Africa

Kenya

Higher Education Promised 30% Increase in Funding for 15 New Universities

The Kenyan government has budgeted an increase in funding for higher education of 30 percent for the financial year beginning in July, as it readies to establish 15 new public universities. But institutions say it’s not enough, while election promises made by Kenya’s new president, Uhuru Kenyatta, could disrupt the sector’s plans.

Critics of the new funding plan point to the average annual rise in enrollments of 40 percent over the past six years, as proof that universities will continue to find it hard to meet student demand for facilities and teaching.

The new funding will be used to improve conditions at 15 former constituent colleges of universities that have been upgraded to fully-fledged universities this year, allowing them to admit more students and offer their own degree programs. The government hopes that the new universities will admit an additional 10,000 students and help ease the country’s admissions crisis.

However, it is not clear where the government will find funds for some of the promises made by presidential candidates ahead of the March 4 general election. Uhuru Kenyatta, who was elected president, heralded far-reaching changes to higher education during his campaign, including a promise to make it free. Now higher education leaders are wondering what Kenyatta's plans will mean for the sector – whether current strategies will be thrown out or the new president will raise spending on tertiary education further.

- University World News
March 16, 2013

Nigeria

Universities Commission Completes Full University Audit

For the first time in decades, Nigeria’s National Universities Commission has completed a full quality audit of the nation’s federal and state universities, finding widespread problems including poor staffing, underfunding and weak infrastructure.

On the basis of the committee’s assessment, which was completed late last year, stakeholders are putting pressure on the government to initiate reform efforts to help realign public universities with the needs of the nation.

The Committee on Needs Assessment of Public Universities in Nigeria produced a series of statistics and a description of the full university landscape comprised of 27 federal and 34 state universities. It did not visit 10 recently created federal and three new state universities. In total, there are 53 conventional universities (26 federal and 27 state), 13 universities of science and technology (five federal and eight state), two universities for the armed forces and police, and one federal petroleum university. The panel also found that there are some 1.2 million students in all public universities: 85 percent of them undergraduates, 5 percent sub-degree, 3 percent doing postgraduate diplomas, 5 percent masters, and 2 percent PhDs.

Shortcomings that the committee frequently pointed to include poor faculty research and teaching facilities, a chronic staff shortage, overcrowding in lecture halls, and shared laboratories and workshops across many program faculties.

“Classes are held in improvised open-air sports pavilions, and old cafeterias and even uncompleted buildings are used for lectures. In some cases, workshops are conducted under corrugated sheds or trees,” said the committee in its assessment. The heavy pressure on facilities was “mainly due to unplanned expansion of programs.”

“Internet is non-existent, epileptic or slow,” the committee report said. Furthermore, “library resources are outdated and manual. No university is fully automated. Less than 35 percent are partially automated.”

- University World News
March 15, 2013

South Sudan

Egyptian University to Establish Campus

Egypt’s Alexandria University is to set up a branch campus in South Sudan in the town of Tonj. The project is being supported by a grant of US$1.25 million from the Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education, and will open opportunities for higher education collaboration between the two countries, including scholarships for South Sudanese to study in Egypt.

This was announced by the Egyptian government following Prime Minister Hisham Qandil's visit to South Sudan in March. The campus will have departments of veterinary science, agriculture, education, nursing and research, with the focus being on areas of immediate development need in a country with a severe shortage of graduates. South Sudan seceded from Sudan in July 2011 following a peace deal that ended Africa’s longest-running civil war.

There are currently more than 390 South Sudanese students studying in Egyptian universities under scholarships provided to them by the Egyptian government.

- University World News
March 30, 2013

Zambia

New Law Would Lead to university Construction Boom

The Zambian government has drafted a new higher education law, aimed at revamping and expanding the sector and improving standards, in a country where access to university education remains limited.

Presented to parliament in February, the bill calls for the formation of a quality assurance authority with powers to close down substandard institutions, whether public or private. It also seeks to establish at least one public higher education institution in each province, which would mean the creation of seven new institutions.

A Teaching Profession Bill has also been presented to parliament that among other things provides for the accreditation and regulation of colleges of education, and the regulation of teachers.

In an editorial commenting on the proposed higher education law Chola Mukanga, an economist and founder of the Zambian Economist, said that higher education in the country was a mess, especially in the private sector

- University World News
March 2, 2013

Americas

Canada

Tweaks to Immigration Rules Produce Big Gains for International Recruitment Efforts

International students have become an increasingly integral part of Canada’s immigration strategy as a result of ongoing changes to federal regulations aimed at recruiting more highly skilled newcomers to the country, according to University Affairs. Canada’s incremental approach has led to a different immigration system without the need for parliamentary approval, and has moved Canada away from a system that assesses would-be economic migrants on a points system towards a two-step process that admits international students and foreign skilled workers on a temporary basis before allowing them to transition to permanent residency status.

The Canadian Experience Class, introduced in 2008, is central to the change, and although it accounts for a small proportion of economic immigrants admitted to Canada, it is the fastest growing class. The CEC allows skilled foreign workers who have been working in Canada on a temporary basis and foreign graduates of Canadian postsecondary institutions with work experience to apply for permanent residency without leaving the country. Since the program’s inception five years ago, more than 20,000 permanent residents have entered Canada through the CEC. Canada has set a target of accepting 10,000 permanent residents through the CEC program this year.

To help meet this target, the program was tweaked at the start of 2013 to allow foreign students to stay in the country for up to three years following graduation, instead of two, giving them more time to gain the Canadian work experience needed to qualify for permanent residency. The government also reduced the work requirement period to 12 months from 24. After three years, permanent residents may apply for Canadian citizenship.

Almost 240,000 international students were studying in Canada in 2011, according to Citizenship and Immigration Canada data; about half of these were enrolled in universities. The number of foreign students studying in Canada at all levels of education has been growing more quickly in recent years. The year-over-year increase averaged 11.5 percent from 2008 to 2011, up from an average of 4.3 percent from 2001 to 2008, according to CIC.

Many postsecondary institutions include information about immigration policies in their promotional materials, although they take care to emphasize that the primary reason students should come to Canada is for their studies, according to university administrators interviewed by University Affairs. In addition to changes to the CEC, the federal government has revised rules governing temporary work permits for international students. The Post-Graduation Work Permit program allows students to work for up to three years after completing their studies with no restriction on the type of employment. The number of work permits issued under this program has doubled since the government revised it in 2008. Off-campus work permits allow students to work up to 20 hours a week during regular academic sessions.

Still, there are challenges. The number of permanent residents admitted under the CEC class has consistently fallen short of targets since the program was introduced. One reason for this may be that the weak job market has made it difficult for new graduates to find employment and gain the work experience needed to quality, said Sophia Lowe, manager of community engagement at World Education Services.

- University Affairs
March 13, 2013

Government Invests Millions in Promoting Canadian Education Overseas

The Canadian government will invest C$23 million (US$22.6 million) over two years to promote Canada internationally as a study destination. The money was made available in the 2013 federal budget, announced in March, which also includes increases in funds for research and partnerships between colleges and industry.

The five national organizations that comprise the Canadian Consortium for International Education Marketing welcomed the budget announcements on behalf of their over 400 respective member institutions, pointing to a need for “a comprehensive strategy for international education…to keep pace with other countries.”

Funds are also being made available for an international scholarship program that will bring top undergraduate students from around the world to Canada, in addition to offering opportunities for Canadian students to go abroad for research experiences through the Mitacs Globalink Program.

- Canadian Bureau for International Education
March 21, 2013

Cuba

U.S. Study Abroad Group Receives License to Send Students to Cuba

Two years after President Obama lifted an embargo on academic travel to Cuba, the first study-abroad group, Texas-based Academic Programs International, has received a license to send American students to the Communist nation. The group plans to offer programs in Spanish, Cuban and Caribbean studies, and general humanities. It will send its first students this fall, working with the University of Havana.

Under rules outlined in 2011 governing such travel, the Obama administration said accredited colleges are allowed to establish their own study-abroad programs and also said licenses could be granted to groups organizing seminars, conferences, and workshops in Cuba as well as those organizing trips for "educational exchanges not involving academic study pursuant to a degree program." However, there was no license category for for-credit overseas-study programs run by outside providers.

In a statement clarifying the position of third-party providers, the U.S. State Department said that “academic service providers” are now eligible to receive “specific” licenses from the Office of Foreign Assets Control to offer for-credit educational programs in Cuba on behalf of accredited American undergraduate and graduate institutions. “The goal is to provide study-abroad options for students whose university or college does not have a stand-alone Cuba program but which is nevertheless prepared to grant course credit for formal study in Cuba,” the State Department said in its statement.

- Inside Higher Ed
April 1, 2013

Jamaica

Network to Connect Research in 21 Caribbean Countries

A new high-capacity fiber optics research and education network, known as C@ribnet, will connect colleges and universities in 21 countries in the Caribbean.

