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| October 2005 | Volume
18, Issue 5 |
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FEATURE FROM THE ARCHIVES Methods of Document Recognition and Authentication (Jan. 2003) REGIONAL
NEWS PRACTICAL INFORMATION FROM THE ARCHIVES Asian Students Have More Opportunities at Home (May 1999)
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Regional
News
Asia/Pacific AustraliaEducation 4th-Largest Export Industry The report, issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs, was released shortly after a recent Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) survey that found the Australian university sector has the highest proportion of foreign students enrolled of the 30 industrialized countries surveyed. In academic year 2002-03, Australia enrolled almost double the number of international students, as a percentage of total enrollments, than its nearest competitors (with the exception of Switzerland). International enrollments in Britain, Germany and France accounted for approximately 10 percent of total enrollments. Also according to the OECD survey, higher education services constituted almost 15 percent of total Australian service exports; in 1994, the figure was just above 10 percent. The top fields of study for international students in Australia between 2002 and 2004 were business and management, information technology, arts and humanities and engineering. Most international students enrolled in Australian universities study on Australian soil, but the proportion of offshore students is growing. — The Australian Government: 8,000 Foreign Students Wrongfully Deported The cancellations were made after “defective” paperwork led Australia’s Immigration Department to cancel the visa of a Bangladeshi student enrolled in a cooking program in Australia. A court ruling in favor of the student raised questions about the decision to cancel thousands of other visas since 2001. Most of the affected students are thought to have left Australia; some may have been detained by the government before they were forced to leave. If the allegations are true, the government could face lawsuits from students seeking compensation for wrongful incarceration. The Immigration Department said it is notifying all of the affected students through advertising, letters to educators and its Web site. — The Chronicle of Higher Education Overseas Students May Face Additional Fee
One of Australia’s biggest universities is refusing to make the nonacademic service fee compulsory, however. The University of Melbourne calls the fee unfair, and will not charge its 8,000 overseas students such a fee next year. Some overseas students have said the fees will lead to “institutionalized discrimination.” — The Australian Survey Reveals Asian Students Prefer Australian Universities to US, UK Competitors
JWT Education interviewed 332 undergraduates from 10 key Asian markets, including China, Malaysia and South Korea in a study that was funded by the British government. Only 11 percent of those students at Australian universities said they would have preferred to be in the US. In a prior study conducted in 2000, 33 percent felt that way. There was a smaller decline in the proportion of those who wished they could have studied in Britain (15 percent in 2000 and 8 percent this year). Students interviewed in the study perceived Australian universities as academically inferior to those in the US and Britain. Australian education ranked third, above rivals such as Canada, Germany and New Zealand. — The Australian China MBA Program Links Shanghai, Hong Kong, London
The Shanghai school also began hosting an executive-education partnership with Columbia Business School in August. In the second phase of the program, planned for July 2006, Chinese executives will study at Columbia and visit leading financial institutions in New York City. Approximately 50 participants were chosen from China’s banking, investment, insurance, regulatory and government sectors. — Shanghai Daily News Ministry Begins Authentication of Foreign Degrees — People’s Daily Hong Kong A-levels to be Scrapped
Students will spend three years in junior secondary school and three years in senior secondary school, ending at age 17 or 18. The curriculum also will be different: Students will study four mandatory subjects and two or three electives, which can include vocational courses. It also will include independent inquiry study, similar to the IB extended essay. Fifteen percent to 35 percent of the school day will be devoted to other learning experiences, including moral and civic education, community service and aesthetic, physical and career-related activities. The new academic structure will be phased in beginning in 2009. The government also envisions an extension of the standard length of study for an undergraduate degree program from three years to four. — Education World India India, Britain to Increase Research Collaboration
— The Guardian 7 Schools Seek IIT Status
Gaining entry to an IIT is perhaps one of the most competitive admission processes in the world. Many of India’s most successful business leaders, some of whom have established themselves both in India and in the United States, have graduated from IITs. The seven schools are:
The colleges have been asked to prepare detailed project reports that identify areas in need of improvement and the means to achieve this process. No time frame has been set yet, but it is expected the announcements for the new IITs will be made between 2007 and 2010. — Rediff Unrecognized Universities Listed
— India Edu News Canadian, Indian Schools Team Up
