Dr. Sam Rany-Cambodia

VietNamNet Bridge 14 February 2014 Issue No:307 http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/education/95362/universities-cry-out-about-ministry-s-requirements-on-teaching-staff.html Universities have complained that the requirement of the Ministry of Education and Training of having one lecturer with a PhD and three with masters for every major is unfeasible in Vietnamese conditions, reports VietNamNet Bridge . MOET has forced universities to stop 207 training majors because they do not satisfy requirements regarding teaching staff. The institutions, while admitting a lack of lecturers, have replied that there is no way to obtain enough lecturers as requested. According to Nguyen Dinh Luan, president of Hanoi University, the ministry has told the university to stop training students majoring in Portuguese, Italian languages, accountancy and Vietnamese culture. “How can we find the lecturers with doctorates for Portuguese and Italian languages, if the two countries don’t train PhD

Tuesday, 11 February 2014 ម៉ៃ ទិត្យថារ៉ា    ភ្នំពេញៈ លោក​នាយក​រដ្ឋ​មន្ត្រី ហ៊ុន សែន បាន​ប្រកាស​ជា​សាធារណៈ​ថា ចាប់​ពី​ពេល​នេះ​តទៅ រដ្ឋ​មន្ត្រី​ក្រសួង អប់រំ យុវជន និង កីឡា នឹង​បញ្ឈប់​ការ​ចុះ​ហត្ថលេខា​លើ​សញ្ញាបត្រ​និស្សិត​ដើម្បី​ជា​ការ​បង្ហាញ​ ការ​យក​ចិត្ត​ទុក​ដាក់​របស់​គ្រឹះស្ថាន​អប់រំ ឧត្តម​សិក្សា​អប់រំ​មួយៗ​ក្នុង​ការ​ពង្រឹង​គុណភាព​សិក្សា​របស់​ខ្លួន។ ថ្លែង​នៅ​ក្នុង​ពិធី​ចែក​សញ្ញាបត្រ​ដល់​និស្សិត​សាកល​វិទ្យាល័យ​ជាតិ​ គ្រប់​គ្រង នៅ កោះពេជ្រ កាល​ពី​ថ្ងៃ​ម្សិលមិញ លោក​នាយក​រដ្ឋ​មន្ត្រី ហ៊ុន សែន បាន​ថ្លែង​ទៅ​កាន់​និស្សិត​ថា រដ្ឋ​មន្ត្រី​ក្រសួង អប់រំ នឹង​មិន​ចុះ​ហត្ថលេខា​លើ​សញ្ញាបត្រ​និស្សិត​ទៀត​ទេ ដើម្ប​កុំ​ឲ្យ​គ្រឹះស្ថាន​ឧត្តម​សិក្សា​ទាំង​អស់ ពឹង​ផ្នែក​តែ​លើ​តួអង្គ​របស់​ក្រសួង អប់រំ។ លោក​បន្ត​ថា៖ «ក្រសួង​ចង់​ឲ្យ​គ្រឹះស្ថាន​អប់រំ ចុះ​ហត្ថលេខា ទទួល​ខុស​ត្រូវ​ខ្លួន​ឯង​លើ​គុណភាព​សិក្សា​របស់​ខ្លួន គឺ​មិន​បាន​ពាក់​ព័ន្ធ​ជាមួយ​រដ្ឋ​មន្ត្រី អប់រំ ទេ»។ លោក​នាយក​រដ្ឋ​មន្ត្រី បន្ត​ថា នេះ​ជា​កំណែ​ទម្រង់​មួយ​លើ​វិស័យ​អប់រំ ហើយ​ក្រសួង​នឹង​ពង្រឹង​គុណភាព​នៃ​វិស័យ​អប់រំ ឲ្យ​សមស្រ

Jan Petter Myklebust 06 February 2014 Issue No:306   The League of European Research Universities, or LERU, has published an ‘advice paper’ on Good Practice Elements in Doctoral Training . It informs the academic part of research training and is a repository of good ideas and practices by some of Europe’s leading PhD training institutions. The most important messages highlighted in the paper are these: PhDs are increasingly drivers of their own professional development; and the training model in which the PhD candidate is heavily dependent on one supervisor is no longer robust. Being drivers of their professional development is important for the writing of PhD theses, even more so with regard to obtaining competencies during doctoral training in transferable skills. Supply opportunities where candidates can engage themselves to acquire transferable skills are extensively documented, and are diverse at member institutions of LERU, which is an association of res

Grace Karram 07 February 2014 Issue No:306   There is little consensus among Ontario’s stakeholders on what constitutes ‘student success’. Should institutions focus mainly on high completion rates, ensuring that students are successful in attaining their degrees? Or should students be encouraged to engage in a wide range of campus activities beyond their academics to develop well-rounded individuals? Should government work with institutions to produce graduates that meet labour market needs, ensuring that students can acquire jobs in their fields? Or should students be encouraged to pursue what interests them, embarking on post-secondary education as a means of self-discovery? These are just some of the questions raised at a higher education research symposium hosted by the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, or OISE, University of Toronto, at an event on post-secondary education in Ontario – Canada’s most populous province – late last year. It b

Yves Gingras07 February 2014 Issue No:306 The famous Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities, in which French institutions have not covered themselves in glory, made quite an impact when it was launched on the media and academic world in 2003. Since then, the debates around the various rankings of higher education institutions have continued. Last August the French minister of research commented on this annual ranking, noting that French universities were slowly climbing the ladder, according to France Info – without explaining what that really meant in academic terms. Many articles have, however, pointed out the perverse effects of the race to head rankings whose scientific value is almost zero. An investigation by the American journal Science , published on 9 December 2011, showed for example that universities in Saudi Arabia had contacted highly cited researchers who were employed by other institutions around the world asking them to add the address

Richard Garrett 07 February 2014 Issue No:306   Distance learning, not least the online version, has always been known for plenty of hype, a lot of growth and not much data. Even in the United States, where online higher education has boomed over the past decade, there were no comprehensive enrolment numbers. In an attempt to address the gap, private outfits such as Sloan-C and Eduventures made do with special surveys and clever estimates. Confirmation that online higher education has paid its dues and is here to stay, is the recent inclusion of distance learning data in the US federal government’s IPEDS – Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System – database. The fact that inclusion comes 15 years after the online higher education growth ride began, means such decisions are not made lightly. In the slow-and-steady business of official data collection, variables must have staying power, definitions must be commonplace and institutions must actually col

Darren J McDermott 07 February 2014 Issue No:306   Thailand is front and centre in the news again and unfortunately for the same political impasse and factional division that has defined much of its last decade. In another week of attrition for the incumbent administration and its detractors, international higher education and ASEAN integration will not be high on the agenda. But perhaps it is worth reflecting on some positive developments that have taken place in Thai international education over the past while, including the expansion of a student mobility programme which, similar to Erasmus in Europe, could drive further integration . With under a year to go until the much-vaunted formalisation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC 2015), 2014 is a critical year. A recent Asian Development Bank, or ADB, study – the ASEAN Economic Community Business Survey – found the Thai business community’s awareness of integration running at 70%. This contrasts starkly