Categories: Australia & Oceania

Fiji’s Higher Education Commission (HEC) has required that all higher education institutions (HEIs) register with them by the beginning of 2010.  Those HEIs already registered with the Ministry of Education (MOE) must also apply for recognition and registration with the HEC as part of the Higher Education Promulgation 2008.  This includes all post-secondary institutions including colleges and universities, religious education schools, technical institutes, TVET centers, language schools, hospitality training centers, information technology centers, secretarial schools, performing arts academies, sports academies, and hair dressing schools.

The new law grants a provisional registration for all existing HEIs from January 1, 2010, until January 1, 2011.  Within that time frame, all HEIs must apply for recognition and registration with the HEC as stipulated by law.  New HEIs must apply to the HEC for approval.

http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=135978

The Australian Qualifications Framework Council has recently produced a paper, Strengthening the AQF: An Architecture for Australia’s Qualifications, that identifies specific ways to strengthen the higher education framework by streamlining qualifications and standardizing program length.  The paper identifies 15 types of qualifications and describes their level of complexity, goals, skills, and application.  The qualifications included are Certificates I-IV; the Diploma and Advanced Diploma; Associates, Bachelor, Masters, and Doctoral degrees; and Graduate Certificates and Diplomas.

The fifteen different qualification types are broken down into 10 different levels.  Excitingly, the Council identifies a standard duration for each of these qualifications, which may or may not correspond to current conventions and have sparked some controversy.   The Council also suggests that some certificate programs and diplomas may need to be restructured to focus on the outcome of employment versus education and not both.

This new framework would be monitored by The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency in the hopes of curtailing widespread infractions that encompass the current system.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26205312-25192,00.html

Architecture PDF

Australia’s Monash University is exploring different routes to university entrance, especially to encourage students from diverse backgrounds and those with low income.  They have suggested the idea of transition colleges as a way of preparing students with low Victoria Certificate of Education grades and giving them another chance to upgrade their skills before being assessed for their Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank (ENTER) scores.  Currently, ENTER scores represent the main route to university entrance, and the transitional system would work alongside it, to give students the opportunity to improve the skills they learned in secondary school and increase their opportunities to be admitted and succeed in university.

Melbourne University, a local rival university, is also currently exploring the ideas of alternative entrance requirements because they recognize that standardized testing may be inadvertently unfair to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The Federal Government has charged universities with increasing their enrollment of students from poorer backgrounds at least 20% in the next ten years.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/monash-considers-selection-overhaul-20091008-gp2i.html

Australia joins a growing list of countries whose educators and administrative staff (and sometimes students) have used strikes this year to make their voices heard, particularly when it comes to promises (often pay-related) left unmet by the government; Nigeria, Kenya, France, Benin, Germany, Iran, Venezuela, the US, and the Bulgaria have all felt the pull.

Last week, sixteen universities across all states in Australia went on strike to improve conditions in higher education to bring attention to issues such as salaries, workload, job security, and other issues.  Additional strikes may occur in the coming weeks at the behest of the National Tertiary Education Union.

More information can be found at http://www.edu1world.org/Global/19087

Australia’s universities are set for record-breaking enrollments this year while 18,500 eligible students are unable to enroll at universities.  Applications rose 5.6% compared to last year, and the number of admitted students also rose, but only by 1.7%.  Part of the increase in applications is the global economic climate; more people hope to strengthen their future marketability by increasing their academic credentials while simultaneously taking themselves out of a presently risky job market.  However, the government has set a target to increase the number of 25-34 year olds who hold Bachelor degrees, and this disparity in eligible students and available seats highlights the need for significant growth in Australia’s higher education market to meet their short- and long-term enrollment and graduation goals.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,24897,26049481-601,00.html

Previously, Fiji had no compulsory education, but it was free through grade eight. The Ministry of Education is now requiring compulsory education and offering free tuition grants to primary and secondary schools as well as transportation in efforts to increase literacy and reduce dropouts. More information can be found online at http://www.radiofiji.com.fj/fullstory.php?id=19867