The network is wholly owned by the Caribbean Knowledge and Learning Network (CKNET), an agency within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and financed by the 21 member countries the network will serve.

The project creates the region's first research and education network, connecting all CARICOM member states, among others. The high-speed data network and dedicated fiber optics connections is designed to significantly reduce the cost of tertiary education in the region by increasing access to the various centers of excellence across member countries.

- The Gleaner
March 10, 2013

United States

Immigrants Constitute Large Segments of the U.S. Professional Community

Immigrants in the United States have an expansive range of education levels, with about one in three immigrants having obtained a college degree, according to the findings of the US Census Bureau's 2011 American Community Survey (ACS).

The survey found that immigrants accounted for 16 percent of the 58.8 million college-educated people in the United States, with significantly higher numbers among workers in certain occupations. Immigrants represent nearly 28 percent of physicians, more than 31 percent of computer programmers, and over 47 percent of medical scientists.

Other findings include:

• The college-educated immigrant population grew significantly faster than their native counterparts in the 1990s and 2000s.
• Women slightly outnumbered men among the foreign-born, college-educated population.
• College-educated immigrants were younger than their native counterparts.
• The foreign born were more likely to hold a doctorate or professional degree than the native born.
• Close to 28 percent of college-educated immigrants were limited English proficient.
• Of the 9.4 million college-educated foreign born, one-third arrived in the last 11 years.
• Over half of all college-educated immigrants came from Asia, with India, the Philippines, and China being the top three origin countries.
• College-educated immigrants were more likely to be unemployed than the native born, and more than 1.6 million were underutilized in the U.S. labor market in 2011
• California, New York, Florida, and Texas accounted for half of the 7.2 million immigrants in the college-educated labor force.

- Migration Information Source
December 2012

International Students Struggle to Integrate Into Campus Life

As the number of international students at U.S. colleges continues to rise – especially at the undergraduate level – there are increasing concerns as to how well they’re being integrated into campus life, reports Elizabeth Redden for Inside Higher Ed.

Citing a number of reports, Redden suggests that while international students are interacting well with their foreign peers, substantive relationships with American students appear to be much less common. One study found that nearly 40 percent of international students reported having no close American friends. In explanation, many of the students cited “internal factors” such as limited language proficiency or shyness, but they also described a perceived lack of interest on the part of American students in other cultures.

And according to attendees at a session of the recent Association of International Education Administrators annual conference, U.S. students travelling abroad also fair poorly when it comes to integrating into foreign cultures.

In interviews with Inside Higher Ed, researchers and professionals in international education spoke about the challenges in this regard and their efforts to create opportunities for meaningful interactions between domestic and international students through programming. It seems that many universities have a long way to go in living up to the promise presented by increasing numbers of international undergraduates – the promise being increased opportunities for sustained and meaningful cross-cultural interactions in classrooms, dorm rooms, and so forth. 

At the AIEA session, audience members discussed co-curricular strategies such as peer mentoring or “buddy” programs, living-learning communities and other residence life initiatives, and more robust orientations for international students. Click through to the full Inside Higher Ed article for examples of what colleges around the nation are doing to try and better integrate international students.

- Inside Higher Ed
March 4, 2013

Asia Pacific

Australia

Australians Want Foreign Graduates of Australian Universities to Stay in Country

Nearly three-quarters of Australians believe international students should be encouraged to stay in the country after completing university studies, according to a survey recently released by Universities Australia.

Approximately 80 percent of 300 business representatives surveyed and 72 percent of 1,000 members of the public said international students should be encouraged to stay in Australia on completion of their studies, particularly if sponsored by an employer.

"However, some stakeholder respondents have voiced concerns that the university system is perceived to be too heavily reliant on income from international student enrollments,'' the report said. ''Participants were generally comfortable about the proportion of international students, at roughly 20 percent.''

- Newcastle Herald
February 26, 2013

Study: Australia More Expensive Study Destination than UK, U.S.

The cost of tuition and living for international students in Australia has increased 166 percent since 2002, according to a study by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

This marks a reverse of fortunes from the first decade of the new century when Australia had a cost advantage versus its two main English-language education exporting rival nations. The study estimates that total annual costs for the average international student in Australia is US$44,000, compared to $37,000 for international students in the U.S. and $30,000 for those studying in England.

The exchange rate is seen as the main culprit, with tuition increases also playing a role. After a decade of "highly favourable trends" - including the student-unfriendly U.S. market following the 2001 terror attacks - Australia faces a "less favourable strategic context" over the next decade, the BCG report says.

- The Australian
March 12, 2013

Full-Time Ranking Professionals Hired at Some Australian Universities

Inside Higher Ed is reporting that some Australian universities are employing full-time managers to work with ranking agencies and to develop strategies for performing well in league tables, to the tune of something close to $100,000 a year.

The University of New South Wales recently advertised for a manager of strategic reputation, while La Trobe University was seeking a manager of institutional rankings. For $100,000, responsibilities included maintaining relationships with ranking agencies to "maximize" or "optimize" their positions in rankings.

Observers say such positions highlight the growing importance of rankings in influencing research and teaching plans. But there are concerns that the professionalized management of rankings risks warping university strategies and may prove more a marketing effort than an effort to boost the substance of an institution's performance. Spokespeople for the universities mentioned in the Inside Higher Ed report say the positions are nothing new, and an extension of teams dedicated to compiling and reporting institutional data.

- Inside Higher Ed
   March 20, 2013

China

Government-Approved Recruiting Agencies in Shanghai See Drop in Interest for Overseas Study

The number of students who went to study abroad in 2012 through Shanghai-based government-approved recruiting agencies fell 20 percent year-on-year to 10,442, even as the total number of students studying overseas continued to rise, according to Chinese media reports.

The 15 agencies approved by the Ministry of Education attracted fewer clients last year in the face of stiffer competition from unauthorized agencies, and an increase in the number of students submitting their own university applications without third-party help. In addition, many international high schools and local universities now have international studies departments where students can get help if they want to study abroad, according to a Shanghai Evening Post report.

Recent years have seen an increase in the number of agencies that don't have government approval. There are now more than 100 study abroad agencies in Shanghai, including the 15 sanctioned by the government. The agencies charge anywhere from 20,000 yuan ($3,216) to 100,000 yuan per client, according to a report in the Shanghai Evening Post.

- Shanghai Evening Post
March 7, 2013

China’s Scholarly Research Output Greatly Outperforms Other Rapidly Developing Nations

In the first decade of the new century, China’s production of scholarly papers increased more than 600 percent, ranking it second behind only the United States. The overall number of papers produced by the United States is still more than double that of China—354,486 to 156,574 in 2011—but some experts predict that China will become the top producer within the next seven years.

A recent report from Thomson Reuters, Building Bricks: Exploring the Global Research and Innovation Impact of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Korea, looks at how China and other so-called BRICK countries in the developing world are increasingly impacting global science research.

While increased research does not necessarily mean better research, there is no doubting China’s output. In a bid to understand the impact of papers being produced by the BRICK nations, the Thomson Reuters report has used the frequency with which papers are cited in other papers as a proxy. The number of highly cited papers from China now equals that of Britain, the report says, even if the volume greatly exceeds British output. The inference being that Chinese research output is volumous, but typically not that relevant. On the innovation side of the equation, China has surpassed the United States in the number of patents filed. In 2011, 526,412 patents were filed in China, compared with 503,582 in the United States.

The report says the Chinese government will continue to push for increased production from its researchers. It plans to increase the proportion of its gross domestic product spent on research and development from 1.75 percent in 2010 to 2.2 percent in 2015, after nearly tripling its research spending as a proportion of gross domestic product since 1996 even as its GDP was growing rapidly.

- Thomson Reuters
February 18, 2013

Top Universities Drop English-Language Requirement for Admissions

China's leading universities are dropping English as one of the required subjects on their freshmen admissions examinations, according to local media reports. At most universities, English is being dropped as a requirement for the test taken by prospective science and engineering majors (who will be tested in math and physics) and for art students (who will be tested in Chinese and math). Yu Han, an enrollment officer at Tsinghua University, told the Xinhua news agency that English was eliminated in order to attract more students with exceptional talent in the subjects they plan to study.

Independent university entrance examinations are held three months before the national Gaokao central admissions examination so that these universities have the opportunity to recruit more talented students. This year, 27 top Chinese universities will hold one of the three early recruitment examinations.

- Xinhua
March 17, 2013

University in New Jersey Earns Approval for China Campus

Kean University has been granted permission by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, a regional accreditation agency, to operate a branch campus in China. The accreditor had previously raised concerns about the university’s plan, after not being sought out for approval to establish the campus. The commission signed off on the operation in March, pending a site visit by the agency.

