|
Volume 14, Issue 3
COVER
PAGE PRACTICAL
INFORMATION REGIONAL
NEWS FEATURE
Masthead:
Learn more about WENR and its editorial staff.
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 WENR readers.
|
Regional
News
AUSTRALIA
— Times Higher Education Supplement The U21 project will work with Thomson Learning in designing its online content, and has received commitments from universities in Britain, Canada, China, Germany, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Sweden and the United States. But students in Australia worry that a transnational administrative body will legally bypass regulations on investment and quality control. According to one student, "The quality-assurance arm of this new university will have only three voting members — compared with the 225 members of Melbourne's academic board." Since degrees conferred by U21 will bear the names of all member institutions, that imbalance of standards could cheapen the value of a diploma earned through traditional, on-campus education. The protests have emerged in the wake of Gilbert's accepted recommendation that Melbourne University allocate US$5 million to the project. Other member universities are expected to contribute between $500,000 and $5 million each. The size of the investment, which is projected to return $500 million by its 10th year, prompted many to question the motives of the U21 venture. Skeptical students believe the international organization conveniently allows for its members to operate outside of national legal limits on the corporate control of education.
— Campus Review CHINA Chinese officials project that over 20 percent of eligible students will receive a higher education by 2015, an increase that will place its massive work force in competition with Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Many worry, however, that the drive to bolster enrollment has come at the sacrifice of educational quality. Observers within China have remarked on severe overcrowding and a general shortage of teachers.
— Chronicle of Higher Education In 1999, about 4 million students attended regular undergraduate institutions, and another 3 million plus attended adult-education programs. The changes, which came into effect at the start of this year, are part of a trend in Chinese policy toward the broadening of access to education.
— The Chronicle of Higher Education INDIA Currently, students in India enjoy some of the lowest tuition rates in the world. If the budget cuts are passed, tuition for students in the sciences, medicine and law could range between $1,500 and $8,000. Such fees would be far above the financial capacities of the Indian middle class, not to mention the country's massive poor population. The Ambani-Birla report, created in April 2000, aims to move higher education into a free market arena, which purportedly would gradually enhance the quality of education and improve institutions' facilities. Both students and professors have protested the plan, calling it a clear avoidance of responsibility on behalf of the government to provide for its people.
— Chronicle of Higher Education JAPAN Japanese government officials recently announced their intention to make national universities more independent, forcing schools to increase their revenue through tuition hikes and operations cutbacks. Hasumi called the plan a political ploy, intended to reduce the number of civil servants by the 25 percent previously pledged by the government. In addition, Hasumi criticized the country's public funding for universities, which he says is chronically insufficient. Japan gives about 0.5 percent of its GDP to higher education, whereas the United States and France invest around 1 percent, he said.
— The Japan Times Relative to the United States, Japanese education places less emphasis on student-teacher cooperation, a crucial ingredient in effective online learning. However, in its recommendation, the ministry made clear that online courses could only be accredited if teachers were accessible by e-mail. Many are skeptical that this forced relationship will appeal to students and teachers, and that as a result, online courses will suffer. In addition, while some insist the opening of the Japanese market will boost U.S. distance-education development, there is doubt surrounding the level of enthusiasm for courses conducted in English.
— The Chronicle of Higher Education MALAYSIA Mahathir also called for the extension of quality education into the countryside, where students traditionally have lacked the resources to compete with their urban-trained colleagues. The Malaysian education system has been accused of being racist and segregationist for its sharp drop-off in educational resources outside its urban centers. In addition, the plan will promote: • A greater emphasis on lifelong learning and distance education • A strengthening of student discipline in state schools • The inclusion of students at technical and private schools in the government's study loan policies The basic objective of the plan is to increase productivity behind a growing population of learned and highly skilled technological workers.
SINGAPORE The three national universities — National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Singapore Management University (SMU) — take in a total of 10,000 new students yearly. To reach the government's goal of 15,000 would mean that enrollments at NUS and NTU, which together account for 80 percent of student enrollments, could increase by as much as 50 percent. Officials at the universities complain that such an undertaking would necessitate a significant bolstering of resources and funding to maintain their educational standards and positions as top-tier research institutions. An alternative to the inflation of current institutions would be the establishment of a fourth university. The plan is part of the country's efforts to develop the burgeoning knowledge-based economy, which has strained the national supply of highly skilled workers.
— Straits Times SOUTH KOREA Officials at the school said it was their contribution to society, since the government lacks any support program for overseas adoptees. The school has also set up a homepage catering to this group.
— Korea Herald
E-mail
your comments to the editor.
|
