Archives: December 2009

16 Dec 2009, Comments (0)

Accreditation in India: Mandatory

Author: transcriptresearch

Here’s another update on India.  Apparently, accreditation will be mandatory for all HEIs, not just those getting funded by the University Grants Council (UGC).  Once the newly drafted law goes into effect, most likely in early 2010, accreditation will become a mandatory aspect of all types of higher learning institutes.  All HEIs will have to undergo the seven-stage accreditation procedure of the National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC).  Presumably, that will nullify a previous report posted here that stated that India’s government was creating another accrediting body.  We will continue to monitor the ever-changing landscape of Indian higher education.

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/politics/accreditation-mandatory-for-higher-education-institutes_100287716.html

11 Dec 2009, Comments (0)

India Private University Notice

Author: transcriptresearch

India’s University Grants Commission (UGC) just published a list of the 53 private universities (by state) that are legally allowed to award degrees to students on their campus. The UGC’s notice specifically states that they are not allowed to affiliate another institute or college. In addition, they are not authorized to establish off-campus centers outside the state in which they were created (though, after 5 years & with UGC pre-approval, they can create off-campus centers within the state, though that hasn’t happened yet). Distance education programs must go through additional approval and be carefully documented.  In addition, the UGC has updated their list of fake universities.

http://www.ugc.ac.in/notices/private_universities11december09.pdf

http://www.ugc.ac.in/inside/fakealerts.html

5 Dec 2009, Comments (0)

Another Announcement

Author: transcriptresearch

For those following along via RSS feed, please note that some RSS readers are not downloading all the newly visible articles that are on the website.  It appears that articles posted after November 14th were not visible until the problem was corrected today, but not all of the articles are arriving in the news readers.

All articles are now available on the website www.transcriptresearch.com or the blog at www.transcriptresearch.wordpress.com

Thanks again!

5 Dec 2009, Comments (0)

Publishing Error Corrected

Author: transcriptresearch

An error was preventing our last several posts from being seen!  This has been corrected, and the last dozen or more messages should now be visible.  Our apologies, and thanks for not giving up on us.

5 Dec 2009, Comments (0)

Higher Ed Accreditation in India

Author: transcriptresearch

India’s Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) is proposing several new bills on higher education.  One of the new bills would establish a national accreditation body, the National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER), to register all types of institutions, including medical schools.  Institutional norms and regulations would be developed, and those HEIs that fail to meet the requirements could be closed if they failed to heed appropriate warnings.

The creation of a new accrediting body by the HRD is in direct opposition to a regulation put forth by the University Grants Commission (UGC) just a few weeks ago which mandates that all colleges and universities go through certification by the existing National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), an autonomous organization.  Currently, NAAC certification is voluntary much like regional accreditation in the United States.

The HRD Ministry has been aggressively planning to increase funding, enrollments, graduation, institutions, and quality simultaneously in the higher education sector.  To that end, the government plans to spend 470 billion rupees (roughly 10.2 billion USD) as part of its current 5-year plan, compared to the 4 billion rupees (nearly 87 million USD) it had spent on education in the previous 5-year plan.  This largess will enable the creation of more than 1400 new HEIs including 7 new Indian Institutes of Management and 7 new Indian Institutes of Technology.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Major-reforms-Bills-in-higher-education-likely-in-Parliament-session/547610

http://beta.thehindu.com/education/article53108.ece

4 Dec 2009, Comments (0)

Chile's University Entrance Exam

Author: transcriptresearch

This article in the Santiago Times covers a variety of topics related to the Prueba de Selección Universitaria (PSU) test, Chile’s tertiary entrance exam: background on who uses the PSU and how, a recap on public school teacher strike earlier this year and how this may or may not affect student test takers, fascinating insight into the correlation between socio-economics and student test scores, and a summary of the results of a survey taken of 400 test-takers to identify trends in relation to public versus private schools.

While there doesn’t appear to be anything new going on with this exam (other than record numbers of test-takers, according to the Ministry of Education), this article was a very nice overview of the structure.

http://www.santiagotimes.cl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17749:chile-students-take-make-or-break-university-entrance-exam-&catid=59:education&Itemid=132

3 Dec 2009, Comments (0)

Kyrgyzstan HEI

Author: transcriptresearch

The Ministry of Education and Science in Kyrgyzstan has announced that the country needs to decrease the number of higher education institutions (and branches) to focus on quality rather than quantity.  According to the Minister, many of the branches have failed license requirements due to their lack of quality.  The Ministry expects this decision to create a public furor but feels that it is a necessary step to take back control of the education sector.

http://eng.24.kg/politic/2009/12/01/9783.html

2 Dec 2009, Comments (0)

Single System in Albania, Kosovo, and Macedonia?

Author: transcriptresearch

Albania’s Ministry of Education announced that higher educational institutions in the country will begin equating diploma programs in Albania with those being offered in Kosovo and Macedonia.  They will begin standardizing  curriculum to align with the Bologna Process.  Albania and Macedonia are two of the 46 signatory countries participating in the Bologna Process, which aims to provide consistency, transparency, mobility, and understanding of the educational systems and credentials of member countries.

http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/newsbriefs/setimes/newsbriefs/2009/11/30/nb-11

1 Dec 2009, Comments (0)

US State's No Frills, Cheap Bachelor

Author: transcriptresearch

Arizona’s Maricopa County will be spearheading a new initiative to provide basic, low-cost bachelor programs in specific fields.  Arizona is one of seven states receiving million dollar grants from a private foundation whose goal is expand access to higher education.  While Arizona boasts record numbers of college graduates, their degrees are not in the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math) needed to rebuild the economy.  Currently, most students in Arizona earn bachelor degrees in research universities rather than colleges,  the state is expecting a significant population growth in the next decade, and the budget crisis has increased tuition by double digits, all leading to a need for a new way of educating Arizona’s population.  The intention is to create two new regional universities that bridge with community colleges and existing universities as a method of reducing and sharing costs.

http://verdenews.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=33784

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