Sept./Oct. 2000 Volume 13, Issue 5 CONTENTS COVER PAGE Return to cover page PRACTICAL INFORMATION [Free Access] Malaysia's System of Education REGIONAL NEWS [Subscribers only] Africa The Americas Asia & Pacific Europe Middle East FEATURE [Subscribers only] Book Discusses the Pros and Cons of Distance Education NEWS YOU CAN USE [Subscribers only] Cyprus: Private Tertiary Education Programs Accredited by the Ministry Of Education And Culture INFO Masthead: Learn more about eWENR and its editorial staff. Subscriptions: Don't miss future issues of eWENR. Workshops: See a listing of upcoming workshops sponsored by WES. Search or Browse WENR Archives: View back issues of this newsletter or search for specific words or terms. Useful Links: See a list of Web sites that may be helpful to eWENR readers. BREAKING NEWS WES opens new office in Toronto.

Regional News  The Americas   CANADA Canada's recent budgetary woes have meant less money for universities (traditionally funded by the taxpayer). Government revenues for higher education dropped from 80 percent in 1988 to only 65 percent in 1998. As a result, class sizes have increased and tuition fees have gone up at many schools to the detriment of the student. The average Canadian student racks up a debt of about $16,900 by the time he or she graduates from college. To compensate for the cutbacks, some universities are offering costly graduate programs paid for by large companies. Others have tried to enter into corporate partnerships and attract wealthy donors. There are several new private institutions in Ontario. But many Canadians do not relish the thought of their universities being transformed into expensive American-style colleges. Although the government has now finally pulled itself out of the red and is running a surplus, educators are worried that the provinces may decide to put most of their extra federal funding into health and welfare, instead of public higher education. Doubly worrying is the fact that student numbers are projected to rise 20 percent by 2010 (40 percent in Ontario), while the number of teachers is set to decline. Many teachers are due to retire during the next few years and some Canadian academics have left the country to teach in the United States, where salaries are significantly higher. According to the Association of Universities and Colleges, Canada will need to hire 32,000 new teachers over the next decade. -- The Economist July 15, 2000 HONDURAS Graduate programs have finally taken off in Honduras. Before 1978, higher education was limited to an undergraduate degree called a licenciatura offered at the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH). Other qualifications such as the profesor de educacion media (secondary school teacher) could be earned from the Escuela Superior del Profesorado and agricultural degrees were offered at Zamorano's Pan-American Agricultural School and the National School of Forestry. Now, however, both of Honduras' public universities, UNAH and the National Teaching University (UPN), offer master's degree programs. Several recently established private universities, including the Universidad Tecnológica Centroamericana (UNITEC), the University of San Pedro and the Catholic University, also offer master's degrees. In addition, Catholic University offers a doctorate. The only programs at UNAH that award degrees conferring the title "doctor" are for medical doctors, dentists and pharmacists. These are basically five-year undergraduate degree programs. Until the1990s all Honduran universities were run by the state. However, a new set of laws authorized the establishment of several private universities, the first of which were the Universidad Jose Cecilio Valle and the Catholic University in Tegucigalpa. At the same time UNAH and the UPN began expanding their programs to more cities. Today, these schools have campuses in Comayagua, La Ceiba, Tocoa, Juticalpa, Choluteca and Santa Rosa de Copan. The trend towards post-graduate study in Honduras is largely a result of the growing need for university professors. In the 1980s, greater numbers of high school students were entering universities than ever before. Around the same time universities were in the process of expanding their undergraduate programs to include economics, tourism and computer science. As a result, there was an increased need for university level professors. By 1990, most university instructors only had undergraduate degrees. At UNAH, it was common for upper-level undergraduates to teach lower-level classes (they were paid as instructors). People become primary-school teachers after graduating from 12th grade at a normal school. Hence, the quality of education has remained substandard over the years. UNAH and UPN decided to open master's degree programs in part to facilitate the training of university professors in Honduras. -- Honduras This Week July 31, 2000 UNITED STATES About a year ago, Britain's Open University launched its U.S.-based sister institution called the United States Open University. The new institution introduced five courses last spring and enrolled nearly 100 students for the trial run. According to the university's chancellor, Richard Jarvis, the students were all working professionals. More than half of them were degree holders -- mostly bachelor's but many master's as well. Aside from business and computer science/information technology, Shakespeare was the most popular course offered. He said he thought that most students were interested in taking a course or a series of courses rather than pursuing a degree program. Many people interested in computing courses and information technology already held degrees but wanted to upgrade their skills. United States Open University plans to offer at least two-dozen courses this fall. The biggest challenge, says Jarvis, is to make the courses and curriculum palatable to American students. -- Chronicle of Higher Education Sept. 13, 2000 BusinessWeek magazine recently ranked the top MBA schools both in the United States and abroad. Following is a list of schools that recruiters say turn out the best students equipped with specific skills. General Management 1) Northwestern 2) Harvard 3) Michigan 4) Pennsylvania 5) Virginia 6) Duke 7) Stanford 8) Chicago 9) Columbia 10) Cornell Marketing 1) Northwestern 2) Pennsylvania 3) Harvard 4) Duke 5) Michigan 6) Virginia 7) Columbia 8) Cornell 9) Chicago 10) Stanford Finance 1) Pennsylvania 2) Chicago 3) Harvard 4) Columbia 5) Northwestern 6) Duke 7) Michigan 8) MIT 9) NYU 10) Virginia Global Scope 1) Pennsylvania 2) Harvard 3) Northwestern 4) Chicago 5) Columbia 6) Stanford 7) Michigan 8) MIT 9) Thunderbird 10) Duke Technology 1) MIT 2) Carnegie Mellon 3) Pennsylvania 4) Northwestern 5) Stanford 6) Harvard 7) Chicago 8) Cornell 9) Duke 10) Virginia TOP BUSINESS SCHOOLS OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES 1) INSEAD (France) 2) London Business School (England) 3) IESE (Spain) 4) IMD (Switzerland) 5) Western Ontario (Canada) 6) Rotterdam (Netherlands) 7) Toronto (Canada) * How the data was calculated: Surveys were sent to 419 companies that actively hire MBAs, of which 247 or 59 percent responded. Recruiters were asked to rate their top 20 schools based on the quality of the students and their companies' overall experience with business school graduates. Each school's total score was divided by the number of companies that hired MBAs from that school. -- BusinessWeek Oct. 2, 2000 E-mail your comments to the editor The eWENR staff welcomes your feedback regarding this article or the newsletter in general.  RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS