Category: India
HE News Brief 9.11.10
by Abby Chau
- Lord Browne’s report continues to dominate headlines in England as universities minister David Willetts announced last week that tuition fees should be capped at £9,000. Under the new system, students will not have to pay up front, it is only until they start earning £21,000 that the repayments will commence. Universities who decide to hike fees will have to create a special scholarship programme for underprivileged households. Universities are given a threshold of increasing fees to £6,000 with universities in exceptional cases able to raise it to the maximum. Lib Dems had previously promised in their manifesto that they would oppose the lifting of tuition fees however with the announcement of dramatic budget cuts of 40% in direct state funding for teaching, many in Parliament including Vince Cable, have changed their tune. Critics opposed this proposal decrying the free market method in Higher Education.
Full Story: Guardian
More: The Economist
- In order to solidify the Singh-Obama 21st Century Knowledge Initiative, signed last November, the US government and its Indian counterparts have reconfirmed their commitment to collaborate in Higher Education. President Obama’s recent trip to India is seen as an important step to this end as they announced the first official HE summit between the two countries will take place next year. There are currently 100,000 Indians studying in the US and with India positioned as a major player in Higher Education in the near future, President Obama and his delegation from Cornell University, Stanford, and UPenn are hoping to extend further ties.
Full Story: Hindustan Times
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HE News Brief 19.10.10
by Abby Chau
- The Browne report is still dominating headlines as ministers weigh in and the political line is delicately drawn around a leaked memo that says universities should brace themselves for a £4.2bn budget cut. The cut is more severe than universities were prepared for as degrees other than medicine, engineering, science, and modern languages would lose state subsidies. Browne’s recommendation is also facing scrutiny from the Welsh Assembly Government which says they are poised to lose £55million if the tuition fee cap is lifted as there are approximately 16,000 Welsh undergraduates studying in England. Wales and Scotland’s fate in England’s higher education debacle is not entirely clear.
Full Story: Guardian
More: Wales Online - The London School of Economics has announced a collaboration with the Reliance Foundation, which is an arm of the Reliance Industries group, run by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani. The partnership will work on setting up a world class university in India, focusing on problems such as expanding education to all segments of the population. Ambani’s wife and Foundation chair said they plan to open a university which is global and with “Indian soul”.
Full Story: Economic Times Continue Reading
HE News Brief 13.9.10
by Abby Chau
Here are this week’s news stories:
- The QS World University Rankings® published its top 200 global universities rankings, with Cambridge University taking the top spot, dethroning Harvard as the number one university in the world.
Full Story: BBC News
- The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) published its annual Education at a Glance last week. The report addressed the question of whether Higher Education is indeed necessary by pointing out that graduates are more recession-proof and they contribute more in income taxes than people who do not have tertiary degrees. It also argues that the future job market will be changing to one of a more highly skilled labour force. In addition the report proclaimed a dire sentence for the UK, with countries like Canada and Finland who are showing better graduation rates as well as spending more on Higher Education per GDP.
Full Story:Guardian
More: FT
- US universities are eyeing up branches in India – but not the elite universities first purported when the new law allowing foreign branches to open shop in India was first proposed to much fanfare. The so-called Tier 2 universities such as Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, Virginia Institute of Technology, and Georgia Institute of Technology have all expressed interest in setting up a branch in India. The law has not been official approved but the draft says that foreign campuses must leave 10.5 million dollars in deposit with the government, and teaching staff must have at least 20 years experience before they can be considered.
Full Story: New York Times
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HE News Brief 1.9.10
by Abby Chau
Here are this week’s news stories:
- University rankings hits its zenith in autumn, with different league tables pronouncing their take on a world-class university. The Chronicle of Higher Education has devised a nifty chart to compare Rankings and sheds a bit of light on which indicators are predominantly used, and which ones are ignored.
Full Story: Chronicle of Higher Education
- In a shocking directive, the Ethiopian Ministry of Education decreed that there is to be a ban on distance learning programmes across the country. Stating that distance learning is unnecessary at this point in the country’s higher educational development, the Ministry also said that quality assurance is a major priority. This will have a drastic effect on the estimated 64 private institutions in the country, as well as vocational education. Critics argue that this directive goes too far and does not offer solutions to the current problems facing higher education. Others are worried about the impact on current students – St Mary’s University College for example currently enrolls 75% of its students in distance learning courses.
Full Story: Addis Fortune Continue Reading
HE News Brief 24.8.10
by Abby Chau
Here are this week’s news stories:
- The glare on UK universities continue to mount as it was announced that over 150,000 potential students will not get a place at a university. Last year 130,000 would-be students were also disappointed. It seems as though, although worsening, this trend is not new. An article in the FT espouses the need for universities to be autonomous, as Whitehall still dictates the number of students who can study a specific subject at an institution.
Full Story: FT
More: Guardian - Asian countries, as oppose to their European and American peers, have well documented problems retaining the talents of young academics who often study abroad and take up residence in their host country. However there is hope that young and bright Indian professors will take a salary cut and return to their motherland. New opportunities in India as well as a chance to contribute to building their country’s higher education institutions, is a lure as western nations’ economic instability is making finding a job abroad a lot less likely. It is estimated that by 2020, 42 million 18-24 year olds will be competing for a place at a university and a 4.2 million lecturers will be needed to supply this demand.
