HIGHLIGHTS

• As of 10th May, the cumulative coronavirus cases stand at 22.9 mn, with approx. 0.35 mn new cases being reported daily. On the same date, the recovery rate and fatality rate stand at 82.12% and 1.08% respectively. A few states such as Delhi, Maharashtra and Gujarat are witnessing a decline in daily cases. After a transient shortage of the availability of the vaccine, the vaccination drive in India has picked up once again. Out of the total population in India, 2.5% have been fully vaccinated while 9.6% were administered at least one dose.

• Amid rising Covid cases, CBSE will take a final call in the first week of June after reviewing the situation on whether it should postpone or conduct the Class 12 final examination. CBSE has also launched a new app to help students of classes 9-12 cope up with mental stress.

• Two African Universities rank among the top 100 global institutions for contributing towards the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

• New Zealand’s higher education sector to emerge bigger and better by 2030.

ASIA UPDATES: India’s Education Sector still reeling under Covid-19 Impact

The pandemic and associated lockdowns have affected the studies of high school students and contributed to severely raising their anxiety levels. To help students from classes 9 to 12 to cope up with the mental stress, CBSE has launched a new app named CBSE Dost For Life for students. Here, trained counsellors/principals will conduct free live counselling sessions thrice a week.
 
As a major relief to students, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has instructed educational institutions to avoid insisting on full payment of fees from students and provide them with an option to pay the same in 3-4 instalments.
 
Due to the massive surge in Covid cases across the country, India’s Education Ministry has instructed all centrally and state-funded educational institutions not to conduct any offline exams in May. After reviewing the situation in the first week of June, India’s Education Ministry will take a call on the next steps.
 
As the cumulative cases in Nepal cross 403,000, lockdown resumes in the country. With the lockdown, educational institutions once again are battling the wave coming in the way of learning.
 
The Association of Universities of Bangladesh (AUB) has announced that the country’s public universities will reopen for classes on May 23, as decided earlier by the government.
 
To raise the standard of education and fix the gaps in the Philippines’seducational system, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), has constituted a task force of experts to create a policy paper. The group of experts will also raise recommendations on four core areas in education where development is most required: qualification and learning outcomes; curriculum and instructions; competencies of teachers and educational leaders; and institutional and policy reforms.
 
To extend high-quality education across the country, Srilanka’s Education Ministry has launched the National Schools Programme under which 1,169 schools will be upgraded to become national schools over the next 3 years by improving the quality of infrastructure and laboratories as well the employee strength.

AFRICA UPDATES: Covid-19 Pandemic – A Threat or an Opportunity for the African Education Sector?

To increase the overall enrolment ratio in tertiary education in the country from 18.8% currently to 40% by the year 2030, Ghana’s Ministry of Education will emphasize additional focus on expanding science, technology, mathematics, and engineering.
 
South Africa plans to set up 2 new universities in the current year. While the first university proposed to be built in the City of Ekurhuleni will focus on subjects of science and innovation, the second proposed university in Hammanskraal will specialize in education focussed on crime detection.
 
To expand access to education and ensure widespread inclusion in Nigeria, experts like Olubayo Adekanmbi, Founder and Lead Mentor, Data Science Nigeria, and Rudranarayan Sahoo, the UNICEF’s Education Manager for Nigeria have recommended extensive use of technology. Speaking at the April edition of ‘The EdTech Mondays’, Sahoo stated that to increase Nigeria’s global competitiveness a complete overhaul of the education system is necessary and current generation schools must focus on developing creative, problem-solving and critical thinking skills of students.
 
To increase the country’s technological prowess and technical skills of students, Egypt is planning to establish 6 new technological universities across the country. The proposed universities will cater to education in technology applicable for diverse industries including electronics, engineering, chemicals, mining, and metallurgy, etc.
 
According to a survey conducted by KamiLimu, a structured mentorship programme targeted at university students, mentorship programmes is the need of the hour to make Kenyan graduates more employable. The study also revealed that apart from technical education, adequate soft skills are a must for graduates to succeed in their career.
 
At the Phase III meeting of Higher Technical Education in Africa for a Technical and Innovative Workforce held in March, all 6 participating countries like Ethiopia, Gabon, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Tanzania, and Uganda reiterated their commitment to enhancing higher education institutions to improve the professional skills employability and entrepreneurship among the youth.
                                                                                              
As per the third edition of the annual Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, two universities from Africa – South Africa’s University of Johannesburg and Egypt’s Aswan University rank among the top 100 global institutions for contributing towards the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

STUDY DESTINATIONS UPDATE: International Student Travel still remains Affected

New Zealand has said that the country’s higher education will emerge bigger and better by the year 2030. As part of its post-Covid recovery plan for the international education sector, the government had recently set aside 51.6 million New Zealand dollars. 
 
Stakeholders in Australia’s education sector have recommended a ‘vaccination passport’ system for international students. Once approved by the government, international students would be permitted to Australia provided they show proof of vaccination before boarding their flight.
 
The recent survey of 171 German higher education institutions by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) revealed interesting insights. As per the survey, the universities embraced newer digital technologies even as the country grappled with the virus. Also, many institutions bagged new international partnerships to offer learning programmes to international students.
 
The governments of India and the UK have announced a strategic partnership as part of the 2030 Roadmap for India-UK future relations. Under this new initiative, Indian nationals studying in the UK will get additional opportunities through the graduate route to remain in the country to avail skilled work. The UK will also issue short-stay, multiple-entry visas to enhance economic, cultural, and scientific relations.
 

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