Regional
News
Asia/Pacific
AFGHANISTAN 
Students
Have New Curriculum; Access Still Limited
Afghanistan’s schoolchildren have a new curriculum and textbooks
that emphasize mathematics, science and literacy, while still incorporating
elements of daily Islamic life.
The curriculum
was developed by a commission of 100 teachers, experts and professionals
– 15 of whom are women. English will be taught from fourth through
12th grade, instead of starting in seventh grade, as it did under the
previous governments. Computer studies will gradually be made mandatory,
starting in Kabul, where there is enough electricity and equipment. Lessons
in human rights and logic will also be included.
Despite the
progress represented by the new curriculum, immense problems still exist.
According to education authorities in Afghanistan, approximately 1.5 million
children cannot attend school because there are not enough classes or
teachers. More than 70 percent of the country’s educational infrastructure
has been destroyed, and of the 5,063 existing school buildings, approximately
3,525 need major repairs.
Hamid Kharzi,
president of the transitional government, has established a high commission
on education, which UNESCO supports. The commission is charged with identifying
the country’s immediate educational needs and problems; formulating
proposals for education objectives, policy and development strategies
for the revival of education in Afghanistan; and how these should be enshrined
in the new constitution. The commission will present its work to Afghan
authorities in Kabul in May.
—
Institute
for War and Peace Reporting
April 15, 2003
AUSTRALIA
Firm’s
Acquisition of Chinese University Breaks New Ground
Perth-based Amnet Ltd. has become
the first foreign investor to buy a university in China and incorporate
the institution into its operations.
The company
bought HaiLian University in Chongqing for US$16 million in cash and shares
in 2002. The university includes three schools – for primary, secondary
and vocational education – and offers degree courses in civil engineering,
banking and finance, hospitality, information technology and performing
arts.
Enrollment
at Chongqing’s first private university grew to 5,000 after the
first semester. Amnet is confident HaiLian will reach its full capacity
of 10,000 students in the near future. Under its new ownership, the university
will soon offer English-language programs supplied by RMIT
University in Melbourne and the Edith
Cowan University in Perth.
Following
the last Communist Party congress, the government established the legal
framework for foreign involvement in educational institutions. Over the
past two years, it has set down interim regulations on foreign involvement
in education institutions and has released working papers encouraging
direct investment in education (other than the provision of courses).
—
Campus
Review
Feb. 11, 2003
Unique
Knowledge Management Program Begins
The University of Melbourne recently
launched a master’s degree program in knowledge management, believed
to be the only dedicated, cross-disciplinary course of its kind in the
world.
The program
offers a postgraduate certificate, postgraduate diploma and a master’s
degree. Each course is designed to provide the skills and experience needed
to facilitate the development and coordination of knowledge management
strategies in a complex economic environment.
—
Campus
Review
Feb. 19-26, 2003
University
of Southern Queensland Moving into US Market
The University of Southern
Queensland (USQ) has announced plans to establish a USQ International
College in Seattle as part of an alliance of Australian and U.S. higher
education institutions.
University
Vice Chancellor Peter Swannell said the college will be a joint venture
with Washington state’s Green
River Community College and New York state’s Excelsior
College, and the first intake of students was expected in July. Under
the agreement, USQ will establish a college in Kent, Wash., enabling USQ’s
programs to be offered in Seattle by supported distance education in partnership
with alliance members.
The alliance
will open a gateway for USQ to offer its distance education programs in
the US, with community college students getting advanced standing into
USQ courses.
It will extend
to allied institutions of the US-based colleges and USQ’s Australian
TAFE partners, the Northern Melbourne
Institute of TAFE and TAFE International,
WA. Students from the Australian technical colleges will earn a formal
pathway to gain a degree in the US, with credits for their Australian
study.
— USQ
news release
March 13, 2003
Chinese
Numbers Swell Among Foreign Students
Recent figures
from the Department of Education, Science
and Training reveal that an estimated 140,000 foreign students took
courses through Australian universities in 2002. The recruiting agency
IDP Education Australia says this number
could be as high as 160,000. Approximately 88 percent were on campus in
Australia, while the remainder was enrolled as external students, who
by and large were in their home countries.
