Is it time for the Ministry of Education to seriously consider having a common university entrance exam as a long term solution to the problem of top scorers not obtaining places in local universities?
Gerakan Education Bureau chairman Lau Chin Hoon certainly thinks so on the basis that the present dual system for entry, namely the STPM and matriculation, has become a source of discontentment for some despite a more merit based intake.
"A 4.0 CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) in matriculation and a 4.0 CGPA in STPM is simply not on the same level. In terms of parameter procedure they are two entirely different examinations. That is why, we should standardise to a single entrance exam," he explained. Read more...

The British Council and Mexico’s National Council for Science and Technology (CONACyT) recently signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to expand the realm of their academic collaboration and institutional partnerships. The MoU was ratified during a meeting hosted by the British Council with major academic institutions of the UK. Dr. Julia Tagüeña, CONACyT’s Assistant Director for Scientific Development, said, “The MOU with the British Council is extremely important in driving forward our agendas in terms of developing young researchers and their international links, as well as wider international collaboration. This agreement would provide major opportunities for much greater links with the UK.” The new MoU specifies on enhancing human research capabilities and capacities in both the UK and Mexico. Full article...

By Dick Ahlstrom. Students with Irish or EU passport will not longer have to pay up to €12,000 yearly. Migrant families living in Ireland have won an important educational concession, winning the right to be treated the same as any Irish student entering third level education. The decision by the Department of Education and Skills to regularise fees has been strongly welcomed by the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland and the Union of Student’s in Ireland.
The Centre has waged a two-year campaign to gain this concession, which is one of many changes needed to achieve full parity of access to education. It means that Leaving Cert students legally living in Ireland who have an Irish or EU passport will only pay the standard registration fee, €2,500 this year, rather than the €10,000 to €12,000 paid by international students. The change will also allow these students to apply for grants associated with higher education. Full article...

Determined to learn their way out of the Great Recession — or eager to rise above the deprivation of developing lands — unprecedented millions of people have enrolled in colleges and universities around the world in the past five years. What they're finding is an educational landscape turning upside down. In the United States — where top schools have long championed a liberal style of learning and broad education before specialization — higher education's focus is shifting to getting students that first job in a still-shaky economy. Tuition is so high and the lingering economic distress so great that an education not directly tied to an occupation is increasingly seen as a luxury. Full article...

Von Johann Osel. Wer studiert, bekommt fast immer gute Jobs - das ist das Ergebnis einer neuen Studie. Demnach liegt die Arbeitslosenquote unter Akademikern mehr als zehn Jahre nach ihrem Abschluss gerade einmal bei einem Prozent. Nur rosig ist die Zukunft von Uni-Absolventen allerdings nicht. Der Spruch aus dem Poesiealbum mag abgedroschen klingen: "Lerne, leiste, schaffe was, dann bist du, kannst du, hast du was." Wenn mit dem Lernen konkret ein Studium gemeint ist, trifft er aber zu: Ein Hochschulabschluss ist die beste Versicherung gegen Arbeitslosigkeit. Mehr...

By An Dien. Unrealistic, over-ambitious plans could worsen systemic problems plaguing Vietnam’s universities and colleges, experts say. The recent drama of issuing and scrapping a nonsensical regulation granting Heroic Mothers – whose children were killed in the wars and who are mostly in their eighties now – extra grades if they sit for the university entrance examinations has served one useful purpose.
It has underscored the tendency to issue unrealistic policies while ignoring or glossing over major problems that have plagued the country’s tertiary education system for a long time, experts say. There is no indication that Vietnam’s higher education crisis, which has threatened to stunt the domestic workforce and stall the country's development, will blow over anytime soon, they add. Full article...

The additional financing would amount to US$110 million, says a WB release. The positive outcome achieved so far by the project has prompted the government to request the World Bank for additional financing to launch a third round of Academic Innovation Fund (AIF) and include new activities. The additional financing will also be utilised to expand Bangladesh Research and Education Network (BdREN) applications and establish a Quality Assurance mechanism at public universities. The additional financing would amount to US$110 million and increase the total IDA contribution to the project to US$191 million from the original US$81 million, says a WB release. Full article...

