Chinese praise for President’s university vision

Seychelles Nation - 25.03.2009
The head of the Ocean University of China yesterday hailed President James Michel’s vision of launching a university in Seychelles.

University president Dr Wu Dexing said the project will greatly contribute to the country’s economic development and give Seychellois the chance to study here instead of having to go abroad.

Dr Wu was speaking at State House after his delegation called on President Michel and moments after signing a memorandum of understanding with Dr Rolph Payet, chairman of the Seychelles University Foundation.

The signing took place at Maison Queau de Quinssy, attended by members of the university’s foundation committee and witnessed by, among others, principal secretary for foreign affairs Joseph Nourrice.

“What impressed me most is that the launch of the university is the dream of your President,” said Dr Wu, expressing confidence that the university will train good professionals who will contribute to the further development of the country.
“We are also very impressed by the attitude that your President has towards education,” he said.

“Although your country has a limited land area, it has a vast sea area which is very rich in marine resources and natural gases, and maybe oil. Your country is also very rich in marine organisms and plants. All these provide a very good foundation for your country’s economic development.”

Dr Wu said he and President Michel talked about areas of cooperation and his university’s willingness to cooperate in the launch of our university, particularly in the areas of fisheries and oceanography research.

Calling the agreement a milestone which will be very valuable, Dr Payet said it marks the first such cooperation with another university, though similar ones are in the offing.

The Ocean University is renowned for its marine and fisheries sciences and is one of the key comprehensive universities under the direct jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China. It offers courses in science, engineering, fisheries, economics, literature, medical sciences, philosophy and law.

Its main campus is situated on a hill with a view of the sea in a scenic area of Qingdao, a coastal city with a temperate climate, in Shandong province.

First for Global Student Choice

From: PRWeb

Student enquiries, applications, registrations, examinations and graduate numbers were at an all time high in 2008, making the 150th Anniversary year exceptional in history for the University of London External System.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved, including the constituent Colleges of the University of London, in helping to make the External System what it is today – a provider of quality Higher Education that is recognised for innovation and academic excellence worldwide.

(Vocus/PRWEB ) March 24, 2009 -- Student enquiries, applications, registrations, examinations and graduate numbers were at an all time high in 2008, making the 150th Anniversary year exceptional in history for the University of London External System.

Professor Jonathan Kydd, Dean of the University of London External System

Over the past five years, the External System recorded:

-   An 83% increase with 110,00 individual examinations taken in 2008 compared with 60,000 in 2003 across the world, encompassing more than 180 countries and 100 plus study programmes.
-   A 45% increase with 32,000 candidates taking these examinations in 2008, compared with 22,000 in 2003.
-   A 41% increase in student registrations – 43,000 students in 2008 compared to 30,500 in 2003.
-   A 47% increase in applications - 16,000 in 2008 compared with 10,900 in 2003.
-   A 50% increase in awards made to students of the External System, with 6,000 undergraduate and masters degrees conferred in 2008, compared to 4,000 in 2003.
-   A 48% increase with 45,000 active student registrations in 2008, compared with 30,500 in 2003.

The student services departments within the External System played a key role in supporting and sustaining this growth; they did this by providing invaluable information to enable students to make informed choices concerning their study, curriculum and administrative requirements. During the course of 2008, staff handled more than 150,000 enquiries.

Professor Jonathan Kydd, Dean of the External System, said he was delighted with the burgeoning numbers and attributed this success to ‘committed staff that always put the student’s interest first’.

He added: “We are absolutely delighted with the results that have been achieved through the collaborative efforts of our staff, the Lead Colleges that provide academic direction for our study programmes, the local teaching institutions in all corners of the world, but, more importantly our students who recognise the high value of an academic award from the University of London. I think from these results we can say that the External System is truly the first for global student choice.”

Professor Kydd added: “Another contributing factor to this success must have been our 150th Anniversary celebrations last year. The Anniversary paved the way for even greater opportunity to meet with leading figures all over the world as well as our students throughout the course of our celebrations. I have no doubt that in doing so, our public relations activity enabled us to re-affirm our position as a market leader in the delivery of transnational education. This activity also gave us a real opportunity to receive direct feedback from the people that deliver our programmes and their students. From the feedback that we received it is very clear that our qualifications open doors and provide people with opportunities that would otherwise not have been available to them.”

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved, including the constituent Colleges of the University of London, in helping to make the External System what it is today – a provider of quality Higher Education that is recognised for innovation and academic excellence worldwide.”

Notes for Editors

The University of London External System

- The University of London was established in 1836 and is one of the oldest, largest and most diverse universities in the United Kingdom.
- The University’s founding principle is to provide education for all, irrespective of race, creed or political belief.
- In 1858, the University of London was granted its fourth Charter, which paved the way for the establishment of the University of London External System.
- The University of London External System is a unique global network of 45,000 students in 180 countries, on more than 100 study programmes.
- The External System has been instrumental in the formation of British higher education – all English and Welsh universities founded between 1849 and 1949 offered University of London degrees before obtaining Royal Charters to award their own degrees.
- Between 1946-1970, the External System played a significant role in establishing many Commonwealth universities under a unique scheme of ‘special relations’.
- Through the External System higher education was made available to a much wider range of social classes; it pre-empted 20th Century developments in open, flexible and distance learning by more than 100 years.
- Famous former students and alumni of the External System include six Nobel Prize Winners: Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins, Professor Ronald Coase, Wole Soyinka, Derek Walcott, ex-President Nelson Mandela and joint winner Dr Rolph Payet.
- For further information about the External System, please visit: www.londonexternal.ac.uk

New working group to carry out education reform

 Seychelles Nation - 23.03.2009
A new team has been set up to carry out a programme of reforms in the local education system.

