Wikileaks news: 'US expressed concern over lesser qualified visa application'

WASHINGTON: Much before the Tri-Valley University scam that affected many Indians was exposed in the US, the American Consulate in Mumbai had expressed concern over the steep jump in lesser qualified student visa applications, a leaked US diplomatic cable has said.

According to the cable dated December 29, 2009, over the past year, Mumbai noted a marked rise in the number of lesser qualified student visa applicants, many of whom tended to apply to the same universities.

A study of students visa found that multiple transfers were not uncommon and 40 per cent of transfers were to a lower level degree programme.

Source: The Economic Times

mes

Immigration fraud by US colleges causing worries once again this academic season

It's that time of the year when hundreds of students from India pack their bags to go and join colleges and universities in the US. And though, like previous years, there has been an increase in the number of Indians going to campuses in the US, two incidents of raids by US immigration authorities on colleges for fraudulent practices, which involved a large number of Indian students, in the past few months are causing concern.

Early this year, in January, US immigration authorities raided Tri-Valley University in California, alleging that the school's founder and president, Susan Xiao-Ping Su, was issuing US student visas to foreign nationals willing to pay for them. Over 95% of Tri-Valley's 1,500 students were from India, and the institution listed out the same address for over half of them. Later, in July, the University of Northern Virginia too was raided by the US law enforcement authorities on grounds of alleged visa fraud and here too, hundreds of the students were from India.

Source: The Economic Times

NZ universities should look to Brazil

Brazil provides opportunities for New Zealand universities, writes Andrew Kaushal.

Brazil is the world's eighth-strongest economy, growing at a rate of 7.5% per year. Today, 35% of the population, out of a total 203.4 million, is young.

Despite its huge growth, Brazil lacks a quality education system and world-class universities.

Published results of university world rankings indicate there are only four world- class universities in Brazil out of its 183.

Recently, the Brazilian Government announced it will provide scholarships to 75,000 low-income students who wish to study overseas to enhance their skills and career prospects.

This can be seen as a good initiative towards education reform in Brazil and an opportunity for New Zealand to attract foreign students.

In the past, Brazilian students' overseas university preference was America or the United Kingdom. However, in the past three years it has been changed drastically towards Australia and Canada. In 2009-10, Australia gained 35%, followed by Canada 25%. New Zealand's share was 7%.

One of the main reasons behind these attractive figures (except for New Zealand) is proactive marketing strategies by Australia and Canada. New Zealand's main focus during those years remained on Chinese and South Korean students.

In Brazil, studying short-term English courses overseas is also in growing demand. English proficiency is considered vital in Brazil for academic and professional progression.

This is why many Brazilian educational institutions, along with the government itself, look for overseas agreements with education providers.

New Zealand educational institutes should liaise with local consultants or institutes in order to attract Brazilian students wanting to learn English.

However, before this, the Government should introduce a special immigration policy for Brazilian students, as recent changes in New Zealand immigration policy make it difficult for Brazilian students.

Under the new policy, student visas will be issued to those who wish to study for one year or longer, whereas English courses are short-term, five-week courses.

Alternatively, e-learning or distance learning is a popular new trend in Brazil.

Unfortunately, only a few universities are offering distance learning programmes in Brazil which are also in the local language. This, again, creates opportunities for New Zealand education providers to target those students unable to travel or study overseas.

Today, Brazil needs 60,000 architects and engineers for world class infrastructure but because of a lack of skills, the country is struggling. In order to fulfil this demand, universities in Brazil have signed agreements with other universities worldwide.

Two New Zealand universities, in Auckland, are engaged in various kinds of collaborations with one of the biggest universities, Pontificia Universiadade Catolica De Sao Paulo.

This should encourage other universities in New Zealand to form strategic partnerships with other popular Brazilian universities in order to enhance their skills and attract international students to New Zealand.

Overall, there are many opportunities for New Zealand education providers to attract Brazilian students, as many educational institutes in Brazil also believe that in order to maintain growth and grow further, their country needs to remove its language barrier and educate young people.

