State of UK universities | Youth internship programme
Foreign governments have corrupted British universities
London, April 08: Does money from foreign donors come with strings attached? Dangerously so,
according to research last week that claimed foreign governments have corrupted
British universities and threatened their academic impartiality. The
report, A Degree of Influence, from the UK's Centre for Social Cohesion in
London, lists the millions of dollars that leading UK universities have accepted
from donors in the Middle East, Asia and Russia. Robin Simcox, the report's
author, says foreign donors that give enough money get a say in how things are
run. "Edinburgh and Cambridge received £8m ($12m) each from Prince
Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia last year to set up Islamic studies centres,"
he says. "He gets to appoint as many as three or five members of the management
committee." His research is based on analysis of the information on
public record and talking to universities. It focuses on Arabic and Islamic
studies, but compares them with other area studies. "Donations from the Middle
East are by far the largest, but the Confucius institutes have far more
influence for the money they pay," Simcox explains. China has given
around £50,000 to several British universities to set up the Confucius
institutes. "Universities don't get much money from the Chinese government, but
they have to follow teaching standards and a set curriculum, which includes
Tibet and photos of people living in mansions. It's blatant propaganda," Simcox
argues. The report paints an alarming picture of foreign influence in
academic life. But universities refute the criticisms. Peter Agar,
Cambridge University's development director, says nominees have to be approved
by the university. "Donor representatives will always be in a minority, but may
well themselves be academics who can bring an informed external perspective,
adding to the expertise of the internal academic members." The arrangements
protect the university's academic integrity while enabling a particular academic
area to benefit from the input of donor representatives chosen for their
interest and expertise in a particular centre's work, he insists.
Professor Tim Wright, of Sheffield University's Confucius institute,
says it is "complete nonsense" to suggest the Chinese government or the Chinese
Language Council International, which funds it, has any influence over the
university curriculum. "The institute is solely aimed at outreach into the
community and we've not had any pressure at all on how we teach that either," he
says. Universities are increasingly dependent on non-UK government
money, but this influence "isn't a big issue in general in most universities",
Wright says. Diana Warwick, chief executive of the umbrella body Universities
UK, insists that all academic programmes are subjected to rigorous and
independent quality assurance procedures, which ensure openness and high
standards. Even Professor Denis Hayes, the founder of Academics for
Academic Freedom, calls the report an "astonishingly weak and naive attempt to
discredit major foreign funders" operating in British universities. A
spokeswoman for Oxford University insisted donors have "no influence over how
academics carry out their research, what conclusions they reach, the content or
topics of talks they give, or how the university sets its course content and
teaching requirements". The option of anonymity for donors is a standard
practice for fundraising, she says. The Guardian
Seminar on education in UK
Lahore: The Falcon Education & Consultancy Services (Pvt) Ltd
is holding a seminar on "New Student Visa Rules and Scholarship Opportunities in
UK" at a local hotel from 5 pm to 7 pm on Wednesday (today). The seminar will
highlight the problems being faced by the Pakistani students seeking higher
education in the UK, especially in the light of the New Visa Rules launched from
March 31, 2009. The seminar will also highlight scholarship opportunities. The
event will be helpful for those planning to study in UK about the New Point
Based System for Student Visa TIER 4. The News
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Youth Ministry to launch internship programme
Islamabad: Ministry of Youth Affairs has planned to launch the National
Internship Programmes (NIP) soon providing employment opportunities to youth
across the country. An official of the ministry told APP that around 22000
applicants have been verified by NADRA and the ministry is making arrangements
for their allocations accordingly. The verification process would continue
and more candidates would be appointed in different departments after
verification of their degrees, he said. After taking control of NIP, the
ministry has chalked out comprehensive plan to create skilled youth enabling
them to participate in the development of the country. The official said that
a committee would be established for effective implementation of the programme.