Of the 38,000-plus
foreign students who completed their courses, half were awarded bachelor
degrees and just under a third were awarded master degrees. More than
600 students graduated with doctorates.
Chinese students
– the biggest ethnic group among the foreign students – comprised
about half the 95,000 or so Asians enrolled. The number from mainland
China grew 44 percent in a single year, and China now represents the fourth-largest
source market for Australian higher education, after Singapore, Hong Kong
and Malaysia.
—
Campus
Review
April 2-8, 2003
3 Colleges
Merge to Form Swan TAFE
In Perth,
Western Australia, three technical and further education (TAFE) colleges
have merged to form Swan
TAFE.
The merger
of South East Metro, Midland TAFE and the Balga campus of West Coast TAFE
will allow more than 40,000 students to access some form of training when
Swan TAFE opens for business. The head office of the new TAFE will be
in Midland and will comprise five main campuses and a number of smaller
ones. The six curriculum divisions are: metals, mining and engineering;
building services and construction; aeronautical and transportation; hospitality,
manufacturing and allied services; business, finance and computer services;
and community and cultural services.
—
Campus Review
Jan. 29-Feb. 4, 2003
CAMBODIA
Khmer
Rouge Years Struck From Syllabus
Since 1979, most educators in Cambodia have chosen silence as the best
approach to the subject of the Khmer Rouge, partly due to the fact that
no textbook in a decade has touched on it. However, in late 2001, the
Education Ministry decided to include a new section on the bloody years
of Pol Pot’s rule in 12th grade social-science textbooks.
A few months
later that decision appeared to end. Politicians accused the government
of a biased account of the 1993 general election, a turning point in modern
Cambodia, and the book was recalled. Officials say they are working on
an updated edition, but refuse to say when it will be completed. Teachers
say they have no option but to strike the period 1975 to1979 from classes.
Despite the
ministry’s claims that it has not yet issued a new version, copies
of the book, minus the final chapter, mysteriously are on sale in the
capital, Phnom Penh.
Chhut Sereyrum,
a member of the committee that drafted the 2001 textbook, admits the historical
account leaves many questions unanswered, including how some Khmer Rouge
leaders were never prosecuted and how others live in prosperity today.
He believes the solution is to hold a war-crimes tribunal and lay the
ghosts to rest. He adds that it is still very difficult to teach history
from that period because many leaders are still in power, and careless
comments could leave dissenters in trouble.
To others
this is unacceptable, given the wealth of evidence against the Khmer Rouge.
Teachers in some schools are covering this period anyway, often using
supplementary texts, such as survivors’ accounts of their suffering.
Youk Chhang,
director of the independent Documentation Center of Cambodia, believes
that instead of waiting for a state-sanctioned tribunal, committee members
should conduct research for their textbooks. “They don’t understand
the difference between history and propaganda,” he said.
—
The
Christian Science Monitor
Feb. 12, 2003
CHINA
Work
Starts on New Shanghai Graduate School
The University
of Science and Technology (CUST) in eastern Anhui province is establishing
a graduate school in Shanghai. The school is scheduled to start student
recruitment in September for its programs in modern management, software
information and life sciences.
The business
school of the Hong Kong University
of Science and Technology and the Asian Research Institute of Microsoft
will cooperate with CUST in terms of supplying academics for the new school.
It is hoped that the institution will provide skilled employees for Shanghai’s
rapidly developing hi-tech Pudong New District and the prosperous Yangtze
River Delta.
—
People’s
Daily Online
Jan. 15, 2003
Rural
China Suffers from Escalating College Fees
In a country where education was once fully subsidized by the government,
many rural families are now finding tuition fees beyond their means, a
trend that threatens to widen the yawning divide between China’s
haves and have-nots. The funds that once allowed high-achieving students
to attend college no matter what their economic backgrounds are no longer
available. Instead, families now have to save, borrow and fight debt to
give their children an opportunity.
