WORLD
By : Arslan Ali
International community mourns slain Pakistani student in US
Members of the international education community have been offering their condolences and describing the murder of 10 victims including a 17-year old exchange student from Pakistan in a Texas school shooting as “ profoundly heartbreaking ”. Sabika Sheikh was studying at Santa Fe High School as part of the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Program when she was among those killed by a gunman on May 18 . According to BBC reports , Sabika ’ s funeral was among the first to be held , at a mosque in suburban Houston , with more than 3,000 members of the Texas Muslim community attending to pay tribute to the student who had described her acceptance on to the exchange program as the best thing that had ever happened to her .
International college students add $ 2.4bn to US
The European Commission has adopted its proposal to double the budget for the Erasmus program in the period 2021-2027 to € 30 billion in a bid to provide mobility opportunities for 12 million people . The proposal intends to allocate € 25.9bn for education and training , € 3.1bn for youth and € 550 million for sport , according to a statement . Beyond supporting learning and mobility for up to 12 million people , three times as many as in the current financing period – the EC proposal highlights the importance of reaching out to people from all social backgrounds .
Offshore branch campuses and in-country delivery will produce the most significant opportunities for providers to access more students , according to Michael Fay , director of the ASEAN Focus Group . But while there are opportunities , further work is needed on qualification recognition , facilities and English language adoption . Fay highlighted the increasing need for ELT within the region , with each of the ten ASEAN member countries having a different native language and inconsistent second language due to colonial influences . Executive director of state-funded think tank Penang Institute , Ooi Kee Beng agreed with Fay ’ s comments , observing that “ English is the language of globalization ”.
International students studying at community colleges in the US contributed $ 2.4billion to the US economy and supported more than 14,000 jobs in the 2016 / 17 academic year , a new analysis by NAFSA found . The analysis revealed that the economic contribution from international students at community colleges was over the $ 100 million mark in five states , Florida , New York , Texas , Washington and California – with the latter almost reaching $ 1bn . As for the jobs supported by these students , NAFSA calculated that for every six international students enrolled in community colleges , one US job is created and supported by their spending in education , accommodation , dining , retail , transportation and health insurance .
EU Commission plans to double Erasmus budget
Ulster University expands Chinese partnership
Ulster University has announced an expansion of its partnership with one of China ’ s top-tier universities in an agreement that will facilitate collaborative research , open new opportunities for students and foster staff exchanges between both institutions . The expansion builds upon an existing 15-year partnership with Dongbei University of Finance and Economics , based in China ’ s Liaoning province . By July 2018 it is expected the partnership will have enabled more than 200 Chinese students to complete part of their degree in Northern Ireland . There will be also new opportunities in the area of joint course development and for students from Ulster University Business School to study in China .
ASEAN international education growth lies in-country
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