India sending maximum students to US

Higher Education

By

-

November 18, 2008

India has retained the first slot for the seventh year in succession with the number of Indian students in the US increasing by 13 % in 2007-08 to reach 94,563, according to the Open Doors report published by the Institute of International Education with support from the US Department of State's Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs. The total number of foreign students pursuing studies and research activities in the US reached an all time high of 6,23,805 in 2007-08 session, marking an increase of seven per cent over the previous year, the report released today said. The new enrolments were up by 10 % in the colleges and universities in the US, the report said. The increase in students is attributed to the outreach efforts carried out by the Department of State in key international markets including India, China, Vietnam and Brazil.

With respect to sending maximum number of students, India is followed by China (81,127) and South Korea (69,124). There is a continued drop in numbers of students from Japan [Images], the fourth leading sender, down by 4 percent to 33,974, declining for the third consecutive year. Asia accounts for 61% of total international student population in the US. Students flow from Pakistan and Bangladesh were down by one per cent and four per cent respectively than the previous year.

Million pounds for West Yorks schools

K-12

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

November 18, 2008

The multi-million pound project aims to replace out-of-date and run-down classrooms through a rolling program of investment overseen by local councils. In Leeds, which has been awarded UK

e-Rate for schools a joke

K-12

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

November 18, 2008

The Democratic Alliance (DA) recently announced that they are deeply disappointed by the slow implementation of the schools e-rate. 'More than seven years after the Communications Ministry announced the introduction of a special 'e-rate' for schools that would halve the cost of their Internet calls, a reply to a parliamentary question shows that not a single public school, and only nine Further Education and Training (FET) colleges, have so far benefited from this promise,' the DA said. The DA further committed itself to posing further questions to the Ministers of Education and of Communications about exactly why this project has been such a dismal failure, and what plans have been put in place to ensure that the project can in future help children in poor schools to access the Internet. 'Children who do not become familiar with information technology at school will face an uphill battle in making themselves employable in the modern world,' said the DA.

'With all South Africa's resources, we have no excuses for not affording our children all the opportunities they need at school to be able to prepare themselves properly for the future.' 'In a country with one of the highest telecommunication costs in the world (as a direct result of the policies of the Ministry of Communications) a significant reduction in internet costs would have made all the difference to struggling schools. So poor schools, where children are already at a significant disadvantage, are the biggest losers in this policy failure.' The e-rate was first promised to South Africa as far back as November 2001, in a document entitled Strategy for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Education. Since then a succession of unfulfilled promises has followed. Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri stated in her budget speech in June 2004 that 'From the beginning of the [2005] school year, public schools will be charged only 50% of the normal rate for their Internet calls.' But the legislation allowing this to happen was signed into law only one year later, in May 2006.

US in demand by students for studies

Higher Education

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

November 18, 2008

The number of overseas students at US universities has shot to a decade high, sparking fears that UK universities will miss out on their share of the market. Almost 624,000 international students enrolled at US universities in 2007-08 – a 7% rise on the year before and the largest one-year increase in more than a decade. The number of Chinese students grew by almost a fifth (19.8%) in 2007, while Indian and South Korean enrollments rose 12.8% and 10.8%, respectively. The Institute of International Education in New York, which reported the growth, said the rise was because of Congress making it easier for overseas students to apply for visas, as well as the weak dollar.

Other factors contributing to the surge included the US doubling recruitment efforts overseas in recent months, and science, technology, engineering and maths students now being able to stay for up to 29 months. The British Council warned that UK universities may lose out unless they promote themselves in a 'smarter' and 'more sustainable' way. Pat Killingley, its higher education director, said, 'The US is already reaping the rewards of a more proactive marketing effort overseas.' 'British universities, supported by higher education agencies and government departments, must respond with a smarter marketing effort.' The UK has become 46% cheaper for Chinese students over the past year, 29% cheaper for Malaysians and 10% cheaper for Indian applicants.

No e-rate benefits to public schools in Johannesburg

K-12

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

November 18, 2008

No public schools and only nine further education and training (FET) colleges are currently benefiting from the school e-rate, the 50% discount they are supposed to receive for their Internet connectivity, the Ministry of Education says. This information has come to light in a reply to a Parliamentary question posed by Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Paul Swart to education minister Naledi Pandor earlier this year. The DA received the reply last week. Swart's question was in two parts, and asked how many schools and FET colleges, as defined in the relevant laws, were benefiting from the e-rate in 2006, 2007 and this year.

In the reply, the answer was that currently no schools are benefiting from the e-rate, and that eight FET colleges in KwaZulu-Natal, namely: Coastal, Esayidi, Mnambithi Mthashana, Majuba, Thekwini, Umgungundhlovu, Elangeni, and Richtek, are receiving the discount. The Port Elizabeth FET College is the only institution in the Eastern Cape receiving the e-rate discount. The Universal Services and Access Agency of SA told Parliament earlier this year that a major problem of implementing the e-rate was what it actually meant. The agency said it was not clear if the e-rate referred to the actual modems, or other equipment needed to connect a school to the Internet, or the actual monthly cost, or all of it. In May last year, Telkom said it is providing the 50% discount rate to 1 300 public schools and all FET colleges, as defined by their relevant laws, which have applied to the company for the e-rate discount. DA communications spokesperson Dene Smuts describes the education minister's answer as 'another show of the Department of Communications' (DOC) pathetic attempts at formulating ICT policy.'