Through Confucian
teachings and thousands of years of history, China has instilled a great
reverence for education as a means of self–improvement. According
to the Los Angeles Times, only 6 percent of Chinese adults have
higher degrees, so many parents are willing to sacrifice whatever necessary
to put their children through college, as it provides a source of great
pride and is also seen as a ticket to raising a family’s social
and economic conditions. Students who pass China’s highly competitive
college entrance exams are assigned a college. If they cannot afford to
go, they rarely have another choice. Student work programs do not exist,
and low-interest bank loans, though being started, are thin on the ground.
Cuts in public
funding forced institutions of higher education to raise their fees more
than 20 percent a year between 1990 and 1997. In rural areas, annual college
expenses can amount to five times the household income, comparable to
a U.S. family with a $30,000 annual income having to pay $150,000 in education
costs. Today’s saturated job market in China provides no guarantee
for a return on a graduate’s educational investment. Competition
for jobs is so fierce that the Education Ministry has recently made employment
for college graduates a top priority.
—
Los
Angeles Times
Dec. 27, 2002
Study
Reveals Teacher Shortage
By 2005, China will have to recruit approximately 110,000 university professors,
says a report by the Chinese Ministry
of Education. The report, China’s first research document on
education and human resources, states that the student/teacher ratio should
be 15 students per teacher by 2005 and that 2008 will mark the peak number
of entrance-age students (124 million).
The document
states that due to a lack of resources, only half of those wishing to
attend an institution of higher education get the opportunity.
—
China
Daily
Feb. 19, 2003
Hefei
University to Add 16 Doctorate Programs
The Chinese University of Science and Technology in Hefei plans to add
16 doctorate programs after receiving approval from the Academic Degrees
Committee of the State Council.
The doctorate
degrees involve new and cross-disciplinary fields that the Xinhua News
Agency describes as “sorely needed in China.”
The programs
are: biology mathematics, mathematics physics, recyclable clean energy,
space environment science, structural biology, biology-related information
technology, biology engineering mechanics, material and design micro-mechanics,
information security for both electronic information engineering and computer
science, synchrotron radiation and application, finance engineering, business
intelligence, assessment engineering and media management.
—
Xinhua
News Agency
Feb. 28, 2003
22 Universities
to Test Alternative Admissions Policies
The Ministry of Education recently
gave 22 universities greater freedom in admissions policies. In a trial
run this year, universities will be testing a system of selecting students
through methods other than the traditional entrance exam.
Universities
will be able to interview students who come recommended from their high
school. Universities will also run background checks on the prospective
students, and then make a decision based on their own standards, which
will differ from institution to institution.
Qualified
candidates are those with provincial-level awards or those from the top
15 percent of their class. Although the process will only apply to 5 percent
of the total number of incoming students at each university, a recruiting
officer at Qinghua University
revealed, “This move is seen as a challenge to the long-standing
policy of using the national entrance exam score as the only standard.”
—
China Daily, Hong Kong Edition
March 13, 2003
GRE to
Electronically Test Again, SARS permitting
The Graduate Record Examination
(GRE) General Test will be delivered in two parts in China and Korea by
July, the United States-based Educational
Testing Service (ETS) revealed in March. The Analytical Writing section
will be administered electronically, while the Verbal and Quantitative
sections will still be paper-based.
Last October,
the computerized GRE exam returned to paper after several Chinese Web
sites provided questions and answers to the test. However, illegible Analytical
Writing essays in November’s written test led to grading problems.
In July,
ETS will apply new software to ensure the validity of the written test.
The software detects identical use of language – one of the red
flags from last October’s cheating episode.
