GUNi.HEdNews: News on Higher Education

QS releases list of world’s “best student cities”

QS has recently released its list of the top 50 cities in the world for student life, taking into account such variables as affordability, city size and quality of life.

Erasmus student exchange program to expand

The European Commission has announced that the number of Erasmus study abroad exchanges will increase nearly twofold, seeing nearly five million students study abroad between 2014 and 2020.

UNESCO Chair in Biosciences Ethics Established at the University of Khartoum, Sudan

The establishment of the UNESCO Chair could strengthen teaching and research programs related to the activities of the new center in the country’s capital.

India's National Knowledge Network expanding

With a budget of roughly US $1.23 billion, the network is slowly but surely expanding to connect universities across the vast country, and giving access to untapped sources of knowledge, and being lauded ad nothing short of a "technical revolution".

Kenya to work towards eliminating illegal colleges

The Kenyan government is making a push to clean up higher education in the country, and those operating under false pretense could suffer legal ramifications.

Strikes and demonstrations force Chilean universities to lower admission requirements

After dramatic "tomas", or takeovers of high schools and universities, Chilean administrators have scrambled to find enough students to fill slots over 22% of academic departments.

South Africa aims for increased university enrollment

The South African government has come forward with a plan to raise the country’s tertiary education participation from 900,000 students to 1.5 million, representing a 7% increase, by the year 2030.

American universities to give e-textbooks a try

Five universities in the Unites States are set to order e-textbooks in bulk in an effort to ease the burden of rising textbook prices - on both the students and the universities themselves - through a deal jointly brokered between the participating universities, Internet2 and publisher McGraw-Hill.

New Project - Higher Education for EFA

The 2011-2015 IAU Project on Higher Education for Education For All (EFA) - following on the 2008-2010 IAU Project entitled Strengthening Linkages for Improved Education: Higher Education and Research Working for EFA and education-related MDGs - has been validated by the members of the IAU 2008-2010 Reference Group.

UNESCO's study: Chile's education system promotes inequality

The Regional Office of Education for Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC / UNESCO Santiago), motivated by the issue's priority of education in the public agenda in Chile, highlighted by the student movement, has conducted a comparative study on the regulatory framework governing education, to contribute for the understanding of the challenges and opportunities that exist.

The Palestinian at UNESCO

On december 13th, 2011 the Palestinian flag was hoisted at UNESCO headquarters to symbolize the admission of Palestine to the Organization. The president of the Palestinian Authority , Mahmoud Abbas, the Director General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, the president of the General Conference, Katalin Bogyay, and the Executive Council, Alissandra Cummins, and the presidents of the regional groups attended the ceremony.

UNESCO's request funding from U.S.

UNESCO's General Director, Irina Bokova, defended the resumption of U.S. payments to UNESCO on the first day of high-level meetings with members of the Congress on December 14th which took place in Washington.

New in HEDBIB

The October 2011 edition of New in HEDBIB has just been released. Containing references and abstracts of the latest higher education (HE) research publications worldwide and links to online publications, this resource is produced from HEDBIB, the International Bibliographic Database on Higher Education.

New project Higher Education for EFA

The 2011-2015 IAU Project on Higher Education for Education For All (EFA) - following on the 2008-2010 IAU Project entitled Strengthening Linkages for Improved Education: Higher Education and Research Working for EFA and education-related MDGs - has been validated by the members of the IAU 2008-2010 Reference Group.

Global Open Access Portal has been released

The launch of the global portal on open access Global Open Access Portal (GOAP), which provides an overview of open access to scientific information, took place at a special parallel event organized during the 36th session of the General Conference UNESCO, on Tuesday November 1th at the Headquarters in Paris.

Multidonor Emergency Fund launched by UNESCO

The Director General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, launched on November 11, an Multidonor Emergency Fund to cover a shortfall of $ 65 million caused by the announcement that the United States will retain the funds owed to the Organization. Bokova made the announcement at the close of the General Conference.

UNESCO awarded Magisterio prize for excellence in education

The 2011 Magisterio Prize for Education Protagonists has been awarded to UNESCO’s Education for All (EFA) programme “in recognition of its ambitious educational horizon for 2015”. Magisterio, a specialized education newspaper from Spain, awarded the prize to the Organization during a ceremony on 17 November in Madrid.

More funding for better education in the Middle East and North Africa analyze the World Bank and the French Development Agency

A new report released on October 21st titled: Breaking Even or Breaking Through: Reaching Financial Sustainability While Providing High Quality Standards in Higher Education in the Middle East and North Africa, highlights the need to increase funding to meet the demands for more and better education opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region

EU and Brazil step up cooperation in education and culture

The Joint Programme on Culture between the European Commission and Brazil builds on a Joint Declaration on Culture signed in May 2009. Within the context of this dialogue, the Commission and the Brazilian Ministry of Culture engage in regular exchanges on policies and best practices.

Modernisation and employability at heart of new higher education reform strategy

As part of Europe's strategy for jobs and growth, the European Commission presented on september 20th a reform strategy to boost graduate numbers, improve teaching quality and maximise what higher education can do to help the EU economy emerge stronger from the crisis.