Formation Continue du Supérieur

By Ellen Hazelkorn. Over the past 40 years, Ireland has experienced a remarkable transformation in fortunes. Its emergence from a protectionist pre-industrial to a post-industrial high-tech economy came on the coat tails of European Union membership and accelerating internationalisation and deregulation of financial and investment markets.
Strategically situated between the United States and Europe, Ireland became a leading importer of foreign direct investment. By 2000, it was the second-largest exporter of computer software in the world after the US, and home to the top-10 pharmaceutical companies. The boom years of the ‘Celtic Tiger’ made it the poster child for globalisation. After the 2008 global financial crisis, Ireland became the symbol of economic collapse, before being rescued by the ‘troika’ of the International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank. Today, it is variously described as the great experiment or the success story for austerity.

By Michael Gardner. Only every fifth young German attains a higher education level than his or her parents, according to the OECD. In its annual Education at a Glance report, the OECD calls for a further expansion of the country’s higher education system.
Education at a Glance compares education in the 34 OECD member states and selected other countries.
On an OECD scale, only every tenth younger person does not achieve the education level of his or her parents, while more than every third younger person overtakes them. On average, 37% perform better than their parents, and just 13% fall below them.
In Germany, the OECD maintains, 22% of 25- to 34-year-olds have a lower education qualification than their parents, leaving Germany far behind many of the OECD member states. Only Slovakia and Estonia have poorer results in the study.

By Carmen Paun. University tuition fees cost more in England than anywhere else in Europe, according to a new report from the European Commission – but the headline figures are not the whole story for students sizing up how to survive.
Students in England pay up to €11,500 (US$15,075) per year: those in Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Malta, Norway, Scotland and Sweden pay little or nothing.
In Austria and Denmark, national and European Union (EU) students pay no fees. In Norway, both national and international students are exempted from fees for public higher education.
The report, published on 10 September and titled National Student Fee and Support Systems 2011-2012, was produced for the commission by the Eurydice network.

By Sarah King Head. A new report by Moody’s Investors Service suggests that while MOOCs’ exploitation of expanded collaborative networks and technological innovation will benefit higher education in the United States as a whole, their long-term effect on the for-profit sector and smaller not-for-profit institutions could be damaging.
MOOCs – massive open online courses – have garnered considerable attention since Stanford University’s artificial intelligence course in the autumn 2011 semester attracted nearly 160,000 students. While the course’s completion rate was low (15.6%), the scale of the response excited many in the higher education community – from institutions to venture capital companies.
Indeed, the report notes that MOOCs represent a “pivotal development” in the evolution of higher education and have the potential to revolutionise the way a centuries-old industry has operated.

By Eugene Vorotnikov. The Russian government is considering a radical shift in the management of national universities, in an attempt to strengthen their research potential and Russian science. But there are fears that the move will erode university autonomy.
During the Soviet era the Russian National Academy of Sciences was the centre of research activity in Russia, and the role of universities in academic life was limited to training specialists for various industries. However, in recent years the position of the academy in Russian science has weakened, forcing the government to think about alternative ways to develop research. Under changes hailed by the Ministry of Education and Science, and in particular Minister Dmitry Livanov, national universities will become the new centres of research in Russia in the next decade.
This is expected to happen after university reforms are completed and up to 20% of institutions are closed. There are plans to cut one in five of Russia’s 600 universities and 30% to 35% of its more than 1,400 university branches that are identified as inefficient by a state commission. The Russian government makes no secret of its plans to rely in future on university research instead of the academy, which according to some officials has an outdated structure and needs to be modernised.

By Wagdy Sawahel. Thirty-four higher education leaders from 15 countries have agreed on a set of principles to guide universities and graduate schools in preparing doctoral and masters students to meet the demands of the global workforce and economy.
The International Guidelines Created for Supporting Global Skills and Careers were approved at the Sixth Annual Strategic Leaders Global Summit, “From Brain Drain to Brain Circulation: Graduate education for global career pathways”, held in Bavaria, Germany, earlier this month.
The conference, organised jointly by the US-based Council of Graduate Schools and the Technische Universität München, included deans and leaders of graduate schools and representatives of national and international associations devoted to graduate education. Along with Germany and the US, the countries represented were Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China (including Hong Kong), Denmark, Hungary, Luxembourg, Malaysia, The Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa and South Korea.
According to the conference media release from which the current article draws its information: “Evidence suggests that researchers and highly educated professionals may work in multiple countries over the course of their careers.”