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Inbound, outbound and TNE: the Philippines’ commitment to mobility

The Philippines has a young population – over 30% are under 15 years old. Combined with a fast-growing economy and a new transnational education strategy, the opportunities for student mobility – inbound, outbound and transnational – are worth paying attention to.

Outbound student mobility

IDP’s 2022 Emerging Futures survey shows that Canada remains the most popular first-choice destination for 38% of Filipino prospective students, closely followed by Australia with 31%.

According to the Canadian Bureau for International Education, in 2022, Canada’s 32,455 Filipino students accounted for 4% of the total make up of inbound international students, only preceded by China and India.

Career development being the top motivation, followed by education quality and knowledge were the top motivations for studying abroad, the research found.

“Filipinos opt for Canada due to its promising employment opportunities, while Australia is favoured for its exceptional education quality. However, both countries are equally popular for being safe for international students,” a spokesperson for IDP tells The PIE.

Education consultant Christel Chantoiseau of family-owned RSS Outbound Consultancy Service shares with The PIE her students’ motivations.

While some are seeking high quality education, many choose Canada as they already have relatives living there who can offer accommodation and help with other financial costs. With Filipinos being among the top diaspora groups in Canada, it makes sense that students are seeking it out as an education destination.

“Over the years in our international research studies, we have seen Canada and Australia being strongly preferred over other English-speaking countries and they have respectively led the demand by a large margin, however, our data suggests that the UK is slowly catching up,” IDP’s spokesperson adds.

However, 68% of Filipino respondents said they are reassessing their plans to study abroad due to the increased cost of living, the company’s research also indicated.

With 44% saying they fund their study abroad experiences through part-time work and 43% getting help from their parents, there is a strong intention for Filipino students to work part-time while studying abroad. Some 87% hope to do so, IDP says.

There is also a strong intention to work in the study destination after graduation, with 92% of students applying for a post-study work visa indicating they are confident they will find a job after obtaining the permit.

“From the very start, they come to me and they are very dedicated that they really want to study abroad. They are willing to give up everything in Philippines to have a new life abroad,” says Chantoiseau.

Inbound student mobility

The Philippines is making its mark on inbound student mobility too, with 22,247 international students choosing it as their study destination in 2022, a growth of 52.7% since 2021. According to data from IIE’s 2022 Project Atlas release, some 74% of inbound international students were studying STEM subjects.

The majority of the country’s international students – some 16,013 – come from India, with a further 4,462 coming from China, the data shows.

“Normally, markets this small wouldn’t be significant enough to warrant the attention of the big four. But the Philippines gets interesting when we examine the nationality breakdown of its new student,” says ApplyBoard in its insights article on the next big destinations for international students.

“Once Indian students penetrate a market, history tells us that the market will skyrocket in popularity. Not just among Indian students, but all international students,” it continues.

According to Laurene Chua-Garcia, vice-president of external relations and internationalisation, De La Salle University, institutions in the Philippines have a lot to offer international students, starting with the medium of instruction being English.

“Most higher education institutions have a good number of teaching and research faculty who have been trained in leading educational institutions all over the world,” Chua-Garcia tells The PIE.

“We are current and content is relevant across different disciplines. There are regular updates through the different global collaborations and significant recognition in the research domain.”

Some institutions are also rated higher in Times Higher Education than others in first world countries, he adds.

“So, education in the Philippines is actually comparable with the good ones out there.” In 2023, 16 higher education institutions in the Philippines featured in the QS list of the best Asian universities.

Photo: CHED

“As higher education institutions continue to rise in global university rankings, the Philippine Commission on Higher Education commits to prioritising internationalisation and setting milestones in nation-building,” the country’s Commission on Higher Education said at the time.

Inbound international students can enjoy the warm hospitality of Filipinos, says Chua-Garcia, adding that they are “very accepting of diverse cultures”.

“You can see that in the many multi-ethnic people we have. I alone come from a mixed heritage comprised of Spanish, Dutch, British and Chinese bloodlines,” Chua-Garcia tells The PIE.

Transnational education

In 2019, The Philippines sent a message to the world about its readiness to welcome higher education institutions into the country, as it passed the Transnational Higher Education Act.

The law opened up an array of TNE avenues – academic franchising, branch campuses, joint degrees, online blended and distance learning, Open Distance Learning, twinning and validation arrangements.

So far, the act has seen 10 universities in the Philippines linked with nine UK universities.

The passing of the bill was a “welcome development”, Lotus Postrado, director Philippines, British Council, tells The PIE, noting the organisation’s previous work towards improving TNE opportunities in the country.

“In 2016, prior to this law, we partnered with CHED to pilot a TNE project that eventually yielded more than 15 postgraduate degrees with the UK. This policy was a signal of the country’s deep commitment to further internationalise its higher education sector,” says Postrado.

Since, the British Council has launched multiple TNE collaborations with CHED, including ‘Access and Competitiveness through Internationalisation of Higher Education‘. Through the new three-year program, the British Council is working with a growing number of Philippine and UK universities to develop new TNE degrees, launching in 2024.

Through the £1.8m project, the British Council will also support the professional development of Filipino university staff through a scholarship grant for existing UK-Philippine TNE programs, Postrado tells The PIE.

The program will work to mobilise various government bodies to create the national TNE strategy in support of the TNE law, including enabling a whole-government policy support.

