Bangladesh

Just 1 in 12 Have Access to University Studies

The last two decades have witnessed a dramatic increase in demand for university places across the globe, and Bangladesh is no exception. The problem for this South Asian nation is the same as that being faced by many developing nations; a severe shortage of places. In Bangladesh, this means that just eight percent of the nation’s high school graduates have access to higher education, according to a report by the country’s university regulator, the University Grants Commission.

The regulator’s 20-year strategic plan for higher education in Bangladesh says that at least 28 new universities will have to be established to raise the system’s capacity to 15 percent of high school graduates. Bangladesh has established only two public universities in the last three years, while the number of high school graduates has risen 17 percent.

– The New Nation
September 24, 2008
– The Daily Star
September 12, 2008

China

Sleeping Giant Becomes Fifth Largest Education Exporter

The size of the Chinese economy, the size of its population combined with over two decades of opening to the world have caused the popularity of a Chinese education experience to skyrocket. And now the country’s institutions of higher education are the fifth most popular among globally mobile students.

According to the Chinese Ministry of Education and its subsidiary, the China Scholarship Council, the number of international students at Chinese universities rose dramatically over the past decade, from 39,000 in 1997 to 195,000 in 2007 (only one-third of whom were pursuing degrees). The country now enrolls more foreign students than it sends overseas, and in 2007 the country ranked fifth in the world in terms of overall enrollments, behind the United States, Britain, France, and Germany, and well ahead of other developing nations, according to the Institute of International Education.

While foreign students are undeniably attracted to the country because of its dramatic rise to superpower status, both politically and economically, they have also been lured there by a concerted government marketing effort. This year the government announced plans to enroll 500,000 foreign students by 2020. If previous targets are any indication, the country will easily meet that target. China set a target to attract 120,000 students by 2007. It exceeded the target by more than 60 percent. A cornerstone of the government’s marketing efforts has been the development over the past five years of a network of hundreds of Confucius Institutes on six continents. The institutes form partnerships with foreign universities to promote Chinese language and culture, and by extension Chinese institutions of higher learning.

Currently, the great majority of international enrollments come from neighboring countries. In 2006, one-third was from South Korea, and the second largest source was Japanese students. However, with U.S. students ranking as the third largest group, the demographics of the international student body may be headed toward a more regionally diverse makeup. A recent list of China Scholarship Council target nations includes Australia, Brunei, Kenya, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, and Vietnam.

The recruitment strategy is twofold: economic and diplomatic. As at enrollment-hungry Western universities, increased foreign enrollments equal increased revenues; however, possibly more important for the Chinese government is the focus on diplomacy or its ‘peaceful rise.’

– The Chronicle of Higher Education
September 19, 2008

A Thirst for MBAs

In the 1990s, Chinese graduates from master of business administration (MBA) programs were a veritable rarity; today they are increasingly common. In the 1990s, those MBA holders in the Chinese labor market were typically graduates from foreign universities, with just a handful of universities beginning to offer domestic MBA programs. Inevitably, those with MBA degrees were in high demand and commanded high salaries at large domestic enterprises or multinational companies.

An MBA quickly became viewed as a passport to a secure job and high incomes, and thus the domestic MBA gold rush was born. Today, an ever-increasing number of Chinese universities offer MBA programs either independently or in joint ventures with overseas institutions. The first programs were officially launched in 1991 at nine institutions, including Peking University, Renmin University of China and Fudan University. A total of 86 students were enrolled, most of them university graduates majoring in economics and business.

By the turn of the century, the number of MBA schools in China exceeded 60 with enrollment reaching 10,000. MBA incomes surged. The average MBA graduate salary from the class of 2003 in China ‘s top 10 MBA schools grew between 64.3 percent and 116.2 percent in the three years to 2006. Since then, the supply of MBAs appears to have caught up with demand, and newer MBA graduates are finding it increasingly difficult to land their ideal jobs, while corporations in China have become more discerning in recruiting. That said, the corporate sector continues to expand and the demand for management talent has remained strong. By 2007, there were a total of 96 domestic MBA schools with a combined enrollment of over 20,000 students.

– China Daily
September 2, 2008

India

Two New IITs Begin Operations

Two new campuses of the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) were opened in early August as part of plans to add eight such institutes; both will have to wait for a permanent campus. IIT Rajasthan will initially operate from the campus of IIT Kanpur, while IIT Gandhinagar will offer classes at the Government Engineering College in Chandkheda near Ahmedabad.