New Zealand education providers can form collaboration with local institutes which will profoundly help both the economies of both countries in the short and long term.

• Christchurch businessman Andrew Kaushal has just returned from visiting Brazil as part of a group of Massey University MBA students. They were exploring opportunities for New Zealand business.

Source: Otago Daily Times

Visa reform ill-conceived without TAFE included

WITH much delight I read about the government's proposal to ease and fast-track visa applications for overseas students.

This puts Australia back on par with international competitors, such as USA, Canada and UK. It also ensures a culturally enriching exchange of students and world views, were Australian students are exposed to other cultures and Australian values are promulgated through an international alumni.

So it appears that, at least in the views of the immigration department, a bachelor degree at a university is different (more worthy of visa-easing) from a bachelor degree at TAFE.

But the fine print is concerning and puts us back to the dark ages of the binary system, but with added rigour and standards. The easing of visa regulations to bachelor degrees is fair enough, but only to those that are undertaken at universities. This is in blatant disregard of the strength of the national protocols of higher education, the Bradley report and the Australian Qualifications Framework, which clearly disentangle the level of qualification from type of institutions.

One wonders, why did we bother with the protocols or the AQF. Degrees at non-self accrediting institutions, such as TAFE, have been vigorously assessed prior to accreditation; they are monitored annually and need reaccreditation every five years. In addition, many of the degrees at TAFE are in niche areas with a strong vocational-applied leaning. Exactly what is needed to develop an international reputation in turning today's vocations into tomorrow's professions.

Both TAFE and universities are publically owned, both contribute to meeting the governments target of 40 per cent bachelor attainment by 2025 and both need the international fees in addition to government support. Hang on there, universities already enjoy government support for their degree programs, TAFEs do not.

Ill-conceived policies like this partial application of visa-easing does make one wonder whether this is all about non-contested old-clout, selling generic degrees for a quick buck, or a bandage to fix the dismal funding of tertiary education.

Source: The Australian

B.C. Premier seeks to cash in on international education

B.C. Premier Christy Clark announces new skills and training money as part of her BC Jobs Plan Tuesday during a press conference in Kamloops, BC at the Thompson Rivers University International Building.

Photograph by: KEITH ANDERSON, Kamloops Daily News

VICTORIA — British Columbia could add as many as 9,000 jobs over the next four years by wooing more international students from countries like China, India, Saudi Arabia and Brazil, Premier Christy Clark declared Tuesday as she rolled out the second major portion of her provincial jobs plan.

“Today, I’m announcing that the province is setting an aggressive target to grow our international student population in B.C. by 50 per cent in just the next four years,” Clark announced during a speech in Kamloops.


“If we can meet those targets we can put 9,000 people to work and put another $500 million into our economy,” she added.

Although she didn’t specify what kind of jobs she envisions, the government has promised a full international education strategy later this year.


The announcement came on the second day of Clark’s election-style tour of the province this week where she’s been previewing elements of a jobs plan she will release in full on Thursday.

Clark said there are currently about 94,000 international students in British Columbia, and that in 2010 those students collectively spent about $1.8 billion in the province.


To attract more students in the coming years, Clark said she would establish an international education council to help build stronger relationships with other countries, and that she would ramp up British Columbia’s overseas marketing efforts.


“I intend to be the best salesperson that British Columbia has ever had,” she said.


But New Democratic Party MLA Carole James questioned the effectiveness of the strategy, saying the promises are all similar to moves made by former premier Gordon Campbell. Plus, James said, B.C. already has a council on international education: the British Columbia Council for International Education.


“I don’t disagree with bringing international students here, but the premier made a very big deal about these rolling announcements,” said James.


“This was going to create jobs and solve the economic challenges. Instead, day two we’re seeing repeat announcements, we’re seeing panels that are already in place.”


Minister of Advanced Education Naomi Yamamoto said there is a clear difference between the existing council and the one announced Tuesday by Clark.