More recently,
ETS had to temporarily suspend the Test of English as a Foreign Language
(TOEFL), the Test of Spoken English (TSE) and the Graduate Management
Admission Test (GMAT) in China due to health concerns related to severe
acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). According to ETS, the postponement
will affect 30,000 TOEFL, 500 TSE and 3,000 GMAT registrants scheduled
to take the tests through July 31. Since testing for the GRE is not scheduled
to resume in China until July 1, officials at ETS say they hope the situation
will be resolved by then.
Details of
new testing regulations, fees and registration are available on the GRE
Web site.
—
China Daily, Hong Kong Edition
March 21, 2003
New Regulations
Encourage Foreign Universities to Operate in China
New regulations on Sino-foreign joint schools clearly define the ground
rules for foreign universities wishing to establish joint degree programs
with Chinese universities. The new rules will add more transparency to
the bureaucracy of China’s education system and will encourage foreign
universities to expand their presence in China, the Ministry
of Education hopes.
Effective
Sept. 1, the laws grant Chinese legal protection and “preferential”
treatment to foreign universities that open programs in China.
The new rules
allow foreign universities to grant diplomas and certificates bearing
their names only, a break from the past, when diplomas and certificates
offered in joint-degree programs had to include the name of the host Chinese
university. Although foreign universities still legally need a sponsoring
university, the move is seen as giving more autonomy to foreign institutions.
The regulations
specifically encourage cooperation in introducing the advanced academic
courses and teaching materials in higher and vocational education that
are in urgent demand in China. Subjects involving the military, police
and politics are, however, strictly off limits, as are religious institutions
and foreign independently run programs.
—
China Daily
April 5, 2003
HONG KONG
Scottish
University Provides Hong Kong Students a Lifeline
Interactive
University (IU), set up by staff from Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University,
is offering 30,000 students free access to their resources for the next
four months. Students will be able to study online for exams while schools
and colleges are closed because of the severe acute respiratory syndrome
outbreak. The deal between IU and Hong Kong authorities provides a lifeline
for Hong Kong students sitting A-levels and Highers this summer.
—
The Times Higher Education Supplement
May 1, 2003
INDIA
Mumbai-Based
Authority to Regulate Minority Institutions
After a number of meetings, the State Cabinet arrived at consensus on
amendments to its higher education policy in response to a Supreme Court
judgment on minority and private education institutes in Maharashtra.
The Mumbai-based
Educational Institute Regulatory Authority (EIRA) will fix college fees
and, starting in 2004, establish minority quotas for colleges run by minority
education institutes. It will also regulate higher and technical education
courses through eight university sub-centers. A separate authority will
regulate medical colleges.
Foreign universities
running educational courses in Maharashtra will also have to be registered
with EIRA. Central Entrance Tests (CET) will be conducted for admission
to medical and management courses. There will be no CETs for engineering
courses; instead, students will be admitted on the basis of Higher Secondary
Certificate exam results.
—
Mumbai
Newsline
March 25, 2003
Sylvan
Offering Dual-Degree Courses
The South
Asia International Institute in Hyderabad, under the aegis of Sylvan
International Universities Network, will begin offering two dual-degree
programs in August.
The institution
will seek “deemed university” status. In the first two years,
the five-year integrated programs will be: bachelor’s in technology
and master’s in technology; or bachelor’s in technology and
master’s in business administration, in one of three areas: computer
science and engineering, telecommunication or engineering and electronics
engineering.
—
The
Times of India
March 18, 2003
14 RECs
Upgraded to NIT Status
On June 26, 2002, India upgraded 10 Regional Engineering Colleges (REC)
to the status of National Institutes of Technology (NIT), along the lines
of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT). Four more RECs were subsequently
upgraded, and three more are under review.
The move
to restructure the framework of RECs was done to address the demand in
India for scientific and technical manpower at the earliest and in the
most cost-effective way. Rather than set up costly new IIT institutions,
RECs that already had the existing infrastructure were upgraded to allow
for more autonomy through “Deemed University” status.
Like the
Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for admission into an IIT, the All-India
Engineering Examination is conducted for admission to NITs. Although the
NITs have been fashioned along the lines of the IITs, Minister of Human
Resource Development Murli Manohar Joshi stressed that they would not
be in the same league.