The Kean campus in southeastern Zhejiang province is being financed by the Chinese government, university officials said. Under the partnership agreement, the Chinese government has control of the campus through a board controlled by its own appointees, but all academic decisions will be made by Kean. When completed, the campus will cover more than 200 acres, and have a student capacity of 5,000 full-time students.

- The Star-Ledger
March 28, 2013

Hong Kong

University Admissions Tighter Than Ever

Only a small fraction of those applying to get into Hong Kong’s publicly funded universities this fall will be accepted, and their chances of entering local universities are slimmer than ever.

A total of 82,198 candidates have registered for the university entrance examination this year, up from 71,000 last year, according to the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority. The rise is due largely to a tenfold increase in independent candidates, many of whom are retaking the exam.

However, despite mounting public demand, the number of openings for first-year university students will remain unchanged from last year – about 15,000, which means just 18 percent of students applying for admission will get in. The growing number of applicants from international schools – many of whom study for the International Baccalaureate, which local universities like – makes the competition even harder, reports the South China Morning Post. The University of Hong Kong, for example, reserves about 20 percent of its first-year degree places for students who study international curriculums.

- South China Morning Post
March 4, 2013

India

Drop in Demand for Business Education Leads to School Closures

A recent report from the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM ) cites poor teaching standards, absence of industry collaborations, a slowing economy, in addition to oversupply of places for the closure of hundreds of management and engineering institutions in India over the past few years.

The study, B-schools and Engineering Colleges Shut Down – Big business struggles, which was published in late January, found that the number of MBA places across the country grew from 95,000 in 2006-07 to 360,000 in 2011-12. However, job opportunities for MBA graduates have not increased at the same rate, with on-campus recruitment by companies down by 40 percent in 2012 compared to 2009. Additionally, just one in 10 students – not including graduates of the country’s top 20 business schools – secured a job just after graduating, compared to 54 percent of business school graduates in 2008.

More than 180 business schools closed down in 2012 in major metropolitan areas because they could not attract enough students, the study found, while another 160 institutions are struggling to survive and are expected to close in 2013. The rapid expansion of tier-2 and tier-3 management education institutes without adequate quality controls, and industry irrelevant curricula, was the primary reason behind the closures, according to ASSOCHAM officials.

- University World News
February 23, 2013

British Leader’s Visit Brings India-UK Credential Equivalency Issues to Fore

The visit of British Prime Minister David Cameron to India In February brought a number of Indo-UK academic mobility hurdles into the limelight. The first, and perhaps most important for UK institutions wishing to attract Indian students, is the tightening of the rules on the UK’s post-study work visa for non-European students. The second relates to the non-equivalence of UK masters degrees in India.

The visa issue, related to stringent new post-graduation work rules which stipulate that students can stay for three years post-study only if they find ‘graduate-level jobs’ on salaries of £20,000 (US$30,600) or higher, have been blamed for a 23.5 percent overall decline in the number of Indian students who enrolled in UK higher education last year.  Working after graduation helped Indian students pay off loans used to cover expensive tuition fees and living expenses. They are now reportedly looking at more affordable options with better post-graduation work opportunities; Canada and Australia, in particular. Australia and Canada now have clear-cut and attractive policies on post-study work for foreign students, while the U.S. is also considering a proposal to grant more green cards (residency permits) to international graduate students studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Indian students may also be shunning one-year UK masters degrees, which are not regarded as equivalent to two-year masters degrees in India. An expert panel recently set up by the education ministry has advised the Indian government against accepting a British request to recognize the one-year masters as equivalent to the two-year masters degrees awarded by Indian institutions. The findings mean that Indians with British one-year master’s can only work in the private sector, unless they earn additional credits from an Indian university.

- University World News
February 20, 2013

Building Partnerships with Indian Institutions of Education: 3 Lessons

Writing for the Chronicle of Higher Education, Cheryl Matherly, the University of Tulsa’s vice provost for global education, offers three lessons for American universities looking to build partnerships in India, based on her university’s recent experiences there.

The University of Tulsa began its efforts in India in 2010 when it was selected as one of 10 institutions for the International Academic Partnership Program India, run by the Institute of International Education. The rate of progress has been slow, but the learning curve steep, reports Matherly, whose first lesson learned is to ‘leave room for informed improvisation’ from original plans. She states that, ‘absent a national system for quality assurance, it is very hard to evaluate Indian institutions without spending time on the ground,’ adding that to ‘understand the quality of a particular institution requires that you spend time on the campus with Indian colleagues in order to separate promise from reality.’

The second lesson is that, ‘the complexities of the Indian higher-education system demand that foreign institutions prepare for a long-term investment…for institutions new to working with Indian institutions, it is best to start with small projects, such as faculty or student exchanges that sow the seeds for familiarity, trust, and experience between institutions before entering larger, more complex agreements.’

The final lesson relates to India expertise on home campuses by ‘cultivating campus leadership with the recent and relevant experience in India to evaluate opportunities, including faculty educated at Indian institutions. It also means generating interest among students in study abroad or other academic programs related to India to support these efforts.’

- The Chronicle of Higher Education
February 26, 2013

French Presidential Delegation Signs Higher Education Collaboration Deals

A French delegation led by President François Hollande announced a raft of higher education and research joint ventures with India during a high level visit to the country in February. Hollande was accompanied by his higher education and research ministers, among others.

A joint statement by India and France announced “an ambitious education plan, including twinning of higher education institutions, mutual recognition of degrees, research collaborations and training of teachers.”

Among the French agreements signed in New Delhi were research collaborations in the space sector, and expanding ongoing collaboration in the peaceful uses of nuclear. Seventeen university collaborations were also signed including exchanges of doctoral students, and collaborations between: Delhi University and SciencesPo, Paris; the French research agency CNRS – Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique – and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore; École Centrale de Nantes and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur; and ParisTech and a consortium of seven Indian Institutes of Technology. The collaborations cover student exchange programs, scholarships, and mobility for researchers to promote joint research.

- University World News
March 12, 2013 

New Ranking of India’s 10 Best Institutions of Higher Education

The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (IISc) has been rated the best in the country by a new ranking of Indian higher education institutions based on their global academic prestige.

The Times Higher Education India Reputation Rankings, published for the first time this year alongside the full Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings ranked five specialist institutions as the best that India has to offer. Following IISc in the top five are the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, and the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. The first fully-fledged comprehensive university on the list is the University of Delhi, in sixth.

The Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings list the world's top 100 universities based on the results of a survey of more than 16,600 academics from all over the world. Those surveyed were asked to name a small number of the "best" institutions in their field for both teaching and research. Of the so-called "Bric" countries with rapidly expanding economies (Brazil, Russia, India and China), India is the only nation lacking a single representative in the overall world top 100.

Times Higher Education revealed that if the THE World Reputation Rankings were to list more than just the top 100, India's top-ranked institution, IISc Bangalore, would be 130th. IIT Bombay would sit in 192nd place, but all other Indian institutions would fall outside a global top 200.

- Times Higher Education
March 4, 2013

Foreign Providers Bill Passes Parliamentary Committee

Key education-related bills, including the foreign education providers bill that would allow overseas universities to open campuses in India, have been cleared by a parliamentary committee comprising members of several political parties – after a delay of more than two-and-a-half years.

Now the bill needs to be passed by the full parliament. The Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministry is hoping the committee’s consensus will enable this to happen this year. Due to bottlenecks in parliamentary business over the past year, however, more than 30 bills are still pending in parliament.

- University World News
March 23, 2013

Record Number of Students Caught Cheating in Bihar

More than 1,600 students have been expelled for cheating in school examinations in the northern Indian state of Bihar, officials say, with over 1.3 million students from 4,000 schools sitting the exams.

Cheating in exams is fairly common in Bihar, but the number of students and teachers caught this time is unprecedented. Officials said improved vigilance by teachers, police and surprise visits by "flying squads" of officials headed by area magistrates to examination centers were the main reasons why such a large number of students and parents were caught cheating.

The five-day examination, held by the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB), took place in March.

- BBC
March 20, 2013

Japan

Japanese Universities Look to Double Overseas Enrollments By 2020

Japan's national universities have set a goal of doubling overseas enrollments by 2020, in addition to doubling the number of programs they offer in English. The goal would be to increase the proportion of international students to 10 percent of the total student body, and offer 24,000 courses in English.

The targets, which were agreed by the Japan Association of National Universities, are aimed at reinvigorating foreign enrollments after a couple of years of stagnation following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and the strengthen of the yen against other currencies.

- The Japan Times
March 10, 2013 

New Interest in Overseas Study

The New York Times has reported about a renewed interest among Japanese students for study-abroad programs, particularly among young women.

While the number of overseas students from other major Asian countries like China and India has boomed, there has been a sharp drop in the number of Japanese studying abroad in recent years, from 83,000 in 2004 to fewer than 60,000 in 2009. However, experts say the downward trend is reversing, partly because of demands by major employers, which are seeking to globalize.