This plan of "Economic Empowerment of Youth" by the ministry would help to
harness potential of the young generation in the right direction by imparting
training and offering internships besides allocating more funds, he said. The
ministry is also working to increase coordination among skill development
institutes and run youth programmes effectively. The plan of action of
national youth policy includes measures to address issues faced by youth. It
revolves around creating employment opportunity for the youth and enhancing
national integration, sense of pride, volunteerism and motivation among
them. The ministry has also requested to transfer some other youth-related
projects along with their setup as it will be helpful for better coordination
and implementation. This plan of "Economic Empowerment of Youth" by the
ministry would help to harness potential of the young generation in the right
direction by imparting training and offering internships besides allocating more
funds, he said. The ministry is also working to increase coordination among
skill development institutes and run youth programmes effectively. The plan
of action of national youth policy includes measures to address issues faced by
youth. It revolves around creating employment opportunity for the youth and
enhancing national integration, sense of pride, volunteerism and motivation
among them. The ministry has also requested to transfer some other
youth-related projects along with their setup as it will be helpful for better
coordination and implementation. App
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Teachers ask Owais to do away with ICU
Peshawar: The teachers of Islamia College Peshawar are continuing their
opposition to the establishment of Islamia College University (ICU) and have
demanded of the NWFP governor to do away with the ICU and remake the college a
constituent body of University of Peshawar. A special meeting of the
Teaching Staff Association of the historic Islamia College was held here with
its president Prof Dr Saeed Anwar. Attended by a large number of the teachers of
the college, the meeting adopted several unanimous resolutions. The
first resolution stated that the teaching community of the college unanimously
felt that with the establishment of ICU the status of historic Islamia College
had ended and the future of students had been put at stake. They said
the Islamia College was a great seat of learning having historic importance that
used to impart quality education to students not only from the Frontier province
but also other parts of the province. The teachers said the Islamia
College was no more in existence and post of its principal had also been
abolished as well. They urged the chancellor of the university to review the
decision of the ICU establishment and leave Islamia College as a constituent
institution of the University of Peshawar and its assets should be handed again
to the UoP. Another resolution stated that before the establishment of
ICU, the teachers of Islamia College were regular employees of the University of
Peshawar. They said the Islamia College University Act gave them the right to
choose between ICU and UoP, but the ICU administration was using delaying
tactics in implementation of this decision. The teachers expressed no
confidence in the incumbent administration of the ICU. They said: "We condemn
all the steps of the university administration that had brought the great
Islamia College to the brink of destruction." The teachers added that
they did not want to become part of the process of playing with the future of
the children of the nation.
New education policy likely to be approved
Islamabad: The federal cabinet meeting today (Wednesday) is likely to
approve the national education policy. The sources in the Ministry of
Education said the draft of the education policy which was given final shape
only the last month, is very much on agenda of cabinet's meeting. Prime Minister
Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani would chair the meeting. The draft of the policy
was already lying before the former education minister Ahsan Iqbal and it was
sent to vice chancellors and education experts to get their
opinions. "However, at that time the minister and officials reached a
conclusion that there was a few changes in the wording only and the policy lacks
only the implementation factor," an official of the ministry said. He
said instead of bringing a new policy, it was in principle agreed that the
emphasis should be paid on the implementation factor which is not given proper
attention after a policy is announced in any sector. However, he said a review
of syllabus, the shape of which was distorted during Musharraf tenure, was in
progress. In the policy, it would be proposed that the spending on
education sector would be 5% of GDP, which is currently less than 2% despite
tall claims made by all the governments. The sources said that the new
education policy would envisage inclusive education according to which
handicapped students would also get education in classes along with fully normal
students and they would have equal access to education. Moreover, the
policy would also give a new scheme of studies up to the higher secondary level
besides ensuring free education up to middle classes all over the country. "The
new scheme of studies would be based on scientific lines keeping in view
students' age factor," the sources said. Meanwhile, the people from
different walks of life including educationists and parents have demanded of the
government to include true picture of lives of Muslim heroes like Mahmood
Ghaznavi, Muhammad Bin Qasim in history and chapters of recipients of
Nishan-e-Haider. "If it is not done, our existing and coming generation will
have no clue to their history," they said. They said the government
should undo all the wrong things done with the education sector with particular
reference to syllabus. "The recipients of Nishan-e-Haider are our national
heroes and the young generation have the right to know how they sacrificed their
lives to defend their motherland," they said. The News
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