SCIENCE & EDUCATION

Amid widespread calls to reform the science system, the Chinese Academy of Sciences or CAS – the nation’s largest research body – is to reshuffle its 100 plus research institutes and change the way it rewards scientists. But details of the ambitious plan are far from clear. In August the CAS announced the launch of a new round of reform, aimed at becoming a world science and technology leader by 2030. At this conference CAS president Bai Chunli said that CAS institutes were very ‘flat’, covering a huge range of fields without specialising. “The situation must be changed,” he said.

Lecturers at institutes of technology in Ireland are urging the government to rethink its insistence on college mergers before they can gain university status, writes Joe Humphreys for The Irish Times.The Teachers’ Union of Ireland or TUI, which represents 4,000 lecturers and researchers in institutes of technology, said it remained “unconvinced” by the rationale behind the merger plan. It was commenting after Waterford IT’s shock decision last week to withdraw from negotiations on a merger with IT Carlow.

Students' performances at International Science Olympiads (ISO), a series of worldwide science competitions for students not yet in higher education, are now being considered as important information for university entrance decisions.A student in his second year of private high school who aims to participate in next summer's International Chemistry Olympiad is considering applying to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States."A senior student and Olympiad medalist who was enrolled at MIT told me outstanding performances in the Olympiad can be an advantage in the university's entrance exam," says the student, who lives in Tokyo. His motivation seems strong. "I want to focus on study with brilliant people gathered from around the world."

China's top education authorities have approved new regulations for nine top universities, which seek to increase their autonomy, while observers have expressed concern about their effectiveness, reports Global Times.The nine universities include the country's top two universities, Peking University and Tsinghua University, the Ministry of Education announced on its website, adding that the newly established regulations will help the systematic reform of higher education and aid academic development.

When you speak to foreign English educators in Japan, one thing becomes crystal clear: English education in Japan isn't working.It's just awful. While English classes are mandatory in Japanese schools, the percentage of students who emerge with actual English abilities are surprisingly low. Students in China, Korea and Japan are in an arms race to see who can produce students with the best English, and Japan seems to be trailing far behind in third place.With the Olympic Games coming up in 2020, the Japanese government has proposed changes to increase the level of English ability in their students. Changes like starting introductory English classes in 3rd grade elementary school and making the subject compulsory from the 5th grade. Are these changes really going to help? We've gathered opinions from both foreign teachers and Japanese citizens about issues with the system and what might improve it.

Doctors have warned that the federal government's planned changes to university fees could send the cost of six-year undergraduate medical degrees skyrocketing to $250,000 (US$220 000) or more, writes Julieanne Strachan for The Sunday Canberra Times.Australian Medical Association vice-president Stephen Parnis said the proposed fee changes would have enormous impacts on the future health workforce because graduates would be driven towards specialising in high-paying areas like plastic surgery rather meeting the community's need for general practice doctors.

More and more Greeks are moving to Germany to complete their university studies in the hope of improving their chances in the job market. Radical cuts continue to threaten the quality of teaching in Greece, writes Lisa Brüßlerfor DeutscheWelle.In Germany alone, between 2012 and 2013, the number of Greek students rose by 13%. In 2012, Germany's Federal Statistical Office counted almost 6,000 Greek students, of whom more than 1,100 had directly begun their studies in Germany.

All German universities will be free of charge when term starts next week after fees were abandoned in Lower Saxony, the last of seven states to charge, reports The Times.“Tuition fees are socially unjust,” said Dorothee Stapelfeldt, senator for science in Hamburg, which scrapped charges in 2012. “They particularly discourage young people who do not have a traditional academic family background from taking up studies. It is a core task of politics to ensure that young women and men can study with a high quality standard free of charge in Germany.”

It is the time of year when Indian students pack their bags and board flights to overseas campus destinations. And this year, there are many more science, engineering and technology students headed for Germany than in previous years, writes Ishani Duttagupta for The Economic Times. The German government's efforts, through the German Academic Exchange Service, or DAAD, over the past few years to attract students from India is paying off with more and more young Indians choosing Germany over more expensive destinations. 

