80 millions d'euros pour l'AFPA
Lors d'un déplacement en province, le ministre de la formation professionnelle a annoncé le versement d'une somme de 80 millions d'euros à l'AFPA pour faire face à des problèmes de trésorerie.Le banquier de l'Etat, la Caisse des Dépots et Consignation, devrait prendre la tête d'un pool d'accompagnement.
20 millions d'euros devraient être versés très rapidement à cet opérateur déficient. Nous ne savons pas s'il s'agit d'un prêt ou d'un remboursement*. En effet, les centrales syndicales renvendiquaient, de longue date, le remboursement d'une dette de l'Etat de... 80 millions d'euros. Beaucoup pensaient que cette dette serait compensée par le fait que l'AFPA, qui exerce ses pratiques sur le champ concurrentiel, ne paie que des loyers très symboliques pour l'utilisation de locaux qui appartiennent à l'Etat.
"Il n'est pas certain que cela suffira" déclare ce spécialiste de la formation. "L'Etat ferait bien mieux de laisser le problème aux régions. Il faudrait alléger la technostructure parisienne de ce dispositif car beaucoup d'organismes de formation sont sur le même marché que l'AFPA et s'en sortent très bien en n'ayant pas les mêmes avantages."
AFPA: où est l'utilité sociale?
Comme nous avons eu l'occasion de l'évoquer à de multiples reprises, le problème de fond de l'AFPA est celui de son utilité sociale très difficile à identifier. Pourquoi l'AFPA alors que la profession est à même de répondre aux besoins?
En effet, si l'AFPA correspondait à un besoin de qualification après guerre, voire jusqu'aux années 90, force est de constater que le modèle a fortement vieilli et ne répond que très modestement aux attentes des territoires sur lesquels de nouveaux opérateurs sont apparus et dispensent des services avec souplesse. Les régions se sont par ailleurs substituées, en grande partie, à l'Etat par la création et la gestion de Services Publics de Formation, marginalisant l'organisme historique soumis aux procédures d'appels d'offres. Cela se conçoit très bien compte tenu du fait que les organismes de formation concurrents disposent, dans leur majorité, des agréements attribués par l'Etat et gages de qualité.
La décentralisation va-t-elle sauver l'AFPA?
Probablement, mais cela passera forcément par un mode de gestion moins jacobin et la disparition d'un siège, et d'un état major parisien nombreux, au profit d'une fédération regroupant des opérateurs régionaux au service des régions et autres clients.
*source: cgc afpa
While traveling in the provinces, the Minister for Vocational Training has announced a $ 80 million to the AFPA to face cash flow problems. The banker of the State, Caisse des Depots et Consignations, should lead to a pool cover.
20 million euros should be paid very quickly to this operator deficient. We do not know if it's a loan or a refund*. Indeed, the unions renvendiquaient, long-time repayment of a debt of the State of... 80 million euros. More...
Un trou de plus de 400 millions dans le budget du ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche
Par Michel Cabirol. La ministre de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche, Geneviève Fioraso, a constaté à son arrivée au ministère des dépenses non budgétisées à plus de 400 millions d'euros. Elle regrette ces "impasses budgétaires" laissées par ses deux prédécesseurs... "sans volonté polémique". La ministre de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche, Geneviève Fioraso, s'est dit "très surprise" à son arrivée au ministère par les "impasses budgétaires" laissées par ses deux prédécesseurs. "Au total, le montant des dépenses non budgétisées s'élève à plus de 400 millions d'euros", a-t-elle précisé devant les députés de la commission de Affaires culturelles et de l'Education de l'Assemblée nationale. Et d'enfoncer le clou: "dans un contexte où les dépenses publiques doivent être maîtrisées, c'est loin d'être négligeable". Du coup, la ministre doit procéder "par redéploiement" alors qu'elle souhaitait "utiliser les marges de manoeuvre pour financer des actions nouvelles correspondant à des besoins réels, plutôt que pour colmater des brèches". Suite de l'article dans La Tribune.
Με Michel Cabirol. Υπουργός Ανώτατης Εκπαίδευσης και Έρευνας, Genevieve Fioraso, που βρέθηκαν κατά την άφιξή του στο Υπουργείο χωρίς προϋπολογισμό δαπάνες άνω των 400 εκατ. ευρώ. Είναι λυπηρό το "αδιέξοδο του προϋπολογισμού" αριστερά από δύο προκατόχους του... "Δεν θα συζητήσουμε." Περισσότερα...Part-time students now entitled to student loans
Student Finance England. Complete your application to secure funding in time for the start of term, says Student Finance England.
For the first time students who are studying part-time or through the Open University can apply for a student loan to cover the cost of their tuition fees.
