Discover the strongest universities in the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa with the QS World University Rankings: BRICS.

• BRICS Top 100 universities
• Based on eight key indicators
• Compare universities' performance

Out on 17 December

In the latest edition of the QS World University Rankings®, there are 47 ranked universities in the regions of Africa and the Middle East, split between 14 different countries. Some nations, however, boast more entries than others; the country with the largest rankings presence is Turkey with nine offerings, despite no entries within the top 400. Tied with seven ranked universities each are South Africa and Saudi Arabia, although South Africa appears higher up, with the regions’ second highest ranking. Israel, despite its miniscule size in relation to its competitors, has five ranked universities, four of which are impressively included within the top 10 universities in Africa and the Middle East.
Here’s a closer look at those 10 top universities in Africa and the Middle East, followed by a comprehensive ‘Best of the Rest’, which gives a deserved mention to all the African and Middle Eastern countries included within the QS rankings.
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel 
Located in Israel, the world’s only Jewish-majority state, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is the highest ranked of these top universities in Africa and the Middle East. The university is ranked 141= in the world and counts among its founders the likes of Nobel Prize laureate Albert Einstein, who served on the first Board of Governors alongside Sigmund Freud. The school has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot, and is home to the world’s largest Jewish studies library. The university is also well reputed in mathematics and has been awarded a Fields Medal in the subject. More...

Literacy levels vary across countries and between vocational education and training (VET) and general education graduates at upper-secondary levels, according to first findings from the OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) published in October. The findings also show that, unsurprisingly, the young are more literate, but that proficiency in literacy peaks at around 30 years of age.
Literacy skills of VET graduates differ significantly across countries
Across all the 24 countries (and sub-national regions) participating in the survey the mean literacy score  for young adults aged 16-29 whose highest level is vocationally oriented upper-secondary education is 273 out of a possible 500 (see Table). In some European countries such as Finland, or the Netherlands literacy scores are significantly above the OECD mean for this group, while in Spain, Poland are Ireland they are below (see Figure). These differences matter. In Finland, for instance, literacy skills of young graduates from general upper secondary programmes are as good as those of university graduates in Italy. More...

A lively two-day debate at the Cedefop conference on the shift to learning outcomes and its impact (21 and 22 November 2013, Thessaloniki) concluded that learning outcomes are here to stay but there is still a lot of work to be done. Opening the conference, Cedefop Director James Calleja told 140 participants from 27 countries that ‘learning outcomes raise the employability profile of qualifications’. He talked about ‘an issue of paramount importance’ to European vocational education and training (VET) and lifelong learning developments, and added that ‘the challenge for all of us is to converge diverging approaches in writing learning outcomes’. More...

Countries, employers and individuals need a clear idea of how labour markets and economies are changing and how people are meeting the demand for skills in the 21st century. People with low skills face a greater risk of economic disadvantage. They are more likely to be unemployed and suffer from poor health.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) survey of adult skills (PIAAC) aims to provide some insights into how skills are being developed and used in 24 countries. The first findings of the survey were published in October 2013. They show that the young are more literate, but proficiency in literacy peaks at around 30 years of age. More...

Cedefop Director James Calleja told participants at a conference on skills mobility and competitiveness that there are solutions to the ‘worrying situation with millions of jobs in Europe still remaining vacant while 27 million people are unemployed’.
Mr Calleja addressed particularly the issue of youth unemployment, saying that it is up to 23 % – in some countries even hitting the 60 % mark. 
‘This is an issue, which will be picked up again in this particular city next year because Thessaloniki will be European Youth Capital, and I think it will be particularly appropriate for us as an EU agency to really focus on this,’ he noted in his speech at the conference organised by the European Economic and Social Committee’s Labour Market Observatory. More...

The challenges of greening the economy and the implications for employment and skills vary across regions and local areas, depending on their economic and industrial structure, as well as their current and potential innovative activities. Despite these national differences, sustained and inclusive employment is a shared objective for policy makers in all types of localities.

The 2nd Green Skills Forum will have a special focus on the links between skills and knowledge needs and inclusive green growth. Experts in innovation, employability and skills development policies will draw lessons from work conducted by Cedefop, the OECD and other organisations in this area. The discussions will help identify the obstacles and challenges lying ahead for the development of skills, education and training policies. The Forum’s outcomes will contribute to inform new work to be conducted to address the transition of labour markets to greener employment growth.

Link: Green Skills Forum website.

The Government has announced that it will remove the cap on student numbers at publicly-funded universities and colleges from 2015-16, with an additional 30,000 students for 2014-15, and provide an additional £185 million for STEM subjects over four years from 2015-16.
Steve Egan, HEFCE Interim Chief Executive, said:

    'Removing controls on the numbers of students entering higher education will give more people the opportunity to benefit from higher education. We welcome the additional support for STEM subjects, which will help universities and colleges to capitalise on the upturn in demand in these areas and support economic growth.
    'We look forward to further details from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in due course.'

By Christopher Pappas. The rise in e-Learning's popularity isn't showing any signs of slowing. In fact, judging by the following Top 10 eLearning statistics for 2014 article and infographic, the future of the e-Learning Industry is brighter than ever.
e-Learning has revolutionized the educational sector, and has changed the way we look at knowledge and skill acquisition altogether. Thanks to modern educational technology, e-Learning tools and techniques just keep getting bigger and better. Today, they are providing learners with a more impressive, and more effective, educational experience. More...