An American online university started by an Israeli entrepreneur has opened an operations centre in the West Bank, writes DD Guttenplan for The New York Times. Shai Reshef, the founder of University of the People, a non-profit institution that offers free online education to students in more than 120 countries, said his agreement with ASAL Technologies, a Palestinian software and information technology services company based in Ramallah, was just the first stage of a plan to move the university's entire back office to the West Bank.
University of the People uses specially adapted open course materials to offer courses in business administration and computer science. "Those are the skills most likely to help our students find jobs," said Reshef, an entrepreneur who started and sold two for-profit education companies before putting $3 million of his own money into his new venture.
Based on a peer-to-peer learning model in which students teach one another, the university has also recruited volunteer mentors from Brigham Young, Columbia, Harvard, Insead, New York University and Yale. Tuition is free.
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Source: University World News, Issue No: 0201, 11 December 2011
12 Desember 2011
Islamic States: Central Asia University Links to Grow
A representative body of the ministers of higher education and research from Islamic countries agreed, during a meeting held in the last week of November in Azerbaijan, to expand higher education cooperation with Central Asian countries.
The decision took inspiration from an earlier high-level meeting of foreign ministers of Islamic nations, held in Kazakhstan on 29 June this year, which adopted an 'Action Plan for Cooperation with Central Asia'.
The plan aims to increase coordination between the countries of Central Asia and other member nations of the Jeddah-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in higher education, research, health and economy.
To kick-start greater cooperation, the OIC's Pakistan-based science committee, COMSTECH, signed a memorandum of understanding with Baku State University of Azerbaijan. The memorandum was signed on 24 November during a ceremony held at the university's campus in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
"Within the framework of this memorandum of understanding, we shall facilitate exchange of postgraduate students and university researchers, assist in university teacher qualification improvement, and start joint projects besides organising joint conferences on current issues and trends in university-level research," Atta-ur-Rahman, the former chief of Pakistan's Higher Education Commission and current head of COMSTECH, told University World News.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0201, 11 December 2011
The decision took inspiration from an earlier high-level meeting of foreign ministers of Islamic nations, held in Kazakhstan on 29 June this year, which adopted an 'Action Plan for Cooperation with Central Asia'.
The plan aims to increase coordination between the countries of Central Asia and other member nations of the Jeddah-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in higher education, research, health and economy.
To kick-start greater cooperation, the OIC's Pakistan-based science committee, COMSTECH, signed a memorandum of understanding with Baku State University of Azerbaijan. The memorandum was signed on 24 November during a ceremony held at the university's campus in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
"Within the framework of this memorandum of understanding, we shall facilitate exchange of postgraduate students and university researchers, assist in university teacher qualification improvement, and start joint projects besides organising joint conferences on current issues and trends in university-level research," Atta-ur-Rahman, the former chief of Pakistan's Higher Education Commission and current head of COMSTECH, told University World News.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0201, 11 December 2011
05 Desember 2011
Lecturers "Reluctant to Seek Higher Education"
Most Indonesian university lecturers are reluctant to pursue higher education, from either domestic or foreign universities, in order to broaden their knowledge and horizons, said an official.
“We are offered so many scholarship programs by local and foreign universities, but only a few of our lecturers have taken these great opportunities,” Dewa Ngurah Suparta, professor of agriculture at the University of Udayana in Denpasar, said on Tuesday.
Suparta is secretary of the joint program between the National Education Ministry’s Director General for Higher Learning Institutions and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).
The JSPS has offered 10 scholarships at several top-notch universities in Japan as well as financial support for research projects in science and humanities.
“There are many more foreign institutions which have opened doors for Indonesian lecturers to upgrade their educations,” added Suparta.
He encouraged lecturers from universities across Indonesia, especially those located outside Java and Bali, to apply for the scholarships.
Since 2008, the Indonesian government has provided 1,000 scholarships for local lecturers to continue their graduate and post-graduate studies in local and foreign universities.
“The government has allocated Rp 3 trillion [US$330 million] for scholarships, but only 300 lecturers, mostly from big universities, have taken the opportunity,” he added.
More on the The Jakarta Post
“We are offered so many scholarship programs by local and foreign universities, but only a few of our lecturers have taken these great opportunities,” Dewa Ngurah Suparta, professor of agriculture at the University of Udayana in Denpasar, said on Tuesday.
Suparta is secretary of the joint program between the National Education Ministry’s Director General for Higher Learning Institutions and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).
The JSPS has offered 10 scholarships at several top-notch universities in Japan as well as financial support for research projects in science and humanities.
“There are many more foreign institutions which have opened doors for Indonesian lecturers to upgrade their educations,” added Suparta.
He encouraged lecturers from universities across Indonesia, especially those located outside Java and Bali, to apply for the scholarships.
Since 2008, the Indonesian government has provided 1,000 scholarships for local lecturers to continue their graduate and post-graduate studies in local and foreign universities.
“The government has allocated Rp 3 trillion [US$330 million] for scholarships, but only 300 lecturers, mostly from big universities, have taken the opportunity,” he added.
More on the The Jakarta Post
Indonesia: New Audit for State Universities
In an attempt to evaluate their effectiveness, Indonesia's education and culture ministry will implement an audit of programmes at state universities next year. Deputy Education Minister Musliar Kasim told The Jakarta Post recently that the audit would determine whether programmes at state universities were really needed and efficiently implemented.
"We will start to implement the audit in March next year, as soon as we have prepared the human resources," he said. Musliar said that the programmes audit was suggested by Vice-President Boediono as he had received various complaints from people about increasingly expensive tuition fees at universities.
Previously, the vice-president had said the government would audit educational institutions to lower the education budget. He added that the government would be able to provide more scholarships by implementing such an audit.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0200, 04 December 2011
"We will start to implement the audit in March next year, as soon as we have prepared the human resources," he said. Musliar said that the programmes audit was suggested by Vice-President Boediono as he had received various complaints from people about increasingly expensive tuition fees at universities.
Previously, the vice-president had said the government would audit educational institutions to lower the education budget. He added that the government would be able to provide more scholarships by implementing such an audit.
More on the University World News site
Source: University World News, Issue No: 0200, 04 December 2011
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