This means that, just like those studying full-time, part-time students no longer need to pay upfront for their studies.
How to foster a culture of collaboration between universities and industry
By Sara Jones and Stephen Clulow. For universities that are able to surmount the challenges and costs of collaborating with industry, there are many ways to begin dialogue - from 'sandboxes' to hack days.
We recently ran a workshop, entitled 'Better conversations', at the two week Digital Shoreditch Festival, held in London's 'Tech City'. The festival is celebration of the creative, technical and entrepreneurial talent that is part of the digital economy in that part of London, and our workshop explored the question of how businesses and universities can engage more effectively with each other to solve business problems. Around 80 participants, from both academia and industry, highlighted many of the issues that can make such communications difficult and provided innovative ideas on how academia and business could collaborate more effectively together.
EU students say permit delays are putting degrees at risk
By Harriet Swain. By now, Emilia Gheorghe, a second-year Romanian student at Hull University, should be working at an international summer school, developing children's English language skills and arranging activities. It was a job that could have boosted her chances of getting a place on the Teach First scheme for high-flying graduates. Instead, she has been forced to stay with a friend while she waits for the UK Border Agency (UKBA) to process her application for a work permit – 18 months after she originally applied.
"If this happened in Romania, all Europe would have pointed the finger at us," she says. "I'm sure most people in England don't even know this is happening."
Overseas agents: cleaning up recruitment from the bottom up
By Simon Reade. One route to improving international recruitment - and preserving the reputation of institutions - would be to standardise financial transactions between agents, institutions and students.
Concerns have once again surfaced over the activities of overseas agents who act as "partners" for universities seeking to recruit international students.
We're Muddying the Message on Study Abroad
By Mark Salisbury. Few undergraduate experiences inspire more fervent advocacy than study abroad. These arguments seem increasingly compelling today as a growing list of economic, environmental, and technological challenges underscore our need for a more globally savvy and culturally interconnected populace.
But beneath the appealing evangelism lies a perplexing reality: Despite annual press releases touting another "record" number of students abroad, the actual proportion of college students overseas has remained virtually unchanged. And as higher-education enrollments have grown more diverse, the demographic profile of those studying abroad continues to be mostly white and female. Furthermore, while many people have vociferously argued that studying abroad is the ideal way to gain crucial cross-cultural skills, a close look at the supporting research makes it difficult to be sure whether the findings amount to legitimate proof or preconceptions in search of corroborating evidence.
INDIA Learning higher education lessons from China
By Ranjit Goswami. In the early 1980s, India had quantitatively and qualitatively more infrastructure than China. Until the last decade, India’s higher education outperformed its Chinese counterpart – both quantitatively and qualitatively – and China retained its long-term lead in primary education.
But the situation is altogether different today, as China now dominates in ‘soft infrastructure’ areas too, which include higher education.
Higher education development in India and China closely parallels their economic growth over the past couple of decades.
Higher education in India struggles with moderate reactive growth, whereas China achieves higher growth and is proactive in its goals; in no small measure, this derives from the fact that the Chinese system is more directly focused on quality than India’s.
China is a unique case in higher education development. In 2010 China achieved a gross enrolment ratio of 30% in higher education, up from an abysmally low 3% to 4% in 1990. India barely improved its enrolment ratio in the same 20-year period, moving from less than 10% to 15% enrolment.
One in five universities will be forced to close or merge, minister says
By Eugene Vorotnikov. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a reorganisation of state universities that will lead to some closures.
Dimitry Livanov, the minister of education and science, said that one in five universities could be shut down or forced to merge over the next two or three years.
Putin said: “There is a need to identify inefficient universities by the end of the current year. At the same time the programme of restructuring, including through mergers with strong universities, should be developed and approved prior to May 2013.”
He said the implementation of these plans would take place within a draft law, On Education, which is to be submitted by the government to the State Duma – the lower house of parliament – on 7 August.
Brazil tops 2012 Latin America rankings
By María Elena Hurtado. Sixty five out of the 250 universities in the 2012 QS ranking on Latin America published late last month are Brazilian, with the University of São Paulo taking the top spot.
Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile and Argentina make up 80% of the universities from the 19-country ranking.
Brazilian universities make up nine of the top 10 in the region for most research papers per faculty member. The top nine universities with the most academics with a PhD are also Brazilian.
“The dominance of Brazil reflects a focus on higher education as the key to unlocking its huge economic potential. The boom in research of the country’s universities follows major investments in research and development,” Danny Byrne, editor of http://TopUniversities.com, which publishes the rankings, told University World News.
However, if the top 200 universities in the QS University Ranking: Latin America were measured according to their countries’ populations, Brazil would fall behind Chile, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Panama, Argentina, Colombia and Peru.
