Exploring Europe’s place in light of recent higher education trends from across the world is the central theme of ACA’s Annual Conference 2014. Under the title Europe in the world. Higher education developments across the globe, the conference aims to bring together, as always, a remarkable cast of policy experts, university leaders, academics, and institutional managers working on international aspects of higher education.
The two and a half–day event will be organised around three main foci. Through part of the programme it will first assess the relative attractiveness of European higher education on a global scale. Second, it will address current and future crucial issues of European and global higher education, such as the future of the university in a world characterised by MOOCs and open educational resources, transnational education, and strategic partnerships. Last but not least, it will explore, via two sets of parallel sessions, recent trends in major non-European countries and regions around the world and present current collaborations between universities in these regions and countries and Europe.
In line with the ACA tradition, the programme features speakers who are internationally-recognised ‘authorities’ in the field – scholars, high-level policymakers and innovative institutional leaders, including Cédric Villani (Professor of Mathematics at Université de Lyon, Fields Medal (2010), Administrator of the pro-European Think-Tank EuropaNova), Jordi Curell (Director, European Commission, DG Education and Culture), John Yopp (Associate Provost for Educational partnerships and International Affairs, Lexington, USA), and Lesley Wilson (Secretary General, EUA), to name just few.
Some of the brightest minds in higher education will be at from 15 to 17 June at the 2014 ACA Annual Conference. So do consider to register soon – if not for the speakers and the programme, than for the wonderful time that Bordeaux promises to offer you!
ACA Annual Conference 2014. More...

IAU is pleased to announce that the IAU Collaborative Workshop: A three-step activity to envision higher education for Education for All (HEEFA) locally, was successfully conducted in New Delhi, India, on 20-21 February 2014.
Organised in collaboration with the Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi, an IAU member, the Workshop brought together 100 representatives from the higher education sector and other levels of education. Invited participants included faculty from various institutions within the University of Delhi and Ambedkar University, Delhi, and from the institutions of Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi and the National University of Educational Planning and Administration. There was also a strong student participation that strenghtened the capacity building side of the Workshop. The Ministry of Human Resource Development was represented by the Secretary of the Department of Higher Education and the Director General of the National Literacy Mission Authority from the Department of School Education and Literacy.
The Workshop ended with the validation of 7 recommendations (including the use of the IAU HEEFA Portal) and a three-pronged action plan, addressing research, teaching and learning, and community service. The Director General of the National Literacy Mission Authority has expressed his personal interest to take up the outcomes of the Workshop.
This was the fifth Workshop of its kind conducted by the IAU, the second to be organised in Asia.
The Workshop outcomes will be soon available on the IAU website.
Contact: Nadja Kymlicka.

By Gemma Ware. Universities are being urged to seize the opportunity of expanding into India where reforms will radically change the country’s higher education sector in the next decade.
In a new report, the British Council said India’s tertiary-age population will be the world’s third largest largest by 2020, behind only China and the United States. Ambitious plans by the government to expand university enrolment from 18% to 30%, means India needs to provide 14m extra university places by then. The report comes after the latest figures on UK university admissions showed the number of Indian students heading to the UK halved in the last two years. More...

In India, majority of students studying outside India choose the USA as a country of their choice followed by the UK. Canada and Australia have also joined the list as one of the safest destinations for Indian students. Today the USA receives more Indian students than from any other country in the world. Earlier it was China.
Today looking at the sheer number of students in India willing to study abroad more and more countries have started wooing them. Campuses in the Western world have for long been wooing young Indians, with education fairs, road shows and special admission campaigns. Now you have Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, etc., also joining the ranks to persuade Indian students to enroll in their universities for higher studies. More...

By John Ross. THE top international student destinations are losing ground to countries in Europe and the Middle East, according to a new a report by rankings compilers Quacquarelli Symonds.
The ‘Trends in international student mobility’ report, released last week, found that Australia was not alone in experiencing a troubled international education sector. The top two destination countries, the US and the UK, had seen steeper falls in the proportion of internationally mobile students applying to study at their institutions. More...

John Ross