“The
IIT brand name will be protected,” the minister said. “That
is why admission to NITs will be done through the AIEE and not the JEE.”
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New
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Department
of Education
June 28, 2002
New
Regulations on Foreign Researchers Worry Scientists
New guidelines requiring Indian universities to seek clearance from the
federal government before inviting foreign scholars or before collaborating
with foreign institutions of education have Indian researchers worried
about the effects on academic freedom.
The guidelines
were passed down by the Ministry of Human Resource Development earlier
this year. The ministry cited “national interests from [a] political
security and sensitivity angle.” Essentially, the new guidelines
mean India’s 16 central universities are now required to gain permission
from the ministry before entering into any agreement, in both sensitive
and nonsensitive areas, with foreign institutions.
The guidelines
stipulate that when applying for foreign collaboration, Indian universities
must provide details of activities to be undertaken, cost estimate and
mechanisms for monitoring and evaluation. Permission must also be gained
to invite foreign scholars, visiting professors and participants in international
conferences.
—
SciDev.Net
April 4, 2003
India
Looks to Fill U.S. Need for Trained Nurses
Across India thousands of nurses are studying for licensing exams and
dreaming of better jobs in the United States, where an acute shortage
of nurses has caused hospitals to look ever further abroad for nurses
with graduate degrees, fluency in English and at least three years’
experience.
Previously,
recruiters used the human resource markets in the Philippines, Ireland
and Canada to find English-speaking nurses – but these sources apparently
are drying up. It is hailed by some as the next revolution, and since
the collapse of the Internet boom has cooled demand for India’s
technology workers, this may well be the case.
In response
to the demand for Indian nurses, training and recruiting companies are
springing up across India to prepare nurses for American jobs. In the
central Indian city of Nagpur, Dhanananjay Gawande is one among many,
diversifying from training software experts to training nurses. “This
business is hot,” he said.
While demand
for Indian nurses in the United States is strong, experts do not expect
the exodus to reach the levels of Indian software programmers in the 1990s
during the Internet boom. Difficulty getting visas is one reason. Nurses
can apply for an H1C work visa, but only 500 are granted each year.
Those lobbying
in Washington for eased immigration laws covering nurses cite the projections
of the U.S. government’s own Health Resources and Services Administration
that vacant nursing positions, which now total more than 110,000, will
exceed 700,000 by 2020.
—
The
New York Times
Feb. 10, 2003
JAPAN
Downsizing
Tertiary Education
According to an Education Ministry report issued in January, at least
35 of Japan’s 99 national universities are planning mergers within
the next three years.
The number
of high school students has dropped between 20 percent and 25 percent
since 1985, to less than 4 million. Although enrollments at national universities
have risen in recent years, institutions still face the prospect of declines.
A recent Economist article
forecasts that by 2009, the number of university applicants will match
the number of places offered. Junior colleges have been facing falling
enrollments since 1993.
Japan’s
Education Ministry is pushing hard for national universities to merge,
and although there are many dissenting voices, universities essentially
have to obey. According to many, the mergers are budget-driven. The ministry
says major layoffs are not inevitable, but many academics believe that
faculty members and administrative personnel will lose their jobs. One
rumor suggests that 35 percent of faculty will eventually lose their jobs.
Enrollment
at junior colleges plummeted from 446,290 in 1996 to 289,199 in 2001,
but the number of schools only dipped to 489 from 502 in the same period.
Ninety percent of junior college students are women. In the past, junior
colleges were viewed as “finishing schools” for women who
would work as assistants to male workers and then marry before the age
of 25 to become housewives. The colleges also offer training for such
jobs as dental hygienist, translator and flight attendant.
If junior-college
graduates wanted to attend four-year colleges, they had to start from
scratch. Now, with universities scrambling for students, more and more
of them are accepting transfer credits from junior colleges. But many
women, under less pressure to marry young and with more career opportunities
available to them, avoid junior colleges altogether and enroll in four-year
universities.
