Policy monitor March 2014

Policy monitor March 2014
Adinda van Gaalen & Sjoerd Roodenburg
Expertise Department
Contents
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Nationaal (in Dutch)
Europe (in English)
International (in English)
Publications (in Dutch and English)
Nationaal
De prestatieafspraken zorgen voor meer nadruk op rendementen. Studenten zo snel mogelijk laten
afstuderen wordt beloond. Voor instellingen wordt het daarom interessanter om studenten voor
opleidingen te selecteren. Volgens de Onderwijsraad is de voorspellende waarde van de
selectiecriteria echter gering. Matige scholieren kunnen zich ontpoppen tot zeer goede studenten en
vice versa. Selectie kan nadelig werken voor studenten en leerlingen die nog niet herkend zijn als
talenten. Daardoor zou de toegankelijkheid van het onderwijs in gevaar komen.
Een commissie onder leiding van Rinnooy Kan heeft onderzoek gedaan naar het deeltijdonderwijs in
Nederland. Het aantal nieuwe studenten aan deeltijdopleidingen neemt af, terwijl de behoefte aan
hoogopgeleiden toeneemt. De commissie geeft adviezen om het deeltijdonderwijs flexibeler en
aantrekkelijker te maken en de financiering anders te regelen. De LSVb komt met een advies om
deeltijdonderwijs aantrekkelijker te maken: het nieuwe leren is flexstuderen. De VSNU zegt in een
reactie op het rapport van Rinnooy Kan dat de universiteiten momenteel een toekomstagenda voor
flexibeler hoger onderwijs voor werkenden formuleren.
Terwijl hogescholen hun aandacht richten op onderzoek – getuige het thema van het jaarcongres van
de Vereniging Hogescholen – zijn universiteiten juist bezig met het verbeteren van de positie van hun
onderwijs ten opzichte van het onderzoek. Onlangs vond daarover een congres van de VSNU plaats.
Minister Kamp van Economische Zaken maakte bekend dat er een speciaal visum komt voor
startende innovatieve ondernemers uit het buitenland. Nederland wil buitenlandse talenten aantrekken
die een eigen onderneming starten, omdat zij bijdragen aan onze welvaart en concurrentiepositie.
Innovatieve buitenlandse start-ups kunnen naar verwachting nog dit jaar een start-upvisum aanvragen.
Ministers Bussemaker en Kamp presenteren een ‘brede agenda voor versterking van het
verdienvermogen’. Daarin noemen zij onder meer dat een scheve welvaartsverdeling, met name in
opkomende economieën, kan leiden tot maatschappelijk spanningen in de wereld. Het bedrijfsleven
moet daarin ook zijn verantwoordelijkheid nemen.
De Rijksuniversiteit Groningen en Deusto University in Spanje hebben onlangs de Tuning Academy
opgericht. Tuning is als project al twaalf jaar actief om onderwijs wereldwijd op elkaar af te stemmen
en de erkenning van studieprestaties te vereenvoudigen.
VNO-NCW en MKB-Nederland hebben in een brief aan de minister van Onderwijs laten weten dat de
wo-bachelor niet gezien kan worden als zelfstandige arbeidsmarktkwalificatie. In andere landen
bevatten universitaire bacheloropleidingen praktische elementen waardoor deze afgestudeerden wel
succesvol de arbeidsmarkt betreden.
Het Europees Platform en de Nuffic hebben de intentie om te fuseren per 1 januari 2015. Het
definitieve besluit wordt voor 1 juli genomen.
Agentschap NL en Dienst Regelingen zijn gefuseerd tot de Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland
(RVO.nl).
Europe
Driven by concerns about privatisation, European students and teachers demand that education be
excluded from the EU-US free trade deal. The European Student Union (ESU) said it does not share
the US approach on education, and demands that education – private and public – be excluded
entirely from the negotiating table, not only through a “simple exemption”, which “would not suffice”,
but through a “complete carve-out”, as it was requested for the audio-visual sector.
The Commission is launching a network of providers of MOOCs related to web and apps skills. The
new network aims to map the demand for web-related skills across Europe and to promote the use of
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for capacity building in those fields.
Member of the European Commission for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth
Androulla Vassiliou said in a speech that the European Commission aims to expand the African
Higher Education Harmonisation and Tuning pilot initiative from 60 to 120 African universities, and to
increase the number of disciplines and levels addressed. The Commission also supports the
implementation of the Pan-African Quality Assurance framework and accreditation mechanisms, and
will continue to support the Pan-African University.
According to German member of te European Parliament Doris Pack, the European Union is unable to
realise its ambitions on multilingualism. The European Commission wants every EU citizen to speak
three languages. Investments in language learning have not yet led to the desired results.
The E4 Group (European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), European
Students’ Union (ESU), European University Association (EUA), and European Association of
Institutions in Higher Education (EURASHE)), published a joint proposal for a revised version of the
‘Standards and Guidelines for quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG)’.