The turning point was around fall 2011, said Yukari Kato, executive vice president of Ryugaku Journal, an overseas study agency. “The government was beginning to realize they must globalize their human talent, and companies like Rakuten and Uniqlo were introducing in-house English-language policies,” she said, referring to a major online retailer and an internationally known clothing chain. Ryugaku Journal says the number of college students it arranged to send overseas rose 12 percent to 3,500 in 2012, and the number of high school students grew 94 percent.

While more Japanese students still go to the United States and China, Canada has emerged as a new popular destination for language study, college and working holidays. According to the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo, the number of student participants in study-abroad fairs at the embassy jumped to 3,643 in 2012, from 2,375 in 2010. According to the Canadian government, 3,546 Japanese students required a study visa in 2011, up from 3,238 in 2010.

The number of Japanese students going to the United States has also risen recently, after having fallen sharply over the past decade and a half. The number of Japanese students studying on U.S. campuses hit a peak of 47,000 in 1997, and then fell to 19,000 in 2011. But the number of new visas issued by the U.S. State Department to Japanese students rose 10 percent to 18,668 in 2012, from 16,811 in 2011.

- The New York Times
March 24, 2013

Myanmar

British Universities Visit Myanmar, Explore Collaboration Opportunities

A group of UK universities led by the Training Gateway, the UK Higher Education International Unit and supported by the British Council visited Myanmar in February in a mission to identify opportunities for UK higher education to support the reform and development of the Myanmar higher education sector.

According to Amanda Selvaratnam, Training Gateway’s Head of Corporate Training, the overwhelming observation of the British visit was that “education is a key priority for Myanmar and that engagement with foreign universities is an approach they see as being fundamental in raising the standards of Myanmar higher education.”

Key issues that the government has already recognized after years of neglect in the higher education sector include a need to raise the age of entry into higher education from 16 to 18 in line with most western nations, improve staff skills in both teaching and research, improve the general infrastructure and develop curriculum to meet their future economic and social needs.

The UK delegation reported that all institutions they met with expressed a very strong desire to engage with international universities as a way to raise quality. This would include attracting foreign academics for short-term visits for teaching and research, supervise and examine PhD candidates, and develop plans for joint research projects. In teaching, the government wants to encourage foreign universities to run programs in Myanmar. Opportunities exist to develop joint degrees, but in the short term delivering short courses, certificate and diploma programs may prove to be the best starting point for partnerships between UK and Myanmar universities, according to Selvaratnam, who concludes that:

“The Myanmar higher education sector is open for business and is keen to engage with the UK and, at least initially, it will be those small institution to institution partnerships that will reap immediate benefits.”

- International Focus
February 2013

New Zealand

Student Visa Issuances Drop 25 Percent

New Zealand has been working hard to attract more students to its universities in recent years, but the number of students being issued visas to study in the country declined by a quarter in the period between 2009 and 2012, new figures reveal. Overall, visa issuance for new and existing students was down by 10 percent.

A total of 34,700 first-time student visas were issued last year, down from 46,000 in 2009. The data excludes those who enroll in short-term English language programs on visitor visas. Officials blame the Christchurch earthquakes of 2011, the state of the global economy, questionable immigration employment policies, and a strong New Zealand dollar for the decline. There has been a decline of 36 percent in the number of international students in the Canterbury region since 2011.

New Zealand has an “ambitious target” to double its $2 billion export education sector by 2025, and has recently reformed health screening processes (saving students money), sped up visa processing and extended work rights to English language students in earthquake-hit areas.

- New Zealand Herald
March 8, 2013

South Korea

University of Utah to Open Korea Campus

The University of Utah has announced that it will go ahead with plans to open its first international branch campus in South Korea.

The project is being subsidized by the South Korean government, and will be part of Songdo Global University, a multi-institution campus blending Korean, American, and European academic departments. The project has suffered setbacks in getting off the ground with several of its initial American partner institutions scaling back or suspending planned operations because of the global economic downturn.

Among other benefits, the South Korean government will provide the university with at least US$1.5 million a year over the first four years of operations there, in addition to a rent-free location on campus for at least five years. Utah aims to start with about 100 undergraduate and 25 graduate students studying social work, psychology, communications, writing, or English language. Degrees in bioengineering and mathematics teaching are planned for 2016. Twenty percent of the students would be from Utah studying abroad in Songdo.

“This is an opportunity that is about as risk-free as you can have,” Robert Muir, the university’s director of international operations and financial analytics, told the The Salt Lake Tribune. “We feel comfortable that we will be able to do this with no investment from the state.”

- Salt Lake Tribune
March 14, 2013

Sri Lanka

Youth Protesters Demand More University Places

More than 100 protesters marched to the Higher Education Ministry in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo in March, calling for an increase in the number of public universities and university places.

According to news sources, more than 144,000 students pass the university entrance each year, but there are only spots for 22,000. The protesters were calling for the government to increase capacity to accommodate 140,000 new enrolees per year.

The Sri Lankan government is attempting to push through new legislation to allow private universities to enter the sector but so far have faced stiff opposition from leftist political parties and affiliated student unions that charge such a move would negatively impact public universities. Last year, university teachers staged a three-month strike demanding that 6 percent of gross domestic product be allocated to education. The demand was never met.

- Xinhua
March 12, 2013

Europe

Denmark

Government Launches Developing-Nation Scholarship Program

Denmark has launched a scholarship program aimed at promoting academic mobility to and from a list of developing countries, initially targeting students from Ghana, Kenya, Nepal, Tanzania and Uganda. It is part of a comprehensive internationalization of higher education strategy being developed by the government.

The scholarship program, Building Stronger Universities in Developing Countries, was launched in February and will be run by the ministries of education and foreign affairs, and the Rectors’ Conference of Universities Denmark. After completing their studies students from select universities in the target countries will be encouraged to return home and work in academia to help develop teaching and research capacity.

During the year 2010-11, just 116 students from the target countries studied on full master’s programs at one of Denmark’s eight universities, with just 66 Danes going the other way for part of their studies. The government is looking to increase these numbers by 50 percent within a few years.

A call for proposals and eligibility criteria can be found here.

- University World News
March 9, 2013

France

Proposal for More English-Taught Courses Angers Some

A proposed law change in France that would ease restrictions on offering university courses in English has been cause for protest among defenders of the French language.

Currently, courses must be in French unless they are designed to teach a non-French language or offered by a visiting academic from outside France. Some educators want the option of teaching other courses in English to attract more international students, as is becoming the trend in many universities in non-English-speaking countries around Europe.

Leading French writers have launched a campaign calling the proposed amendment to the Code de l'Education "insulting" and "anti-Republican," while the Académie Française has said that any change would "harm the status of the French language in universities."

- The Connexion
March 28, 2013

Greece

Plan for University Mergers Announced

Greece's parliament in March approved legislation allowing the government to close or merge roughly one of every five faculties at universities and higher education colleges.

Government leaders argue that the law will allow for efficient use of funds to promote quality programs in the cash-strapped country. Students rallied against the law and police used tear gas on a protest outside of the parliament building.

- Associated Press
March 28, 2013

Republic of Georgia

Students Protest Accreditation Withdrawal

Hundreds of students from several universities in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi were out demonstrating the withdrawal of Agricultural University's accreditation in March.

Georgia's Council of Authorization ruled on March 11 that the university's accreditation should be withdrawn for several violations of the education law. Protesting students said that the decision was politically motivated.

The chairman of the university's supervising council, Kakha Bendukidze, said the decision was aimed against him personally. Bendukidze, a close associate of President Mikheil Saakashvili, has had a number of cabinet positions over the years.

He initiated and supervised the transformation of the Soviet-era Tbilisi Agricultural Institute into the generally well-regarded and high-ranking Agricultural University several years ago.

Saakashvili's associates have been under pressure after the president's party was defeated by Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili’s coalition in October 2012 parliamentary elections.

- RFE/RL
March 18, 2013

Russia

Russia to Gauge Universities Based on Graduate Unemployment Rates

Russia’s Ministry of Education has announced that starting this year, it will monitor standards at universities based on the number of out-of-work graduates applying for positions at job centers, in order to identify universities that are failing to meet the needs of the labor market.

“We are going to assess the relationship between the education system and the job market,” Deputy Minister Alexander Klimov told Kommersant. “We will factor in the number of graduates who apply to job centers.” According to Klimov, about 6 percent of recent graduates register with job centers immediately upon graduation.

“It turns out that a degree is not enough for them to find a job – not even in their area of specialization,” he says. “There are occupations that show a high proportion of unemployed graduates. Lawyers and economists top the list."

Olga Kashirina, general secretary of the Russian Union of Rectors, told Kommersant that the method suggested by the Ministry of Education and Science is a little simplistic.

“They should be using dynamic criteria to show achievements, but the ministry suggests assessing the worst-case scenario — that is, the people who failed to find jobs,” she said, while suggesting that data on the taxes graduates pay might be a better indicator.