“As demonstrated by the policy and the government’s huge investment in TNE, we’re starting to establish an environment that would be conducive to these types of collaborations,” Postrado continues.

A unique feature of the Philippine government’s approach to TNE is that it is being used for development purposes; capacity building, talent strategy, and achieving sustainable development goals.

“There’s a strong focus on creating programs in niche areas critical for national development”

“There’s a strong focus on creating programs in niche areas critical for national development such as food sustainability, meteorology, robotics, and data science, among others,” she adds,

“The Philippines’ aspirations on TNE have helped open more opportunities for the UK market.

“We’re not talking only about UK universities creating degree programs, but also having wider engagements with education bodies such as Advance HE and the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.”

One example of this is the signing of an MoU between CHED and QAA in London earlier this year, during the Education World Forum.

In signing, QAA committed to supporting CHED in developing a TNE strategy for the Philippines and continued participation to develop Philippine quality assurance and accreditation activity, QAA’s statement reads.

This project involves designing a bespoke training program for CHED representatives and supporting the development of a governance structure, as well as implementation of Philippine TNE law, it adds.

‘This agreement marks a significant milestone in the growing relationship between QAA and CHED and our shared mission of developing quality assurance mechanisms in the Philippines,” says Vicki Stott, chief executive, QAA.

Most recently, the British Council entered into a new partnership with the Philippine government that would enable it to showcase best practices and integrate TNE and internationalisation in the country’s ongoing education reform, Postado tells The PIE.

Chua-Garcia champions the country’s potential for TNE opportunities and partnerships, but is keen to warn potential partners of a few pitfalls some fall into, highlighting how institutions often expect a one-way partnership when collaborating with universities in the Philippines.

“They just want to tell us ‘bring your students to us, bring your students to us!’ What happened to a bilateral or fair exchange?” she said.

“The Philippines may have been relegated to being a third world country in ASEAN but we are well-trained and the training continues.”

The post Inbound, outbound and TNE: the Philippines’ commitment to mobility appeared first on The PIE News.

Yemen: the globe’s forgotten higher education crisis?

The statistics are harrowing. An estimated 377,000 deaths in the seven years to 2021. Two-thirds of a 34.2 million population in need of humanitarian assistance at the end of 2022. Some 4.5 million people – including 2 million children – internally displaced. And yet the crisis in Yemen rarely makes international news headlines.

While diplomatic efforts continue to bring an end fighting between Saudi Arabia and Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the country, The PIE wanted to identify ways in which the international education sector can assist and change the lives of those in the country for the better.

Since the outbreak of war in 2014, IIE – an organisation which also set up financial aid support for citizens from the country studying in the US in 2016 – has seen applications to its Scholar Rescue Fund from Yemen soar.

Immediate support and assistance

The total 158 fellowships to 91 Yemeni scholars during the conflict has been aided by partnerships with 43 host institutions in 13 countries. A quarter of scholars in 2022 were from Yemen.

Academic safe havens were identified in Europe, North America and Malaysia, and IIE also placed Yemeni scholars at higher education institutions in Egypt, Jordan and Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

The importance of offering opportunities in their home region, where they can continue in their native language and maintain ties with students and colleagues in Yemen, is key in a multi-pronged approach, IIE director of SRF, James King, told The PIE.

“The UN has consistently described Yemen as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, but it’s also a higher education emergency,” he said.

There are misconception about Yemen, whereby the “sophisticated scholarly, artistic and literary traditions” are often forgotten, he continued. Prior to the war in 2011, more than 10% of university age Yemenis were enrolled in higher education, a number that, like throughout the Arab world, “was growing each year”.

IIE is supporting scholars living amidst “unimaginable conditions, violence, disease, water shortages, food shortages, academic freedom violations and direct threats”.

Even among huge crises in Afghanistan, Ukraine and other regions, Yemen has consistently been the source of the most SRF applications in the past five years. Through the initiative more than two thirds of the Yemeni scholars are supported within the Arab region and in neighbouring countries, with grants of $25,000 facilitating temporary positions.

While mobility challenges around visas, cost of living, academic and cultural linguistic differences limit opportunities in North American or Europe, opportunities in Egypt, Jordan and northern Iraq, for example, allow “scholars to stay close to home, which is oftentimes their preference”, he noted.

Malaysia has been one country very welcoming to Yemeni fellows, thanks to long standing ties with eastern Yemen. Quite a few Yemenis have completed PhDs in the East Asian country and it has also hosted SRF participants from Iraq and Turkey, King noted.

In contrast, placements at partner universities in North America and Europe requires the institutions to match the $25,000 grant to support the scholars.

Scholars at Risk, the organising championing the principles of academic freedom globally, monitors the threats to students and academics in Yemen, as well as the rest of the world.

Along with Ethiopia and Myanmar, the crisis in Yemen has been “less well-reported”, it has warned.

Houthi-appointed officials have ordered forces to take control of university buildings in Dhamar and quelled on-campus student demonstrations at Sana’a University, beating student protesters and arresting an unspecified number, its reports say.

Speaking with The PIE, Mustafa Bahran, who is the chair of the Scholars At Risk initiative at Carleton University, emphasised that the “catastrophe in Yemen is being forgotten”.

