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Posts from the ‘South Africa’ Category

18
Jan

HE News Brief 18.1.11

by Abby Chau

  • An academic paper entitled Ivies, Extracurriculars, and Exclusion: Credentialism in Elite Labor Markets is about to tell us what we assumed all along – elite businesses only recruit from elite institutions. A new study by a Northwestern professor says that top firms and investment banks only hire from the top five – Harvard, Wharton, Princeton, Yale, and Stanford. According to the report, applicants not from the top five go into the ‘black hole’ and are subsequently dismissed. The professor also found that it is not important how applicants from the big five perform whilst in the institution but rather the perceived prestige is what really counts.
    Full Story: Examiner
  • President Hugo Chavez has announced that he would veto a controversial new education law which would have given the government more control over universities. President Chavez’s supporters introduced several new laws last December before the newly elected parliament was due in office. The educational reform law would make universities comply with national development plans in all decision-making processes as well as changing the power structure for budgetary decisions. President Chavez said that his government was willing to recognise and amend mistakes. Critics are saying that the president’s hand was forced as opposition to the measure grew in recent weeks.
    Full Story: BBC News
    More: Wall Street Journal
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27
Jul

HE News Brief 27.07.10

by Abby Chau

 

From President Sarkozy’s higher education revolution to the second for-profit university in the UK in the last 30 years – here are this week’s news stories:

  • As governments around the world are cutting funding for higher education, French President Nicolas Sarkozy is bucking the trend and investing 1 billion euros into the sector. Under the new scheme, Sarkozy wants to revolutionalise the fledgling university system and make the les grandes ecoles, or elite schools, more accessible to poorer students. In addition, Business schools have started to merge, instigating criticism about how these schools and universities will be managed and made competitive.
    Full Story: FT
  • Pearson, which owns the Financial Times and Penguin books, is dipping their hands in the Brazilian higher education market. Having acquired Sistema Educacional Brasileiro learning systems business for 326 million pounds, Pearson is looking to cash in on the reported 2 billion valued educational materials market. With a romping 25% of Brazil’s 192 million people under the age of 14, Pearson expects to recover the invested capital by 2012.
    Full Story: Wall Street Journal
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6
Apr

HE News Brief 6.4.10

by Abby Chau

 

A few higher educational news articles of interest this week include:

  • Two Cuban medical students spoke at U.S universities recently, marking the first time in years such an exchange took place. They will discuss Cuba’s initiative to bring medical care to places around the world who need it most. Cuba sent 300 medical professionals to Haiti recently.
    Full Story: Washington Post
  • Israel is set for new educational reforms that will hopefully augment the availability and quality of higher education. Students will play a pivotal role in the proposed reforms.
    Full Story: Lariat Online
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