>Ease visa restrictions for India, China: Australian varsities

>Beleaguered Australian universities have come together to plead for easing of visa restrictions for students from India and China. The two most populous countries in the world provide the vast bulk of international students to Australia. There has been a significant drop in students from India putting many self-funded Australian universities and other higher education providers in deep financial crisis.

Though the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) recently eased the visa norms for India and 37 other countries, a body representing Australian universities want more relaxations to save the third largest export of the country. There has been a call to revamp the Assessment Level system which decides the key requirements like financials and English Language requirements for the international students interested in Australian education.

Currently, students from India and China are classified under Assessment Level 3 and 4. The visa requirements become stringent as the level goes up. “Broadly, the extraordinary burden placed on high quality university students from Assessment Level 3 and 4 countries, particularly in terms of financial proof, is critically prohibitive to the ongoing sustainability of the international education industry,” Universities Australia (UA) said in a submission to the Knight Review of Student Visa Program .

The submission suggests varied Assessment Levels within countries like China and India. The need for selective Assessment Levels has been made as “in India and China if high rates of fraud and non-compliance exist in Punjab and Fujian respectively, then they should attract a much higher assessment level compared to other regions within those large countries”, UA argued in the submission to the review body.

The Universities Australia has blamed “Commonwealth” agencies for not acting in time to prevent fraudulent practices even though “the triple digit growth in 572 visas from Nepal and India (Punjab) was very obvious” in 2009-10. The subclass 572 visas were granted to students enrolled in vocational courses like hairdressing and cookery.

Source: The Economic Times (Online Edition), May 4, 2011

>More takers for GMAT

>The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), an assessment for business and management programmes, is now accepted by more than 5,000 programmes, according to the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), which owns the GMAT. This marks a 31% jump from the 3,800 programmes that used the GMAT score till five years ago. Much of the growth is due to increases in usage by programmes in Asia and Europe.

“The dramatic growth in programmes that rely on the GMAT as a critical part of the admissions process is a strong testament to the validity, reliability and security that have been the hallmarks of the GMAT,” said Dave Wilson, President and Chief Executive Officer, GMAC. “We are meeting this increasing demand by continually expanding our extensive global network of test centres, where candidates can sit for the GMAT nearly any day of the year,” he added.

With GMAT usage going up across the world, there is also a rise in the number of schools seeking GMAC membership and access to its market research and professional development programmes. GMAC recently added to its list of member schools, which includes top institutions such as Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, London Business School, Wharton School, Indian School of Business, INSEAD and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

New developments
With 17 new members since December 2010, the total membership in GMAC stands at 200. More than 75% of the latest members are based outside the US, including six in Asia and Australia. With its test administrator and developer, Pearson VUE and ACT, respectively, GMAC has been innovating with the GMAT and the use of technology.

Among the developments are: New “Integrated Reasoning” section of the GMAT to be introduced in June 2012; the number of GMAT centres has grown 37% in the last five years, from about 400 in 96 countries in 2006 to more than 550 in 110 countries in 2011; and GMAC now has offices in London, New Delhi and Hong Kong, developing specific programmes and initiatives tailored to schools and test takers in those markets.

New members
The 18 member schools admitted since December 2010 include India’s Great Lakes Institute of Management, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, NMIMS University, and S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research.

Source: Hindustan Times, May 4, 2011

>Pearson ups education play in India

>Pearson India is scouting for private schools across the country where it plans to pick up majority stake. It will add these to the existing 19 schools that it has inherited through its controlling share in Bangalore-based education company TutorVista. The 19 schools, which are currently under the Manipal brand, will also be progressively re-branded along with the new ones that Pearson hopes to take over in the due course.

“We are looking at interesting schools in all brackets — budget schools, middle class schools, premium schools, international schools — schools of all categories which suit our fit and we can pick a majority share in,” said Mr. Khozem Merchant, President, Pearson India. The search, he specified, was not restricted to a few states and that the company was exploring options across the country.

“India has a laboratory-like environment for us. Till now we have been providing everything that goes into a school. But here we get the last mile, by having control over the schools. This is something new that has been forced upon us due to the environment and we have responded to it,” said Mr. Merchant.

However, the British education major has not fixed any one model for its engagement with the private schools it intends to buy. Though the company is clear that it would like to “purchase management control” in the schools it chooses “in order to drive them”, its involvement in each could vary from case to case. We have a plethora of services to offer — it could be managing the school or providing content, or training the teachers. India is not a common market; we can tailor our offering every 100 miles and for different socio-economic fits. They are all quite attractive as economic propositions,” he said, emphasising that the options being evaluated are not only in the premium bracket but across the segment.

He cited the example of Kenya, where Pearson is a significant minority investor in a network of 22 schools established by Bridge International Academies, which provides primary schooling for less than $4 per month. The company views the model as one that has the potential to be replicated for low-cost schooling. “I have personally studied how we can provide English language tuition in rural India at Rs. 25 a month.”

For London-based Pearson Plc, the education business brings in 74 per cent of its revenues and 81 per cent of its profits. Though Penguin Books and Financial Times are also high octave brands for the publishing major, in India it is planning its largest play in the education sector.

In the last few years it has invested US$ 157 million in acquisitions and joint ventures in the education sphere to forward its interests.

“Yes, education has taken a lot of our attention and our mind time as that’s the big opportunity and it’s there that we feel we can bring services, expertise, advice and content. We have been in India for 20 years but only in the content business. Now our ambition is to build an education services business…” Mr. Merchant added.

Source: Business Line, May 4, 2011