India currently has seven IITs. Besides the two newly opened IITs, six more will open during the current academic year. The new IITs will be established in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

– Indo-Asian News Service
August 3, 2008

New ‘World Class’ Universities to Break Mold

India’s 14 new ‘world class’ universities scheduled to be established over the next few years promise to be substantially different from the country’s existing universities, with more academic freedom and less red tape to contend with, according to a report in the Indian Express.

With an estimated enrollment of no more than 12,000 students, the universities will conduct a countrywide common entrance examination, and unlike existing universities, they will also have a semester system, a curricular revision every three years, private-sector financial support, deans with at least a decade of teaching experience, and the freedom to offer faculty incentives in addition to pay.

The institutions are expected to be without any affiliation and to offer a wide variety of subjects, including natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, engineering, technology, and medicine. The plans for the new universities have been created by the University Grants Commission, India’s university regulator, and it is expected that many of the changes will be incorporated into the existing universities as well as by the 16 new Central Universities also scheduled to be established.

– Indian Express
August 21, 2008

Researchers Increasingly Hard to Come by

Good job prospects and attractive pay for young graduates are causing major problems for academic research in India. According to the annual report of the Human Resources Development Ministry, during 2000-01 45,004 scholars were undertaking research in the country, but by 2005-06 the number had dropped to 36,519.

In a recent Times of India article, professor P Duraisamy of the University of Madras said that, “this works out to a 4.1 percent negative compound annual growth rate in the number of registered research scholars during the five year period.” Duraisamy co-authored a report for the University Grants Commission on the gross enrollment ratio in higher education. Academics unanimously cite poor career prospects for PhD scholars as the principal reason for this decline.

There is also concern about the poor quality of research scholars. According to University of Madras vice-chancellor S Ramachandran: “The bright students land jobs in the software industry after graduation. A majority of those who join master’s degree programs are second grade students. When it comes to PhD, the level is further reduced with only the bottom third taking up research.”

– The Times of India
August 25, 2008

IIT Expansion Plans a ‘Disaster’

Plans to open eight new Indian Institutes of Technology this year have been dubbed a “disaster” by the Indian government’s top scientific adviser because it has not been properly planned, the Times of India reports. In May, the Indian government told the board of the prestigious institutes to open eight new institutes this year instead of the scheduled three, even as the seven existing institutes face faculty shortages of 20 percent to 30 percent.

“It is not child’s play,” said the adviser, C.N.R. Rao, who is also chairman of the standing committee of the institutes’ council, reported The Hindu. “To open IIT’s you need proper planning. I am very unhappy about it,” said Mr. Rao, adding that the new institutes were working from “makeshift campuses” and some were even holding classes in existing institutes, straining them further.

“These institutes have recruited students. There is no campus, no directors, but they have taken students,” said Mr. Rao, according to The Economic Times. He added that now “some patchwork” needs to be done to make the new institutes viable.

– The Times of India
September 5, 2008

Government to Work to Attract More International Students

Measures to reduce bureaucratic meddling and make India more attractive to international students are to be introduced when a new committee reports to the Government. The interdepartmental committee – which was set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to counter an increase in the number of complaints from the country’s 50,000-strong foreign student population – is due to make its first recommendations this month. According to The Indian Express, among the areas addressed will be the visa-application process, scholarships, and plans for a uniform fee structure, as well as improving English-language skills among faculty.

– Indian Express
September 8, 2008

Indonesia

Government Announces Huge Increase to Research Budget

The Indonesian government announced that it will increase its research budget by nearly 200 times next year. The research will be focused on strategic research projects aimed at improving welfare. The budget will be comprised of research allocation for the Ministries of National Education, Religious Affairs, Research and Technology and other related ministries. With this increase, the Indonesian government is confident that they will be able to establish research partnerships with other countries through its research agencies.

– Australia Education International
September 17, 2008

Japan

University Graduation Standards Becoming a Little Stiffer

The university graduation rate in Japan fell to 84.6 percent in the last fiscal year, according to a survey of 500 universities by Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun. Some commentators believe that this indicates a rise in graduation standards. In recent years Japanese universities have been criticized for the varying standards of their entrance examinations, and the ease at which students pass through university once the rigors of winning a place are accomplished. The newspaper survey also found that graduation rates varied among higher education institutions between 99 percent and 46.6 percent.