“Please don’t put Yemen as a footnote [after the crises in Ukraine and Afghanistan],” he implored.

Houtis have begun separating boys and girls in education, he noted, likening the rebels to the Taliban who consider women’s position in society to be at home.

Despite universities, especially among UK institutions, having dedicated pages for Yemeni students, figures from popular English-speaking study destinations point to very limited numbers of student enrolments from Yemen.

IRCC statistics in Canada indicated the country’s institutions hosted a total of 155 in 2022 (55 so far this year), Open Doors in the US show 305 enrolments from Yemen in 2021/22 and HESA in the UK indicates 75 countrywide, with six institutions close to hosting five Yemeni students each (the figures are rounded to the nearest five).

As of 2020, about 1,200 Yemeni students were registered at German universities, according to reports.

The British Council, with one of its 100+ offices worldwide in Yemen, focuses on education, training and employability and empowering young people to take charge in fulfilling their destiny and give them a voice in Yemeni society.

“More work needs to be done especially in education to deliver at scale to meet the needs of all young Yemenis”

British Council seeks to “catalyse positive, peaceful dialogue and change” in the communities of young Yemeni men and women through its work in arts & culture, education and English, the organisation’s country director for Yemen, Rowaida Khulaidi, told The PIE.

An “unpredictable” security situation means the British Council spends a lot of time scenario-planning to ensure smooth and safe delivery of projects.

“The work we do in Yemen supports the resilience of the country’s social capital and its young people that make up most of the population,” Khulaidi said.

“However more work needs to be done especially in education to deliver at scale to meet the needs of all young Yemenis, and it requires coordination and finding synergies with the wider international sector that will enable this. Education in Yemen is rather traditional, and the need to modernise education is crucial so that students can live, work and thrive.”

It is “very difficult to work inside the country” currently due to political barriers or a lack of internet access, King emphasised.

“One of the things we hear over and over again is that the students and scholars inside Yemen are incredibly isolated from the international community.”

Isolation from the outside world was also an issue raised by Khulaidi at The British Council.

“Through our work in the arts, we help empower and amplify Yemeni voices to address this isolation and reconnect them to the outside world,” she told The PIE.

In 2020, British Council supported a local theatre company to produce a Yemeni version of Hamlet, with mentoring from two UK theatre companies, she noted.

The Khaleej Aden Troupe performing Hamlet in Yemen. Photo: Images courtesy of Khaleej Aden Troupe

The US government sponsored, USAID-funded Yemen Gateway to Education project has sought to get out-of-school children back to the classroom and “learn and heal through art”. The country has also recently launched the ‘Welcome Corps’ for people fleeing war, violence, and persecution.

Khulaidi pointed to the “crucial” need for ongoing teacher development to ensure teachers have the necessary skills to support students.

As a “key language for Yemenis to access better employment and income opportunities”, the British Council English teacher training program is helping.

Further scholarships to study English would be key to unlock many future doors for Yemenis, she added.

Rebuild

Unicef has calculated that in seven years, at least one in four schools were destroyed, partially damaged or utilised for non-educational purposes.

SRF scholars – most of whom hold PhDs – are continuing teaching, researching and engaging in on-campus activities during their placements. As well as gaining skills and connections that will in the long term help Yemen, many are continuing to supervise students and teach courses virtually back home, King continued.

“We have Yemeni scholars who are some of the most senior specialists in Yemeni agriculture, for example, or in the archaeology of Yemen. They are renowned experts in those areas.

“We’re partnering with universities all with the idea that they will eventually be able to bring those

back to Yemen. Or if they can’t return, they’ll continue contributing to Yemen from afar.”

When the war comes to an end, the country’s higher education sector will need “a massive infusion of resources and partnerships to rebuild”, including virtual learning opportunities.

“It will be important for the international community to to really devote resources to that,” he said, adding that the “incredible network” of Yemeni scholars and experts in the diaspora could serve as a “technocratic base” when the country rebuilds.

Many involved in the Association of Yemeni Academics and Professionals have proven themselves as talented, resilient, amazing scholar who have also been able to gain skills during their scholarships.

“Some of those Yemenis abroad will go back immediately, some won’t,” he said.

“I call for the international community to increase as much as possible the ability to host and provide space for Yemeni scientists and intellectuals”

For Bahran, the priority now is to “preserve the Yemeni brain and enlarge it in order to be available to help” for when the rebuild begins – be that preservation either in the local region or in education systems in the west.

“I call for the international community to increase as much as possible the ability to host and provide space for Yemeni scientists and intellectuals to exercise their academic freedom and their intellectual abilities,” he told The PIE.

It’s not logistically difficult for scholars and students to escape Yemen, but limited financial means is a barrier for many, he continued.

Learning from other crises

Every crisis is different, but there are takeaways from other experiences. During the war in Iraq for example, IIE supported more than 300 professors, many of whom went back to lead universities after that war.

“But even those who didn’t go home, they still wanted to participate in the rebuilding of their country,” King explained.

The Iraq Distance Learning Initiative saw IIE partner with the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education to identify gaps in expertise to ensure that Iraqis overseas could fill curricular gaps and teach courses or deliver lecture series virtually.

“It was an incredibly successful initiative, and I can imagine something like that for Yemen,” he said.