Le gouvernement est engagé dans une politique de soutien au développement de l’apprentissage – le Pacte national pour la croissance, la compétitivité et l’emploi fixe l’objectif de 500 000 apprentis à horizon 2017 contre 440 000 aujourd’hui – qui repose sur plusieurs piliers.
    * un soutien aux embauches d’apprentis plus efficace, car mieux ciblé sur les plus petites entreprises et les premiers niveaux de qualification;
    * une offre de formation adaptée qualitativement et quantitativement. Ce renforcement de l’offre sera au cœur de la concertation qui s’engagera à la rentrée, autour de la réforme du financement de l’apprentissage qui accroîtra les ressources disponibles pour l’apprentissage;
    * la levée des freins non financiers à l’apprentissage (orientation, hébergement, mobilité…), sur lesquels une mission de l’Inspection générale des affaires sociales (IGAS) sera conduite d’ici la fin de l’année.
Lors du Comité interministériel pour la modernisation de l’action publique (CIMAP) du 17 juillet a été annoncée une réforme des aides à l’apprentissage (2,8 milliards d’euros au total, auxquels s’ajoutera le CICE pour environ 200 millions d’euros), à partir du travail d’évaluation réalisé par l’IGF et l’IGAS dans le cadre de la modernisation de l’action publique (MAP). Cette évaluation a souligné le ciblage insuffisant de deux des aides actuelles (indemnité compensatrice forfaitaire (ICF) et Crédit d’impôt employeurs spécifique apprentis) et donc leur effet incitatif limité. En revanche, elle a conclu à l’efficacité du dispositif d’exonérations des cotisations sociales, qui représente un coût annuel pour l’Etat de 1,2 milliard d’euros.
    * Sur cette base, le Gouvernement a décidé:
    * de supprimer l’ICF, aide forfaitaire annuelle aux employeurs d’apprentis versée par les Régions. Cette suppression permet de réaliser une économie de 550 millions d’euros;
    * de prévoir une nouvelle aide aux employeurs d’apprentis, plus ciblée, pour les entreprises de moins de 10 salariés, définie et versée par les régions;
    * de cibler davantage le crédit d’impôt en faveur des employeurs d’apprentis.
Ainsi, le dispositif d’aide aux employeurs d’apprentis reposera désormais sur trois étages complémentaires:
    * une exonération de cotisations sociales pour tous les employeurs;
    * un crédit d’impôt davantage ciblé;
    * une aide directe pour l’embauche de tous les apprentis dans les entreprises de moins de 10 salariés.
Ce soutien à l’apprentissage prend sa place dans une politique d’ensemble en faveur de l’emploi, notamment des jeunes, qui bénéficie de moyens renforcés pour atteindre l’objectif d’inversion durable de la courbe du chômage.

By Polina Kroik. Despite ongoing debate about the benefits of massively open online courses (MOOCs), such courses have been greeted with unabated enthusiasm by administrators at financially strapped public universities. The State University of New York, the Georgia Institute of Technology, San Jose State University (SJSU), and many others have signed agreements with the for-profit start-ups Udacity and Coursera, and the non-profit edX, to offer MOOCs through their systems. State legislators have also jumped on board, proposing bills in Florida and California that encourage public universities to use MOOCs as part of their curriculum. But problems with these high-enrollment online courses have come to light. Last week, SJSU announced that it was putting its experimental MOOC program on hold, after the first term of such courses resulted in a low pass rate. On the national stage, some administrators are voicing concerns about the hasty adoption of this new and a largely untested system. Full article...

By Lim Kit Siang. At last, the cat is out of the bag – that the university “meritocracy” student intake system which replaced the ethnic quota system for entry into the public universities in 2002 is “more quota than quota”. According to the MCA Youth leader, Datuk Dr. Wee Ka Siong, the intake of Chinese students for eight major courses in public universities - medical, dentistry, pharmacy, electronics and electrical engineering, chemical engineering, law and accounting - has been declining in recent years from 26.2% in 2001 to 25.3% in 2001 and 20.7 per cent this year. Full article...