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| September/October 2004 | Volume
17, Issue 5 |
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PRACTICAL
INFORMATION REGIONAL
NEWS FEATURE BOOK
REVIEW WES
IN THE NEWS
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Regional
News
Asia/Pacific AUSTRALIAOverseas Education Provision Fraught with Peril
The findings are based on interviews and 10 case studies of relationships between Australian universities and their offshore partners in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. According to the study, Australian universities have signed more than 1,000 agreements with offshore universities, industry associations and private providers. It warns that an absence of trust, commitment and good communication, especially in the “early interaction” phase of the relationship, often threaten ventures. Other factors that can spell failure include: low commitment from the Australian university; failure to identify the key roles and responsibilities of the partner; failure to establish “win-win” relationships’; and the departure of key personnel. The instances and magnitude of failure, the report states, is higher in those universities at the beginning of the international learning curve. The report, “Catch Me I'm falling": Key Factors in the Deterioration of Offshore Education Partnerships, was published in the March edition of the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management. —
The
Australian International Enrollment Growth Continues
Australia’s growth is in the high-demand disciplines of business studies and information technology (IT), according to Vision 2020: Forecasting International Student Mobility, authored by IDP Australia and the British Council. The report states that Asia provided almost 56 percent of the 1,096,000 international students enrolled in English-speaking universities in 2003, and it predicts that by 2020, when international numbers are expected to hit 2.6 million, more than three-quarters will be Asian. The limited number of student openings at home is spurring the rise in the number of Asians traveling abroad to receive an education, the study says. In 2003, Australia’s largest markets were from China (16,780), Malaysia (12,200), Hong Kong (9,480), Indonesia (8,890) and Singapore (8,690). According to the study, 36 percent of all students receiving a business education in Australia were foreign, as were 20 percent of those receiving IT instruction. In addition, the United States had more than 58 percent of the English-language market last year, and Britain almost 24 percent. —
Sydney
Morning Herald IDP’s Back Against the Wall
IDP has suffered a US$2.8 million turnaround in its 2004 budget forecast. It now expects to post a US$1.1 million loss instead of a US$1.72 million profit. The agency says three main factors are affecting the international education industry in Australia: increased competition from mature markets in Southeast Asia and traditional markets; structural fee changes with respect to international price setting in the context of domestic fees; and the relative increase in the value of the Australian dollar over the last 12 months. IDP employs approximately 700 people in 50 offices across the world. Of those, 130 are in Australia. Earlier this year, the agency sacked its country director in the United States. —
The
Australian CHINABeijing University Addresses Tenure Issues
Previously, lectureships were widely regarded as lifelong employment contracts revocable for only the most serious violations of university regulations. As of February, however, only professors can now enjoy tenured positions – associate professors, lecturers and assistant professors cannot. Rather, they are offered contracts of up to 12 years. At the end of the contracted period, a decision to offer a tenured position will be made on the basis of the quality and quantity of the candidate’s academic output. The changes at Beijing University follow human-resource reforms at one of the capital’s other elite universities, Qinghua University. Traditionally, Qinghua’s professors came largely from the ranks of their graduating doctoral students – a system critics say fostered nepotism and corruption. After introducing the so-called “Hundred Man Plan” in the applied mathematics department in 1998, only one of the 21 members of the department who are younger than 45 graduated from the university. —
Xinhua
News Agency International Education Expo a Hit
Sponsored by the Beijing Municipal Education Commission and the China Scholarship Council, the exposition is expected to become an annual event. More than 20,000 visitors attended the fair on opening day, according to state-run newspaper People’s Daily. —
People’s
Daily Fudan, Columbia to Offer Business Journalism Classes
Both universities have highly regarded journalism programs. The courses are part of the New-York based university’s efforts to help train media in developing nations on how to report financial and business news. According to officials from Shanghai-based Fudan University, upgrading China’s business new coverage is a top goal. Lecturers include Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz; Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Jonathan Kaufman of the Wall Street Journal; David Armstrong, chief editor of the South China Morning Post; Columbia School of Journalism professor Anya Schiffrin and directors of media giants in the Asia Pacific Region. —
People’s
Daily Qinghua, Beijing Universities Top New Rankings
