'Australian International Education Climate' appears turbulent

Australian international education is facingthe current situation described as "a perfect storm". This is the result of a host of negative factors for Australian education all operating at the same time. 

Of course, the global financial crisis, which has weakened has demand because parents and students have found themselves under financial stress. 

The weakening American dollar - and strengthening Aussie dollar - has made Australia more expensive while, at the same time, America has become a less expensive destination for foreign students.Students, particularly those from China, students who would have formerly come to Australia are now choosing to study in the USA. Because of the financial crisis, American universities have become more interested in attracting fee-paying international students. 

Indeed, they are now using IDP, the marketing agency originally founded by Australian universities, to compete with Australia. They are also employing other agents; in many cases, the same agents used by Australian universities. 

The fees at many American state universities are lower than Australian Counterparts. The US government is helping universities by relaxing visa requirements and greatly speeding up visa processing times. The UK, the second most popular study destinationafter the USA, has also freed up its visa system and it also makes visa decisions faster than we do in Australia. 

Australia is also suffering from the terrible publicity surrounding attacks on Indian students, the collapse of private providers (which sometimes leaves students stranded and out of pocket) and the just completed review of the ESOS Act, which gives the impression that Australian education has been poorly regulated. Not surprisingly, many agents have lost confidence in Australian education, preferring to send students to the USA and UK instead. 

Alas, this is not the end of our problems. The Australian government surprised and worried international students by cancelling the old list of occupations acceptable for immigration and then, after several months of uncertainty, replacing the list with a new and much smaller one. Students are now worried that the rules may change again. 

While our competitors are relaxing their visa requirements, the Australian government has tightened ours requiring Chinese students (who make up one-third of higher education enrolments) to show that they have $18,000 in the bank for every year of proposed study. 

All this factors are creating a stormy environment in which Australian education will definetly suffer. 

Courtesy onlineopinion.com.au

Right Approach is the key to ‘Learn English’.

During the last few decades, English has acquired a powerful hotseat in communication throughout the world .All over the world people from different nationalities and communities communicate in English.In India, there has been a quiet ubiquitous rise in the awareness among the people for learning english, but what has been the final result out? Let’s see.

During the last so many years I have experienced as a faculty hearing many cases from my colleagues(since I am just a faculty for Mathematics) and even from my friends, that the students do want to learn English but they lack a zeal to learn it.An interesting  fact is  that many students leave within few weeks after joining the classes unable to speak the English fluently and condemning the teachers for it.

What do you think ? You want to learn English within 3 months something which contains more than 8,00,000 words and the most vast grammar.
 

The language which can be moulded to write a poetic paragraph or to command conversation with a firm tone cannot be easily put into your blood so easily.The core of the issue is that no body understands that it takes years to develop a sound reasonable mind to start speaking a new language.They try to compete with those who speak very well but they forget that they are not learning from last three months rather they have been using it from last 3 years and watching those genuine news channels unlike others who watch those idiotic soap operas , talk in local language all over the day and come to class and expect the teacher to spoon feed them or put a chip in their brain , so that they start immediately.

No body wants to push himself or herself hard to practice and learn the language.

My dear fellows it takes years to be a master of something.Ok  you can be given a good initial start by the teacher but not the brain which he or she has.I will be ultimately you who will have to memorise the words, learn the language from it’s roots, develop the creative ways to deliver the language ,develop an analytical approach to find the reasons where to use what and how, avoiding the misleading people in the market who are using wrong English sometimes.
 

Then only you will be able to put yourself on right track and lead this process of learning for the nest few years until you become a very good conversationalist.
 

That is the reality of learning a language.The more you avoid this fact , the more you are trying to deceive yourself mentally.If anybody says that you can become a master in few days or weeks or months is a deceiver in his profession or a fool but the one who simply believes such people is the biggest fool.Isn’t it ?

Think over it.

Lecturers may go for 'Strike' in UK

Tens of thousands of university students could have their final year exams and graduation ceremonies disrupted this summer after lecturers warned they may strike over job losses. 

The University and College Union (UCU) which represents lecturers may go for industrial action to oppose at least 14,000 job cuts on campuses across the UK. This could coincide with final exams in June and graduations later on in the year. Sally Hunt, the UCU's general secretary, speaking at the union's annual conference in Manchester, warned that if discussions about redundancies broke down, there could be a national strike. 

There have been at least 15 strikes over job losses at universities since March. Higher education institutions are grappling with cuts of £1.2bn between now and 2013. These include £200m that was slashed from their budgets last week. In March, more than three-quarters of universities in England were told they would have their budgets cut for this September – some by nearly 14%, prompting warnings of larger class sizes, further job cuts and a deterioration in the quality of courses. 

The UCU's representatives on campuses were reporting new redundancies each day, 

Hunt said she wondered how long "this will remain a local action", adding: "Soon our members will want us to take this to a national level and make a national response too." 

Academics at Westminster University have said they will not mark essays and exams in protest over plans to cut 50 posts. A university spokesman said it was taking "every reasonable measure to minimise the impact" on students. 

Meanwhile, academics today accused the government of forcing them to spy on international students. They claim new visa rules, under which academics must report an overseas student who fails to enrol, miss lectures or drops out of a course, are against academic freedom. The rules were devised so officials could keep track of the whereabouts of international students. 

Lecturers called for the union to put up a legal challenge to the points-based immigration scheme. They said they would be prepared to appeal to the European court of human rights if necessary. 

Courtesy guardian.co.uk