The joint venture will offer a three-year bachelor’s degree in business and advanced diplomas in international business, human resources management and business operations management. Indian students have the option of spending their second and third year studying at the Ontario campus of CCC, backed by paid co-op work opportunities. Under recently introduced visa regulations, students would be eligible for a two-year work permit (one year if Toronto-based), upon successful completion of the program. — The Hindu U.S. Universities Join E-Learning Network
Funding for the U.S. participation will come from Qualcomm Inc., Microsoft and Cadence Design Systems Inc. Faculty from the five institutions will spend a quarter to full semester at Amrita University. Professors will give lectures at Amrita University’s e-learning center, which then will be beamed to multiple institutions of higher education across India, via the country’s education-dedicated satellite — edusat — which was launched to much fanfare in 2004 (see November/December 2004 issue of WENR). — NewKerala Private Schools No Longer Forced to Fill Quotas The ruling asserts that private universities have complete independence in choosing the students they wish to admit, as well as the tuition fees they wish to charge. Prior to the ruling, the Indian Constitution reserved nearly a quarter of all student places for members of indigenous tribal groups or lower castes. The court did rule, however, that the admissions processes, though now more autonomous, must be transparent, nonexploitative and based on merit. The ruling will be effective with the 2006-07 academic year. — The Hindu Program Gives Boost to Education of Girls
The plan will be available to all income groups, and will apply to all CBSE-affiliated schools. The deal is effective immediately. — BBC News First Islamic University to Open
Offering both secular and religious subjects, the new university will accept students of all religions and ethnic backgrounds. The institution will be self-financed with no grants from either the state government or the University Grants Commission (UGC), which is responsible for regulating the nation’s universities. The university will, however, abide by UGC guidelines and seek affiliation. Courses will be taught in English and will include Islamic studies, microbiology, biochemistry, and bio-informatics and computer sciences. — Pakistan Times Japan Private Campuses Moving Downtown Some of the relocated schools have had positive results. Toyo University received 5,000 more applications this year than in 2004, and Toita Women’s College’s food and nutrition department received 104 more applicants than the previous year. — Daily Yomiuri Public Spending on Education Among Lowest of Industrialized Nations The OECD average was 5.1 percent in the reporting year, 2002-03, with the ratios in Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden surpassing 6.5 percent. France’s ratio was 5.7 percent; in the United States, it was 5.3 percent. Despite its relatively low ratio, Japan was ranked second in household spending on education, after South Korea, according to the “Education at A Glance” survey. The authors of the report suggest that Japan needs to do more about its overcrowded classrooms, with the average number of students per class coming to 28.6 at elementary schools, compared with the OECD average of 21.6. — Kyodo News PakistanGovernment to Register Religious Schools All foreign students studying at Islamic schools in Pakistan will be ordered to leave the country, according to a recent statement from President Pervez Musharraf. Approximately 1,400 foreign students are thought to be studying at madrasahs across the country, some of which have been linked to militant groups. The Pakistani government estimates 1.7 million students attend as many as 30,000 of the schools, most of which emphasize memorization of the Koran. The schools have vowed to resist the regulations. — Los Angeles Times South KoreaUniversities, Industry Work to Increase Foreign Enrollments Another electronics company, LG, is covering the costs of 12 foreign MBA students from Vietnam and Russia at Korea University (KU). With one semester costing US$11,205, KU’s program is the most expensive domestic MBA in Korea. After graduation, the students will be required to work at LG’s domestic corporation for two years, followed by two years working in their homelands. — Korea Herald More Foreigners Register for Korean-Language Exam The number of Chinese and Vietnamese applicants increased the most, up 120 percent and 94 percent to 6,002 and 1,278, respectively. Japan had the most applicants at 7,981, followed by China, Vietnam and the United States (1,219). The test is used by foreigners whose native language is not Korean for employment and university application purposes. — The Korea Herald TaiwanChinese Degrees Not Recognized Furthermore, Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu noted the rampant problem of fake academic degrees in China, and until the problem is resolved, it will be difficult to accept the Chinese degrees. Taiwan has one of the world’s highest ratios of university graduates and density of universities. — The Taipei Times Number of Students Opting for Overseas Study Increases A total of 32,525 students applied for visas for academic purposes with foreign representative offices in Taiwan last year, up 23.6 percent over the 2003 figure, but down by 3.7 percent from the peak number posted in 2002, statistics compiled by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) show. The US attracted the largest number of students — 14,054 — while Britain and Australia received the second and third largest volume of visa applications at 9,207 and 2,246 respectively. Canada and Japan attracted 2,149 and 1,556, both growing by at least 16 percent. — Taipei Times
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Foreign students now constitute 18 percent of student enrollments at Australian institutions of higher education, according to a recently issued government report, ”