Photo: pexels

Following the Syrian war, innovation in transcript and document verification leapt forward, such as with refugee qualification passports, but there’s “still a lot of work to be done for universities to be able to make adjustments to these kinds of realities”, King said.

When the Syrian war started, there was not the same recognition from the international community that higher education has to be part of the response.

“Many of the Syrians who were displaced as refugees either in Europe or in the region said they wanted to continue their education. It was like, ‘we need shelter, we need food and water and we need to continue our education’.

“We do see donor agencies, governments, foundations, even individuals, are stepping up, very much so,” he said, adding that there haven’t been so many higher education emergencies happening simultaneously for some time.

“We haven’t even mentioned Sudan in this whole conversation”

“Cameroon, Ethiopia, Venezuela, we haven’t even mentioned Sudan in this whole conversation,” he noted.

IIE is anticipating a third the cases at the next quarterly selection committee to come from Sudan. “The needs are so great,” King added.

Within the Sudanese context, many scholars will likely be supported to undertake fellowships in Egypt.

“Finding ways for the international community and the international higher education community to support those frontline refugee hosting states… is really critical,” he added, such as IIE’s work in South America, where it works with universities in Chile, Colombia, Mexico, to host Venezuelan scholars.

But he acknowledged that higher education institutions have now recognised crises like these as part of their mandates, in addition to the benefit of hosting academics with expertise and unique experiences. Many institutions have built hosting scholars into their budgets and programming.

“Institutions have stepped up,” he said. “I think we now have a healthier and more realistic recognition that any time there’s a war, any time there’s large scale displacement, universities and the global higher education sector have an immediate role to play. Even though that response is still under resourced, there’s been a lot of progress.”

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500 acceptance letters revoked at school in Ontario

Ontario-based Northern College has revoked over 500 acceptance letters it previously sent to international students waiting to study at its partner campus. 

The students involved were due to take up places at Pures College of Technology, in Scarborough, Ontario – the subject of a public-private partnership with Northern College. 

The decision was made after Northern College saw “too many visa applications” had been accepted, leading courses to be oversubscribed. 

“We did not make [the decision] lightly or in haste, and [we are aware] that it is causing much concern and inconvenience for those students and their families,” president and CEO of Northern College Audrey J. Penner told The PIE News in a statement.

“When we learned that the programs at Pures College of Technology had exceeded capacity, we made the difficult decision to revoke admission for 503 students,” she explained. 

Current directives in place in Ontario state that a college’s “total partnership international student enrolment” across all partnership campuses must not exceed 7,500 students. 

Northern College has likely exceeded this number through its partnership with Pures College of Technology, according to Earl Blaney, an agent and immigration lawyer based in Canada.

The total number of study permit applications that were submitted to IRCC in 2021 by Northern College was 5,210 – 3,597 of those were approved. In 2022, 10,544 were made with 5,768 approved. 

“97% of SP applicants headed to Northern College were Indian in 2022. The 2023 data set [is still not available] for 2023 but a safe bet is the numbers will show a further steep intake increase,” Blaney noted in a LinkedIn post discussing the issue. 

“Northern College and their overseas agent network have been dumping study permit applications at IRCC missions like nobody’s business,” he added. 

In a conversation with The PIE, he said that Pures had a particular history of oversubscription – the usual ratio permitted for admitting students through the partnership is 2:1, but on his last revision, they were 9:1. 

“It seems to me Northern College exceeded even that 7,500 figure, which was thousands more than they had even when they were violating the 2:1 ratio,” Blaney said. 

“If that’s what happened, it’s shocking because it seems like the Ministry of Colleges and Universities is very serious about administering that directive now. In the past they’ve published directives and done nothing.

“It’s an encouraging sign, but it’s really bad for the student,” he said. 

One student, who talked to CBC Toronto, said her place on an healthcare administration course at Pures place had been revoked in early August, just a month before she was due to start her studies, despite receiving an acceptance letter in February. 

“The Ministry of Colleges and Universities is very serious about administering this directive”

The student said the move was “heartbreaking” for her, especially considering she had already paid registration fees, quit her day job in healthcare and booked her $2,200 flights from India.

Chris Busch, assistant VP of enrolment management at the University of Windsor, said on LinkedIn that it is a stark warning to institutions about how they enrol students. 

“[It] serves a poignant reminder about the profound impact of flawed international strategic enrolment strategies and the need for constant vigilance and improvement in this critical area,” he said.

Penner argued in her statement that the program wouldn’t be able to move forward with the level of students that were originally subscribed. “A program that is stretched beyond capacity will not provide the quality of educational experience that our students deserve,” she said.

“Over 50% have either selected refunds or were not continuing. Some applicants had either not secured visas, not yet paid their fees or [had] already withdrawn their applications,” she said. 

“For the remaining students, we are working diligently with them to find alternative solutions”

Pures put the blame on its public partner affiliate for the issue, saying Northern College made the decision and that Pures was ready to “accept all international students who received letters of admission”.

The private college had also “scheduled the Fall semester students for study” before the acceptances were revoked. 

“For the remaining students, we are working diligently with them to find alternative solutions.

“[This includes] transferring to another of Northern College’s multiple campuses; deferring their admission; transferring their acceptance to another post-secondary institution; or providing a full or partial refund for any tuition fees already paid,” Penner insisted. 

It was not mentioned by Northern College which post-secondary institutions may be partaking in accepting those students. 