She said the new one will “be responsible for the finalization and the implementation of our international education strategy.”
“It will be dealing with things the BCCIE doesn’t really touch on,” Yamamoto added, citing things like visa issues and making sure host communities are welcoming to international students.


“The council we are talking about today has a much broader mandate.”


On Tuesday, Clark also announced new initiatives for skills training.


“We expect we’re going to have one million job openings over the next 10 years and 70 per cent of those will require some kind of post-secondary education,” she said.


“We have to have our workforce primed and ready to go, and we have to start working at this now or it won’t be ready.”


Clark said her government will set up regional workforce tables where industry leaders, first nations, labour leaders, educators and others can help the province determine the training needs best suited to their region.

“They’ll have real input and they’ll have real dollars in their pockets so they can go out and help influence how the province develops skills development programs on a regional basis,” she said. “That will include $15 million annually for post-secondary institutions to help make sure we are meeting the needs of local economies.”


Clark added the government will provide up to $6 million each year to certain industry groups to help them identify training needs specific to their sectors.


“We’ll provide them with up to $6 million to make sure they have all the information they need to be able to tell us who they’re going to need to have educated over the next 10 years in order to meet the demands they will create as they grow our economy,” said Clark.
James was critical of the plan, saying it doesn’t do enough, especially in light of cuts already planned for training programs in the province.


A recent budget document shows the Industry Training Authority plans to cut about $4.7 million from its training budget this year, and another $4.3 million next year, a reduction the B.C. government attributes to government stimulus funding drying up. The authority’s core funding will remain.


Jim Sinclair, president of the British Columbia Federation of Labour, said he’d welcome an an improved relationship with the province on training issues, but will wait to see how the government carries out Clark’s commitment to involve labour in the regional workforce tables.


“We’ve got 10 years where we really haven’t been at the table in any real form. If they’re interested in changing that, we are too. But it’s got to be more than words,” Sinclair said.


“The apprenticeship system — there is no question it’s in shambles. Despite the biggest building boom [in B.C. history] we’ve seen a drop in the number of apprentices who are successful,” he added.


“We’re interested in having a new relationship around training with the government, but they’ve got to be interested in listening and they’ve got to be committed to putting resources back into building the system with us as partners, otherwise it’s just part of the photo opportunities I’ve been seeing this week.”

Source: The Vancouver Sun

Australia willing to boost education ties with India

MELBOURNE: Australia will boost education and research collaboration with India to help it tide its demand for skilled workforce in the areas of faculty capacity building and curriculum renewal.

"Australia is committed to strengthening education and training ties with India. Opportunities for Australia in India are vast," Parliamentary Secretary for School Education Senator Jacinta Collins has told the inaugural Australia-India Institute (AII) conference here.

Collins, who was representing Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills Senator Chris Evans, also reaffirmed the strength of Australia and India's bilateral education relationship.

"India aims to increase its formally skilled workforce through vocational education and training from the current 12 per cent to 25 per cent by 2017 - an additional 70 million people in the next five years.

"Australia is well placed to help India achieve this objective. Providers and companies are already developing low cost models of quality Australian training provision in India," she said.

"India is looking for assistance from its international partners in a number of areas including in faculty capacity building, curriculum renewal, and provision of quality education and training to enable India to meet skilling targets. Australia, as a valued partner, is well placed to assist," she said.

"Harmonising our education and training systems to increase student and staff mobility is also a key goal for both countries," she added.

Earlier, Evans had visited India with a delegation of Australian education and industry leaders for the annual Education Ministers Dialogue and to inaugurate the Australia India Education Council (AIEC).

The visit helped strengthen the bilateral relationship, with the governments discussing opportunities for education, training and research collaboration with India.

The two governments also announced a range of new exchange programs for academics and college principals, and a new website to foster closer education and training collaboration.

In Australia, the senator said the government continued to implement measures to strengthen the international education sector including tighter controls on providers, an International Students Strategy and expanding the role of the Commonwealth Ombudsman to deal with international student complaints against private providers.

