By Karin Fischer. Even as India struggles to educate its burgeoning population, it faces a second pressing challenge: better preparing its college graduates for a competitive global work force.
It's not enough to simply focus on expanding educational access in the world's second-most-populous nation, said speakers at an international-education conference here, organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. India, as a rising economic and political power, must also improve the quality of its higher-education system.
Close to a million students graduate from Indian institutions with engineering degrees each year, said Shiv Nadar, a technology entrepreneur. "How many of them are industry-ready?" asked Mr. Nadar, who is also the founder of a private university that bears his name. "None. Absolutely none." More...

By Tamar Lewin. Although the United States no longer leads the world in educational attainment, record numbers of young Americans are completing high school, going to college and finishing college, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of newly available census data.
This year, for the first time, a third of the nation’s 25- to 29-year-olds have earned at least a bachelor’s degree. That share has been slowly edging up for decades, from fewer than one-fifth of young adults in the early 1970s to 33 percent this year. More...

Officials and scholars from China and the United States discussed collaborating on higher education during the 15th Edgar Snow Symposium held at Peking University in October, stressing that educational cooperation should be a two-way street.
Excerpts of their speeches follow:
Yang Meng, Deputy Secretary General of the China Education Association for International Exchange: The Outline of China's National Plan for Medium- and Long-term Education Reform and Development (2010-20) requires us to expand international exchanges and cooperation in the field of education. In the early 1980s, many Chinese students went abroad to study and didn't come back after graduation, bringing a so-called "brain drain" to the country. However, at the beginning of the 21st century, there were more job opportunities in fast-developing China, and more Chinese students overseas are willing to return to China, in what is now coined the "brain gain." Today, not only are Chinese students going abroad to study, but also more foreign students are coming to China to learn the Chinese language and culture, promoting "brain circulation." More...

Vocatis. « Le pourcentage de salariés des entreprises de 10 salariés et plus ayant participé au moins à une action de formation, à un bilan de compétences ou à une VAE dans le cadre du plan de formation ou d’un DIF s’établit à 40,8% en 2010 » indique le jaune budgétaire « formation professionnelle » annexé au PLF (projet de loi de finance) 2013 qui n’annonce par ailleurs aucun grand changement dans les habitudes de formation par rapport aux années précédentes.
2011 semble « faire apparaître un redressement assez général » avec un taux d’accès de 42,3% en données provisoires.
Nombre de DIF et de contrats de professionnalisation stable
- Le document note que «  les taux d’accès aux périodes de professionnalisation restent relativement stables en 2011 à 2,1% (données provisoires). »
- Sur la même année, les Opca ont pris en charge 474 869 stagiaires au titre du DIF (+0,3% par rapport à 2010), la formation dure « en moyenne 26 heures par stagiaire, soit 2 heures de plus qu’en 2010, et se déroule principalement sur le temps de travail (70%). »
Les prises en charge de CIF en baisse
- Le nombre de prises en charge de CIF diminue une nouvelle fois en 2011: «  -5,8% après une baisse de -10,5% en 2010. » Au total, 33 346 demandes de financement ont été acceptées, sur 68 629 demandes enregistrées.
- « Au total, en 2010, 601 000 personnes sans emploi sont entrées en formation », selon le document, qui précise que «  certains stagiaires ayant effectué plusieurs formations pendant l’année, 683 000 entrées en formation ont été enregistrées au total, soit le plus haut niveau depuis 2005 »
- 49% des demandeurs d’emploi ayant débuté une formation en 2010 sont des femmes; 43% des stagiaires ont moins de 26 ans et 15% ont 45 ans ou plus.
Voir aussi  La Formation Continue et le DAEU dans le Rapport sur les politiques nationales de recherche et de formations supérieures, Rapport sur les politiques nationales de recherche et de formations supérieures - jaune budgétaire au PLF 2013, CNAM, GRETA et AFPA dans le Jaune budgétaire Formation professionnelle, La VAE dans le Jaune budgétaire Formation professionnelle, PLF 2013 - Jaune budgétaire Formation professionnelle, Mieux comprendre le financement de la formation continue, Faible progression du chiffre d'affaires et formations plus courtes (Jaune Budgetaire 2012), La FC dans les jaunes "Recherche et Enseignement Supérieur" et "Investissements d'avenir", La formation professionnelle dans le jaune budgétaire 2012, réactions de la FCU, PLF 2011, un amendement pour les crédits de la Mires, Publication de l’annexe au PLF 2010 pour la formation professionnelle, PLFR (Projet de loi de finances rectificative) pour 2009, Projet de loi de finances 2009: les orientations de la politique de formation professionnelle,  La VAE dans le PAP et le PLF 2009 et Suppression de la prise en charge par l’État de l’allocation de fin de formation (AFF) dans le Projet de loi de finances (PLF) pour 2009.