“Northern College is committed to providing a high-quality, post-graduate work permit-eligible education. This has been and remains our top priority,” she added.

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Melbourne event returns with focus on student voice

An upcoming event in Victoria is hoping to celebrate the “remarkable journeys” of international students in the Australian state.

The Future Forte Conference 2023, focusing on equity and inclusion in the state, is aiming to unite global minds and advance gender equity.

“We understand the transformative power of international education and the impact it has on students and the broader society,” said Belle Lim, founder and executive director of Future Forte.

“Through the Future Forte Conference, we aim to create a supportive and empowering environment that not only enhances the student experience but also fosters global connections and encourages students to become ambassadors of change in their communities both in Australia and in our home countries.”

The inaugural event in 2020 also placed female leadership in the spotlight.

Supported by Study Melbourne, the 2023 iteration of the conference will be held in Melbourne on September 9.

Global Victoria CEO, Danni Jarrett, noted that the Future Forte conference will “raise the visibility of Victoria’s talented international student community”.

“International students enrich and enliven our community and we’re committed to the advancement of women and gender diverse students,” she reminded.

Speaking with The PIE, Lim said that international students “are always looking for opportunities to develop professionally and personally”, especially with key skills such as effective communications, problem solving and management of their own wellbeing.

Helping students to gain these skills, helps them to become “more confident in pursuing their goals”, she said.

“Building genuine connections with peers can improve the sense of belonging for international students, while building a professional network can open doors for international students that may otherwise be difficult to access.”

The event this year will allow students to showcase their innovative ideas and experiences in a ‘TED Talk’ style presentation in the FF Spotlight on International Students session.

They will present experiences such as the challenges they have faced, how they overcame them and the rewarding outcomes that they gained, Lim explained.

“International students face a unique set of challenges that need to be considered and addressed”

“The topics will range from mental health to entrepreneurial journey, to recognising the value of their cultural knowledge.

“International students face a unique set of challenges that need to be considered and addressed in the context of the international student experience (instead of a cookie cutter manner).”

Like the last iteration of the event, conference organisers recognise that its “offerings fill a gap in students’ needs that is to discuss and promote gender equity in the context of international students’ experience”.

It has also commenced a consultation process with students from the LGBTIQA+ community and will be rolling out more initiatives in the future, Lim added.

It will also create a “safe and inclusive space for international students to feel seen and heard, as well as communicate their needs and ideas freely”, she said.

“Future Forte places a strong focus on amplifying the lived experience of international students and presenting role models that are representative of our audience. Based on past events’ feedback, participants feel more empowered and connected after attending the conference.”

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Australian unis ‘failing to protect’ international students from sexual assault

More culturally-appropriate support is needed to protect international students from sexual violence at Australian universities and help survivors, a senate inquiry has heard. 

Representatives from the higher education sector and student safety advocates appeared in front of senators responsible for examining Australia’s sexual consent laws. 

They said that universities are not doing enough to provide specific support and protections for international students. 

Sharna Bremner, founder and director of End Rape on Campus Australia, told committee members there is an almost “total absence of prevention and education materials directed at students that are disproportionately experiencing violence on campus”, including international students. 

A 2021 survey found 9% of international students had been sexually harassed in a university context. 

Senators heard there is little culturally-appropriate support available for non-Australian students. 

“A really key concern we see among international student cohorts at the moment is not knowing whether or not the behaviours they’re experiencing are cultural differences or illegal behaviours,” said Bremner. 

“A lot of them are too scared to report to their institution for fear it may impact them or their visa somehow, particularly students whose parents have saved up a lot of money to send them to uni in Australia.” 

“We see the recruitment materials in languages other than English, but it’s very rare that sexual assault support materials are provided in languages other than English,” she added. 

Committee chair senator Nita Green described the testimonies as “profoundly disturbing”.

In the same hearing, Catriona Jackson, CEO of Universities Australia, was grilled about the body’s decision to axe plans to develop sexual assault resources for university students, for which the federal government had allocated AUS $1.5 million. 

Jackson denied claims that some vice-chancellors objected to explicit content in the planned resources.

She instead told senators the initial plan had been axed as “it wasn’t going to have the cut-through that we had hoped it might have”. 

Instead the body has produced a “good practice guide” for practitioners receiving disclosures of sexual assault or harassment. This piece of work was criticised by senators and other witnesses for its similarities to work previously produced by Our Watch, an organisation focused on preventing violence against women.  

“It’s a bit worrying that’s where $1.5 million goes, to basically recreate an old document and give it in a new light as opposed to having anything new or relevant in it to the times we’re living in,” said Bailey Riley, president of the National Union of Students.  

Jackson said Universities Australia’s guide had drawn “very heavily” on expert advice but was “fundamentally different”. 

“They do not care, I believe”

“We have provided a really detailed, very practical, very hands-on guide that builds on the very good work done by Our Watch but is not in any sense identical to it,” she said. 

Riley later told senators, “[Universities] Australia has a complete lack of any will at all to engage with students in this sector and also to actually change anything or bring anything new to consent education or sexual assault or violence on campus. They do not care, I believe.”

In a statement released in August, Universities Australia chair David Lloyd said members had conceded that “much more is required of us collectively”.