"These measures support the government's recent reforms to enhance the integrity of the student visa program and refocus the skilled migration program to deliver the high value skills the Australian economy needs over the medium to long term," Collins said.

On September 22, Australia announced new visa rules to attract foreign students.

Source: The Times of India

Thailand to become a hub for international education

With the integration of ten ASEAN member countries as the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, Thailand is gearing up in every possible way to take full advantage of the merger. Significant emphasis on trade and services has been imminent, but very few would have thought that international education in Thailand was among the contributors to the economy.

Thailand is the only country in the world with the largest number of international schools. The trend has taken a new turn in the past decade when expat communities began to grow and Thai nationals were allowed to be enrolled in these schools.

The number of international schools has risen quickly following the economic boom in Thailand. This indicates that while the number of enrollment is increasing, the economy could not be worse than it looked.

According to the International School Association of Thailand (ISAT), a few of the best international schools in this region are in Thailand. International schools have gained trust among Thai parents and foreign investors who send their children to these schools in Thailand.

Almost all of the foreign-based and international curriculum schools in Thailand have been internationally recognized and students who graduated from these schools went on to higher education at famous universities around the world.

International schools in Thailand follow the curriculum from the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Australia, Singapore, France, India and the international baccalaureate program.

All of which also offer a second language class in many languages. The coming AEC has prompted Thailand to gear up to become an international hub of education in the ASEAN region.

According to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, Thailand remains attractive to investors, if that is the case the integration of the ASEAN nations will make it easier for foreign investors who are raising their families to consider Thailand their second home where the cost of living is relatively reasonable and international education is second to none.

Source: Pattaya Mail

Studying in the UK – A Chinese student’s perspective

By Hui Luo

I did not consider studying abroad until the last year in my undergraduate study. Honestly, the most important reason for me to study in the UK is that I think this experience will highlight my CV. But now I am so happy that I made such a decision, which has changed my life forever.

Talking about the differences between Chinese Education and British Education, the most impressive image for me is the relationship between the teachers and the students.

We are taught to call our teachers with a Mr, Miss in front their surnames in China. No matter how close you are with your teachers, they are still your teachers. In other words, you have to show your respect to them anytime and anyplace. Moreover, you are not allowed to argue with your teachers as what they say is always right. If you disagree with your teachers, you are foolish or you are a bad student. The situation is better once you reach university, but only a little.

While in the UK, the teachers told us that we should only can call them by their first names in the first day. I was so surprised by this. It took me a while to get the hang of this, but I did after a few embarrassing moments.

Sara, Howard, Verica, Tony, Angela, these are my tutors names. I am so familiar with them, which makes it easier to forget their surnames. But I like them, I like talking with them rather than Mr Who or Ms Who. Calling by first names really shortens the distance between the teachers and the students, especially international students. We come here with a different culture and customs, and starting off on first-name terms breaks down a lot of barriers.

The other thing I cannot learn from the Chinese education is that the teachers can say “sorry” to the students as well. The first time I heard the “sorry” from my teacher was when the teacher had made some mistakes about a definition in the PowerPoint. In fact, it was not a big mistake as he did not update the definition according to the newest version. We would not know if he did not tell us. And he sent the email to correct the definition that night with his sincere apologies.

At first, I thought it was over exaggerated. But then I realise that it is very common in western countries. In their point of view, everyone in the teaching and learning process can be a teacher as well as a student. Students can learn knowledge under guidance from the lecturers and professors. Meanwhile, the teachers can improve their academic experience by teaching as every student will bring something new to the debate.

Thus, we can see that there will be discussions in the class not only between students but also between the students and teacher. In my experience, these arguments are another type of learning.

Generally, freedom is the most outstanding characteristic when I am thinking about western education. Freedom is for both teachers and students. I believe this is one of the most important reasons that why western countries can achieve higher and better educational outcomes compared to China.

Source: Asian Corresponsent . com