– Yomiuri Shimbun
July 21, 2008

Malaysia

First Apex University Announced

Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) has been granted Apex (Accelerated Program for Excellence) University status, which will result in hundreds of millions of ringgit in additional government funding in a bid to transform the university into Malaysia’s first world-class university.

Other universities that applied for Apex status were International Islamic University Malaysia, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Petronas and Universiti Tenaga Nasional.

– The Star
September 3, 2008

Initiative to Teach School Subjects in English Moves Forward

In 2005 the Malaysian government introduced a multi-million dollar four-year initiative that would see mathematics and science taught in English at high schools across the country. Three years on and the Malaysian government, Deakin University (Melbourne, Australia) project, and teachers are beginning to come to grips with teaching technical subject matter in a second language.

According to Associate Professor Ian Robottom, Associate Dean, International, in the faculty of arts and education, Deakin has developed a strong relationship with Universiti Sains Malaysia that has led to joint research activities, seminars, hosting of sabbatical scholars and the offering of the BA Science Education and BA Math Education for teachers in the region.

– University World News
September 14, 2008

New Zealand

Foreign Students Returning to NZ English-Language Classes

After a three-year slump in language enrollments, foreign students are returning to New Zealand in increased numbers, according to data released by Statistics New Zealand.

Statistics New Zealand’s English Language Providers (ELP) survey found there were 39,668 international students enrolled in English-language schools in New Zealand at the end of March 2008 – an increase of 1,940 (5.1 percent) from the year prior. The greatest increase in enrollments came from Saudi Arabia. In total, there were 665 new Saudis enrolled on English-language programs in New Zealand, up 35 percent. Since 2004, there has been a 708.8 percent, or 2,247 students, increase in Saudi enrollments. South Korean enrollments totaled 1,141, up 16.2 percent from last year.

The latest figures from New Zealand represent a significant turnaround, after foreign-student revenue dropped 56.7 percent between March 2003 and March 2006.

– New Zealand Press Association
August 6, 2008

Pakistan

Progress Report on Tertiary Reforms

Over the last six years, Pakistan has been moving to reform and drastically improve standards in higher education, a process a World Bank report labeled “a silent revolution.” At the helm of the reform movement has been the six-year old Higher Education Commission.

Speaking at a meeting of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World in Trieste, Italy, recently, HEC Chairman Professor Atta-ur-Rahman noted that research funding had increased by 2,400 percent in the past five years to a total of more than US$1 billion in public money, and that overall spending on higher education had increased 20 fold in the past seven years. Other notable achievements cited by Rahman include the introduction of a new tenure track system, with performance-based incentives of up to $5,000 a month, and a minimal rate of income tax (5 percent) on academic salaries; the hiring of more than 500 scientists and professors from abroad; 20 new central laboratories for researchers; the introduction of a $1-billion foreign scholarship program which helps approximately 2,000 students each year attend foreign universities; an increase to 8,000 in the number of doctoral enrollments; and the establishment of 56 new universities in the last five years with enrollment growth at 130 percent.

Perhaps the most notable aspect of the ‘silent revolution’ has been the partnerships that have been forged with universities in Asia and Europe to set up campuses in Pakistan. These partners come from Austria, China, France, Germany and Italy in the first phase, with Japan, South Korea and Sweden joining later.

– University World News
August 31, 2008

South Korea

Declining Birth Rates Result in Lowest Primary Enrollment Rates on Record

Declining birth rates brought the population of elementary schoolchildren to its lowest-ever level since the Education Ministry began collecting such data in 1962. Having hit a record low each year since 2005, the number of elementary schoolchildren stands at about 64 percent of its peak figure in 1970. There were 158,000 fewer children enrolled at primary schools across the nation in April this year than at the same time last year, totaling 3.67 million. The number of elementary schools, however, increased by 57 to 5,813. There are now 21.3 students per elementary school teacher.

Korea`s total fertility rate, or the mean number of children a woman bears during her child-bearing years, dwindled to below that of Japan, France, Italy, the United States and Britain. Another record-breaking statistic released yesterday was the percentage of high school graduates that went on to college. Almost 84 percent of high school graduates went on to college in Korea last year, way above the 50-something percent of most other OECD countries. The percentage has continued to rise from 26.9 percent in 1970 thanks to an increasing number of institutions of higher education and a growing demand for college education.

