Internation news snippets

Protests affect universities in Egypt

EGYPT: Protests by students and lecturers in several universities across Egypt caused classes to be cancelled.

Students and lecturers staged sit-ins outside offices of university presidents and school buildings to protest against the presence of university officials associated to former president Hosni Mubarak, whose government was toppled in February.

Higher Education Minister Ezzat Salama has since asked university administrators to “start a dialogue” with students to diffuse their anger and restore order back to campuses so classes could be resumed.

Japan resorts to research to calm public over nuclear leak

JAPAN: The Japanese government is looking at nuclear research studies to curb public anxiety over the detection of higher-level radioactive contamination at the Fukushima Daiichi plant after the March 11 earthquake.

Professor Shunichi Yamashita, Chairman of the Department of International Health and Radiation Research at the Atomic Bomb Disease Institute at Nagasaki University said threat of radiation exposure was mostly faced by people living within the 20km zone of the damaged nuclear plant.

As a precaution, the government has established 30km around the plant as a risk site.

Microblogging site highlights offensive remark

CHINA: Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) delegate Wang Ping’s remark that rural children should not be encouraged to go to university provoked immediate reaction on China's microblogging site Sina Weibo, similar to Twitter (which is blocked in China).

Sina Weibo, which follows dry political stage-shows such as the NPC and CPPCC annual meetings, has become more popular than the country’s tightly controlled newspapers.

Sina Weibo users pointed out that Wang’s remarks during the annual joint meetings of the National People's Congress and the CPPCC in Beijing were insensitive.

Wang told reporters she did not blame bloggers for taking her words out of context but would watch what she said in future. "People need a channel to speak and discuss things," she said. "I might open a Weibo account myself to communicate better with the public."

India plans changes to attract international students

INDIA: A government committee in India has proposed reforms to enhance the experience of studying in the country, as it looks to attract more international students.

Among the suggestions proposed were online entrance examinations to enable more students to apply, increasing funds to build hostels, classes to improve English proficiency, and mandatory health insurance for self-financed international students.

The committee also suggested changing the process of visa extensions, as the current process requires some students to return home and apply to Indian missions in their respective countries.

UK proposes new visa rules for international students

BRITAIN: British Home Secretary Theresa May proposed changes to visa rules for students from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) as a tough stand on immigration, without sending the message that UK universities were "closed for business".

Her announcement for tougher visa restrictions was balanced with support for universities seeking to recruit international talent.

The main changes include:

• English at an 'upper intermediate' (B2) level required for degree level studies. Currently, a 'lower intermediate' (B1) is required.
• Only postgraduate students at universities and government-sponsored students will be able to bring their dependants.
• Non-EEA students will not be able to spend more than five years doing courses at degree level, with exceptions for longer courses including medicine, architecture and PhD studies.
• Graduates to lose two year rights of seeking employment after graduation. Only graduates offered a skilled job under the general points-based visa system will be able to stay to work.

Source: University World News

Student newspaper cancelled after dispute with principal

UNITED STATES: The Overland High School Journalism program had their newspaper shut down days after a dispute with their principal over its content.

The Colorado Scout was covering the death of a sophomore student who died on January 1 due to a pulmonary embolism after a blood clot traveled to his lungs.

The story featured a statement by the mother saying that his condition came about after he broke his ankle during a wrestling match at the school.

During a prior review of the article, Principal Leon Lundie said it had incorrectly listed the student’s cause of death.

Two days later, the paper obtained a copy of the death certificate, confirming the cause of death was correctly stated in the original article. Lundie then said the article lacked “balance”.

He consequently removed the paper’s teacher adviser and announced that the journalism class would be turned into a non-publishing class.

Sources: HuffPost Education, Student Press Law Center

(By Nurul Ain Jamaluddin)