“Our members are committed to continuing to run tailored and individual campus-based activities in 2024, similar to initiatives such as the existing ‘Respect at Uni Week’ delivered by Victorian universities,” he added.

“We recognise that one-size-fits-all intervention strategies do not translate to broad benefit in this most difficult of domains.”

He also confirmed that the membership body would revisit and advance a student safety survey, similar to the one carried out in 2021.

In the same hearing, witnesses criticised higher education regulator TEQSA for failing to address complaints about universities’ handling of sexual violence reports.

“Our experiences with TEQSA over several years were so bad that we had to stop recommending that as an option to students, because we found that TEQSA’s processes were so harmful without any outcome that it would be incredibly unethical of our organisation to keep recommending that as an option,” Bremner said.

The higher education sector’s handling of sexual violence was also discussed in the recently released Universities Accord interim report, which described approaches to reducing harassment and violence on campuses as “inadequate”.

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AI: viva the revolution

Since even before 2001: A Space Odyssey’s Hal, we have seen AI as a source of fear, fascination and wild speculation. However, as with many early sci-fi predictions (flying cars and teleportation?), the reality has been both more mundane and more surprising (do I want even MORE cat videos?).

Within ELT, the story has been much the same. Any new technological tool is endlessly debated, embraced and spurned in equal measure. But a major recent innovation threatens to change the face of education, possibly more than any since the development of the world wide web.

ChatGPT has engendered a storm of debate, excitement and panic in the education world: excitement about the possibilities it opens up; panic about the possibility it could topple teachers and promote plagiarism.

Teachers and students (along with half the world) are already using it extensively and imaginatively, books have been published and courses created. But do we really need to fear it? Or should we embrace it as a new friend and colleague?

At Macmillan Education, we are working on harnessing the power of AI to enhance the teaching and learning experience. As Nik Peachey, author of ChatGPT in the Language Classroom, says “AI is going to have a significant impact on the way languages are taught and learned. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing for us depends largely on how willing we are to engage with it and be part of guiding the process”.

Nik will be speaking on this at the AI in ELT workshop, hosted by Macmillan Education in London on September 29.

When I started to write this article, I conducted extensive research. But then I thought, why not ask ChatGPT itself what it has to say on the topic, and test out its potential at the same time? It gave me a lovely, 550-word, 12-point analysis, which succinctly highlighted all the positive ideas I had uncovered myself, and threw in four challenges and considerations for good measure.

However, while fantastically thorough and accurate, it was a bit long-winded for this article (and I felt that I should have at least some input!), so I asked it for a 100-word summary:

ChatGPT has the potential to revolutionize English Language Teaching (ELT) by providing personalized language practice, 24/7 availability, and immediate feedback to learners. It offers writing assistance, exposure to diverse accents, and aids in teacher support. However, it can’t replace human interaction, might contain errors, and risks overreliance. While beneficial for vocabulary expansion and conversational practice, integrating AI into ELT should be balanced with traditional methods to ensure comprehensive language skill development, cultural nuances, and critical thinking.

Not bad, right? So then I decided to try out one of the potential uses for teachers – lesson planning. I asked ChatGPT what topics it thought we should discuss during the Macmillan Education AI in ELT workshop.

It provided a comprehensive breakdown of 15 stages, from introduction to case studies, including cultural and linguistic considerations, ethical and responsible use, evaluating AI tools, pedagogical considerations, and summarised with:

Overall, the workshop should encourage participants to think critically about how AI can enhance language learning while addressing practical considerations, ethical concerns, and the role of educators in this evolving landscape.

I believe that last point is key. The landscape of education is constantly evolving.

Our role as educators is in shaping policy, guiding development and exploring potential, not in trying to deny progress due to existential fear of change. Bill Gates predicted (at the ASU&GSV conference in San Diego this year) that “AI will never replace teachers, but it is going to revolutionise teaching & learning”.

We just need to make sure we are on the right side of that revolution.

About the author: This is a sponsored post by Macmillan Education. Jo Krousso has worked at the chalkface of ELT for over 20 years, as a teacher, trainer, examiner and manager. She is now the Macmillan Education representative for the UK and Ireland. Macmillan Education have a natural interest in the future of ELT and new directions in the industry, and are looking forward to hosting a workshop on AI in ELT, in London on 29th September at Stafford House London, with Nik Peachey, the ELT tech guru.

The post AI: viva the revolution appeared first on The PIE News.

Greece gears up for international education boom

Greece is gearing up for an international education boom, with its universities focused on an internationalisation drive and the inception of new Study in Greece initiatives, according to a key stakeholder.

Christos Michalakelis, the project manager and president of Study in Greece – whose members now consist of all 24 public universities in Greece – spoke with The PIE News about what’s coming next for Greece’s international education sector.

In 2014, the time of Study in Greece’s inception, the ministry of foreign affairs and the ministry of education were looking to provide a source of information for international students looking to study on Greek language programs, due to an influx of interest. “Students were turning up to consulates asking for information,” Michalakelis noted.

These were mostly Cypriot students, due to the countries largely sharing the same language.

Study in Greece’s website, which was founded originally by a volunteer group as an info hub, then began to receive the support of the government departments, Michalakelis explained.

In 2019, a new administration came into power which began to further push the idea of internationalisation in the country’s universities, he added.

Gradually, some masters programs began to be allowed to administer international language-taught programs – over 140 were available in 2021.