The share of non-Korean students enrolled in Korean colleges edged above 1 percent for the first time. A total of 40,585 foreign students were enrolled at Korean colleges, accounting for 1.14 percent of total enrollments. Chinese students accounted for a huge 72 percent of international enrollments, followed by Vietnam (3.6 percent), Mongolia (3 percent) and Japan (2.5 percent). Approximately 1,000 students (2.6 percent) enrolled from other G8 countries: United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Britain.

– Korea Herald
September 3, 3008

Universities Cutting Unpopular Departments

Many Korean universities are getting ready to discontinue or downsize what they call unpopular departments as they focus on more popular programs and reduce budget spending, reports the Korea Times. With the government planning to give increased funding to departments with higher graduate employment enrollment rates, the trend is likely to accelerate, according to the English-language daily.

Konkuk University said in September it is looking into the possibility of shutting down its European Union Studies and Jewish and Middle East Studies departments from the spring semester after taking into account their poor employment rates and lower enrollment rates. The university will also downsize its Physical and Music Education departments as demand on teachers majoring in such subjects has been falling, while it will establish an English Education Department to meet the soaring demand for English-fluent teachers.

Top-ranking Seoul National University is considering a merger of its three least popular departments – Asian History, Western History and Korean History. Sunchon National University in South Jeolla Province has become the first state-backed school to abolish its physics and chemistry departments.

– Korea Times
September 15, 2008

University Deregulation Measures Welcome News for Potential Foreign Campuses

Among a raft of university deregulation plans announced by the Korean government recently, one is aimed at foreign universities wishing to establish in South Korea. Although there is just one foreign institution of education currently operating in the country, a measure that will allow future institutions that open in Korea’s free economic zones (FEZ) or the Jeju Free International City to maintain the accounting standards of their home countries may attract more.

Such institutions will still be required to make public their financial statements to ensure transparency, while also being required to undergo accreditation by the Education Ministry. The one foreign institution currently accredited by the ministry is STC Korea, a Dutch graduate school of marine logistics, which opened in March in Gwangyang, an FEZ in the southwestern province of South Jeolla.

According to Koo Ja-moon, a ministry official in charge of university deregulation, in an interview with the Korea Herald, “more [institutions] are expected to come in, and they will be allowed to abide by the accounting standards of their home countries.” Local universities will also be able to run joint curriculum, the ministry said. But giving out joint degrees will be limited to professional programs in medicine, pharmacy, herbal medicine, veterinary science or teaching. The Education Ministry announced in September a total of 45 finalized measures for university deregulation.

– Korea Herald
September 16, 2008

Thailand

Government: Universities Must Improve Satellite Learning Centers or Lose Accreditation

The Thai government has told universities that they must improve substandard learning centers or have their accreditation revoked.

Beginning in 2010, the Office for National Education Standards and Quality will inspect approximately 300 learning centers around the country. The learning centers were originally established in a bid to offer courses to working students. They now offer undergraduate courses and training to an estimated 150,000 Thais. According to interviews with students conducted by the Bangkok Post, classes are sometimes held in dilapidated and dangerous facilities, and instead of being taught by professors they are often led by people without degrees or teaching experience.

If the government follows through with the accreditation process, it could be a sign that it is serious about raising education standards, which vary widely throughout the country. Two years ago, despite protests from universities, the government released the first ranking ever of the country’s higher-education institutions.

– Bangkok Post
September 15, 2008

Vietnam

Carnegie Mellon to Establish IT Program

In collaboration with Central Da Nang City’s Duy Tan University, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) will launch an information technology program in Vietnam.

Students graduating from the program will be awarded a degree from the internationally renowned Pittsburgh-based university. The four-year program will initially be offered in the 2008-2009 school year, and will focus on software engineering and IT systems, according to Nguyen Thanh Duong, Director of Duy Tan University’s Marketing and Student Assistance Center.

First- and second-year students will be able to transfer to an IT undergraduate program at a third partner, Seattle University, if they wish, while graduate students can go on to an e-business postgraduate course at CMU. Duy Tan University hopes to recruit 50 students to the program this year. Similar programs will also be offered at Ho Chi Minh City’s Van Lang University and Can Tho University under additional agreements with CMU.

– Vietnam News Agency
August 28, 2008