Sweden's migration minister wants foreign PhD students to be granted permanent residence after four
years of research, welcome news for highly-skilled international researchers who have lobbied for
reform.
Twenty colleges and research institutes are combining to create Université Paris-Saclay, soon to be
one of France’s largest universities, at a cost of about €6.5 billion ($9 billion). It’s France’s bid to crack
the top of rankings that increasingly dominate international higher education.
The Council for Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs has approved the proposal
by the European Commission regarding the establishment of a Quality Framework for Traineeships.
The proposal aims at smoothening the transition from education to work and lowering (youth)
unemployment.
The Higher Education Funding Council for England’s annual report on the ‘financial health of the
higher education sector’, shows that overseas student numbers across all years of study in English
higher education institutions grew by 1.2 per cent in 2012-13, compared with 4.6 per cent in 2011-12.
Universities fear that the government’s tightening of the visa regime has deterred overseas students
from coming to the UK.
The new UK student fees policy is likely to cost more than the system it replaced. The proportion of
graduates failing to pay back student loans is increasing at such a rate that the Treasury is
approaching the point at which it will get zero financial reward from the government's policy of tripling
tuition fees to £9,000 a year.
Tunisia and the EU formally established a Mobility Partnership. A joint declaration was signed by
Cecilia Malmström, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, Mr Tahar Cherif, Tunisian Ambassador to
Belgium and the European Union, and the Ministers of the ten EU Member States involved in the
Partnership: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and the
United Kingdom.
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International
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by the Chinese and Dutch education authorities,
with the focus on Sino-Dutch education policy dialogue, and student and researcher exchange. The
agreement was revealed by Jet Bussemaker, Netherlands Minister of Education, Culture and Science,
during the promotional Xperience Holland Day at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
Australia has eased the financial requirements for international students applying from 'high risk'
countries like India, China and Pakistan. International students from the so-called high risk countries
would not be assessed according to the stringent Assessment Level 4 and 5 criteria now. The
changes came into effect from March 22.
The Australian government has launched a social media campaign to inform international students
about their visa conditions. The campaign has been rolled out in order to raise awareness in the
international student community that if they were granted a visa by a provider authorised to offer
streamlined visa processing (SVP) then they are only allowed to change courses to another SVP
institution.
North American leaders have issued a joint statement via the White House lending their support to
Mexico’s international education initiative, Proyecta 100,000. Mexico has embarked on an ambitious
strategy to boost the number of students it sends to the USA each year to 100,000 by 2018 and is
hoping that various proposals to ease student exchange can help it achieve its aims.
The Ministry of Education in China has published a list of over 10,000 authorised foreign educational
institutions in a bid to make students more aware of unauthorised overseas universities, as a survey
shows wealthy Chinese parents are continuing to invest in overseas education.
Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda have struck a deal that will mean students moving to study between the
three countries will pay local tuition fees, as part of a move to harmonise education in the East African
Community (EAC). Previously, incoming students paid international student fees priced in US dollars.
Publications
ACA. Portable State Grants and Loans An overview and their contribution to outgoing student mobility
ADBI, OECD, ILO. Labor Migration, Skills & Student Mobility in Asia
Barlow Advisory. Asia 100: Benchmarking university research in Asia and Oceania
British Council. Understanding India: The future of higher education and opportunities for international
cooperation
Bruegel policy brief. The global race for talent: Europe's migration challenge
CAREM. Huisvestingsbehoeften van internationale studenten, een vooronderzoek
CAREM. Trends and Issues in Global Student Mobility: the European and Dutch context
Council of Europe - Sjur Bergan and Carita Blomqvist (Eds). The Lisbon Recognition Convention at
15: making fair recognition a reality. Council of Europe Publishing, February 2014, Pages: 314
CSHE. Macro-environmental mapping of international branch campus activities of universities
worldwide
Erasmus Student Network AISBL. Automatic Recognition of Full Degrees
European Commission. Innovation Union Scoreboard 2014
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HEFCE. Global demand for English higher education: An analysis of international student entry to
English higher education courses
IAU. Internationalization of Higher Education: Growing expectations, fundamental values, IAU 4th
Global Survey
Nuffic. Internationalisering in beeld
Office of the Higher Education Commission Thailand. Report on Higher Education Internationalisation
Policy and Strategy - Thailand-EU Cooperation Facility - Phase II (TEC II) - Policy Dialogue Support
Component.
Spaink, M. Bridging Cultures in International Business: A Study on Characteristics of Intercultural
Competence among International Business Assignees
Bernhard Streitwieser (Ed.). Internationalisation of Higher Education and Global Mobility. Symposium
Books Ltd, February 21, 2014. Pages: 320
Surf. Trendrapport: open en online onderwijs aanjager voor kwaliteit en flexibiliteit
World Economic Forum, Global Agenda Council on Employment. Matching Skills and Labour Market
Needs Building Social Partnerships for Better Skills and Better Jobs
The policy monitor is published monthly by Nuffic’s Expertise Department. The monitor tracks policy
developments in the internationalisation of higher education. Contact: [email protected] or
[email protected].
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