29 avril 2014

By Wachira Kigotho. Non-university technical programmes are the fastest growing forms of post-secondary education, according to UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning, or IIEP. Tracer studies coordinated by the IIEP in five countries – Azerbaijan, Chile, Malaysia, Nigeria and South Korea – indicated that increasing job market demand for varied skills is the primary driver of the emerging trend. Read more...

By Alecia D McKenzie. If universities aren't careful, the future of higher education could be a nightmarish 'MOOC world' where there are fewer jobs for researchers and a scholar becomes a 'rare bird'. This was the scenario painted by Gideon Rosen, an American professor of philosophy, at the second annual Princeton-Fung Global Forum. Titled “The Future of Higher Education”, the Forum was held from 9-11 April in Paris, France, and brought together experts and officials mostly from the United States and Europe to explore some of the challenges faced by higher education in a world of rapid technological advances. Read more...

By Gilbert Nganga. Kenya has kicked off the search for trustees to head an agency that will review tuition fees in public universities, which have remained unchanged over the past 19 years. The government revealed that it was looking for trustees for the yet to be formed University Fund that is mandated to set fees for students. Read more...

By Karen MacGregor. The United Kingdom's 10 top-ranked universities have a combined total of more than 400,000 followers on Twitter, according to new research – but they are failing to engage with potential students and “stand out from the crowd through social media”. Twitter followers represent a massive potential recruitment pool, but none of the top 10 universities “is sending out more than four tweets a day, let alone directly engaging with their followers”, said Brandwatch, a social media analytics company. Read more...

By Wagdy Sawahel. Algeria is building the first astronomical observatory of its kind in the Maghreb region and the Arab world. The major observatory in Tamanrasset, which is located in the desert of the Hoggar region nearly 2,000 kilometres south of the capital Algiers, will be opened in 2019.
Based at the Centre for Research in Astronomy, Astrophysics and Geophysics, the observatory has been initiated by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research as a part of the national strategy for research and technology development, according to a 9 April report from the Algeria Press Service, or APS.
The astronomical observatory is being set up in collaboration with France's Cote d'Azur Observatory, said APS. Read more...

By Ria Nurdiani. In an effort to increase the number of people with postgraduate qualifications in Indonesia, the government this month launched the Indonesia Presidential Scholarships, which are tenable at the world's top universities. Read more...

By Jan Petter Myklebust. Three ministers have presented the Danish government's new plans to attract highly qualified people to the country and retain international students from outside Europe after graduation, including tax perks, a fast-track employment system and simplified immigration. Read more...

By Munyaradzi Makoni. The World Bank's board of executive directors on 15 April approved US$150 million to fund 19 university-based centres of excellence in seven countries in West and Central Africa. The bulk of the funding will go to universities in Nigeria, which won 10 of the centres. Read more...

By Jan Petter Myklebust. The Swedish government has done an about-turn on quality assurance in higher education, announcing that the current model is to be reviewed. Last weekend 37 rectors – all of the members of the Association of Swedish Higher Education, or SUHF – and Swedish National Union of Students chair Erik Arroy signed an article in Svenska Dagbladet stating: “We are fully capable of undertaking the quality assurance of our degrees and courses ourselves.” Read more...

By Karen MacGregor – Global Editor. In Commentary, John Aubrey Douglass presents the concept of the Flagship University – one focused on excellence and research but grounded in national and regional service – as an alternative to the World Class University paradigm.
Richard Holmes sooths fears in New Zealand that its universities are slipping down the rankings, and Brianne Kent contends that the publishing system is broken and academia should move to archiving and post-publication review to foster collaboration and free up more time for research. Read more...