Kyoto University plans to add about 100 foreign faculty members by the 2017 academic year to teach half of the elective liberal arts courses in English.The move has drawn opposition from within Kyoto University’s faculty. But such criticism has not prevented Kyoto University, alma mater of many Nobel laureates, and a growing number of other schools across Japan from offering courses taught in English.The idea is to allow students to “learn in English” rather than simply “learn English.” The courses also address the recent demand in the work force for Japanese graduates who are highly skilled in the language.Teaching elective courses in English is not a new thing in Japan.In Tokyo, Waseda University, Hosei University and Soka University have all established departments of international studies during the past 10 years.

The fall-out from Swiss voters’ decision to limit EU immigration is not just affecting businesses. Uncertainty over grants means up to a third fewer foreign students have registered at Swiss universities this semester.On February 9, 50.3% of Swiss voters approved an initiative to curb immigration. The move by the rightwing Swiss People’s Party – known for its anti-foreigner and anti-EU agenda – calls for a reintroduction of quotas, as well as a national preference when filling job vacancies and restrictions of immigrants’ rights to social benefits.

Replacing written exams or coursework with oral assessment may help to stop potentially high levels of cheating by students in universities in Gulf states, a study argues.While the exact number of cases of academic dishonesty in Arab countries is not known, cheating is likely to be fairly widespread thanks to deeply ingrained cultural reasons, according to a paper published in the journal Innovations in Education and Teaching International.

The share of foreigners among teaching and research staff employed by Finnish universities has increased from roughly 10% to 20% over the past few years. Today, Finnish universities provide employment to approximately 3,000 foreign lecturers and researchers, roughly 1,000 more than in 2010, reports Helsingin Sanomat.Internationalisation is one of the factors considered when granting funding to universities. Foreign teachers and researchers, on the one hand, contribute to the quality of universities and, on the other, pose additional challenges.

A Japan education ministry panel has proposed making use of external English proficiency tests for university entrance exams.The panel of experts compiled a report on how to improve the country's entrance exams for the English language.Many of the panel members urged the ministry to make better use of external proficiency tests.

An international survey shows that teachers in Japan work longer hours than those in other countries. They also had the lowest self-assessments among teachers in the countries and territories surveyed.The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, last year conducted the teaching and learning survey in 34 countries and territories.Japan was surveyed for the first time. About 3,700 junior high school principals and teachers responded.

Japanese teachers work the longest hours but have the lowest level of confidence in their teaching abilities compared with their counterparts at junior high schools around the world.That's the finding of a teacher survey by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.The OECD's Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), released June 25, also revealed that Japanese teachers have too many demands on their time to focus exclusively on teaching.

President of the Higher Education Council Professor Gökhan Çetinsaya announced recently the completion of a report examining the state of higher education in Turkey over the past 30 years, which concludes that universities are in need of 45,000 more academics, reports Cihan.Presenting a comprehensive analysis on the past, present and future of Turkish higher education, the report – titled Growth, Quality and Internationalisation: A road map for higher education in Turkey – claims that the low number of academic staff in Turkey compared to the size of the student body poses a serious threat to quality.

A government advisory panel is considering proposing Japan start compulsory education from five-year-old children, earlier than the current six-year-olds, informed sources said Thursday. The Education Rebuilding Implementation Council is to call on the government to realize free education in stages for five-year-old children, who are currently taught by kindergartens and nurseries.

The skills taught to graduate students – sorting, summarizing and presenting information, creativity, and independence – are in high demand. But they are more likely to be used in jobs other than teaching. Several panels at this week’s Congress 2014 heard that two-thirds of PhD graduates will not become professors, heading instead to government or industry. If these students are to market their skills successfully to private sector employers, the current generation of professors has to be persuaded there is no shame if their students do not turn out to be profs.Participants said that to encourage that shift, universities must come up with new models of PhD study, from including multimedia components to emphasizing collaboration and experiential learning alongside traditional study.

Universities in some provinces in China are failing to meet student recruitment targets, a survey has found. At least seven provinces and one region did not meet their recruitment goals in 2013, according to the College Enrolment Report released last Wednesday by eol.cn, one of the country's largest education portals. Chen Zhiwen, editor-in-chief of http://eol.cn and one of the report's authors, said the cause was a drop in the birth rate.