HE News Brief 26.3.12

• Canada:Canada to receive 3,000 Brazilian students
• UK: Government injection for research and development
• Middle East: Comparative data for MENA required
• Vietnam: Lawmakers to vote on autonomy for universities

Under a new scheme, Science Without Borders scholarship program, Brazil aims to send 100,000 students abroad. The emerging country has confirmed that Canada is to receive 12,000 students. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper paid a visit to the country recently to cement ties and foster partnerships. He says the collaboration between the two countries will help build Canada as a brand in the future. A stipulation under the scheme states that Brazilian students must be offered domestic fees, rather than paying international fees, which are typically two or three times higher. However the Brazilian government relented this time and will pick up the fees for undergraduate students. The question of graduate fees is still on the table but a Canadian consortium of universities have suggested that they are willing to discount fees to accommodate the students.

[alert_blue]Full Story: The Globe and Mail[/alert_blue]

Chancellor George Osborne has announced that the creation of a £100 million fund will help UK universities foster research by working with the private sector to boost investment in science and technology. However many are saying that the Conservative government has stagnated investment in r&d for the next four years and this is a small concession. Sir Paul Nurse, president of the Royal Society, says that the £100 million fund is a step in the right direction but not enough to make significant advances.

[alert_blue]Full Story: BBC News[/alert_blue]

A report produced by the Carnegie Corporation in partnership with the Lebanese Association of Educational Studies in Beirut, The Higher Education Classification in the Middle East and North Africa: A pilot study, makes a case for the need of a ranking system in the MENA region. The proliferation of universities and overseas branches have many saying that comparable data should be made accessible not only to help students make decisions about their higher education options but to also foster mobility, international collaboration, student transfers, and exchanges. The study began in 2009 with Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates participating. The authors of the report say that it is conceivable that a rankings system may arise from the data collected and that the next steps would be to evaluate potential indicators.

[alert_blue]Full Story: University World News[/alert_blue]

A motion has been raised to allow universities in Vietnam to obtain more autonomy such as set their own student enrolment numbers and hold responsibility for quality control. Lawmakers have also stated that a 'grading' system should be developed for universities in order to boost competition. The draft law will be voted on next week.

[alert_blue]Full Story: Vietnam News[/alert_blue]