The research for the rankings was conducted by a nongovernmental organization, Research Center for China Science Evaluation, which adds credibility to the results. The rankings were published in the education supplement of China Youth Daily on July 8. As well as publishing national rankings, the survey offered rankings by cities, provinces and municipalities. Previously, rankings lumped China’s 1,863 universities and colleges with vastly different specializations into one exhaustive list. The top 10 scientific and technological programs are (in descending order): • University of Science and Technology China • Shanghai Jiaotong University • Huazhong University of Science and Technology The best social sciences programs are: • Beijing University • Renmin University of China • Fudan University • Qinghua University • Zhejiang University • East China Normal University • Sun Yat-Sen University —
The
Straits Times Bribery Scandals Rock Public Faith in University Admissions
The scandal erupted when officials from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA) placed a call to the parents of a student from Guangxi province demanding the equivalent of US$12,000 to guarantee her place in the freshman class, despite the fact that she had just recently received notice of her acceptance. Angered, the family notified a state-run television station, which promptly aired the story. The story was then picked up the next day by many national newspapers. The ensuing public outcry is understandable considering the difficulty of gaining seats at top Chinese universities and the level of stress senior school students go through to achieve high grades on the admissions examinations. Although Education Ministry officials have tried to quell public dismay by stressing that this is an isolated case, the consensus in the press is that this far from the case. Indeed, a number of other cases of admissions blackmail or extortion have since surfaced, including at the Xi’an University of Science and Technology and at the Xi’an University of Finance and Economics. The ministry has issued an urgent notice forbidding universities to demand extra fees from incoming freshmen. The media are calling for greater transparency in admissions and better publicity of the decision-making process. —
Xinhuanet INDIANew University Inaugurated
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The
Statesman Accreditation Council Establishes Appeals Panel
The NAAC rates higher-education institutions affiliated to the UGC and has a grading system ranging from A++ (best) to C (worst). In many states, such as Maharashtra, an institutional NAAC rating is mandatory, and UGC funding allocations are tied to those ratings. The credibility of the council’s ratings have been brought into question over allegations that evaluations are based as much on the reception and the quality of accommodation evaluation teams receive from institutions as the quality of education imparted by the school. In Mumbai, for example, Maharashtra’s main city, a number of newer, lesser-known colleges outperformed some long-established and well-recognized institutions this year. Consequently, some believe competing, private-sector organizations would provide less biased inspections than a single, government-backed organization. The NAAC is attempting to address these charges through the grievance committee. Interestingly, by the end of July, no institutions had approached the committee. —
MidDay Technical Accreditation Board Seeks International Recognition
Sonde says the NBA has been working toward provisional membership, and a three-member panel visited India in September to assess the NBA’s application. Countries involved in the Washington Accord are the United States, South Africa, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Hungary and Ireland. The NBA was established by the All-India Council for Technical Education in 1987, and has assessed and accredited more than 1,350 programs. It looks at programs in the fields of engineering and technology; management; architecture; pharmacy; hotel management and catering technology; town and country planning and applied arts and crafts. —
The
Hindu Chhattisgarh Government Yanks Licenses from 60 Private Universities
The law was passed in February in response to the proliferation of private institutions — many of dubious standards — within the state. It requires private universities to buy 25 acres of land upon which to build and to deposit 20 million rupees with the University Grants Commission by the end of June. An official list of institutions with revoked licenses has not yet been released; however, Chhattisgarh-based newspaper RaipurOnline has published a list it compiled from its own research. —
Central
Chronicle Universities Given Autonomy in Forging Foreign Partnerships
The policy reversal comes a year before India is set to join the World Trade Organization, which will ease the conditions for Indian institutions to operate abroad and the conditions for foreign institutions to operate in India under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). According to K. Pandey, an educational consultant quoted in the Hindu newspaper, there are currently 35 to 40 foreign universities collaborating, mainly through twinning arrangements, with Indian institutions of higher education. The Ministry of Human Resource Development, responsible for education, has taken a number of steps to increase institutional autonomy since election of the new government in May. The first was to return autonomy to the Indian Institutes of Management in setting their own fees (see May/June 2004 WENR). A controversial policy requiring all private donations to public universities be routed through a government agency was also scrapped recently. —
The
Chronicle of Higher Education IITs Fear ‘Diluting’ Brand in Singapore