The working group is made up of professionals in the educational field as well as personnel from industry, commerce and civil society.

Its task is to work on various educational projects in priority areas to be carried out in 2010.
The team was set up following the report by Dr John Nolan, who had looked at the education and human resources development system and how it could be geared to help achieve the objectives of Strategy 2017.

After receiving Dr Nolan’s report, President James Michel set up the National Education and Training Strategy Committee to review the recommendations it made.

The committee advised on an action plan for reform to bring about a high-quality education and human resource development system that remains responsive to national development needs. This will also enable learners to achieve their potential.
Launching the working group on Friday at the Ministry of Education, Minister Bernard Shamlaye said its main priority is to provide for the diversity of educational needs and national development priorities.

He explained that bringing people from different sectors together to work on the educational programme will help to meet the diverse needs of students and the national economy.

The education reform programme has five priority areas, and for each there are several related themes.
For each priority, a task force has been set up and for each theme there is a working group. The role of the task force is to oversee and guide the work of the groups falling under it, which will carry out the more technical work.

The task forces will report to the Education Reform Oversight Committee (Edroc), which will then report to the President and cabinet of ministers. Minister Shamlaye is Edroc’s chairman, and its other members are Minister Patrick Pillay, Minister Macsuzy Mondon, Mohammed Afif, Dr Rolph Payet and Philippe Wong.

Other priority areas for the programme are to ensure quality education, to improve the quality of teaching, to improve the management of educational institutions and to create responsible and empowered students.

Lankan grads from London University excel via distance learning

 
From Daily Mirror Sri Lanka

By Sunimalee Dias

Contemporary graduates from University of London are well geared now to address issues concerning the global crisis and system changes in the sphere of economics, London University’s Dean of the External System (-its distance learning program) Prof. Jonathan Kydd said. He was in the country to attend the yearly graduation ceremony of the Royal Institute Colombo (RIC).

Sri Lankan companies are currently hiring students graduating with this educational qualification which imparts a world recognized qualification to our local students. Dr. Kydd made these and other valued observations during an interview with the Daily Financial Times. Dr. Kydd pointed out that there was necessity to have an understanding of new markets emerging today (such as complex financial derivates) that did not exist years ago. In this respect the External Program students are made well-equipped to think about such circumstances as they are trained in a stimulating manner to standards laid down and supervised locally at the Royal Institute by London University.

Issues pertaining to contemporary globalization, financial innovation and markets of new products are being analysed and studied by students for their exams in commerce related subjects, one of many fields that are offered by the External Program.

As a parallel, at the London School of Economics (LSE) these challenges are put forward to its students to engage them in actively participating in academic debates and exercises. The External Program offers economic degrees that are the same in substance as those undertaken by LSE degree students in London.

He impressed upon the quality of Sri Lankan students and their performance which was considered well above average internationally, with Sri Lanka standing broadly in the second tier of its market. In part, he commented that our “island mentality”, something shared with students in Singapore, Caribbean and even Hong Kong, make us very amenable to international and open viewpoints in doing academic programs.

The External Program is also a ‘learning program’ in reverse : an important facet of it is that the staff in London listen to student views across the world and make changes in the curriculum and options offered in accordance with the thinking and interests of the audience. Thus a close market reality is established, complemented by ground one on one meetings such as those conducted by Dr. Kydd in Colombo this month.

The Vice Chancellor of the University of London, Sir Graham Davies, himself also attended the local graduation for the second year running, a symbol of the attention paid by the External Program to its students in Sri Lanka.

University of London External System, in existence for 150 years, has more than 43,000 students worldwide and offers more than 100 study programmes. Its student population stretches to more than 180 countries across the globe. Moreover, it enables students to continue to earn a living whilst studying.  Students are able to study at a flexible pace and take their examinations in their home country, without having to come to London, saving sometimes upto 65% of the cost of doing the course of study in the UK..

The university’s global community of former students and alumni include many exceptional people such as six Nobel Prize winners: Sir Frederick Gowland Hopkins – Winner of the Nobel Prize in 1929 for the discovery of what are now known as vitamins; Wole Soyinka – Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986; Professor Ronald Coase - Winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1991; Derek Walcott - Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992, and the foremost West Indian poet and dramatist writing today; Nelson Mandela – Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993; and Rolph Payet - Shared the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) Nobel Peace Prize as an IPCC Lead Author.

Other exceptional alumni who have made their mark on the world stage include: Academics – Asa Briggs, Kwasi Wiredu, Sir Geoffrey Elton; Engineers – Sir Barnes Wallis; Politicians – Dr Luisa Diogo, Gisela Stuart MP; Writers – H.G.Wells, Chinua Achebe, Malcolm Bradbury.

The Royal Institute of Colombo conducts teaching for the BSc and LLB Degrees and Diplomas offered by the University of London and provides the Institute’s own foundation and ancillary courses for higher education in the English Medium. RIC opens up higher education opportunities at a reasonable cost to both Sri Lankan and overseas students in the fields of Accounting, Banking, Business, Economics, Finance, Information Systems, Law, Management, Mathematics and, Sociology.