AUT Business School NZ's 'best business educator'

Auckland University of Technology’s Business School has been named the country’s best business educator at this month’s Vero Excellence in Business Support Awards.

The school was praised for its ‘real-world approach’ to teaching business degree students, an AUT statement said.

"This includes strong links with industry leaders who also contribute to curriculum development, a unique student co-op internship programme and an emphasis on students creating real and successful businesses which have to post a profit," the statement said.

The AUT statement is at this web page.

The 2008 finalists are at this web page.

PBRF shifts research funding to universities

The main effect of the Performance-Based Research Fund (PBRF) has been to shift research funding to the universities from institutes of technology/polytechnics, says the Ministry of Education.

The PBRF tends to shift funding towards universities with substantial research activities in the sciences and the applied sciences – more sharply than the old research top-ups system.

This is largely because in some universities these fields are the focus of considerable research activity but may not attract large numbers of enrolments. Conversely, some lower-funded academic fields with significant enrolments may have lower research performance.

Further information is at this web page.

Zoning thwarting Auckland parents' choice

An inner-city Auckland primary school is to introduce zoning, thwarting many parents who choose it because of its proximity to their workplaces.

Zoning at Freemans Bay School, the closest state primary to Auckland's central business district, is due to be implemented next month on orders from the Ministry of Education, the New Zealand Herald has reported.

The move – which will see the entire cluster of inner west primary schools in the Ponsonby, Newton and Point Chevalier areas zoned – is tipped to stymie a trend of suburban families enrolling children in a school near the parents' inner city workplaces rather than their homes, the Herald writes.

Further information is at this web page.

Washington DC looks to contract out state school management

Washington DC's education authority is to speak to private firms about contracting out management of some of the city's most troubled public schools in a move aimed to improve academic results.

Further information is at this web page.

British govt planning 'private sector-style leadership' of state schools

Head teachers from grammar schools could get doubled pay in return for taking over the management of failing schools in their area, under plans to bring private sector-style leadership and pay rates into state schools, Times Online has reported.

Further Times Online information is at this web page.

School choice options not used by most

More than 6 million United States students are now eligible for school choice programmes but less than 1 percent take them up, a federal government report finds.

According to the report, issues contributing to the low participation were: choice options not always being available and problems communicating with parents.

The report is at this web page.

Bush wants budget boost for Washington voucher scheme

A US$5 million hike for Washington DC's Opportunity Scholarship programme – the voucher programme for low-income students – has been proposed in the 2009 budget request for the federal government from United States president George Bush.

Further information is at this web page.

Kenya looks at extending student loans to private universities

Kenya's Higher Education Loans Board is considering extending the country's student loan scheme to private or 'self-sponsored' students.

Further information is at this web page.

Korea to turn education into 'free market'

Turning Korean education into a free market is the aim of the Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, according to a report in the independent newspaper Hankyoreh.

Further information is at this web page.

Study of effectiveness of organisations running charter schools planned

The first study of the effectiveness of United States charter school management organisations (CMOs) kicks off this month.

The Gates Foundation-backed study will look at 33 CMOs running 190 charter schools.

Further information is at this web page.

India considers state funding of a 25 percent 'poor private student' quota

The Indian government is considering paying private school fees for poor students under a scheme forcing private schools to have rolls of at least 25 percent poor students.

Further information is at this web page.

Vouchers helped improve Florida's public schools, study finds

Vouchers were a key element driving improvements in public schools from the Florida’s 'A+' programme, a study finds.

"At every step, the academic performance of failing public schools in Florida responded to changes in the status of vouchers in the A+ program," reports study author Dr Greg Forster Senior Fellow Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice.

Lost Opportunity: An Empirical Analysis of How Vouchers Affected Florida Public Schools is online at this web page.

Kuwaiti company created to purchase education institutions

A Kuwaiti investment company, Al Ekhlas, has been set up to purchase schools in the Middle East.

It plans to acquire different schools with different curricula, and offer school and university campus-based and online curriculum instruction. Currently, Al Ekhlas has invested in a school in Kuwait and one in Egypt.

Further information is at this web page.

Indian private school company expanding for lower income families

An Indian private school chain plans to launch lower-priced versions of its schools to cater specifically to middle income families.

Mumbai-based Kangaroo Kids Education that runs a chain of elite pre-schools and schools plans to launch lower-priced versions to cater specifically to the middle income segment of India's urban and semi-urban markets, The Wall St Journal has reported.

Called Brainworks, the chain aims to offer the same coursework and quality of education as its more elite branches – Kangaroo Kids and Billabong High – but without the frills, such as air-conditioning or upmarket infrastructure.

The move signifies that the demand for high-quality private education is creating a market for specialised services beyond the rich.

For example, a 2008 report by Pratham, a not-for-profit organisation focusing on education, found that overall enrolment in private schools across rural India was around 20 percent in 2007, The Wall St Journal reported.

Further information on Brainworks is at this web page.

Prize for writing about the 'free society'

Submissions are currently being accepted for the annual Bastiat Prize for Journalism.

The prize is open to writers whose published articles "eloquently and wittily explain, promote and defend the principles of the free society, including property rights, free markets, sound science, limited government and the rule of law".

Prize organiser, the International Policy Network, a London-based think tank, is offering a US$15,000 prize fund to be divided among the top three placed authors.

Further information is at this web page.

50th edition of International Higher Education out now

News, views and information on education globalisation, private education, foreign-backed universities and institutional accountability are all in the 50th edition of International Higher Education, from the Boston College Center of International Higher Education, out now. International Higher Education, is at this web page.