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  4. Mar2017

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    The Uganda National Council of Higher Education says it is being frustrated by the tendency of some private universities to seek remedy from the courts rather than engage with the regulator in the interests of preserving quality. The National Council of Higher Education, or NCHE, Executive Director Professor John Opuda-Asibo told University World News that some private universities seek to use "power plays", delaying tactics and tend to "politicise" matters instead of holding talks directly with the regulator to rectify faults. He said with increased engagement between NCHE and universities, it would be possible to adhere to the rules agreed in order to maintain academic quality as well as separate the interests of management from the interests of private owners. A recent example of institutions turning to the courts is that of Busoga University, a private institution founded by the Church of Uganda under the Busoga Diocese in eastern Uganda. Fraudulent graduations In December the NCHE revoked the provisional education licence held by Busoga University. Last month, the latter approached the Constitutional Court seeking orders to reverse the revocation. The NCHE clamped down on the university after investigations into fraudulent graduations. According to media reports, the university fraudulently graduated 1,000 students after only five months of study. Some of these were Nigerians, while the majority were South Sudanese government officials and army generals. It was claimed that some of the students did not meet entry requirements and were admitted under unclear circumstances and that some were enrolled in unaccredited courses. The students, eager to keep their jobs backed by academic qualifications, allegedly each paid US$1,000 dollars to get their degrees after five months, instead of paying the usual US$300 per semester. The students were transferred from Star University College in Juba, South Sudan, which is affiliated to Busoga University. Another 70 students from Nigeria who were stud
    6 years ago by @prophe
     
      Mar2017UgandaEnglishlobbypolitics
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      The Philippines Senate has approved a landmark bill to provide free tuition for students in all state universities and colleges. The Free Higher Education for All Act was passed unanimously on Monday by a vote of 18-0. The bill establishes an initial tuition subsidy fund of PHP15 billion (US$298 million) administered by the Commission on Higher Education or CHED, the country’s higher education governing body. It also provides financial assistance to students in private and vocational institutions. More than 1.6 million students currently enrolled in one of the 112 state institutions will be covered by the fund. “This bill is for the Filipino youth who are struggling to finish their college education as well as their parents who are working hard to pay for the expenses of their schooling,” said Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino, the bill’s author. Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, a co-sponsor of the bill, also lauded the move, the final stage in the bill’s passage through parliament. “This is a collective victory for those of us who believe that equitable access to education at all levels is the foundation upon which we may build a just and prosperous future for our country,” he said in a statement. The passage of the bill comes nearly three months after Congress allocated PHP8.3 billion (US$165 million) under the 2017 national budget to provide free tuition for students in state universities and colleges for the upcoming academic year, and means that free tuition becomes law rather than depending on the yearly budget. Gatchalian first tabled free tuition legislation in July 2015 when he was a member of the House of Representatives, or lower house, but the bill did not succeed in its passage through the Philippines parliament. While acknowledging last year’s budgetary increase was “a promising start”, he continued to push for a bill to “make the free tuition policy in state universities and colleges a permanent reality”. ‘Unintended consequences’ The Kabataan Partylist, a youth party in the House of Repr
      6 years ago by @prophe
       
        PhilippinesMar2017Free_tuitionEnglish
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        More than 150,000 students qualify for university admission annually, but only 27,000 can be accommodated in state-run universities, State Minister of Higher Education Mohan Lal Grero said. He said others, numbering around 130,000 were left out and some of them opted for vocational education and related areas in the governmental institutions. The Minister was addressing a seminar organised by the Agriculture Faculty of the Peradeniya University, under the theme ‘Peradeniya University and Sri Lanka Food Industry-the inter relationship’ as part of its diamond jubilee commemoration of the University at the Hector Kobbekaduwa Institute, Colombo. That was the reason the government had decided to support private higher education sector, Grero said. The government would introduce a loan scheme for students who had financial problems to enrol in higher education institutes in Sri Lanka. "If we have quality higher educational institutions within the country foreign exchange can be saved," Grero said. The minister said they would also focus on further developing the state education sector. The government was planning to increase state university intake by 15% by 2020. According to its policy the main target was to increase the intake up to 50,000 students by 2020, Grero said.
        6 years ago by @prophe
         
          Mar2017SriLankaEnglishfavorprivateallow
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          After leaving Somalia at the height of the civil war to work in universities in Italy and Canada, Professor Mohamed Ahmed Jimale returned to the ravaged Somalian capital of Mogadishu in 2012 with the idea of reviving the Somali National University, or SNU, where he had graduated in 1983 and taught as a lecturer in the faculty of veterinary sciences. He was approved as rector by the new central government in 2013 and the university opened in 2014 with six faculties. In this interview, Jimale speaks about the state of higher education in Somalia and the challenge of running a university in what is still an unstable and often hostile environment, and about his hopes of helping poorer Somalis to attain the kind of education that launched his own career. UWN: What does it take to run such a university? MAJ: It’s not easy at times. Finding students is difficult, as is finding the right calibre of academic and support staff. Our university is tuition-free, therefore whoever gets admission here must earn it first by passing their high school exams and our pre-admission exams, which many students fail. At the level of academic staff, the higher education labour sector in Somalia is still young and it is tricky getting the right personnel to run the university. Another challenge is that we depend on the government for funding, which is not constant or predictable due to other competing national budget priorities. There are those who hold a myth that a tuition-free government university like ours is the preserve of high-ranking government officials and their children or you have to be influential or come from powerful families to get admission. We have had to battle with and demystify [this], making it clear that the university is open to all Somalis. The only ticket required is good grades. The final challenge is how to bring back our seven campuses with limited resources and cater for swelling numbers. UWN: What kind of assistance have you received from foreign universities? MAJ: One of the major problems we
          6 years ago by @prophe
           
            Mar2017SomaliaEnglish
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            President Donald Trump´s threat to deport millions of illegal immigrants – half of them Mexicans – has triggered an unprecedented campaign by the Mexican government and universities. A raft of measures announced in recent weeks seek to reincorporate returning migrants into the country´s education system and labour force while defending those who wish to remain in the United States. Trump has vowed to deport as many as three million illegal immigrants, with those with criminal records at the front of the queue. However, there is growing fear among the hundreds of thousands of university students and workers who are beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA programme – which grants temporary legal status to certain immigrants who arrived as minors – following the detention of several DACA holders in recent weeks. A recent series of menacing tweets by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, suggesting that even DACA holders could be subject to deportation, has sparked further alarm. Mexicans represent roughly 5.8 million of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States. They include an estimated 400,000 Mexicans known as Dreamers, for the proposed federal Dream Act that sought to provide legal status for young immigrants. Many have little or no support system in Mexico and some don´t even speak Spanish. In response, the Mexican government is seeking to ease the repatriation process for hundreds of thousands of migrants, particularly students. New legislation On 17 March, the Mexican Congress approved new legislation that streamlines the application process to schools and universities for returning migrants. The changes to the federal Education Law empower private colleges to revalidate transcripts from other Mexican or foreign institutions. Even more significant, students who studied abroad no longer need to present an apostille – a diplomatic notarised seal – along with their transcripts, a process that can take weeks and cost hundreds of dollars. The feder
            6 years ago by @prophe
             
              Mar2017MexicoDonald_TrumpEnglishreturn
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