Belarus

The Netherlands Reaches out to Belarusian Students Seeking Higher Education

The National Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education (Nuffic) is opening a scholarship program directed specifically at Belarusians pursuing bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Through this new initiative, known as Belapan, Nuffic will offer a monthly stipend of US$1,150 as well as cover tuition, visa and travel expenses for Belarusian students who want to attend a Dutch institution of higher education. The organization has allocated US$1.28million for the program that seeks to provide opportunities to students who face extreme adversity studying in their home country due to political conditions. In 2006 the program will be open exclusively to Belarusians, but Nuffic reports there is a possibility of the scheme expanding to include other nations in the future.

— Radio Free Europe
    Aug. 11, 2006

Georgia

Georgian Institution with Links to Convicted Diploma Mill Operator Gains Accreditation

The American University of Humanities, Tbilisi College Campus (AUH-T) in the Republic of Georgia has gained accreditation from an American organization despite its reported ties to a suspected diploma mill operator.

Members of the American higher education community have raised concern over a June 2005 decision by the American Academy for Liberal Education (AALE) to grant accreditation to the Tbilisi-based institution due to its association with a now defunct and formerly unaccredited institution, the American University of Hawaii. The AALE is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a legitimate accrediting organization and its decision to accredit AUH-T went largely unnoticed until recently when members of the US accrediting community threw up red flags because of the institution’s evident connections with Hassan H. Safavi, the same man who opened the American University of Hawaii, which was closed by Hawaiian lawmakers last year.

Members of the AALE have made multiple trips to the Georgian campus and have found its liberal education course offerings adequate to meet standards of “programmatic” accreditation. According to the website of the AALE, the director of higher education is planning visits and considering accreditation for branches campuses of the American University of Humanities in Singapore and Lebanon as well. The AALE reports that they took into account the pending litigation against Mr. Safavi in Hawaii and his connection with AUH-T. Last year, a committee recommended to the U.S. Department of Education that it suspend recognition of the AALE due to the organization’s questionable practices when evaluating student learning. The websites for both the condemned American University of Hawaii and the American University for Humanities are registered to Mr. Safavi.

— The Chronicle of Higher Education
   Aug. 28, 2006
— Inside Higher Ed
  Aug. 29, 2006

kazakhstan

Irish Education Fair Visits Almaty

The Kazak city of Almaty hosted the country’s first-ever Irish education exhibition this month. The Irish Council for Trade and Technology and the Irish embassy in Russia and Kazakhstan sponsored the event, a convention designed to promote the advantages of Irish education to prospective Kazak students. Representatives from Irish universities, institutes and colleges presented attendees with information concerning their different academic programs and touting cities such as Dublin, Limerick and Waterford as international centers of business and education.

— Trend
    Oct. 7, 2006

Kyrgyzstan

Germany and Kyrgyzstan Open Joint Geosciences Institute

Germany and Kyrgyzstan are cooperating to examine the geosciences at a research institute in Bishkek. The Central-Asian Institute for Applied Geosciences was inaugurated in August by the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic and the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam (Georesearch center), Germany. The institute will focus its research on geodynamics, geocatastrophies, and the use of natural resources.

— DAAD
    Sep. 6, 2006

Russia

Foreign Students Rally After Latest Hate Crime Leaves Indian Student Dead

An estimated 500 foreign nationals gathered in St. Petersburg in early October following the fatal stabbing of an Indian medical student in late August. This protest rally, the biggest ever, was organized after a week that saw a series of non-sanctioned public protests following the latest murder of a foreign student in a city that has become notorious as a hotbed of racist violence against foreign students.

The protest reflected a week of high tension at the Mechnikov Medical Academy where the Indian student had been studying. Tensions began to mount when the Academy's foreign students rallied at its main compound earlier in the week to take Rector Alexander Shabrov to task and accuse the city authorities and law enforcement agencies of putting their lives at risk.

Angry students have threatened to return to their home countries unless protection is guaranteed, a reality that could leave the Academy, and other institutions reliant on fees paid by foreign students, facing financial crisis. More than 600 foreign students in the Medical Academy pay an average of US$4,000 annually in tuition fees and for accommodation.

— St Petersburg Times
    Oct. 5

Russian Higher Education’s International Appeal

Russian universities have taken steps over recent years to improve their profile in the increasingly competitive global education export market. The government’s decision to allow Russian institutions to open branch campuses overseas and the promotion of Russian higher education during the country’s chairmanship of the Group of Eight meeting earlier this year have proven successful strategies to increase Russia’s success in promoting its higher education offerings worldwide. Deputy Director of the Federal Agency on Education’s International Education and Cooperation Department, Victor N. Petrenko, says that this is evidenced by the over 100,000 foreign students from 168 countries that choose to study within Russia’s borders. Satellite campuses of Russian universities in Hungary (Moscow Economics and Statistical Institute) and Latvia (St. Petersburg Institute of Craftsmen) are also examples of the improved internationalization of Russian higher education.  While much of the exchange in international students and branch campuses with Russia come from former Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, Russia has attempted of late to increase its global reach.

Russia’s ambition to expand the global prestige of its higher education offerings has led recruiters to the international student hotbed of India. The majority of students from India who choose Russia for their higher education do so on account of the 730 tuition-free places the Federal Agency on Education opens for Indian students to complete both undergraduate and postgraduate medical programs. Indian students have praised the medical education at Russian universities because they can complete a high-quality five-year MBBS or a six-year MD degree that emphasizes a lengthy practical education component. Classes are taught in English, but students must learn rudimentary Russian in order to correspond with patients. Indian students are still required to complete a Medical Council of India internship upon graduation from Russian medical programs as well as undergo a screening test before they are permitted to practice in their home country. A draft agreement exists between the two nations to honor one another’s medical degrees, but an accord has yet to be reached. Even so, Russian medical degrees remain a viable option for Indian students because of the caliber of education offered and the affordable tuition.

— The Hindu
   Oct. 7, 2006

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