CHINA After years of receiving extra government funding to push selected top universities up international university rankings, three major Chinese universities will no longer participate in overseas rankings – a move which academics say could make the rankings landscape less globally representative as Chinese universities pursue a different path. The three prestigious universities, Renmin University of China, Nanjing University and Lanzhou University have withdrawn from “all international university rankings” according to Chinese official media this week, with official sources pointing to a focus on “educational autonomy” and “education with Chinese characteristics”.Renmin University, one of China’s top 10 universities, was the…

UNITED KINGDOM Higher education leaders in the United Kingdom have come out fighting against proposed government reforms to post-18 education and funding which they claim would turn back the clock on social mobility and hit the government’s own ‘levelling-up’ agenda.Consultations on the proposed changes, which are part of the UK government’s response to a review of higher education funding in England led by Sir Philip Augar, have just ended – with university vice-chancellors condemning plans to cap student numbers and tie student loans to minimum grade requirements.But, as they direct their anger over linking loans to access and the impact…

GLOBAL   15 May 2022 More than 1,500 participants will gather in Barcelona, Spain, for the third UNESCO World Higher Education Conference, to chart a renewed vision for higher education in the next decade. The conference, running from Wednesday 18 May to Friday 20 May, will launch a global conversation to “reshape ideas and practices in higher education to ensure sustainable development for the planet and humanity”, UNESCO says, and to create a common roadmap for higher education to 2030. How higher education can be adapted to global and local challenges, such as sustainable development, will be high on the agenda.…

AUSTRALIA In an April issue of The Conversation (Australia), the veteran higher education commentator Gavin Moodie casts his critical eye over the higher education policies of both major political parties in Australia. It’s a forensic, albeit constrained, analysis that draws a number of stark conclusions, namely, that successive governments have repeatedly cut funding to universities, made humanities courses more expensive for students, and privileged more ‘practical’ vocational courses. Despite some rather modest election campaign promises relating to regional universities, Moodie notes that the prevailing picture as far as Coalition policies are concerned, especially in relation to funding, remains grim. Indeed,…

UNITED KINGDOM The commercial education sector has changed beyond recognition in the last 10 years. The explosion of aggregators onto the scene, the emergence of outsourcing of universities’ overseas operations and the proliferation of pathway programmes globally are all manifestations of this change. This huge expansion in both activity and organisations has culminated in a talent grab, with commercial organisations on the hunt for those within higher education who can facilitate the growth of their businesses globally.There has been a growth in high-powered advisers and advisory boards with ApplyBoard, Leverage Edu and others tapping higher education think tank leaders, government…

This blog was written by former Universities Minister the Rt Hon Chris Skidmore MP. It is adapted from a speech delivered via video link from the UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly in Brussels to a roundtable event organised by London Higher and Oxford International Education Group in May 2022.I very much hope that higher education and research will be part of our dialogues for the future – and will do all I can personally to impress upon the UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly the importance of shared partnership, collaboration and exchange. Indeed, the last time I was in Brussels, back in May…

TheIndia Australia Business & Community Alliance (IABCA), supported by Investment NSW and Austrade, now in its 9th year was a reminder of the opportunity that exists for Australian public diplomacy to utilise its domestic business diaspora strategically to advance its foreign policy and trade interests. And the opportunity for Indian public diplomacy to capitalise on the Australian Indian diaspora to globalise its development agendas. Affirming that the best is yet to come. Speaking about the IABCA partnership, Minister for Enterprise, Investment and Trade, Tourism and Sport, and Western Sydney, Hon Stuart Ayres MP said: “The partnership the NSW Government shares…

The death of an Indian student in Toronto last month made international headlines, but while Kartik Vasudev’s story ended in tragedy, his parents’ sacrifices offer a glimpse into the hardships that many international students and their families face to achieve the dream of a future in Canada.Vasudev’s father, Jitesh Vasudev, told CBC News he and his wife spent their entire life savings and mortgaged their house to take out a loan of $50,000, just to afford the first year of his son’s education in Canada, before he was shot and killed.  “The only mistake of my innocent child was that…

Play digs into tediousness of Canadian immigration process – New Canadian Media Source