The first
mergers of Japanese national universities in over a half-century officially
began on Oct. 1, 2002 when Tsukuba University
of Library Information Science began to combine programs with the
University of Tsukuba,
and Yamanashi
Medical University started the process with the University
of Yamanashi.
In October,
20 more universities are expected to merge, with full integration and
enrollment of new students taking place in April 2004. Eleven other universities
have made apparent their intentions to merge but have not decided when.
A large number of other universities are seeking appropriate partners
or are in the negotiating stages.
—
The
Chronicle of Higher Education
Feb. 21, 2003
Exam
Reforms for International Schools on Hold
Plans to give graduates of international English-language high schools
the right to take entrance exams at government-funded universities without
going through daiken college pre-admission tests have been frozen,
according to ministry sources.
The move
follows a wave of public criticism and protests from non-English international
schools. Korean, Chinese and other ethnic schools in Japan are not included
in the Education Ministry’s decision.
On March
6, it was announced that graduates of 16 international schools in Japan
that have been accredited by Western education groups can take national
university exams, enabling them to bypass the daiken tests. The
international schools were accredited by one of three ministry-approved
groups: Western Association of Schools
and Colleges, the Association
of Christian School International of the United States and the European
Council for International Schools of Britain.
Since the
three organizations only certify schools where the main medium of instruction
is English, none of the Korean, Chinese and other ethnic schools in Japan
qualifies under the new plan.
—
Yahoo
Asia News
March 20, 2003
Ministry
Launches Plan to Boost English-Language Education
The Education Ministry presented a plan in March that will send 10,000
high school students overseas each year to study and will select 100 high
schools to provide advanced English education by the 2005-06 academic
year.
The five-year
plan for strengthening English-language education at public schools is
an attempt by the ministry to meet goals of improving proficiency. It
is hoped students can communicate in English by the time they graduate
from junior high or high school and use it at work after they complete
their university studies.
—
The
Japan Times
March 18, 2003
MALAYSIA
Council
Toughens College Entry Requirements
The National Higher Education Council has announced that Sijil Pelajaran
Malaysia (SPM) holders are no longer allowed direct entry to first-degree
programs at public and private colleges.
Previously,
a number of private and public institutions took in SPM holders for degree
courses. The SPM qualification represents 11 years of education. Students
wishing to enter degree-level courses now have to enroll in a foundation
program equivalent to the two-year Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia program
or its equivalent (e.g. British A-levels) to gain admission.
The Ministry
of Education has introduced these new measures to ensure that Malaysian
standards in tertiary education meet that of international standards.
—
New
Strait Times
March 4, 2003
NEPAL
15,000
Teachers’ Qualifications Questioned
An anti-corruption body in Nepal has started checking the academic qualifications
of teachers after an investigation found nearly 15,000 could have fake
certificates, officials said recently.
Details of
the initial investigation have not been revealed. However, an official
from the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority indicated
that the majority of forged certificate-holding teachers were from the
southern area of Terai, where forged certificates can be obtained for
US$150 to $500.
—
Hindustan
Times
Jan. 8, 2003
NEW ZEALAND
Cambridge
Exam Gains Equivalence
International examinations have been gaining favor in some New Zealand
schools as disenchantment with the National
Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) has grown. Following
that trend, the Vice Chancellors Committee
has given equivalence to the Cambridge
International Examination as a qualification for entrance into higher
education.
All state
schools must offer the NCEA but are allowed to administer alternative
exams. Students who pass the Cambridge exam will leave school with the
internationally recognized General Certificate of Secondary Education
(GCSE) and A-levels.
So far, 22
schools have registered to offer the Cambridge exam alongside or in place
of the NCEA.
—
The
New Zealand Herald
Feb. 8, 2003
Private
Providers Launch Association to Protect Interests
Six private education and training providers have set up a new association
they say will differentiate them from lower-quality providers and have
called for the government to cut funding to substandard providers.
