Regional
R&D Investment in Developing World Increases Significantly as a Percentage of Global Total
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has just released its annual report on science and technology investments, and from its findings, it appears the developing world has increased its share of global research and development (R&D) significantly over the last decade. The report, Science Technology and Industry Outlook for 2008 [1] , reveals that the share of global R&D accounted for by the non-OECD countries rose from 11.7 percent in 1996 to 18.4 percent in 2005.
In China, private expenditure on research and development reached US$86.8 billion in 2006 after expanding at around 19 percent annually in real terms from 2001 to 2006. Similarly, investment in R&D in South Africa increased from US$1.6 billion in 1997 to US$3.7 billion in 2005, Russia’s from US$9 billion in 1996 to US$20 billion in 2006 while India’s rose to US$23.7 billion in 2004.
– OECD [1]
October 27, 2008
International Ranking of Universities Planned
The European Union has announced plans to launch an international ranking of higher education intuitions. The ranking is aimed at encouraging international mobility. The European Commission announced it would call for proposals before the end of the year, with the first classification appearing in 2010.
The most likely format for the ranking would be one based on the highly regarded German Centre for Higher Education Development Excellence Ranking [2], which ranks departments, not institutions, across many subject areas. Such a format provides students with data based on their proposed field of study, rather than on an institution more generally.
Critics of other international rankings say they give too much weight to research-based criteria and institution size, while neglecting the quality of teaching.
– University World News [3]
November 23, 2008
Cyprus
Ministry Updates List of Accredited College Programs
The Cypriot Ministry of Education [4] updated a list of college programs in October that have been evaluated and received positive accreditation decisions. The list is available from the Ministry website [5].
– Ministry of Education [5]
October 15, 2008
Germany
State and Federal Governments to Work More Closely on Education
The federal and state governments are to increase education spending to ten percent of the country’s gross domestic product by 2015, a doubling in education spending. In a joint declaration they agreed on concrete reform measures designed to upgrade Germany’s education system. Also included in the joint declaration was a commitment to extend the Higher Education Pact until 2020. This will put into place structures necessary to accommodate an estimated 275,000 additional university students by 2015.
Chancellor Angela Merkel went as far as to suggest that Germany has “taken an important step towards becoming the Federal Republic of Education,” in a statement made after the education summit in Dresden. Federal and state governments agreed on a joint paper, which lays out guidelines and principles for education policy.
The reforms outlined in the paper address issues at all levels of the education system, from early learning for pre-school-age children, to German-language training, to lifelong learning. At the tertiary level, the reforms would raise the number of school-leavers starting a university degree to combat a shortage of trained specialists entering the job market.
“This is the first joint paper of its kind in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany,” stressed Merkel.
– Bundesregierung [6]
October 22, 2008
Greece
European Court Rules in Favor of Foreign Providers
A decision by the European Court of Justice regarding the recognition of foreign degree providers in Greece has caused widespread protest among students and academics in cities across the country. The court’s decision held that the Greek rules on recognition of diplomas are contrary to community legislation, and that degrees offered in Greece (or any member state) by foreign providers are the responsibility of the member state where the diploma was awarded, thereby denying any form of control, academic or administrative, to the host member states.
An action against Greece and another seven countries – Belgium, Ireland, Spain, France, Cyprus, Austria, and Portugal – was brought before the court by the European Commission for non-compliance under the provisions of Community Directive 89/48.
The commission alleged that Greece systematically refused to recognize diplomas obtained following education and training provided under a franchise agreement by a private body in Greece and an authority in another member state which awarded the diploma on the basis of a prior agreement between the two establishments. Such diplomas are awarded in Greece by a number of foreign universities, mainly from Britain, to students in a small number of liberal studies centers (LSCs).
The court’s decision was based on a rule that recognition of diplomas is based on the mutual trust that member states have in their respective professional qualifications. The rule states that a person pursuing a regulated profession in one member state is entitled to do so in another based on the equal recognition of credentials between member states.
Under the ruling, the host country cannot examine the basis on which the diplomas have been awarded, a major issue for the Greek academic community and the government. The academic community responded to the ruling with resignations, tough statements, mass protests, marches and huge demonstrations. University rectors argued that the degrees their universities awarded were effectively downgraded by equating them with diplomas awarded by the LSCs. Other institutions closed for a day and demanded that the government increase university funding.
The government has taken a market approach to chronic underfunding in the Greek tertiary system, and in doing so in effect supports the Court’s ruling. Lecturers fear that increasingly meager education budgets will lead to job cuts while students fear the introduction of tuition fees.
This year, more than 60,000 students were denied places within the public higher education system. Many of them will turn to LSCs as an alternative. The government has the option of increasing public funding to increase student capacity or continue pursuing its highly unpopular market-based approach. Considering EUR280,000 was cut from education in next year’s budget, the government’s current thinking seems apparent. The LSC’s Association has 11 members and there are another seven that cooperate with foreign universities.
