Malaysia, Russia, South Korea: Education News

The TopUniversities.com guide to the latest higher education news from around the world, on 18 March 2013.

Malaysia: New agency to lead ‘global education hub’ aspirations

Malaysia’s target of having 200,000 international students by 2020 is to be spearheaded by a new organization, Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS). The agency will promote Malaysian higher education worldwide, and also focus on making the student visa application process more efficient, Borneo Post reports.

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Russia: Universities to be assessed on graduate unemployment rates

As of this year, Russia’s Ministry of Education will start assessing universities based on graduate unemployment rates, Russia Beyond the Headlines reports. The ministry plans to use data collected from job centers, to identify which universities have the most out-of-work graduates. Critics have suggested this approach will be too narrow, giving a distorted picture and failing to take account of factors such as salary level.

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South Korea: University of Utah confirms branch campus plan

The University of Utah, US, has confirmed plans to open its first international branch campus, in South Korea. The campus will be part of the Songdo Global University project, a US$350 million site which will also be home to branches of the State University of New York, George Mason University and Ghent University. Utah plans to recruit students from the local area, as well as providing opportunities for students at its main campus to spend time studying abroad in South Korea, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.

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Egypt: Political parties banned from activity on university campuses

Egypt’s Supreme Council of Universities has announced a ban on partisan activities on campus, Daily News Egypt reports. While political debates and lectures will still be allowed, individual political parties will not be allowed to campaign within universities.

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UK: National final of international Chinese proficiency contest

University students from across the UK gathered in London this weekend for the national final of the Chinese Bridge contest – a competition which tests Chinese language proficiency and knowledge of Chinese culture. The Grand Prize went to SOAS student Anna Brunner, and First Prize to the University of Edinburgh’s Meghan Ghent, CRI English reports. Since 2002, more than 100,000 university students from over 70 countries have participated in the competition. The international finals will be held in China this summer.

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