- Kommersant
March 18, 2103

United Kingdom

UK Non-Profit Buys UK-Based U.S. For Profit College, Becomes UK’s Second Private University

Regent's College, a nonprofit British institution, has purchased for-profit American Intercontinental University London from Career Education Corporation, in a deal that is thought to be the first UK acquisition of a for-profit by a not-for-profit provider, according to Times Higher Education.

Regent’s recently gained approval from British officials to become the second private nonprofit university in the United Kingdom. Regent's University London, as the institution will be known, will be the largest private institution in Britain, at 4,500 students. The University of Buckingham became the first private institution there, in 1983.

On the acquisition, the university said the move was part of its drive to become “the leading private non-profit university in Europe.” According to current plans, Regent's will run American Intercontinental as a for-profit subsidiary initially before subsuming it within a year.

- Times Higher Education
February 27, 2013

British Council Identifies Growth in Transnational Education Markets

Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates are the best places for British universities to set up overseas campuses or establish partnerships with local higher education providers, a study has found.

The countries have been identified as "hotspots" for transnational education activity by a British Council-commissioned report, The Shape of Things to Come 2: the evolution of trans-national education,which analyses student demand and international mobility in 25 nations, as well as how open their governments are to foreign higher education providers. The report also found that there are favorable conditions in Qatar and South Korea, while Bahrain, Botswana, China, India, Mauritius, Oman, Spain, Thailand and Vietnam have strengths and weaknesses in different areas. The readiness of Indian students to study abroad means that the country rates highly in terms of international mobility but the report says its regulatory framework is hostile to overseas providers.

Kevin Van-Cauter, higher education adviser at the British Council, said that universities needed to consider whether a campus, a partnership with a local provider or distance learning was the best way to access foreign markets. According to the UK’s Higher Education Statistics Agency, there are approximately 571,000 people studying abroad for UK higher education qualifications compared with about 488,000 foreign students in the UK.

- Times Higher Education
February 28, 2013

Barriers to International Study Among British and American Students

The British Council released a report in March looking at factors deterring students in the United States and United Kingdom from studying abroad. Of the 10,800 people who responded to the survey in October through December 2012, 20 percent of UK respondents said they are considering study abroad, while 56 percent of U.S. students said the same.

Barriers include inadequate access to information about overseas opportunities, concerns about cost, language ability and the difficulty of leaving family and friends. Only 24 percent of UK students and 22 percent of U.S. students felt they had enough resources to make an informed decision about overseas study. For UK students, overseas study was cited by 44 percent of students as a step towards working and living abroad, while 66 percent of U.S. respondents considering overseas study described themselves as wanting to have fun traveling and exploring other cultures.

- British Council
March 5, 2013

Question Marks Over Transnational Degree Programs

Students on the United Kingdom’s most popular overseas degree program are struggling to have their qualification recognized in some countries, including China, Australia and South Africa, a new study has found.

The are currently 285,000 students registered on the BSc in Applied Accounting offered via distance learning at Oxford Brookes University - almost half of the nearly 571,000 students studying for a UK degree overseas, according to the latest figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency. The course is run in partnership with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), with students automatically enrolled with Oxford Brookes when signing up for ACCA’s professional qualification.

A report by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, Audit of Overseas Provision, China, 2012, features the program as a case study, highlighting the difficulties faced by thousands of students whose home countries do not recognize overseas accountancy qualifications or distance-learning degrees in general. Of particular concern is China, which does not recognize overseas degrees delivered by distance learning. The lack of recognition is driving high dropout rates, as Chinese students often do not bother to complete the research element of the program that leads to the honors degree, the report says. It also notes that professional accountancy bodies in Australia and South Africa do not recognise accounting degrees from other countries as counting towards their own national accountancy qualifications.

The QAA, which produced three other case studies for the audit, is expected to publish a comprehensive report on the standard of UK overseas provision in China this month.

- Times Higher Education
March 21, 2013

Middle East

Egypt

Reform Initiative Calls for 60 New Universities in a Decade

Under a 10-year higher education reform plan recently launched by the Egyptian government, 60 new universities would be created in the country by 2023, under an overarching goal of reforming higher education and promoting the development of a knowledge-based economy.

The strategy, announced by Minister of Higher Education Mustafa Musaad, was outlined in a February report published by Ahram newspaper. Currently, the country has one of the lowest numbers of universities per capita in the Middle East and North Africa, according to a report, Science and Innovation in Egypt. The plan calls for the creation of 20 state and 40 private institutions. Currently, Egypt has 18 public universities and 17 private universities, enrolling approximately 76,000 students.

In addition to state spending increases on education, the reform plan also calls for the creation of a national council for education and research that would be tasked with improving the performance of universities and drafting educational strategies and reform plans.

- University World News
February 23, 2013

Decree Calls for Creation of a Sino-Egyptian University

Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi issued a decree In February to establish the Egyptian Chinese University in the capital Cairo – the first Chinese university to be set up in the Middle East and North Africa region.

The Sino-Egyptian university would be the first of 60 new universities the president aims to create under a 10-year higher education plan aimed at reforming the sector and promoting the development of a knowledge-based economy. The project would be a joint venture between Liaoning University, Shenyang – responsible for curricula and quality assurance – and Egypt's International Education Institution, which would take care of the university's infrastructure.

In addition to four faculties – economy and international trade, physical therapy, pharmacy technology and medicine, and engineering and technology – the university will be home to a Confucius Institute promoting Chinese language and culture.

Currently there are three Chinese campuses overseas, according to the report Chinese Universities Abroad. Jiangsu's Soochow University opened to undergraduate students in the Laotian capital Vientiane in 2012; the University of Ningbo (also Jiangsu) opened a campus in the Italian town of Florence in 2012; while also last year Jinan University offered a two-year MBA through Myanmar's Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

- University World News
March 2, 2013

United Arab Emirates

UAE Defined as a ‘Talent’ Hub in Proposed Schema of Hub Classifications

So what exactly is an education hub, and are they all the same? Jane Knight, a scholar at the University of Toronto's Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, has published research on six hubs to answer the question of whether they are fads, brands, or innovations?

Knight has proposed a schema for classifying hubs, based on their desire to be three main things: Student hubs, which seek to attract local and foreign students; talent hubs, which seek to develop the skilled people who will stay in the country; and knowledge hubs, which seek to build research infrastructure.

Knight classifies the six hubs she studied as follows, both with their current category and what she thinks the country aspires to see its hub become.

While education hubs will continue to evolve, they represent an important "third stage," according to Knight. The first was student mobility, with students leaving their homes for a postsecondary education. The second was institutional mobility, when colleges set up dual degrees or branch campuses in other countries. Hubs involve the first two stages, but take them to a new level, she said.

- Inside Higher Ed
March 6, 2013

Saudi Arabia

U.S. Top Study Destination for Saudi Scholarship Students

According to data recently released by the Ministry of Higher Education, 46 percent of Saudi students currently abroad for higher studies under the King Abdullah Foreign Scholarship Program are in the United States.

A total of 69,235 are in the United States under the program from a total of 149,742 Saudis worldwide. Other popular regions and countries include universities in the Arab world, which have received 16,364 students, the United Kingdom (14,459), Canada (13,801), and Australia (8,789).

The report details the specializations chosen by the scholarship students, with 49.2 percent studying sciences, technology or engineering majors, while 36.1 percent have chosen to study social sciences, business and law. Agricultural studies and humanities comprised the smallest percentages, accounting for 2.8 and 2 percent respectively.

- Arab News
March 5, 2013

An Overview of Education in Iran

By Uzma Majid, India and South Asia Manager, and Nick Clark, Editor, World Education News & Reviews

In this article, we offer an introduction to the education system of Iran, with insight on how best to evaluate common academic credentials from both the secondary and tertiary levels.

As a follow-up to this profile, WES will be offering a free interactive webinar on April 12 presented by Uzma Majid, WES’ India and South Asia Manager, with opportunities to view sample academic credentials and to submit Iran-related questions at the end of the session.

International Mobility

More than 38,000 Iranian students were studying abroad in 2010, according to government figures, published by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). The 2010 total represents a 42.5 increase in the number of internationally mobile Iranian students versus 2008 when there were just under 27,000 students at overseas institutions of higher education.

With ever-increasing competition for limited university places in Iran, for those families with the means to support an overseas education, studying abroad is an appealing option in a country where holding a prestigious degree is highly regarded. Overseas students also provide an important link for Iran with the outside world, which continues to tighten sanctions on the increasingly isolated ruling regime. And Iranian students have continued to go overseas even as relations between Iran and many host countries have deteriorated.