Associate
Minister of Education Steve Maharey officially launched the Career
Colleges Association in October.
Quality has
become a key issue for private providers, with some in the sector saying
they have been tarnished by the failure of a handful of poor-quality providers.
Membership to the association is open to providers with more than 100
equivalent full-time students, an audit cycle of two years and above-average
completion and graduate placement rates. Association Director Dave Guerin
believes only 30 or 40 private providers are likely to be eligible to
join.
—
Campus
Review
April 9-15, 2003
PHILIPPINES
English-Language
Instruction Reinstated in Schools
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has restored English as the medium
of instruction in the nation’s elementary and high schools.
The new mandate
replaces the bilingual policy of the 1972 Constitution, which had attempted
to promote Tagalog and English as the nation’s two official languages.
Critics of the old policy point to a generation that cannot speak either
language fluently; rather, they speak a blend of the two, known as “Taglish.”
The Philippines
has long been attractive to outside investors because of the competency
of the human resources market in the English language. With this in mind,
President Arroyo made the difficult decision of reinstating English as
the language of high-school instruction.
—
Overseas, Overwhelmed
Feb. 19, 2003
SINGAPORE
More
Overseas Medical Degrees Recognized
The degrees of graduates from 47 medical schools have been added to the
previous list of 24 schools recognized by the Singaporean Medical Council.
The move
is in response to a current shortage of medical personnel in the city-state.
The longer list of accepted schools is expected to bring in more than
140 foreign-trained doctors in 2003, said the Singapore
Medical Council, which accredits doctors.
Singapore
accepts foreign-trained doctors from Australia, New Zealand, Britain,
Ireland, the United States, Canada and Hong Kong because instruction is
in English and the countries have systems compatible with Singapore’s.
—
The Straits Times
March 9, 2003
Cornell
Partners with NTU
Nanyang Technological University
(NTU) is partnering with Cornell University
to offer a postgraduate degree in hotel management. Classes are expected
to start in early 2004.
The Economic
Development Board (EDB), which has already brought in 10 top-ranked universities
to set up campuses in Singapore, now wants to bring in some of the world’s
best schools in the arts, design, hotel management and culinary arts.
The NTU-Cornell University agreement, according to EDB officials, is the
start of a strategy to turn Singapore into a high-quality, diversified
education center.
Course graduates
will obtain a degree from Cornell University and will face the same fees
as in the United States: US$30,000 a year. Students will spend two semesters
at Nanyang Business School and two at Cornell’s campus in Ithaca,
N.Y.
—
The Straits Times
Feb. 26, 2003
SOUTH PACIFIC ISLANDS
University
Gets Australian Boost
The Australian government plans to help the University
of the South Pacific expand its education and training programs with
a contribution of A$9 million (US$5.5 million).
Australia
will provide A$3 million (US$1.8 million) a year for the next three years
to help the university develop in the areas of governance, teacher training
and distance education.
The university
is planning to establish a Pacific Institute of Advanced Studies in Governance
and Development to help promote good governance in the region. Through
developing its distance education programs, the university will be able
to deliver a full bachelor’s degree in primary education to islands
that do not have campuses. The program is linked to the Virtual Colombo
Plan, which is a joint effort by Australia and the World Bank to bridge
the growing gap between countries that are information-rich and those
that are information-poor, through the use of new technologies.
—
AusAID media release
Feb. 21, 2003
THAILAND
Police
Crack Down on Illegal Tuition Schools
The Ministry of Education has asked
the police to crack down on illegal private schools after evidence of
their involvement in exam cheating.
Four tutors
and 58 Ramkhamhaeng University students have been charged with using pagers
to cheat in exams. The owners of P&G and Premier Tuition Institutes
were arrested recently and charged with operating tuition schools without
permission and illegally having and using radio communicators.
Police said
the two schools had hired other tutors to register as Ramkhamhaeng
University students, so they could take exams and copy the questions.
The school then sent the answers to the students via pagers.
—
Bangkok Post
Jan. 28, 2003
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