Several of Ottawa’s neighbourhood associations have sent a letter to the mayor asking for “an immediate freeze on the development of any student housing that is not on the campus of a post-secondary educational institution … (This) should cover all types of developments from housing conversions to more large-scale plans for student housing.”
They say the city needs a student-housing strategy, and that in absence of one, all developments for student housing must cease. The argument is that conversions and developments must be done with care for the impact on the neighbourhood, and that argument is true on its face. But in this debate, the downsides of student housing tend to get disproportionate attention. And a freeze could needlessly delay or prevent useful projects that could benefit not only students, but also their neighbourhoods. More...

By Carol Sanders. Less likely to surpass their parents: study. The children of Canadian immigrants generally do better than their parents -- unless they're Filipino males, a study released Wednesday shows.
The Institute for Research on Public Policy conducted what's been hailed as the first study to focus on Filipino youth in Canada. The study, Understanding Intergenerational Social Mobility: Filipino Youth in Canada, found Filipino youth, particularly males, are less likely to hold a university degree than their parents and their peers in other immigrant groups.
With the Philippines being one of Canada's leading source countries for new immigrants and the main source for Manitoba, the lack of upward mobility for Filipino youth is worth studying, said Prof. Philip Kelly, director of the York Centre for Asian Research in Toronto and author of the study. More...

By Clement Idoko-Abuja. CLEMENT IDOKO, just returning from Ghana, writes on the influx of Nigerian students in pursuit of “Degree Mills” in Ghana, concluding that these quack institutions take advantage of the incessant strikes and disruption of academic calendar in Nigeria coupled with lack of access to tertiary institutions to defraud the parents and students. The fate of thousands of Nigerian students pursuing various degrees in mushroom and “degree mills” in Ghana is precariously hanging in the balance. More...

By Dinesh Weerakkody. Sri Lanka in order to become a knowledge hub would require to invest big, to strengthen the existing skills base, that would however require the sort of great national leap forward we saw in 2009 to ensure we have the kind of skilled workforce needed to compete in a new, high tech industrial era.
A Knowledge Hub is broadly defined as a designated region intended to attract FDIs, retain and attract foreign students, build and grow a reputation for providing high-quality education and specialized training for both international and domestic students, and finally create a knowledge-based economy.  A knowledge hub is concerned with the process of building up a country’s capacity to better integrate it with the world’s increasing knowledge-based economy, while simultaneously exploring policy options that have the potential to enhance economic growth. A higher education hub can include different combinations of domestic/international institutions, branch campuses, and foreign partnership, within the region. More...

By Claire Zillman. The Kelley School of Business at Indiana University has introduced an initiative aimed at bringing together the school's graduates, corporate recruiters, and an immigration law firm to breeze through the maze of H-1B visa paperwork and regulation.
The United States is training a growing number of foreign students at its universities, but many are sent packing overseas after graduation day, a result of an arcane visa process that keeps many employers from even giving a talented foreign graduate a second glance. More...

En 2012, 53 % des demandes de CIF CDI ont été acceptées. 31 200 CIF CDI ont été pris en charge pour un montant de 741 millions d'euros, soit une prise en charge moyenne de 23 750 €. 80 % des bénéficiaires ont une prise en charge des coût pédagogiques à 100 %.  La durée moyenne des actions s'élève à 722 heures.
Concernant les bénéficiaires, 23 % proviennent d'entreprises de moins de 20 salariés, 82 % sont des ouvriers et employés, 76 % ont entre 25 et 44 ans, 48 % sont des femmes, 41 % visent un niveau de formation de niveau V.
30 % des bénéficiaires ont une spécialité de formation dans le commerce, la vente, la comptabilité et le transport. 24 % dans les services aux personnes.
L'étude livre également les données pour le CIF CDD, le bilan de compétences, la VAE, la formation hors temps de travail, le DIF et le contrat de sécurisation professionnelle.
Accéder à l'étude (202 p. en pdf)

Les cours en ligne ouverts et massifs peuvent être l'occasion de se perfectionner, voire même de monter son projet entrepreneurial. Focus sur trois MOOC francophones permettant de se former pour lancer sa propre activité.
Si entreprendre est un rêve imaginé et partagé par de plus en plus de Français, se lancer peut s'avérer fastidieux voire périlleux. Fort heureusement, de plus en plus de cursus permettent de se former efficacement à cette délicate aventure. D'autant que l'émergence des cours en ligne ouverts et massifs, ou MOOC, a permis de renforcer cette offre de formation. Suite...

By S.A. Swanson. After nearly two decades working for the University of Chicago's executive MBA program, associate dean Patty Keegan thought she had heard just about every question a prospective student could ask. Last month, however, she heard a new one: Why should I pay you for this program when I can just cobble together my own with MOOCs?
If that term hasn't blipped on your acronym radar yet, here are the basics: MOOC stands for massive open online course. And it is shaking up the education business.
MOOCs allow anyone to sign up. There are no limits on the number of participants in a particular course, and usually, there's no fee. More...