Nonetheless, the future of international academic mobility among Iranians seems uncertain in the face of sanctions that have cut hard currency earnings from oil exports significantly. In a bid to help maintain its foreign exchange reserves, the government announced in September that a majority of students abroad would no longer be able to buy U.S. dollars at the subsidized government “reference” rate of 12,260 rials, forcing them to buy in the open market where it costs approximately 34,000 rials to buy a dollar. This has essentially tripled the cost of studying overseas, which has made the cost of a foreign degree prohibitively expensive for those families without hard currency savings.

In the United States, the number of Iranian students over the years has fluctuated from as many as 51,310 in 1979/80, when Iran was the leading place of origin, to 1,844 in 2000/01. Clearly political relations have a huge role to play in where and why Iranian students study abroad, and while recent years have seen a resurgence in the number of Iranians studying in the United States, recently escalating tension between the two countries look likely to put a damper on the outward movement of Iranian students to the United States.

The vast majority of Iranian students in the United States are studying at the graduate level.

In response to the currency issues currently facing Iranian students abroad, and in the United States specifically, the Institute of International Education (IIE) recently announced the launch of a new Emergency Student Fund (ESF) to assist students from Iran on U.S. campuses with urgent financial need. In partnership with the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA), funding of $100,000 has been made available to meet immediate needs for the spring 2013 semester.

IIE is issuing a call for nominations from U.S. colleges and universities that currently have students from Iran enrolled on their campuses who have emergency needs for funds to continue their studies so that their academic careers are not interrupted as a result of the financial situation in their home country. Visit the Iran-ESF web page for more information and to download the nomination form.

Structure of the Education System

Policy, Administration, Funding and Regulation

The central government is responsible for the financing and administration of elementary and secondary education through the Ministry of Education. At the local level, education is supervised through the provincial authorities and the district offices.

The Ministry of Education supervises national examinations, monitors standards, organizes teacher training, develops curricula and educational materials, and builds and maintains schools.

The Supreme Council of Education is the legislative body that approves all education-related policies and regulations.

Private schools (non-profit) are partially government funded and operate under the supervision of the Ministry of Education.

Basic Education

Compulsory education lasts until grade 8, and public education is free. The basic education cycle is divided into a five-year primary education cycle (dabestan) and a three-year lower secondary, or guidance, cycle (doreh-e rahnama-ii).

At the primary level, students undertake 24 teaching hours per week. The curriculum covers Islamic studies, Persian studies– reading, writing and comprehension -- social studies, mathematics and science.

At the guidance level, students undertake 28–31 teaching hours per week. There is a national curriculum that is uniform for all schools, and subjects covered are much the same as at the primary level. The guidance cycle prepares students for either academic or vocational/technical studies.

Examinations

Students take exit examinations at the end of grades 5 and 8. Students who fail have to repeat and may take the examination again the following year. If students fail a second time, they must either undertake basic vocational training or seek employment. The examinations are held in June at the end of each academic year and they are conducted by provincial education authorities. Successful students are awarded a Certificate of General Education.

Depending on grades achieved in the relevant subjects at the end of grade 8, students are eligible to continue their education in the academic or vocational/technical branches of the secondary cycle.

Grading Scale & U.S. Equivalent

Enrollment Statistics

The gross enrollment ratio at the primary level in Iran in 2010 was 115 percent, meaning that not only are students of primary age enrolling at very high levels (99.75 percent in 2011), but so are overage students who did not enroll in first grade at the age of six. This statistic suggests that literacy rates in Iran at all levels will continue rising from current levels of 98.7 percent among 15-24 year-olds and 85 percent among the general population over 15 years of age. The net survival rate to the end of grade 5 is 98.1 percent (percentage of relevant age group finishing grade 5).

Overall secondary enrollment rates in Iran are high relative to many other countries at similar levels of development, with 97 percent of students transitioning from primary to secondary education in 2010, according to the UIS, and an overall enrollment rate of 86 percent at the secondary level. Iran’s secondary enrollment rate compares to a regional average of 62 percent. The gross graduation rate at the lower secondary level is 80 percent among all students, but the number is much higher for females (91 percent) than for males (70 percent).

Upper Secondary (Dabirestan)

Upper secondary education is three years in length, and requires the completion of 90-96 credits (30 credits a year.) One credit is generally equivalent to 30 academic (50 minute) hours, and students undertake 30-32 teaching hours per week.

Students are streamed into three 3-year branches: Academic (Nazari), technical (Fani Herfei), and vocational/skills (Kar-danesh). A student’s stream is dependent primarily on his or her examination results at the end of the lower secondary cycle (grade 8), and to a lesser extent student preference. The academic stream has traditionally been the most popular.

During the first two years, students in the academic and technical branches follow a common curriculum (although load varies slightly by branch) with the third year focusing on a specialized curriculum.

Students in the academic branch follow one of four streams in the third year of upper secondary: Humanities & literature, mathematics & physics, experimental sciences, or Islamic theology (and formerly a socio-economic stream.)

Students in the technical stream follow one of three specializations: Technical (industry), business & vocational (service industry), or agriculture.

Assessment is based on final examinations and continuous assessment in all three years of the upper secondary cycle. Examinations are held twice a year, but by far the most important is the final examination.

Students from the academic and technical streams are awarded the Diplom-e Motevaseteh (Certificate of Completion of Secondary School Studies) upon successful completion of studies and after passing the national examination (grade 11.) Graduates can go on to the final pre-university year of schooling or employment.

The skills or vocational stream leads to the award of a certificate in the trade/profession studied. A First Class Technician’s Certificate is awarded to students that complete 48 credits in their area of specialization, and a Second Class Technician’s Certificate to those that complete 32 credits.

Some students also undertake a five-year Integrated Associate Diploma at this level.

Upper secondary education is not compulsory, but is free at public schools.

Curriculum

Pre-University Year (Pish-Daneshgahi)

Fully implemented in 2004, the pre-university year is for students intending to take the university entrance examinations, or Konkur. Students specialize in a specific field of study (math, experimental sciences, humanities, art or Islamic culture) and must complete a minimum of 24 units of study, eight of which are compulsory. 

Students are taught at pre-university centers administered by the Ministry of Education. They are graded by continuous assessment and by final examination (accounting for 75 percent of the overall grade.) Successful students are awarded the Pre-University Certificate and entitled to sit for the Konkur for university admission.

University Entry

Entry to Iran’s public universities is based on the very competitive University Entrance Examination known as the Konkur or Concours. Taking place in June every year, the exam weeds out almost 90 percent of candidates for public universities, with just 10 percent of approximately 1.5 million test-takers finding a spot at one. All private universities, other than Islamic Azad University, also use this examination for admission purposes.

Despite the government’s efforts to increase capacity by enlarging existing universities, it struggles to get ahead of rapidly increasing demand.

Almost 60 percent of accepted applicants in recent years have been women, with tertiary participation rates among women doubling over the last two decades.

Islamic Azad University (IAU), the country’s largest university administers its own entrance exam, which is very similar to the Konkur. IAU, which charges tuition fees and enrolls over 1.6 million students at its campuses around the country, is not nearly as competitive to get into as public universities.

The Konkur itself is a 4.5-hour multiple-choice comprehensive examination that tests student knowledge in Persian language and literature, history, a foreign language and mathematics. Those that fail are allowed to repeat until they pass. Top students usually go into engineering and medical fields.

Associate degree programs do not require the Konkur examination for admission, but some do use a separate entrance examination. There is a separate Konkur examination for entry into graduate programs.

Given the competitive nature of the examination, a cram industry providing exam-preparation classes thrives in Iran, giving rise to widespread criticism of the examination and its negative impact on school instruction, the last year of which is essentially focused on taking and passing the exam. As a result, authorities continue to look at reforming the system with one option under consideration being the use of a cumulative grade point average of the final three years of secondary school.

Higher Education

Types of Higher Education Institutions

All institutions of higher education, except medical institutions are under the supervision of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology. Medical universities are supervised by the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education.

Higher education is offered at the following types of institutions:

• Universities
• General/Comprehensive
• Specialized (fine arts, engineering, medicine)
• Comprehensive Technology (applied sciences)
• Payam-e Noor University (distance learning)
• Medical
• Private
• Teacher Training Colleges
• Higher Education Institutes (non-university)
• Technical Institutes

Universities

All universities were closed between 1980 and 1983 while the curriculum was being revised and the system became nationalized. In 1988, non-profit private universities were allowed to apply for charters to operate. Payam-e-Nour University began operations that year as the country’s first distance education provider.

In 2009, there were 103 universities operating in Iran, and a total tertiary student body of 3,350,000 students, 51 percent of whom were attending a private institution. The vast majority of students in the private sector attend the Islamic Azad University (IAU).

Established in 1981 (although not formerly recognized until later), IAU is the country’s largest institution with over 1.6 million students. It was established in response to unmet and escalating demand for higher education. It currently has international branches in Dubai, Lebanon, Oxford, Afghanistan, Tanzania and Armenia, in addition to some 350 campuses across Iran. The institution has its own entrance examination, enrolling 50 percent of its students in the humanities. Other prominent private universities include Shahrood University of Medical Sciences and Qom University. There were a total of 29 private universities in 2009.

