In today’s talking points, China’s embassy in Canberra hosts 2019 New Colombo Plan Australian students, Chinese Universities are on top of global rankings in technology, Australia and Vietnam strengthen education partnership, and PM Scott Morrison announces Vocational Education Review Scheme
China’s embassy in Canberra hosts 2019 New Colombo Plan Australian students
Last week, 13 Australian students enlisted in the New Colombo Plan, a program aimed to foster greater knowledge and international awareness, attended a reception prepared by the Chinese embassy prior to their departure to China in early 2019.
It is hoped that this initiative among others may manifest further cooperation and friendship between the two nations, with the students playing an ambassador-type role in this process.
It is estimated that over 6,000 Australian scholars and students alike will travel to the Chinese mainland under the Colombo Plan by 2020, representing an unprecedented era of student-exchanges for Sino-Australian relations.
Source: XinHua News
Chinese Universities are on Top of global rankings in Technology
Chinese Universities continue to remain competitive in relation to other leading global tertiary institutions, confirmed by a recent report ranking specifically for Computer Science.
The latest Times Higher Education’s World University Ranking shows that six Chinese Universities, including Tsinghua University, Peking University, Zhejiang University, Nanjing University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and University of Science and Technology of China, are amongst the top 100 Universities in this field. A significant number of Chinese universities also improved in this year’s results.
Apart from Computer Sciences, Chinese Universities also performed well in both Engineering and Science. It appears these improved rankings are the result of China’s continuous academic focus on these particular areas of tertiary education.
Source: Xinhua News
Australia and Vietnam strengthen education partnership
Last week, a conference between the Australian Trade & Investment Commission and the Ho Chi Minh City Dept. of Education yielded great success in reaffirming the educational partnership shared by both nations.
The conference coincided with a recent report finding that 20,000 Vietnamese students currently study in Australia, predominantly in tertiary educational programs but also featuring high-school exchange initiatives.
As the Vietnamese education sector continues to reform in alignment with global education standards, many opportunities can be seen to arise for both nations in terms of collaboration in this sector.
Source: VietnamPlus
PM Scott Morrison announces Vocational Education National Review
Australia will conduct a holistic national review of its vocational education sector, in response to the continuous complaints of trade shortages from several sectors.
The launch of the three-month review was announced at the recent Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s annual dinner. Former New Zealand government minister Steven Joyce, who previously reformed New Zealand’s vocational education system, was appointed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison to lead the review. The review will evaluate whether existing vocational training programs can reduce the current high youth unemployment rate among other issues.
Australian business advocates have complained about the local skill shortages and the heavy reliance on temporary skilled migrants. The vocational education sector is currently worth $12 billion AUD, with 4.2 million students, and if reformed, has exponential potential for increasing productivity.
Source: Sydney Morning Herald