– University World News [7]
November 9, 2008
Italy
Students Protest University Reforms
Hundreds of students protesting planned reforms to the Italian university system attempted to occupy a train station in Rome in November. Marches were also held in other cities, including Milan, Turin, Naples and Palermo. The student and teacher protests are the largest in 15 years, and are squarely focused on a US$10.2 billion education-funding cut and the elimination of 87,000 teaching positions, or 7 percent of the public sector teaching staff.
Protests by both university and high school students had been ongoing for three weeks prior to the train station incident. In early November, approximately 1 million people attended a mass rally in Rome.
The government of Silvio Berlusconi has proposed a number of changes, including cutting down on the number of degree programs, allowing universities to become foundations to get private funding and distributing some government funding based on performance. Education Minister Mariastella Gelmini said change is necessary because Italian universities “produce fewer graduates than Chile” and have a poor reputation. According to a new draft of the education reform bill, universities that manage funds poorly will face a 20 percent budget cut over the next four years and a hiring freeze. Universities with a good financial record, on the other hand, will receive additional funding.
– UPI [8]
November 9, 2009
United Kingdom
Overseas Students to Submit for Fingerprinting
International students seeking to renew their visas will now be required to obtain an overseas student biometric ID card, which will require fingerprinting. The BBC reports that the move represents the first phase of tighter visa restrictions, which will eventually affect more than 300,000 people applying to study in the UK each year. The beefed up regulations are intended to reduce the number of foreigners entering the UK on student visas with no intention of studying.
Students already enrolled at British universities will not have to be fingerprinted, unless their visas need to be renewed, but future applicants from outside the European Union will all need to carry such biometric identity cards.
The controversial move has been met with apprehension from British universities, which have become increasingly reliant on overseas enrollments to supplement inadequate public funding and subsidized tuition fees paid by British citizens and those from other EU countries. Currently, one in seven students applying to British universities are from overseas.
From next year, universities will also be expected to monitor whether students are really attending courses. The new rules for overseas students are part of a “clamp down on bogus students,” announced by the Home Office, which also include measures to make institutions submit for a license from the UK Border Agency, without which they will not be able to enroll foreign students legally. Almost 300 bogus colleges have been uncovered in the past three years. From next March, overseas students will need to be sponsored by a college or university holding a Border Agency license. Institutions will also be required to report to the agency if students are failing to attend courses.
– The BBC [9]
November 25, 2008
Location Trumps Cost for International Students
Students from abroad are more concerned with location and reputation than fees, and London is their number one choice, according to a study by researchers at Lancaster University [10].
Studying in or near the capital is one of the top priorities for overseas students deciding where to study for a degree in the UK. It matters more to them than how much their program costs, which for undergraduate students from outside the European Union ranges from US$10,300 per year at the University of the Highlands and Islands [11] to $31,200 per year at Imperial College London [12] for 2008-09. Second on the list of concerns? Where the university places in program and institution rankings.
Economics lecturers, Dr Kwok Soo and Dr Caroline Elliott, analyzed how international business and engineering students chose where to study at 97 universities between 2002 and 2007. Their study used statistics from the universities and colleges admissions service.
– The Guardian [13]
October 23, 32008
Newcastle U. Expels 46 Overseas Students with Forged Credentials
Newcastle University [14] booted 46 international students from its campus in November after it was discovered that they had gained entry based on forged academic credentials. All but one was Chinese and had enrolled in Newcastle’s business studies program in September. Officials said most appeared to be the victims of bogus ‘agents’ based in China or the UK who were paid to submit applications on their behalf.
An investigation concluded that the students had their qualifications altered to state higher grades. The university said it first became suspicious due to the students’ poor performance in its English Language Assessment, which is compulsory for overseas students.
A spokesman also said that the university had contacted the Home Office and the police and called for tighter controls at all universities in the UK to clampdown on what he described as ‘a serious problem’.
The forgeries, mainly certificates for English language qualifications or degrees awarded by other universities, were said to be of such ‘high quality’ that the usual checks by admissions officials could not have identified them as fakes.
– The Daily Mail [15]
November 12, 2008
Oxbridge Injects Confidence into Faltering Diploma
Oxford [16] and Cambridge [17] said in November that they have decided to consider candidates with diplomas for admission to degree programs. It would represent the first time Britain’s top-ranking universities have accepted students from a vocational rather than purely academic background.
The British government, which has been disappointed with the rate of enrollment in the new diploma programs, welcomed the high-profile endorsement for the new work-based qualification, which it hopes will render A levels redundant.
The two universities will take applications from students with a diploma in Engineering from September 2009. The universities made it clear, however, that they would not accept students who come with other diplomas such as Hair and Beauty, IT and Hospitality.
The advanced diploma is worth 3.5 A levels and candidates applying for an undergraduate degree in engineering at Oxford or Cambridge must also take physics and mathematics for engineering as part of their diploma course.
– The Times Higher Education Supplement [18]
November 20, 2008