Full Story: University World News
- Measuring student satisfaction has always been difficult but at the Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology they are administering a student survey in the hope of discovering what students are thinking. In collaboration with Indiana University’s National Survey of Student Engagement and with the backing of Tsinghua University, they are joining 49 institutions this year who will look at results in order to drive up students quality of life and teaching standards.
Full Story: The Chronicle of Higher Education
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HE News Brief 2.08.10
by Abby Chau
Here are this week’s news stories:
- More than five years after the Labour government made studying languages optional after the age of 14, the new Coalition government is looking to plug the hole in the second language gap by offering undergraduates and postgraduates up to two years studying abroad. Universities Minister David Willetts says that developing cooperation with countries like India, where a reported 40,000 Indian students study in the UK whereas only 500 UK students travel to India for academic studies, would make students more competitive in the diversifying job market.
Full Story: Telegraph
- As Britain has just approved its second private university recently, the U.S is delving deeper into its disillusionment of for-profit universities like the behemoth University of Phoenix which takes an astonishing 1 billion of government money this year in the form of grants. This op-ed argues that for-profits like the American Public University (who will be teaching Wal-Mart employees) and Kaplan University are here to stay as long as the accreditation process and the impotence of legislators continue to dominate the educational landscape. These issues no doubt will come to a head as President Obama is set to launch his highly anticipated “Race to the Top” educational programmes.
Full Story: Chronicle of Higher Education
More: New York Times
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HE News Brief 22.06.10
by Anisa Siddikah
From a dispute of a control USA-Indian project to the World University Rankings, Here are this week’s news stories:
- A $10 million project financed by the USA and India has been in dispute regarding who will control this project. The project is to enhance the ties between the two countries higher education system and promoting exchanges between junior faculty members in the American and Indian colleges. The USA are arguing they want full control of the project and India are arguing they want partial or full control. A senior Administrator at the Indian Ministry and a U.S. Embassy spokesperson deny there is there is a power control issue that exists between both parties. However The US government argue the Intuition called the India-United States Educational Foundation are best equipped to take control as they have the right sources, experiences and infrastructure. However the Indian Regulating Agency (Government agency that regulates India’s university) argue that the Educational Foundation is still predominantly an American organisation and not entirely neutral.
Full Story: The Chronicle of Higher Education
- Business Leaders are urging the British Government to think long and hard before they make cuts on university fundings. Senior executives from Shell, Glaxo Smith Klien, National Railway amongst others argue universities make a huge contribution to the UK economy. The British Government are planning to make £650 million cuts in the higher education. According to the University sector links between businesses and university contribute £31 billion directly and £59 billion indirectly.
Full Story: BBC News Continue Reading
Course correction for higher education in India
Matters in higher education seem to moving rapidly in India at the moment. The new minister is Kapil Sibal, who assumed office in May last year, and he seems to making waves. This is a revealing 2010 media timeline discussing problems and proposed reforms.
24 January 2010 – Education Reform Bills cleared
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20100123085918138
2 February 2010 – A qualitative expansion of higher education is urgently needed
http://beta.thehindu.com/education/article99065.ece
9 February 2010 – Course correction – stemming the rot
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/course-correction/577262/0
23 February 2010 – A super UGC? Strong reaction to proposed reforms
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/a-super-ugc/583104/
11 March 2010 – Cabinet to discuss five education reform bills today
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Cabinet-to-discuss-five-education-reform-bills-today/articleshow/5668886.cms
15 March 2010 – Timeline: Foreign Educational Institution Bill
http://www.livemint.com/2010/03/15162548/Timeline-Foreign-Educational.html
17 March 2010 – Foreign Universities Bill and its impact
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/03/17/stories/2010031750270800.htm
7 Apr 2010 – State must have greater role in edu reform
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/State-must-have-greater-role-in-edu-reform-Nigavekar/articleshow/5768860.cms
Discussions of this depth and nature reflect a higher education system that has become deeply chaotic. Against that backdrop, it is perhaps not surprising that the institutions in India that maintain the strongest reputations beyond their shores are those who embrace focus – such as the IITs and IIMs rather than the comprehensive universities that in some cases, due to demand, have grown so large as to become very difficult to manage.
If reforms are successful, a competitive, collaborative, open and compatible higher education system in India ought to be a daunting prospect and may have a direct influence on many universities reliant on inbound students from India to prop up their increasingly fragile budgets.
HE News Brief 26.4.10
by Abby Chau
A few Higher Education news articles to ponder before the long Bank holiday weekend:
- Measuring the quality of universities in Africa, particular East Africa, is a new measure established by the African Union in order to ensure the caliber of graduates. Universities are asked to respond to the African Universities Quality Rating Mechanism, a questionnaire that seeks to assess the quality and development of education and research at institutions.
Full Story: The East African
- Wales is outpacing England in recruiting under privileged and diverse students? According to a report from the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales, Welsh universities in some cases are recruiting more disadvantaged students than English institutions.
Full Story: Wales Online
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HE News Brief 21.4.10
by Abby Chau
The volcanic ash no doubt dominated headlines this past week. However a few higher education newsworthy pieces also managed to generate some heat:
- UK students threaten politicians with rebuke if they back raising tuition fees. The Head of the National Union for Students have identified 20 “student battlegrounds”, including Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Sheffield, Reading, Cambridge, London, Southampton, Bristol, Leeds and Oxford.
Full Story: BBC News
- Ecuador seeks to transform their higher education system, starting with issuing higher standards for professors. Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa said that it is crucial to have first rate professors and that rectors must play an important role in support this new legislation.
Full Story: Inside Costa Rica
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