The first option suggests an IIT be established there and staffed by Indian faculty. The other seeks a twinning arrangement. Indian Express said most of the IIT directors opted for the second option because they are concerned that the IIT brand might otherwise be “diluted.” They feel more time is needed to work out how brand quality can be protected before establishing a presence overseas. The fear appears to be that an unsuccessful experience in Singapore, especially with IIT’s acclaimed undergraduate program, would harm its global reputation. Consequently, officials are said to be leaning toward the establishment of graduate programs in Singapore. The August meeting was the first of a series to discuss the ramifications of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) on the Indian higher-education sector. Under GATS, if the IITs were to set up abroad, then India would be required to open up to foreign institutions. Other countries interested in having an IIT presence on their shores reportedly are Sri Lanka, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates. —
Indian
Express JAPANReport: ‘2009 Enrollment Problem’ to Arrive in 2007
The parity between the number of places and applicants will likely mean that popular universities will still experience competition for places, while an increasing number of colleges and universities will experience financial difficulties because of an inability to fill seats. The 2009 prediction was contained in a report issued by the University Council – an advisory body to the Ministry of Education. That earlier report said the percentage of high school students who want to attend college after graduation will continue to rise every year until the figure exceeds 60 percent in the 2006 academic year. In the 2003 school year, however, the figure stood at 55.7 percent; it is predicted to be only 57 percent by 2006. These revised figures reveal a slowdown in the attractiveness of higher education, which may be linked to the widespread perception that a university diploma is no longer an automatic passport to career success. Vocational schools have seen comparatively strong growth in enrollments in recent years. Reflecting the recent ministry report, figures from an organization promoting private universities reveal that almost a third of private, four-year colleges and universities failed to meet their intake quota for the current academic year. —
Daily
Yomiuri MALAYSIAM. Eng to be Available Domestically
The arrangement is the first of its kind in Malaysia, and follows developments at British universities that allow talented students to follow a four-year program that gives them a “master” qualification. That qualification, however, has the status of a first-level honors degree. Students that do not qualify for the M. Eng program after two years can continue for a third year to qualify for the B.Eng qualification. Graduates of the M.Eng program can claim partial recognition from professional engineering bodies in the United Kingdom, and, with the fulfillment of work experience requirements, are fully qualified. Although Bradford and Inti have been cooperating for nearly 10 years, the agreement marks the first time that the three- and four-year qualifications from Bradford will be conducted without a study period in the United Kingdom. Officials from Bradford will continue to monitor overall quality standards. —
The
Star Australian Medical School to Open in 2005
Until the medical facility is completed in 2007, students will spend their first two years studying at the Melbourne campus — at no extra cost — before returning to Malaysia for their clinical study at the Sultanah Aminah Hospital. According to the Australian newspaper, the Australian Medical Council is discussing with the Melbourne institution whether graduates from the Malaysia-based program will be allowed to practice in Australia without additional study. —
The
Star Online NEW ZEALANDWeb site Labeled ‘Diploma Mill’ Files Defamation Lawsuit
Sydney-based Nationwide News had earlier tried to have the case dismissed on the grounds that Newlands has no commercial reputation to impugn or else has a bad reputation to begin with. The company also questioned the logic of trying the case in New Zealand, where The Australian has neither an office nor a distribution network. The list in which Newlands University and its sole director allege they were defamed was posted on the newspaper’s Web site under an article titled, “Wannabe Unis.” Nationwide News counsel Bruce Grey also argued that because it is an offense against the New Zealand Education Act for Newlands University to call itself a university in New Zealand or purport to offer a degree, then its “degrees” are worthless, as suggested by the original article, and therefore, no defamation occurred. However, the Wellington court rejected the publisher’s case for dismissal, noting that while the degrees might not be legally sanctioned and Newlands itself is outside the established university system, “it does not logically follow that the degrees are worthless.” No date has yet been set for trial. —
The
Independent 2 Auckland Institutions Merge
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Scoop Initiatives to Re-energize International Education Announced
Mallard said Education New Zealand will continue to take the lead in promoting international education and will manage the promotion funding and innovation funding allocated in the 2004 budget. The Education Ministry will focus on the United States and China for its recruitment and institutional linkage efforts – in addition to the already announced education counselor position created in Beijing, a U.S. counterpart will be appointed in Washington, D.C. Countries targeted for postgraduate scholarships in 2005 will be China, South Korea and ASEAN countries, and three Latin American countries identified as being good prospects for growth: Chile, Mexico and Brazil. In related news, the Federation of Independent English Language Schools (FIELSNZ) recently announced that it will change its name to English New Zealand. The name-change is part of an effort to resurrect the reputation of English-language teaching in New Zealand after the collapses of the Carich Computer Training School in November and the Modern Age Institute of Learning in September in 2003. Those school closures left thousands of international students stranded – most of whom were among the 30,000 mainland Chinese studying in New Zealand at the time. —
