In today’s talking points Concerns about possible dealmaking constraints hit Chinese education stocks, Research boosts Australian universities in global Shanghai rankings, Coalition ‘alarmed’ after students with Atars as low as 17.9 accepted into teaching, Academic Ranking of World Universities 2018: Asian universities climb
Concerns about possible dealmaking constraints hit Chinese education stocks
On Friday last week, the Chinese Ministry of Justice released draft legislation on blocking “group based education” from entering mergers and acquisitions. As a result, Chinese education companies that are listed in Hong Kong dropped significantly.
Prior to the release of the draft, the future of Chinese education was foreseen as “rosy”.
The release of this draft and its affect on the market has been described as “spooked.” Clarification on the term “group based education” has been called for, as some parties believe that the draft refers to “listed companies” instead of private education entities.
Source: CNBC
Research boosts Australian universities in global Shanghai rankings
The recently released Academic Ranking of World Universities shows six Australian universities are in the top 100, with scientific research boosting the position of two universities. This is an improvement compared to just three in 2003 when the ratings were first published.
The data comes as the Group of Eight (Go8) universities released a detailing that universities contributed $66.4 billion to the Australian economy in 2016, and that every $1 spent on research was worth over $9.76 to the wider economy.
The rankings show The University of Melbourne continues to lead Australia, taking out 38thplace, with The University of Queensland, ANU, The University of Sydney, Monash University and The University of WA also ranking in the Top 100.
Source: Financial Review
Coalition ‘alarmed’ after students with Atars as low as 17.9 accepted into teaching
The quality of new Australian educators has raised concerns, as students with remarkably low high school test scores being admitted into university teaching degrees. A senate inquiry discovered that one student had been accepted into a teaching course at a Victorian university earlier this year, with an Atar score of 17.9.
“Our kids deserve no less than high-quality teachers, with high-quality skills,” the federal education minister, Simon Birmingham told reporters on Sunday.
The university sector has defended this report, claiming that only 2% of students scored less than 50. With the lowest scores being “extreme outliers”, the chief executive of Universities Australia remarked.
Atar scores are not a comprehensive indication of a student’s capabilities, as there are many external factors that could have impacted these scores. The commonwealth has introduced a numeracy and literacy test to ensure that teaching graduates meet the requirements of the top 30%. But it has been argued that this test should be taken before the commencement of the university degree.
Source: The Guardian
Academic Ranking of World Universities 2018: Asian universities climb
China now has three institutions in top 100 of research-focused ranking.
China’s Zhejiang University claims 67th place while Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University features at 96th place in the ranking, which is based on research prowess and is compiled by Shanghai Ranking Consultancy. Both universities were in the 101-150 band last year.
The ARWU is based on the following indicators: the number of alumni and staff winning Nobel prizes and Fields Medals; the number of highly-cited researchers; the number of articles published in Nature and Science journals; the number of articles indexed in Clarivate Analytics’ Science Citation Index Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index; and per capita performance.
Source: Times Higher Education