 |
||||||
 |
|
 |
National may bring back tertiary education interest regime Speculation is rife in tertiary education circles that finance minister Bill English may bring back the interest regime on student loans in the forthcoming budget, Indian Newslink reports. Labour introduced the current policy of interest-free student loans, when it wrote off interest for all borrowers resident in New Zealand from April 2006. Further information is at this web page.
Staffing of hard-to-fill subjects in schools improves Staffing of traditionally hard-to-fill subjects in schools has improved, NZPA reports. Mathematics and statistics, and technology -- two of the most difficult subjects to staff -- had considerably fewer vacancies than in previous years, according to a Ministry of Education survey. Over the past few years the ministry had been offering a range of TeachNZ scholarships and initiatives to encourage teachers to return to the profession, train and work in hard-to-staff subjects and areas. Specific initiatives included allowances for those training in hard-to-fill subjects, loan support, relocation grants for moving internationally and nationally, returning to teaching allowances and free retraining for former secondary teachers. Further information is at this web page.
Draft national standards for numeracy and literacy released Draft national standards for numeracy and literacy were issued by the government this month for consultation. The standards include that every pupil, after a year at school, should know the alphabet and be able to count objects up to nine using their fingers, the Dominion Post reports. By the time pupils reach high school, they need to be able to write using complex punctuation and do metric conversions. The Dominion Post story is at this web page. Government information is at this web page. An April Subtext story on national standards is at this web page.
Many NSW private primary schools to get government funding More than 400 public and private primary schools across New South Wales will soon begin receiving federal money to build new libraries, halls and classrooms, ABC News reports. The money was designed to stimulate the economy and eventually all schools would benefit, Australian education minister Julia Gillard said. Further information is at this web page.
Raffles plans private university for Western Australia Singapore's Raffles Education Corporation has launched a bid to build Western Australia's second private sector university, WA Today reports. Raffles wanted to establish its Australian headquarters and a university campus at Midland, near Perth. Raffles has 61,000 students at its self-accredited universities in China, India, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and New Zealand. The company was founded in 1991. Since 2005 it has operated the Raffles College of Design and Commerce in North Sydney. Further information is at this web page.
Top UK universities say tuition fee cap damaging institutions Several members of the elite Russell Group of universities say the disparity between government funding and the cost of teaching cannot be sustained without compromising quality, the Daily Telegraph reports. Some universities faced a funding shortfall of as much as £7,000 per student on teaching, with tuition fees capped at £3,145 a year by the government. Oxford University said it was "subsidising" undergraduates "to the tune of about £60m per year" because of a £7,000 gap between government funding of about £8,000 and average teaching costs of about £15,000. Cambridge University said it cost about £6,000 a year more to educate an undergraduate than it received from the government. Further information is at this web page.
Independent schools 'dominate maths, science and languages' Independent United Kingdom schools dominate the ‘hard’ subjects of maths, science and modern languages, the Daily Telegraph reports. New figures showed that pupils from the independent sector consistently outperformed state pupils across all subjects and exams, with the average GCSE result for an independent pupil 10 points higher than for a state pupil. Further information is at this web page.
More children attend private schools, despite recession Independent schools are not only holding their own in the recession, but have slightly increased their share of England's school population, the BBC reports. First results from the annual census of schools showed that the number of children in the independent sector rose from 7.16 percent of the total to 7.21 percent. A separate census by the Independent Schools Council showed that its members' pupil numbers were down by just 103 despite the straitened economic conditions, while fees had risen almost 6 percent. Further information is at this web page.
University students stage tuition fee rebellion Students at one of Britain's top universities have staged a rebellion against tuition fees, arguing that the university has failed to improve its teaching since fees were raised to more than £3,000 a year in 2006, the Times reports. Further information is at this web page.
Tories propose primary academies Primary schools in England would get more freedom from council control and power over curriculum, budget and hours under new Conservative proposals for primary academies, BBC News reports. Shadow education secretary Michael Gove said he wanted to build on one of Tony Blair’s most successful policies. More information is at this web page.