All programs at private universities must be approved by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution and recognized by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology.

Universities are composed of largely autonomous faculties (daneshkadeh). The vast majority of programs at private institutions are at the undergraduate level, with just 5 percent offered at the graduate level and very few offering Ph.D. programs. Public institutions enroll approximately 10 percent at the graduate level.

The University of Tehran is ranked by the Academic Ranking of World Universities as one of the top 400 universities in the world (301-400). It is the only Iranian university to make the top 500. Sharif University of Technology has appeared on the list in previous years and is ranked by Times Higher Education as among the top 350 universities in the world (301-350).

Higher education institutes were mostly upgraded to universities in the 1980s and 1990s. Most remaining institutes are generally private and located in smaller cities or regional centers. Most do not offer graduate programs.

Quality Assurance

Quality assurance of higher education institutions comes under the auspices of the Supervision Council and the Evaluation Department of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology.

Higher Education Programs and Qualifications

Undergraduate

Associate Degree (Kardani – formerly Fogh Diplom)

Kardani programs are offered as either five-year integrated secondary and tertiary programs or as two- to three-year postsecondary qualifications.

Entry to integrated associate degrees is based on the successful completion of basic education (grade 8). The program consists of three years of secondary education in the vocational/technical stream followed by two years at a college or institute of higher education. Students that complete the first three years of the program and chose not to continue, graduate with a Technical High School Diploma. Those that complete the five-year program can, if they choose, gain advanced standing into a bachelor program at a university of technology (typically the third year).

Entry from secondary school is based on the completion of upper secondary (grade 11) and in some instances the passing of an entrance examination. Kardani programs require the completion of 72-78 credits for graduation, with one credit being equal to a 45/50-minute class over one semester.

Bachelor (Karshenasi)

Previously known as the Licence, the Karshenasi requires between 140 and 146 credits at a university or other institution of higher education, and a minimum of four years of full-time study. Students must achieve a minimum grade point average of 12 out of 20 for the award of the degree.

Undergraduate curricula offer a wide range of general education and elective courses along with the degree specialization, which typically is concentrated in the last two years of the program.

Dentistry, pharmacy and veterinary degrees require six years of full-time study. Medical degrees require seven years.

Degrees awarded after a two-year program following an associate degree are known as Karshenasi napayvasteh (non-continuous degree.)

Master (Karshenasi Arshad)

Previously known as Fogh Licence or Fogh Lisans, the Karshenasi Arshad requires the completion of 30 to 45 credits, with an overall GPA of 14/20 or better and the completion of a thesis. Programs are typically two years in length.

Continuous master degrees in professional fields lead to the award of Karshenasi-Arshad Payvesteh. Professional degrees require between 190 and 290 credits, or five to seven years of study, depending on the major, in addition to a thesis. Medicine requires 290 credits, with seven semesters of study, and an externship of nine months and a state internship of 18 months in addition to the completion of a thesis. Dentistry requires 11 semesters of study, or 5.5 years; veterinary medicine requires 227 credits or six years of study; pharmacy 203 credits; and architecture seven years of study. 

Doctor of Philosophy (Doktura)

Doctoral degrees require the completion of 12-30 credits, a comprehensive examination, publication and defense of a research dissertation, and an overall coursework GPA of 14/20 for the award of the degree. Program duration is between three and six years.

Assessment and Grading

A 0-20 scale is used at all levels of education throughout the country. The minimum passing grade for school courses is 7 (except for Persian which is 10), with an overall cumulative grade of 10 required for graduation.

Students at the higher education level are assessed by examination at the end of each semester. The minimum passing grade for undergraduate courses is 10, for graduate courses 12, and for doctoral coursework 14; however, overall GPAs of 12, 14, and 14 are required for the award of the respective degrees.

WES suggests the following grading equivalencies for higher education:

Document Requirements for Credential Evaluation

Institutions will provide degree certificates, diplomas and academic transcripts upon request.

At the secondary level, WES requires secondary transcripts issued by the Ministry of Education’s Bureau of International Scientific Cooperation.

At the tertiary level, WES requires applicants to submit copies of all final degree certificates issued by institutions attended. In addition, WES requires that academic transcripts issued by the institutions attended for all postsecondary programs of study be sent directly by the institutions.

For completed doctoral programs, WES requires a letter confirming the awarding of the degree to be sent directly by the institutions attended.

Three universities issue documents in English: Sharif University of Technology, Shiraz University and Air Kabir University (in addition to engineering programs at several universities.)

English translations are usually authorized by the Ministry of Justice of the Islamic Republic of Iran and sealed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Registration and Personal Status Department. However, this does not confirm authenticity.

Sample Documents

This file of Sample Documents (pdf)  shows a set of annotated credentials from the Iranian education system, beginning with a secondary completion certificate, and followed by pre-university credentials, associates, bachelor, MBA and Ph.D. documents. For a more in-depth discussion of the documents seen here, WES is offering a free free interactive webinar on April 12.

Qatar, Building a National and Regional Knowledge Economy

By Nick Clark, Editor, World Education News & Reviews

Since gaining independence from the British in 1971, Qatar has grown from being one of the poorer countries in the Persian Gulf to achieving the highest level of per capita income in the world (by a long shot). Qatar’s wealth is derived largely from its vast oil and gas reserves, and with a population of just over 2 million (est. 2013), the tiny emirate punches well above its weight in terms of regional influence. Nonetheless, demographic issues are cause for significant concern among Qatari citizens (less than 250,000) who accounted for just 6 percent of the 1.25-million strong national workforce in 2009.

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa has ruled the emirate since 1995 after bloodlessly deposing his father in a palace coup. Since then, the emir has introduced a series of reforms and is perhaps most famous for providing the freedom and capital needed to establish Al-Jazeera, a primarily Arabic-language news network that has simultaneously managed to annoy leaders in the West and leaders in the Middle East. Also of significant note is the role that the emir’s wife, Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, has played in public life, with her drive to advocate for education, children's causes and the role of women in society.

As with other carbon-rich countries in the region, Qatar is proactively seeking to diversify its economy away from a dependency on oil and gas, with industry demanding increasingly skilled labor to meet human resource needs. Proven oil reserves at current production rates are set to last just 20 more years, and while recent advances in the exploitation of natural gas combined with growing global demand suggest a longer shelf life for the Qatari hydrocarbon economy, the emirate remains committed to readying itself for a post-carbon economic future. 

The government’s commitment to education and reform is evidenced by significant financial investments (19.6 percent of government spending goes to education), and meaningful commitments to education reform from members of the ruling elite. As a result of this commitment, literacy rates are today well above the regional average for both males and females in the adult and youth populations, while enrollment in primary education is almost universal.

Building a Knowledge Economy

In the mid-1990s, Qatar announced plans to revamp its higher-education sector in a bid to achieve its goals of building a competent locally trained workforce able to replace up to 75 percent of the expatriate community (not yet close to being met). Central to this plan was the creation of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development in 1995. The Qatar Foundation is headed by Sheikha Mozah and its guiding principal is that “a nation's greatest resource is the potential of its people.”

A more recent plan for the future of the emirate was outlined in 2008 under the Qatar National Vision for 2030. It describes how the nation’s vast revenues from hydrocarbon resources will be used to transform Qatar into a modern knowledge-based economy, prioritizing the development of human resources over the next 20 years, for the betterment of not only the nation, but also the region and the world. This is to be achieved through education and training policies, focused on national needs. There is a particular emphasis on the energy and industrial sector, but other strategies to create jobs include the development of business and commerce through incentives for foreign investment, the development of Qatar as a regional financial center, and the development of tourism.

At the tertiary level, one of the cornerstones of Qatar’s broad educational reform project has been the development of Education City, a 2,400-acre, multi-campus complex, which is home to eight top-tier international branch campuses including six from the United States. Together, these branches and an academic bridge program constitute the recently named Hamad bin Khalifa University.

All the universities at Education City use the Academic Bridge Program, founded by the Qatar Foundation 10 years ago to help boost enrollments among Qatari students not sufficiently prepared academically to meet entry requirements without additional tutoring. The program teaches math, science and English as well as critical thinking and problem solving to Qatari high school students who otherwise meet university admission requirements.

Local citizens at Education City currently make up about a third of enrollments.

Academic Mobility

Data from UNESCO’s Institute of Statistics suggest that Qatar is having significant success in helping to develop human resource capacity in the region, with the number of international students in Qatar increasing steadily in recent years from 3,393 in 2008 to 5,387 in 2010, an increase of almost 60 percent, with 3,791 coming from neighboring Arab states. In 2010, 58 percent of total international enrollments were among women.

