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    Christian higher education is growing briskly in Sub-Saharan Africa. It exists at the intersection of two of the most dynamic social trends on the continent: the rapid rise of Christian adherence and the volatile growth of higher education. A century ago, only nine million Christians resided in all of Africa, and most were in Egypt’s and Ethiopia’s ancient churches. By 1950, this number had tripled, to about 30 million. By 1970, there were 114 million Christians in Africa. Today there are an estimated 555 million African Christians – Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Pentecostal and African-instituted. African higher education’s growth has also been rapid. In the early 1960s, there were only 41 higher education institutions and 16,500 students in all of Africa. As of 2010, Sub-Saharan Africa enrolled 5.2 million students in 668 higher education institutions, and these enrolments were more than double those in 2000. African universities today are emerging from a turbulent half-century. The immediate postcolonial era brought high hopes with supportive governments and massive international investments. But by the 1980s, African universities were suffering deep financial cuts as falling commodity prices and inflated energy prices crippled national budgets. World Bank and International Monetary Fund advisors pushed debtor nations to reallocate educational spending toward primary and secondary schools. Meanwhile, authoritarian regimes suspected flagship universities of subversion and slashed their budgets. By the 1990s, even the finest African universities were in crisis. To compound these problems, the growth of secondary education drove a relentless demand for tertiary enrolments. Governments mandated their flagship universities to enrol far beyond their carrying capacities. New regional institutions were founded and tertiary technical colleges were granted university status. Nigeria, for example, had founded 86 federal and state universities by 2015. Even with increases in funding, African higher
    6 years ago by @prophe
     
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      Remember when candidate Trump promised to make college affordable for everyone? Yeah, that’s not happening.  Instead, Trump is turning to the notorious corporateers who have been pouring McDiplomas on the nation’s steaming trillion-dollar student debt pyre to shake up higher education. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s controversial pick for a special assistant—for-profit college corporate lawyer Robert Eitel, may be a portent. As counsel for Bridgepoint, the parent company of the now-tainted brands of Ashford University and University of the Rockies, was forced by the Obama administration last year to refund $24 million in tuition and debt costs to students, plus civil damages, after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau found that its heavy marketing scheme for its online programs, and “deceived its students into taking out loans that cost more than advertised.” Bridgepoint is just one player in a sector of for-profit institutions that are known for exploiting millions in federal loans and grants, providing substandard academics and granting worthless diplomas. While many companies were reined in by regulators under Obama, the industry as a whole has survived, and is now poised for revival under Trump. In fact, even those companies penalized for defrauding students have not been held fully accountable over federal student debts; Bridgepoint’s sanction, for example, did not encompass federal loans, even though graduates are typically chained to about $33,000 in taxpayer-subsidized debt. But the for-profit college companies hobbled by financial crisis under Obama might see a major resurrection under Trump’s and DeVos’s deregulatory agenda. One tactic may be for belly-up for-profits to reinvent themselves as nonprofits, in order to skirt future regulations and wriggle out of liability for financial abuses. The Corinthian college chain, for example, following bankruptcy, was placed under the control of a nominal “nonprofit” called Zenith (which was later exposed for having compromising financial entangle
      6 years ago by @prophe
       
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        Punjab Higher Education Minister Syed Raza Ali Gillani has said the role of private sector in promotion of education is equally important. It has been given conducive atmosphere to grow and extend learning opportunities to students. According to a handout, the minister was addressing an intermediate students’ science exhibition of a Gulberg-based private college here on Thursday. Raza Gillani commended the scientific understanding of the students, which they exhibited in the shape of models showing solution to different problems. In his address, he vowed that improving standard of higher education was the key concern of the government; and said that both public and private sectors could improve access to education of students. He reiterated that the Punjab government was committed to improve the standard of higher education, as it was the backbone of the economy, and produced best professionals for different fields. “We live in a knowledge-based society which is driven by information technology,” he added. Punjab Schools Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmed said revolutionary steps had been taken for improving the overall standard of schools education in the Punjab. “No child would be left outside schools as the government is fully committed to ensure hundred percent enrolment in schools by 2018,” he added. Both the ministers also inspected the science exhibition and lauded the students for their scientific intellect.
        6 years ago by @prophe
         
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          Internationally, more students than ever are attending college. Between 2000 and 2014, the number of students in higher education globally more than doubled to 207 million, according to a paper (pdf) published by UNESCO, together with the International Institute for Educational Planning and the Global Education Monitoring Report. As government universities struggle to accommodate the swelling ranks of students, private colleges are burgeoning. The report found that enrolments in private colleges and universities account for 30% of all global enrolments. However, these private for-profit higher education institutions have been heavily criticized in some countries. In the US, a 2012 report found that some private institutions have higher than average tuition rates, recruit aggressively, have low student retention rates, high rates of loan default, and offer little job placement assistance. Reporting by ProPublica found that some private universities also employ deceptive marketing techniques with recruiters making false claims. As for-profit education companies face growing scrutiny and tightening regulation at home, many have looked overseas, particularly to Latin America, for growth. In 2015, over 60% of students in Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Peru were enrolled in private institutions, and over 80% in Chile and Paraguay. “The government has had no choice but to work with the private sector,” Fernando Iunes, global head of investment banking for Brazil’s Itaú BBA, told the New York Times (paywall). “It cannot meet the demand on its own.” Attending a private university is less common in Asia, where private enrollments make up 36% on student enrolments on average. But their popularity is growing in countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, according to the UNESCO report. US firm Laureate Education, which operates 70 institutions in 25 countries with more than 1 million students enrolled, is one company profiting from the global dearth of public universities. Th
          6 years ago by @prophe
           
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