The World View

University campuses all over the world remained relatively calm during the first decade of the new century. The lack of student activism prompted comments about the apathy of today’s students compared to the high level of political awareness and commitment of their predecessors in the late 60s and throughout the 70s. By contrast, 2011 saw waves of student protests around the cost of university education in places as diverse as Seoul, London, Berkeley, Bogota and Santiago.

Chile’s Ministry of Education has launched a web portal offering with unprecedented detail employment and earnings data to prospective applicants to higher education. The portal, called “Mi futuro” is a searchable database that lists hundreds of degree programs, professional and technical, from Medicine to Auto Mechanic, displaying for each program of every institution of higher education in the country the following information: drop-out rate, average time to degree, average earnings of the graduates after 4 years of graduation, current tuition fees for the program, and accreditation status of the program.

Tuning as a tool has been developed in Europe following the Bologna Process. So far, tuning projects have been completed in over 60 countries around the world including Europe, Latin America, Russia, and the US. Projects have recently started in Australia, India and China. More than 1,000 universities, ministries, agencies, and other bodies have been involved in such projects. Tuning Africa is part of this larger initiative to help harmonize and reform higher education in the region.

Is reservation fair? Yes! say the pro-reservationists, as that is the only way to redress social inequity. No!, say the anti-reservationists, as it goes against meritocracy since well-qualified candidates are debarred at the expense of less-qualified ones. But, retort the pro-reservationists, it is precisely because lower caste candidates have not had the opportunity to attend the best schools that they need to have reserved seats

Established indexed journals have been inundated by submissions and many journals accept as few as 10%. Universities increasingly demand more publications as conditions for promotion, salary increases, or even job security. As a result, the large majority of submissions must seek alternative publication outlets. After all, being published somewhere is better than not be published at all.

Argentina's president, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, has created an institute comprised of scholars who support her political positions to reexamine the way the nation's history is recorded.

Despite a new bill headed for parliament, the regulatory framework for permitting overseas institutions to operate in India seems as murky as ever. Observers, inside and out of India, will watch with interest the next steps of this seemingly unending an confusing saga.

Small island states, because of their small population and limited employment opportunities, face daunting challenges in setting up a higher education sector of their own. They do need qualified personnel and professionals, but economies of scale handicap them in setting up full-fledged training programmes