“It inspired a tremendous amount of demand,” Michalakelis, who is also a professor in Informatics and Telematics at the Harakopio University of Athens, explained – but the masters’ provisions still weren’t providing enough range to truly internationalise Greece’s institutions.

“Last year, the government changed the constitution, which has allowed for universities to start offering bachelor’s English-taught programs,” he said.

This law change, which happened in July 2022, was a turning point. At the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, for example, its medicine program in English received over 1,200 applications from 45 countries – for just 60 places.

“A masters’ is only around €5,000 a year for a two year course”

“[Greece] now has three foreign language programs in medicine, one in classical studies, and there are more to appear in the near future – other disciplines like economics and maritime studies, computer science and engineering science,” Michalakelis said.

Through that same law, the organisation expanded into a fully fledged internationalisation organisation, with funding and a full-time team instead of the volunteer model.

As part of the new initiatives being pushed, Michalakelis said the US and UK were key factors in their efforts.

“We’re looking at the US for shorter programs, perhaps accredited ones for even two to three weeks, and then for the UK we’re actively looking at joint masters and bachelors between certain British universities and Greek institutions.”

Greece will be looking to fully enter the race for Indian students – something already set in motion through a Cultural and Educational Exchange program launched between the two countries for 2022-26.

“Indians generally want to come for a master’s degree, or a bachelor’s in economics or computer science.

“We have skill shortages sciences especially related to the sciences and computer science, around 8,000 cases per year,” he noted.

“Each country has different needs. Our job is to support all of these kinds of programs and help them come alive,” he added.

International PhDs are also in the pipeline, but testing is still underway for four, five or six year programs.

A meeting with relevant ministries later this year will also discuss the prospect of post-study work rights.

“We are aware of what’s happening in the rest of the world, so our intention is to [expand post-study work rights].

“We want [students] to stay and find a job, not only for their own sake, but also because we have a demographic problem here in Greece ,” Michalakelis explained.

What Michalakelis wants international students around the world to know about primarily, though, is the affordability of a Greek education.

“A medical degree costs only €10,000 per year, which is very low compared to the rest of Europe – a masters’ is only around €5,000 a year for a two year course – and the accommodation is relatively cheap,” he noted.

“We are very optimistic about what is to come.”

The post Greece gears up for international education boom appeared first on The PIE News.

US platform to “simplify” job search process

A company has launched to assist international students in the US to find employment opportunities and “simplify the job search process”.

F1 Hire provides job seekers with company visa sponsorship information, E-verify participation status and the H-1B history of companies in a bid to empower users and enhance their chances of securing relevant job opportunities.

“Our tool is undoubtedly the most comprehensive for international students, as well as for international advisors and career advisors,” stated Andrew Chen, founder and CEO of F1 Hire.

“We recognise the challenges that international talent face in securing internships or jobs in the US. We’re striving to close this gap by offering crucial, real-time information to guide their job search process more effectively.”

The platform offers a browser extension that integrates five major job boards, including LinkedIn, Indeed, HandShake, Glassdoor and Google Jobs.

“We’re striving to close this gap by offering crucial, real-time information”

Recent analysis by the company has indicated that of over half a million STEM job openings in the US job market, only 2.97% clearly stated a willingness to sponsor students and graduates on the CPT/OPT/H-1B programs.

The platform filters out those not offering sponsorship, which it says will “demystify” the obstacle for job seekers.

Its algorithm also analyses and matches users’ resumes with job descriptions providing an “instant skill match”.

In a short time, the product has been a “game changer” for Central Michigan University international students, according to the director of the university’s Career Development Center, Rob Van Dorin.

“[The product is already] making the process much easier and saving students a significant amount of time in finding the right fit for them,” he said. “We are excited to see the growing impact in the time ahead.”

The use of AI to read job descriptions and inform about particular job sponsors “saves the job seeker so much time from reading through each job description only to discover that even though the company sponsors, they won’t be sponsoring for this particular role”, certified career management coach of Washington University in St. Louis, Jennifer Krupp, added.

F1 Hire plans to expand its offerings to Canada, Europe, Australia and the Middle East as its user base grows.

“We believe that our commitment to providing real-time, crucial information for job seekers will make securing a job more straightforward, ” Chen concluded. “And with our planned expansion, we aim to cater to the global job market.”

The post US platform to “simplify” job search process appeared first on The PIE News.

India seeks to simplify int’l student journey with one-stop portal

The application and visa process for international students in India is to be made easier with the government’s new Study in India portal.

The country’s ministry of education, in collaboration with the ministry of home affairs and ministry of external affairs, has launched a centralised digital platform for global students seeking higher education in India.

“The SII Portal, a one-stop platform, will simplify a student’s academic journey in India,” said Dharmendra Pradhan, India’s minister of education.

“Guided by the National Education Policy, the SII Portal reflects our commitment to make India a preferred education destination as well as to blur academic boundaries for shaping a prosperous future.”

Prior to the platform, international students seeking education in India were required to apply separately to institutions but through the new platform, students can choose from 2,650 courses to apply to across 240 higher education institutions, making multiple applications and receiving offers all in one place.

The portal is securely connected with the Indian visa issuing system and will simplify previously complex visa submission procedures. After registering, students are given a unique ID which is mandatory for visa application.

