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PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Education in Ontario, Canada, Undergoes Changes

REGIONAL NEWS
Africa
Americas
Asia-Pacific
Europe
Middle East
Russia & CIS

FEATURE
The Trade Debate in International Higher Education

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Russia & The Commonwealth of Independent States

Regional University to Service Central Asia A team of international scholars is creating a regional university that will serve some of the most remote and poverty-stricken areas of Central Asia. The University of Central Asia will bring secular education to the people of Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The university will offer degree programs based on a liberal arts and sciences curriculum. The programs are being created to serve a new elite in the hope they will provide leadership in the region. Fees will be charged. Alongside the degree programs will be a number of continuing and vocational education programs for civil servants, farmers and merchants to be offered at each of the three campuses. A treaty, ratified by the parliaments of Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan has brought the university to fruition. The main campus at Khorog, in the Badakhshan region of the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan, is already functioning as a continuing and vocational education center. It is expected to be fully equipped for undergraduate and graduate studies within the next four years. Two other campuses will be built at Tekeli, Kazakhstan, and Naryn, Kyrgyzstan. The institutions will offer equal access to all, and a woman, Dr. Raikhan Sissekenova, is directing the first phase of operations in Kazakhstan. Cost for the project is expected to reach US$200 million, and funding has come from a number of sources. The Aga Khan Foundation has pledged US$15 million, and governments in several countries — including Canada, Germany, Japan and Switzerland — as well as corporations and other foundations are expected to contribute. Students will get a grounding in English and computers before beginning course work. All undergraduate classes will be taught in English. Adult education programs, which will be taught in regional dialects, will respond to local needs in terms of language and subject matter, and will retrain civil servants and assist would-be entrepreneurs. — The New York Times Sept. 3, 2002

BELARUS

McDonald's, University Beef it Out

A turf war in downtown Minsk has broken out between a fast-food chain and Belarus' largest public university.

The land in dispute is home to a McDonald's restaurant, which is in the sixth year of a 40-year lease agreement with the city. The city has since acknowledged that it had no right to make the deal because the property is owned by Belarus State University.

Despite the school's claim to the land, the restaurant chain has refused to accept compensation from the university and will not consider proposals to relocate to other desirable locations. The company is seeking damages from the university.

— The Chronicle of Higher Education
Sept. 27, 2002

KYRGYZSTAN

British Partnership Results in Four New Books

The Kyrgyz Russian Slavonic University of Bishkek (KRSU) recently concluded a three-year academic partnership in journalism training with England's University of Westminster. The program was funded through the Department of International Development to develop higher education institutions in the former Soviet Union through partnerships with British universities.

Central Asian universities lack basic resources such as textbooks, adequate funding and qualified teachers, and practical training, which is widespread in Britain and elsewhere, is nonexistent at KRSU. Such deficiencies were addressed by the British partnership, which led to the publication of four textbooks on television and radio reporting in Russian by KRSU professors.

— The Times Higher Education Supplement
July 19, 2002

New Kyrgyz-Turkish University to Open in Bishkek

The foundations for a new campus of the Kyrgyz-Turkish University Manas in Bishkek were laid this summer. The construction of the largest student campus in Kyrgyzstan, situated on the territory of the capital's former airport, will cost an estimated $140 million.

It is set to be completed in 2010.

— Pravda
June 28, 2002

RUSSIA

Russian Medical Transcripts Recognized in the US

Ulyanovsk State University Medical Department and 58 other medical schools in Russia are to be included in the International Medical Education Directory, overseen by the US Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG).

May, of this year, saw graduates from the recognized colleges given the right to take ECFMG qualification exams.

— Pravda
June 14, 2002

St. Petersburg School Partners with 5 Belgian Universities

The Leti-Lovanium International School of Management, established twelve years ago by the St.Petersburg Electro-Technical University and the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium), began a partnership with five Belgian universities recently: Antwerp University, Ghent University, the Flemish University of Brussels and Limburg University creating a new international management school.

Instructors from the five Belgian schools will work at the International School of Management in St. Petersburg, running the MBA courses and issuing diplomas from the participating establishments. Classes at the new school will begin in October, with an initial intake of 40 students, and tuition fees of US$4900 for the four-semester course.

— The St. Petersburg Times
September 2002

MBA Tour Heads for Russia

The World MBA Tour Virtual Fair is looking to include St. Petersburg and the North West Region of Russia in its schedule for 2003. The Virtual Fair is an online trade fair that gives access to a wealth of information on schools, programs and MBAs in general.

The event goes online a week before the actual event, giving those who wish to take part a chance to complete application forms that will allow access to the event. On the day of the event the fair is open for six hours and visitors can visit virtual booths, chat and interview with representatives from participating schools.

In the fall of 2002, the "physical" World MBA Tour will be visiting 32 cities across the globe with Moscow hosting the event on October 30 at the Radisson Slavjanskaya Hotel. Young Russians are registering in large numbers for the event with, according to an Oct.14 article in The Moscow Times, more than 1,000 Russians already registered to attend.

Representatives from about 70 U.S. and European business schools are participating in this opportunity to sell their programs to eager Russians. Among the institutions participating include: Fuqua School of Business Europe at Duke University, Georgetown University, Goizueta Business Scholl of Emory University, New York University's Stern School of Business, The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, Oxford Brookes University, and INSEAD.

Many U.S. institutions report an increase in Russian MBA student enrollments over the past few years. The most recent executive MBA business class at Chicago University's European campus in Barcelona has eight Russian students — 10 percent of the total — according to the program's managing director, Glenn Sykes. Rosemaria Martinelli, admissions director from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, said the number of Russian MBAs in the program quadrupled from three in 2001 to 12 in 2002.

In the current Russian business climate an MBA is not a prerequisite to success, however, most analysts agree that in the future an MBA will become a must for those who want to succeed in business in Russia.

More information on the World MBA Tour can be found at http://www.topmba.com.

— St. Petersburg Times
September 2002

— The Moscow Times
Oct. 14, 2002

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