No disruption to Zero Fees Scheme in New Zealand

Higher Education

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

November 18, 2008

Zero fees is to remain at SIT until at least 2011. Local Member of Parliament and member of the new National led Government, Eric Roy says the Zero Fees scheme at SIT has a greater chance of continuity now than it ever had. 'I am very supportive of SIT and the Zero Fees scheme and I will work to ensure that the new Government understands and supports SIT to keep the Zero Fees Scheme in the future,' said Roy. Southern Institute of Technology's Council recently approved that the organisations zero fees scheme will remain in place until at least 2011. The scheme allows students to study and gain qualifications without paying the tuition fees that other organisations charge.

'Our zero fees scheme is our point of difference and has been very successful. It has attracted students from all over New Zealand and has given many the opportunity to gain qualifications, who otherwise may have been deterred by tuition fees,' said Southern Institute of Technology CEO Penny Simmonds. The zero fees scheme was first put in place in 2001 and was a strategy to attract potential students to Invercargill. Prior to the introduction of the Zero Fees scheme SIT had around 1400 students enrolled and since then the roll has increased dramatically so that by 2008 over 4000 students are enrolled at SIT. 'Invercargill is a friendly rural town and a fantastic place for students to come and study. We put a great deal of effort into looking after students and the local community is really supportive of them also. A key focus is ensuring that the student environment is welcoming and conducive to achieving academic goals,' says Simmonds.

Economic crisis to hit expenditure of private schools

K-12

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

November 17, 2008

One in five teachers say their school already has fewer students now than it did last year, while 14% say they have fewer teachers, according to a survey commissioned by the Association of Teacher and Lecturers (ATL). More than half (54%) fear there may be cuts to their school's spending in the coming months, with around 16% saying there could be redundancies this academic year. The survey follows a warning by a leading chartered accountant earlier this week that independent prep schools could face closure or a merger if the current financial crisis continues to worsen. ATL's survey of more than 2,000 staff working in fee-paying schools found that a sizeable proportion of schools are managing to hold their own in the current climate.

Around 45% said their school has more students this year, while a third said they had more teachers. Mary Bousted, general secretary of ATL, said, 'The survey backs up what we are hearing anecdotally – that some smaller private schools are feeling the pinch and already beginning to find the going tough in the current economic climate.' The survey also found that a quarter of those polled (24%) say their pay is lower than in the state sector, while more than half (53%) said it was comparable or better. Three quarters of full time teachers (75%) said they work more than 48 hours a week, while a third work more than five days during term time. Bousted said too many independent schools were expecting staff to work 'excessive hours for mediocre pay.' On Tuesday, Noble Hanlon, a partner at chartered accountants Haysmacintyre told delegates at the annual Wellington-Marlborough Preparatory Heads Conference that there was no reason why prep schools would not be affected by the financial crisis.

Looking for the best

Higher Education

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

November 17, 2008

The event was attended by chief executive officers and senior executives from various corporate giants, including heads of top educational institutions in Malaysia. The survey, conducted earlier this year, was similar to that carried out by the GTI group in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The survey was part of GTI's initiative to support graduate career development. The aim was to identify the top 100 employers for which undergraduates would most want to work upon finishing university. Recognition was given to the most popular graduate employers in four sectors

CAT went non-Science student-friendly

Higher Education

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

November 17, 2008

With 2.9 lakh applications received of the Common Admission Test 2008, an estimated 2.4 lakh students took the examination on Sunday, said Gautam Puri, Vice-Chairman, Career Launcher. In the comparatively moderate-difficulty paper, the English section threw a surprise item with 40 questions instead of the regular 25. Some students found the paper lengthier because of this but said that the easier Quantitative Analysis section made up for it. While the Quantitative section was not too difficult, Data Interpretation had gone up a notch or two, he added. The change in the pattern of the paper could have been brought about with the intention of taking in more non-engineers, said Biswaroop Padhi, Director, IMS Learning Resources Pvt Ltd, Ahmedabad.

Rahul Modani, a Junior Telecom Operator with BSNL, who took the test, said, 'I am happy; due to this change people with strong English will be able to make it. But that also means that the sectional cut-off might be high.' The rough cut-off marks for Data Interpretation (DI) could be pegged at 28-30 marks, while for Quantitative at 30-32 marks and for English at 46-48, said Puri. If a student scores 125 marks in all, he should be eligible for a call from any of the Indian Institutes of Management, which take in students via CAT scores, he said. From next year, CAT is slated to go online and will no longer be conducted through centres in India. For those who think they have not fared too well in the exam, Mr Puri had to say that they should now focus on the other exams of institutes such as Symbiosis, XLRI, FMS, IIFT and others to be held in the next 45 days, which are a gateway to the other top management colleges of the country.

Learning communities get fund grants from Intel

Corporate Updates

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

November 17, 2008

The Department of Education (DepEd), the Foundation for Information Technology Education and Development (FIT-ED), Intel Philippines and the University of the Philippines National Institute of Science and Mathematics Education Development (UP-NISMED) recently lauded selected local government units (LGUs), learning institutions and individual educators at the 3rd Intel Teach Awards for 21st Century Educators. Surigao City, Mindanao State University

LATEST NEWS

Top Trending News

Top Trending Categories