Through the country’s 2020 NEP, prime minister Narendra Modi aims to re-establish India as a global hub of education and this platform is hoped to be a step towards this goal.

On August 3 at parliament house in New Delhi, government officials came together to launch the portal.

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, minister of external affairs, said that the initiative will not just open doors for international students interested in pursuing higher education in the South Asian country, but will also help the country to “establish a strong international footprint of brand India in the education sphere”.

“From an Indian perspective, there is no question that the presence of international students will be to the benefit of domestic ones,” said Jaishankar.

“It will connect them more closely to a globalising world and prepare them better for the global workplace.”

In his speech, Jaishankar spoke from his own experience as a student, stating that having students from other countries studying alongside him created a better understanding of cultures, habits, traditions and thinking.

The portal also gives institutions the opportunity to stay connected with alumni, which is hoped to increase their affinity with respective institutions and study experience in the country.

“When such students go back to their societies of origin, they truly become ambassadors for India,” said Jaishanka.

“The fact is that a more diverse and multicultural environment will stimulate innovation and creativity. It will enable us to both learn of challenges beyond our borders and encourage us to share experiences thereafter.

“New India must be prepared to engage the world”

“New India must be prepared to engage the world, not just more confidently but also more knowledgeably. The expanded presence of international students will be very much in step with our greater salience in world affairs.”

Jaishankar highlighted the attractiveness of India as a study destination for international students, including its importance in times to come.

Pradhan cited the country’s balanced offering between affordability and quality education. It can simultaneously offer international students value-for-money and a transformative education experience, he said.

Diya Dutt, adviser at the Association of Indian Universities, told The PIE that the portal is “a great initiative to highlight the potential of India as an emerging education destination”.

“The website has relevant information that will make it easy for foreign students to plan their study in India,” Dutt noted.

However, she added that the portal should add information about health and safety, which she said are important assuring parameters which international students consider while choosing a study destination.

In a recent article for the Delhi edition of the Education Times, Dutt called for a more targeted approach to international recruitment from major destinations such as the US, if India is to become the key study destination it aims to be.

“[India’s] ability to deliver good quality education at a reasonable cost puts it in a unique position to become a destination country,” said Dutt.

However, she noted that while India enjoys the number two spot after China as a sending nation, the country slips down to rank 60 as a destination in hosting US students.

In her suggestion of measures to be taken, Dutt said that India must invest in creating interest in India among students on US campuses. She proposed increasing its number of sending participants in fellowships such as the Indian Chairs Abroad and Fulbright-Nehru Visiting Chair fellowships.

Such efforts will “enable collaboration with American universities and help in transfer of knowledge in the areas of skills development, training, study abroad programs for American students”.

Dutt also recommended the Indian government to make more scholarships available to attract American students to India and invest more money in exchange programs, as a lever to attract foreign students to India.

“Indian institutions should work out specific plans for recruitment, upgrade institutional infrastructure, develop campus-safety plans and prepare a cadre of counsellors who can handle issues of the health and safety of foreign students,” Dutt added.

Alison Barrett, director India, British Council told The PIE “India offers fantastic opportunities and institutions for young people to study at and the portal is a great initiative”.

“Greater mobility of students, academics and researchers between nations contributes to better quality and more relevant education, research and innovation,” she added.

“I have spent over 20 years living and working in India and have benefitted in so many ways both culturally and professionally. I am very keen for more young Brits to come and experience the modern India I have become so fond of.”

The post India seeks to simplify int’l student journey with one-stop portal appeared first on The PIE News.

Nigerians fleeing Sudan struggle to get seats at home

Hundreds of the 2,500 Nigerian students who fled fighting in Sudan are yet to find places in universities back home three months down the line, over what they say are tedious and complicated requirements for gaining admission in local universities.

The returnees are blaming a lack of academic transcripts from their former institutions among other documents and bureaucracy at home for their continued state of uncertainty despite their desire for local universities to accommodate them.

The need to obtain clearance from their government through Nigeria’s student placement body, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), is complicating the transfer process, they say.

At the beginning of May, the Nigerian governments and local universities announced that they were making plans to admit some of the estimated 5,000 ex-Sudan students, in a move meant to ensure they completed their studies on time.

The Nigerian in Diaspora Commission, the body mandated with handling the affairs of the country’s citizens living abroad, had promised to follow the steps it took during the Ukraine crisis when some of the 4,300 students were absorbed by local universities, further assuring that universities would be ready to accommodate them.

Similar assurances were made by the ministry of foreign affairs, which said it had created a division for the returnees to ensure they got placed without a hitch.

“We cannot get our transcripts from our universities in Sudan right now because of the crisis”

However, students interviewed by local media expressed frustration that even where they had been cleared by relevant government bodies, universities could still not accept them.

“We cannot get our transcripts from our universities in Sudan right now because of the crisis. I am trying my best to see if I can get my documents, especially my results and clearance from the ministry of education and upload them on the JAMB website,” one student told the Punch newspaper.

While the education ministry certified that the evacuated students had come from universities in the war-torn country, Nigerian universities needed to conduct interviews for students to determine their suitability for degree programs.

The sheer number of applicants seeking emergency enrolment into the universities has also been cited as reason for the sluggish process.

The post Nigerians fleeing Sudan struggle to get seats at home appeared first on The PIE News.

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