Scoop International Student Numbers Declining
Statistics were only released for the English-language sector; it is unclear whether the tertiary-education sector has suffered a similar blow, or if the numbers have held up or increased. —
Scoop NORTH KOREAGermany’s Goethe Center Opens Doors
After negotiations over the center were completed, North Korea asked Germany to build a training center for librarians and researchers. Germany expects to begin offering 10-day classes on modern research techniques, including the use of the Internet, in September. —
New
York Times PAKISTANMinister: Affiliations with Foreign Universities Not Allowed
The minister said an institution could run only a collaborative degree program under franchise arrangements with foreign chartered universities. Institutions seeking such arrangements, according to the minister, should be registered with the state and possess the required physical, financial and academic infrastructure, including qualified faculty, according to the guidelines of the Higher Education Commission (HEC). Recently, there has been a proliferation of unlicensed institutions of higher education of dubious academic quality in Pakistan. These facilities have been disingenuously claiming to offer degree programs franchised from foreign universities to attract unsuspecting students who have failed to gain admission to public-sector institutions. The HEC recently launched a campaign to check the spread of such institutions and take action against them. —
Dawn PHILIPPINESPresident Draws Attention to ‘Diploma Mills’
The newly re-elected president issued the directive at a town hall meeting, where she had been discussing the government’s seven-point education reform agenda for her next six years in office. She stated that although the government cannot regulate colleges very closely, it can close down schools whose graduates have poor track records in professional licensure exams. The president argued that the Commission on Higher Education needs to regain its regulatory powers over institutions of higher education to ensure that they are applying rigorous and challenging curriculums that prepare students for licensing exams and their future professions. A fine balance needs to be struck to avoid over-regulation and the stifling of innovation, she added. According to Rep. Cynthia Villar, Congress is set to request that education officials produce a list of alleged diploma mills, accompanied by the actions that have been taken against them. —
Manila
Bulletin SINGAPOREPrivate School Regains Quality Label
Spring Singapore awards the quality label to private schools based on good management practices and standards. A new content-related accreditation program is expected to be unveiled in 2005 (see July/August 2004 WENR). The program will attempt to shake off any negative perceptions industry or students may have of private providers that result from the activities of less scrupulous providers in the past. —
The
Straits Times Demand Results in Extra Dates for Education Roadshow
The STB plans to hold 28 more fairs in 2004. They will be held mainly in Asia, but the itinerary also includes Cairo and Moscow. Singapore’s three public universities and three arts institutions are represented at the roadshows, along with the bigger private institutions and scholarship providers. In 2002, the Economic Development Board set a target of enrolling 150,000 foreign students in the city-state’s education institutions, which represents a three-fold increase from the 50,000 enrolled at the time. —
The
Straits Times SOUTH KOREAGovernment Looking to Clamp Down on Private Providers
According to one official, cited in The Chronicle of Higher Education, the ministry is considering an audit of every private university that has not been audited in the past 10 years. Until now, private universities were only audited when significant problems were made known. Approximately 83 percent of South Korea’s colleges and universities are private, although they receive substantial subsidies from the government. —
The
Chronicle of Higher Education U.S. University Branch Campus to Open in 2006
According to the Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo, GWU President Stephen Trachtenberg is especially happy that the Jeju location has the potential to attract Chinese, as well as Korean, students. To accommodate potential Chinese students, the Jeju government already has made recommendations that the student visa period be extended from the current two years to four years for undergraduates and to three years for graduate students. Washington, D.C.-based GWU is one of the first foreign institutions to take advantage of regulations introduced in 2003 by the Korean government to allow overseas providers to operate in “Special Economic Zones.” —
The
Chosun Ilbo VIETNAMU.S. University Offers First Twinned Business Programs
Franchised programs are a relatively new arrangement in Vietnam. At HUT, an international center known as the International Training Program was approved by the Ministry of Education and Training in April 2002 to allow for the provision of foreign degree programs. HUT’s Web site lists arrangements with universities in Russia, Germany, Japan, the United States and France, among others. —
Voice
of Vietnam Training to be Offered at Singapore-Partnered Center
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Voice
of Vietnam
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Universities seeking to maximize their profits through overseas partnerships
face a minefield of problems, a new study specifically examining the Australian
education export industry warns.