School choice conference to be held in UK on 9 June The Centre for Market and Public Organisation hosts the conference 'School choice in an international context: learning from other countries' experience' on 9 June 2009 in Bristol, United Kingdom. There will be particular emphasis on school choice in primary schools. To register, go to this web page.
Prepaid tuition vouchers increase 33 percent in Washington State State officials approved a huge increase in the price of prepaid college tuition in Washington State, compensating for fresh tuition hikes and replenishing reserves hurt by the global financial meltdown, the Seattle Times reports. The Guaranteed Education Tuition Committee (GET) allows parents to bank tuition vouchers at today’s rates and withdraw them when their offspring head off to college. GET voted to raise the price of a tuition credit from US$76 to US$101 – a jump of around 33 percent – the largest one-year increase in the programme's history. Further information is at this web page.
Public colleges consider privatisation as a cure for recession As state tax revenues plummet, legislators and tertiary education United States policy-makers are considering ways to free public colleges to raise revenues outside public funding, the Chronicle of Higher Education reports. Operating more like private institutions would be a buffer from recession and the volatility of state budgets and might be vital to the survival of public colleges, college officials argued. Further information is at this web page.
Heavyweight backing for Washington DC school-choice programme A Washington DC school-choice programme slated for closure is getting heavy-hitting support to keep it going, the Washington Post reports. The Senate's most outspoken supporter of the DC voucher initiative orchestrated more than two hours of glowing testimony for the programme at a committee hearing, and said the dissenting voices he invited turned him down. Senator Joseph I Lieberman was pushing for reauthorisation of the Opportunity Scholarship Program, which provided up to $7,500 a year in federally funded tuition to 1,700 DC children from low-income families to attend private schools. Congressional Democrats have said the programme will end in 2010. President Obama has proposed continuing the scholarships so the students currently receiving money can finish high school. Further information is at this web page.
Voucher backers seek new Arizona school tax credit School-choice backers in Arizona propose state income tax credits to replace private school voucher programmes that a court ruled unconstitutional, the Tucson Citizen reports. The proposed legislation would create new individual and corporate tax credits for donations for tuition grants for children with disabilities and foster children attending private schools. The proposal was a reaction to a March Arizona Supreme Court ruling that overturned voucher programmes for children with disabilities and foster children. Further information is at this web page.
Teacher performance pay highlighted in new publication Articles on the effectiveness of merit pay for teachers, pay-for-performance for principals, teacher incentive fund grants and related issues have been published in Education Week's 2009 Spotlight on Pay for Performance. The seven news articles and two commentaries can be downloaded from the Education Week website. Further information is at this web page.
Hundreds of private schools open in Afghanistan More than 300 private schools have opened in Afghanistan since authorities opened the way for private investment in the education system nearly two years ago, Radio Free Europe reports. The emergence of private schools, most of which are secular, was seen by many as a sign of growing stability and optimism for the future. This academic year, more than 7 million children were attending Afghanistan's nearly 9,000 schools – both private and public. Girls make up 35–40 percent of their roll. Under the Taliban regime, defeated in 2001, all schools were religious and girls were banned. Further information is at this web page.
Private equity and venture capital firms increase Indian education investments Private equity and venture capital firms have increased their investments in Indian education by 50 percent, DNA India reports. According to a PriceWaterhouseCoopers report the sector received US$122m of private funding in India last year. Severe gaps between demand and supply in the sector were drawing private equity firms to education. To meet the demand, private equity firms were funding education at all levels – from coaching for primary school children to information technology training, e-learning and higher education. One company said it expected a 30–35 percent return on its investment. Further information is at this web page.
Public–private partnerships can 'improve education delivery' Enhancing the role of private sector partners in education can bring significant improvements in education service delivery, says a new World Bank report. Several factors helped make public–private partnerships (PPP) effective.
“Under the right terms, private sector participation in education can increase efficiency, choice, and access to education services, particularly for students who tend to fail in traditional education settings.” 'The Role and Impact of Public–Private Partnerships in Education' considers the issues related to PPPs in education, reviews evaluations of the partnerships and offers guidelines on how to create successful PPPs. To access the report, go to this page. |
|||
