By Omid Ghoreishi. The Chinese state agency in charge of the controversial Confucius Institutes is urging Canada’s largest school board not to suspend its ties with the institutes, which have been cited by intelligence agencies as instruments for the Chinese regime to extend its “soft power.”
In a letter obtained by Epoch Times, Ma Jianfei, deputy chief executive of Confucius Institute Headquarters and executive deputy director general of Hanban—the state agency in charge of the institutes—asks Toronto District School Board (TDSB) director of education Donna Quan and trustees to keep the Confucius Institute open. More...

The chair of Indonesia's taskforce for reforming Islamic education says the government wants to improve the quality of religious teaching in the country.
Dr Jamhari Makruf, who is also the vice rector at the State Islamic University in Jakarta, says the nationwide effort to reform the education system is aimed at providing Muslim students with a "broader knowledge" of the world. More...

By Gayle Bryant. There's no denying people love their pets. So much so that many businesses, such as cafes and hotels, advertise themselves as "pet-friendly". 
But a new cafe is offering a solution for people who love animals but aren't in a position to own one. 
Australia's first cat cafe will open in Melbourne this July. The premises will comprise a cafe and an area that houses a number of cats that people pay to visit and interact with. More...

By Adrian Wan. Party discipline officer says Chinese Academy of Social Sciences also engages in 'illegal collusion', in online remarks quickly removed.
A senior party discipline inspector has accused one of China's most influential academic research organisations of being "infiltrated by foreign forces" and "conducting illegal collusion during [politically] sensitive times". More...

Private universities in the Philippines are poised to benefit from ongoing reforms aimed at improving access to the primary and secondary education system, although a marked rise in student numbers across the board is presenting challenges.
Tertiary education has expanded exponentially across the Philippines in recent years, particularly in the private segment, with much of the growth driven by a sharp rise in foreign students. The overseas influx has prompted many providers to raise their tuition fees – a move criticised by some, but seen by several institutions as a necessary means of meeting increasing demand long term. More...

The Narendra Modi government should spend 8 per cent of GDP on expansion of higher education in the country and free the sector from the malaise of "capitation and corruption", education experts observed in Pune on Saturday.
"Based on our experience, we want drastic changes in the country's education policy aimed at expanding higher education and making it free of capitation and corruption," Dr G Vishwanathan, president of  the Education Promotion Society of India (EPSI), a premiere institute which aims at setting standards of quality education, told reporters. More...