China is eyeing a 10-percent increase in the number of students from impoverished rural areas attending the country's top universities this year, according to a circular released by the Ministry of Education (MOE) on Monday.
The MOE said the growth will be realized through expanding three existing programs.
Under the first program, central government-affiliated universities, and key universities at local levels will recruit 50,000 rural students, up from 30,000 last year. More...

Universities from Gujarat may get several Australian students from next year under the Australian government's 'New Colombo Plan' initiative. The Australian universities are planning to introduce an entire semester in their curriculum for focusing on some Asian countries, especially India. Australian Consul General Mark Pierce told TOI that they want Australian students to spend more time and connect with Indians. More...

When it comes to the West's engagement in Afghanistan, the field of education is a success. German organizations have played a large role. They're hoping for more time - and aren't necessarily worried about the Taliban.
"In 2001, there were some 4,000 students enroled in Afghan universities, none of them women. Over the past decade, that number has jumped to more than 80,000 at 26 public universities," says Alexander Kupfer, director of the German Academic Exchange Service's (DAAD) higher education program for Afghanistan. More...

By Nida Najar. Amartya Sen first saw the colossal, red-brick ruins of Nalanda University at the age of 11. After he told his family that he wanted to be a professor, his grandfather took him to see the remains of what is described as India’s oldest university, a place where history has the cast of epic myth.
Founded in the fifth century, Nalanda at its peak attracted some 10,000 students from across Asia to study Buddhism, law, literature, and philosophy. It is said to have been the first global institution of higher learning — and, Indians note, one created long before the development of universities in Europe. More...

By Tsuyoshi Sato. Kyoto University is set to select a new president from outside the school’s faculty, doing away with nearly a century-old tradition of voting for an in-house candidate. The alma mater of several Nobel Prize winners is reportedly considering potential leaders from within Japan as well as overseas, with an emphasis on management skills to improve the institution’s international competitiveness. Current President Hiroshi Matsumoto will finish his six-year term in September. An official announcement about the selection process for his successor is expected this month. More...

By Mika Loga. Major investigations are underway into allegations of local private education institutions tricking foreign students into paying large sums of money by making false promises about opportunities to study in Fiji.
At least four Higher Education institutions are being investigated by the Immigration department. They had advertised and enrolled students mainly from Bangladesh, India and Nepal, through the internet. More...

By Heath Gilmore. The University of Sydney plans to spend $2.5 billion transforming its historic campus, as a building arms race between higher education providers reaches unprecedented levels.
The university has $1 billion of building works under way, and it has now lodged with the NSW government a more expansive, $1.5 billion master plan for the Darlington-Camperdown campus. Read more...

By Chris Kohler. China’s huge outflow of students has hit the brakes, according to the latest figures from the Chinese Ministry of Education. While the 413,900 Chinese people studying abroad in 2013 represents a 3.5 per cent increase on 2012, it’s a huge dropoff from the 20 per cent increase per year seen over the past five years, according to Fairfax.
The collapse in Chinese student growth around the world will undoubtedly hit the popular education destinations like the USA, Britain and Canada, but Australia, which is the fifth most popular destination for the world’s international students, is faring surprisingly well. More...

By Will Jackson and Vandy Muong. Waiting to begin a shift as a cashier at the 24-hour BBWorld restaurant on Monivong Boulevard, demure young Srun Vouchleng, wearing a white and red uniform that matched the burger joint’s decor, quietly explained how her dream of getting a university education was crushed. As is the case for so many young women in Cambodia, the social, financial and logistical challenges of completing higher eduction proved insurmountable. Vouchleng, 26, who grew up in a rice farming family in a small village in Kandal province, said she had always wanted to attend university and, after finishing high school, moved to Phnom Penh chasing her goal. More...