There were approximately 3,700 international students at Qatar University and Qatar Community College (both public) in 2010/11. At Education City, total enrollments have grown from approximately 1,000 in 2007 to more than 4,000 from 85 different countries in 2012. Two-thirds of enrollments at Education City are among non-Qataris. The campuses have proven particularly attractive for students from Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco. Officials have set 2015 enrollment targets at 8,000 students, which would equal the current student body at Qatar University, the nation’s only public university.

With the establishment of Education City’s U.S. campuses, the number of enrollments of Qatari students at U.S. institutions of higher education has increased significantly in recent years, but equally as evident is the growth in the number of students travelling to the United States for higher education.

Enrollments from Qatar at onshore U.S. institutions of higher education have increased by more than 180 percent since 2007/08 to a total of 971 in 2011/12, the third largest rate of growth of any source country over that time period (for countries sending more than 900 students), behind only Saudi Arabia (245 percent) and Libya (756 percent). Enrollments among Qatari students are primarily at the undergraduate level, and predominantly male.

Currently, the top destination country for Qatari students is the United Kingdom, with 1,050 enrolled there in 2010, compared to 657 in the United States (2010). Overall, the international mobility of Qatari students is growing quickly, doubling from approximately 1,300 in 2005 to just under 2,800 in 2010. This growth has been driven in large part by the introduction and expansion of generous government scholarship schemes.

While female students represent 68 percent of the tertiary student body in Qatar and over 75 percent of the student body at Qatar University, a much higher percentage of male students are abroad studying than female students. Because Qatari women are rarely able to travel abroad without a male chaperone, the transplant of U.S. campuses to Qatar now means that women in the emirate, who make up almost 30 percent of the workforce (more than twice as high as in neighboring Saudi Arabia), enjoy the same access to high quality westernized instruction as their male peers, even if they don’t have the opportunity to enjoy the same cultural experience of studying overseas. From the outset, expanding higher-education opportunities for Arab women was one of Sheikha Mozah's main goals for the Qatar Foundation.

Scholarships

Scholarships for study abroad are available from the government and from state bodies such as Qatar Petroleum, Qatar Airways and Sidra Medical and Research Center. As many as 50 percent of Qatari nationals studying abroad are on government scholarships.

The Higher Education Institute, under the Supreme Education Council, manages scholarships, and domestically the government covers the tuition of every Qatari citizen. The government also provides lucrative overseas scholarship opportunities for study at any of the 675 institutions around the world that meet its quality standards. In addition, gold-plated scholarship opportunities that include cash bonuses for good grades, are available to students that earn admittance to one of world’s 20 best universities (15 U.S. universities, 4 British, 1 Swiss) under the "Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani" scholarship, and one of the world’s top 30 universities (19 U.S. universities, 3 Canadian, 2 Japanese, 2 Australian, 1 each Swedish, British, German, Finch) under the "Tamim bin Hamad" scholarship.

Students that complete the scholarship programs are required to work in the Qatari economy for the equivalent number of years as their scholarship period.

System of Education Overview

Schools

Schooling starts at the age of six and students are required to undertake 12 years of compulsory education. In 2010/11, there were approximately 91,000 students in primary education, with a net enrollment ratio of 96 percent. There were close to 88,000 children in all secondary programs in 2010, and a net enrollment rate of 83 percent. Nearly 55 percent of students across all school levels in 2010 were at private schools.

At the higher education level, there were close to 16,000 university students at both public and private institutions. Tuition is free to all nationals and to the children of non-Qatari residents who work in the public sector.

The education system follows a 6+3+3 structure, with six years of primary (6-12 years), three years of preparatory (12-15 years) and three years of secondary (15-18) schooling. In addition to public secondary schools, there are some specialized and technical schools, and also many private international schools for the children of expatriate communities in the emirate. Local children also attend these popular international schools, which offer curriculums and exams in accordance with the system followed, most commonly British and American. A total of 96,000 students currently attend private schools with just under one in five being Qatari nationals.

The education system is jointly regulated and managed by the Ministry of Education and the Supreme Education Council (SEC); however, the SEC has become more influential in recent years as it strives to raise standards in Qatar to a world-class level. Based on the recommendations of a RAND Policy Institute study, commissioned by the state in 2002, schools – many recently created – have been given much greater independence under the SEC to develop their curriculums and manage their affairs than was formerly the case under the ministry. Qatar now has a set of curriculum standards for grades K to 12 that are benchmarked against the best in the world.

Nearly all subjects are now taught in English, and standardized tests have been instituted at the end of each grade, both as a measure of student performance and as a measure of the progress of reforms.

Secondary Credentials

At the end of the preparatory education level (Grade 9), students are awarded the General Preparatory Education Certificate.

Students in upper secondary education can undertake either a Scientific or Literary stream for their final two years, after a common first year curriculum. Successful students are awarded the Thanawiya aam Qatari (General Secondary Education Certificate), which leads to university study.

Students following the vocational or technical stream are awarded the Thanawiya Fanni (Commercial Secondary School Certificate) or Thanawiya Sina’ah (Technical SSC), which typically lead to employment, with limited access to higher education opportunities.

Vocational Education

Vocational education in Qatar is also undergoing major reforms with the goal of better aligning the skills of the local workforce with the needs of industry, while also improving the perceived value of vocational training in a region where such training traditionally has been negatively regarded.

With assistance from the World Bank, a Labor Market Strategy National Action Plan was produced in 2005 to define the needs of the economy as part of its ‘Qatarization’ strategy. The plan includes, as an objective, the creation of a national qualifications framework.

Qatar is currently looking to offer more pathways for secondary school leavers through the development of the community college model. In 2010, Qatar partnered with Houston Community College under a five-year agreement, and opened the Community College of Qatar, the country’s first such college. The school currently offers two-year Associates Degrees in the arts, science and applied sciences. Enrollments have grown from 300 in 2011 to 1,500 currently. Graduates have the opportunity to transfer to Qatar University or universities at Education City under recently signed agreements.

Canada’s College of the North Atlantic set up a branch campus in 2002, and delivers Canadian vocational diplomas. It has a current enrollment of over 4,500 students.

Qatar Petroleum employed the Western Australian Government’s Department of Education and Training to review its training methods in early 2000, and it took over delivery of training for nationals, offering Australian Technical and Further Education (TAFE) qualifications.

Higher Education

Qatar University is the nation’s only public university, with colleges of Arts, Sciences, Business and Economics, Education, Engineering, Law, Pharmacy and Sharia. The university offers mainly undergraduate programs, but each college also offers a handful of masters programs. A Doctor of Pharmacy and a Doctor of Philosophy were also introduced in 2011. In academic year 2010/11, the university reported an enrollment in excess of 9,000 students.

Qatar University began a reform initiative in 2003 to develop its institutional autonomy, pursue accreditation of its programs, and raise academic standards in response to the needs of the labor market. Working with the RAND – Qatar Policy Institute, the university is redefining its mission and structure to better serve the nation's needs. As part of this new mission, Qatar University is establishing a new teacher training college in partnership with Texas A&M, one of the six U.S. tenants at Education City.

All of the university’s colleges have been seeking accreditation from various respected international accreditors, with many having already achieved recognition and accreditation.

The university runs a semester credit hour system, and nearly all classes are conducted in English (with the exception of Sharia and Islamic studies). TOEFL or IELTS scores are required for admission (500PBT or 5.5 IELTS).

As noted under the “Building a Knowledge Economy” section of this article, Education City was established in 1995, and today plays host to eight top-tier global universities, with offerings ranging from journalism, computer science, business administration, information systems, design, international relations, medicine and engineering. All credentials from the various branches are issued by the home institution, and should be considered equivalent. The initiative has received significant backing from the government in order to ensure the quality of the education that is delivered.

Outside Education City, the University of Calgary – Qatar offers foundation, diploma, bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in nursing at its Doha campus to a current enrollment of over 330 students. The Netherlands’ Stenden University Qatar offers a four-year bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with majors in International Tourism Management and International Hospitality Management.

Conclusion

Education reform in Qatar, from primary level to postsecondary, is among the most comprehensive in the region. However, much remains to be done if the goals of ‘Qatarization,’ outlined under the government’s Vision 2030 plan, are to be met and reliance on temporary immigrant workers lessened.

It is too soon to tell if projects begun well over a decade ago will transform the emirate into a true knowledge economy free from a dependency on oil and gas revenue, but it appears fair to say that it is becoming one of the most important regional actors in the field of education innovation. Results are being seen at the grassroots basic literacy level through to high-end university research. Significant investments are being made in ensuring quality standards, while some of the best universities in the world have viable and established campuses in the emirate. Additionally, an increasing number of Qataris are travelling abroad to receive world-class training at universities around the world, with over 1,000 currently in the United States alone.

However, the small size of Qatar’s citizenry makes it highly unlikely that goals related to the reduction of the size of the expatriate workforce can be met without significantly increasing higher education participation rates, especially among males.