in Ph.D. programs, both at home and abroad, to hire foreign faculty members, to establish new universities throughout the country, and to collaborate with foreign partners to open nine new engineering universities. Five law schools and several medical schools are also planned.

More than 800 Pakistani students, supported by the government, are working toward doctorates in engineering or the sciences abroad — up from approximately 20 in 2002; newly established universities have allowed enrollments to increase from 2.9 percent of college-age students to 3.8 in four years. The number of public universities has more than doubled from approximately 25 a decade ago. However, lax regulatory standards have allowed unaccredited foreign and low-quality private and provincial universities to establish in the country.

The need for more doctorate-holding faculty is acute; however, the program to recruit more foreign faculty has been particularly controversial with accusations that those who have been recruited are unsuitable, oftentimes cannot speak English and are not active in research. Over the next five years, the government wants to increase the number of Ph.D.’s produced annually to 1,500, up from about 30 today. But critics say that many current students do not meet minimum academic qualifications, and that the sharp increase in the number of doctoral students has overwhelmed the professors who are supposed to supervise them.

— The Chronicle of Higher Education
Jan. 19, 2007

Singapore

International Students Face Tuition Hike

International students studying in Singapore will be hit with a 30 percent tuition hike from 2009, according to a recent announcement from the Ministry of Education. The move is part of an effort to implement a three-tiered tuition structure at pubic institutions of higher education, where citizens will pay 50 percent less than foreigners, while permanent residents will pay fees somewhere between the two. Approximately 43,700 students are enrolled at public universities in Singapore, and international students make up 20 percent of that number. In the technical sector, almost 9 percent of 80,500 students hail from overseas. The government has expressed confidence that the fee hikes will not impact those numbers.

— Business Standard
Feb. 1, 2007