A group of 85 Brazilian college students are leaving their country to study science, engineering, and technology in South Korean universities for a year.
The students are travelling with scholarships granted by the program Science without Frontiers (Ciência sem Fronteiras, in Portuguese), a program developed by the Brazilian government that aims to improve, expand, and internationalize science, technology, and innovation in the country by promoting international mobility of students, teachers, and researchers. Meanwhile, a group of 15 students from the Brazilian University of Unisinos is returning home from South Korea. More...

By Pavel Panov, Izvestia. The Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation attempts to fight extremism with “song and dance” and cultural exchange. The idea of “international friendship clubs” (known as KID or “interclubs” in Russia) dates back to the Soviet era.
A source at Russia’s Ministry of Education and Science has revealed plans within the agency to create international student governance bodies at universities. This action comes as part of the Ministry’s State Nationalities Policy initiative. Such bodies will include international friendship clubs, community councils, boards of nationalities, and other similar organizations. More...

By Stan Abrams, China Hearsay. I’ve written before about some of the appalling practices of agencies that provide services to kids in China who wish to study abroad. With so many desperate students looking to get into the Ivy League, not to mention frantic parents in one-child families, hucksters, schemers and con artists are well represented in this industry. So what’s the best way to reform this sector? The latest approach doesn’t look right to me:
Foreign-owned agencies providing services for Chinese students hoping to study at universities overseas may soon be locked out of the Chinese market entirely as part of a government plan which will also strengthen supervision over domestic operators. (Global Times). More...

By Eugene Gerden. The Russian government has earmarked RUB9 billion (£178 million) to enable its leading national universities to break into the top 100 in the global league tables. In a recent decree, Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, announced plans that would see at least five of the country’s universities enter the top 100 by 2020. According to Dmitry Medvedev, the country’s prime minister, at present only 15% of national universities could be considered world-leading. However, even these top national universities are uncompetive in the global arena, which is reflected by their absence in the world rankings. 
The list of universities which will receive financial aid from the state has not yet been determined. However, according to representatives of the Russian  Ministry of Education, a list is expected to be compiled not later than the second quarter of 2013. Ten to fifteen universities are expected to receive the additional money. These universities are expected to be chosen on the basis of several criteria, including academic results, citations and research activity. Meanwhile, education experts believe that implementing these plans may be extremely difficult. Alex Chaplygin, head of the National Rating of Russian Universities and one of Russia's leading higher education analysts, says there are at three leading global university league tables – The Times Higher Education, Shanghai and QS rankings – and it is unclear which of them will have the highest priority for Russian universities. More...

Aichi Prefecture and the city of Akita expressed their intention Monday to demand that education minister Makiko Tanaka retract her decision not to approve construction of new universities within their jurisdictions.
Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura said in Nagoya that he will visit Tanaka to try to convince her to approve the opening of a women's university in Okazaki.
Tanaka announced last week she will not approve the establishment of three educational institutions in the coming academic year, including the women's university. Her decision overriding an advisory panel's approval "oversteps the discretionary power of a minister," Omura said. "The minister should retract her decision and apologize." More...