British Academy holds joint forum on South Asian higher education with British Council and SOAS | The British Academy
In partnership with the British Council and the SOAS South Asia Institute, on 22 January 2015 the British Academy hosted a high-level policy roundtable with a focus on the current state of higher education in South Asia.
The roundtable today brought together a select audience of policy makers and higher education experts from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Iran, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the UK, to examine the urgent challenges facing higher education in the South Asia region and develop recommendations for change.
A region-wide qualifications framework, pan-regional research networks, and a South Asia-UK women’s leadership forum were just some of the ideas that were discussed as a means to harnessing the region’s demographic dividend. There was also new research presented at the forum demonstrating that the demographics of South Asia coupled with its geopolitical and financial limitations suggests that conventional models of higher education delivery and economics cannot meet the scale of the challenges faced by countries in the region.
Stephen Ball FBA, Karl Mannheim Professor of Sociology of Education UCL Institute of Education commented: "as the forms of higher education diversify and the range and type of providers increases then the challenges of regulation and quality assurance for governments become more complex. Current systems of quality management are outdated and no longer fit for purpose".
The event today is the first of a new series of policy roundtables that will bring together policy makers and higher education experts from across South Asia and the UK to examine in depth the issues facing higher education in the South Asian region, with a view to delivering policy recommendations and a plan for change across their countries and regionally.
The summary of the roundtable discussion and the recommendations will be made available on the British Council website after 29 January.
Ten passengers in a commercial bus travelling to Ibadan in Oyo state have been killed in an accident.
Babatunde Akinbiyi, public relations officer (PRO) of the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE), confirmed the incident to NAN on Wednesday.
“The truck with registration number BDG 7I4 XE was coming from Ibadan inward Abeokuta, while the Toyota Litace marked EKY I85 XH was travelling to Ibadan outward Abeokuta,” he said.
“Due to speed and negligence on the part of the truck driver, it had head on collision with the bus, leading to the accident that claimed the lives of all the passengers in the bus.
“Eleven people were involved in the crash; two females and eight males died in the accident, while driver of the truck was the only one injured.”
The TRACE spokesman said that the corpses of the victims had been deposited at the Adeoyo Hospital Morgue in Ibadan, while the injured was receiving treatment in the same hospital.
Matthew Kukah, Catholic bishop of Sokoto diocese, says the amnesty the federal government granted to repentant Boko Haram members shows it is privy to some information.
Speaking during a Channels TV programme on Friday, Kukah said the offer of amnesty shows the insurgent group has not been weakened as the military claimed.
“But I was pretty convinced about what I was saying that for me, if you mention the word amnesty, Nigerians think it simply means shaking hands and telling everybody to go home.
“From the last local government chairman, senator, president, governor; it would be nice to know one single politician who has run for office with what you call ‘hard-earned’ money,” he said.
“Corruption is not something that government fights, government might offer a lead, but it will get you to nowhere unless you have the buy-in of the people.”
Asian shares were mostly mixed during early trading on Wednesday, while the Greenback held steady ahead of the Federal Reserve decision later today which is largely expected to conclude with monetary policy unchanged.With it already being considered a foregone conclusion that US interest rates will be left unchanged in July and no press conference scheduled by Janet Yellen, today’s FOMC meeting [...]
The United Kingdom is set to ban cars that run on diesel and petrol beginning from 2040, posing more threat to the future profitability of oil — Nigeria's major revenue source and economic lifeline.The British government was forced to take the measure following a court order mandating it to produce new plans to tackle air pollution, BBC reports.Michael Gove, the country's [...]
President Muhammadu Buhari says he will return to the country as soon as his doctors advise him to do so.The president has been in the UK, where he is receiving medical treatment, since May 7.On Sunday, leaders of his party – the All Progressives Congress (APC) – paid him a visit in London. Rochas Okorocha, Imo state governor, who was [...]
Crime has no ethnic complexion. But when a group is the preponderant cast of a certain evil, I believe that should be addressed. For those who may want to come at me for any convoluted or bigoted reason, please read my previous article – The Igbo crime culture.I took a two-week break after writing that article. There was a fusillade [...]
Investors who sought fresh insight into the outlook on UK interest rates were left empty-handed on Tuesday after Bank of England’s Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent maintained a safe distance from monetary policy discussions in the speech he gave in Aberdeen.Sellers were swift to exploit this disappointment and to attack the GBPUSD, with prices sliding towards 1.2820 as of writing. Price action suggests [...]
Kayode Sanni, a Nigerian, who led a gang which used the identities of members of parliaments, judges and police officers to steal millions of pounds from taxpayers, has been jailed for more than five years by a UK court.According to a Dailymail report, Sanni received a jail term of five years and three months for his part in the elaborate [...]
Barely 48 hours after 23 Nigerians were deported from Spain, the UK government has sent another 28 packing.The deportees were accused of committing immigration-related offences in the country.They arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMlA), Lagos, around 12:13pm.Joseph Alabi, spokesman of the Lagos airport police command, confirmed the development to NAN.Alabi said the deportees, comprising 21 males and seven [...]
President Muhammadu Buhari has asked Nigerians to stop making reckless statements, according to his media office.Buhari, who is on medical leave in the UK, made this appeal in a message on the occasion of Eid-el-Fitr.While some groups in the south-east are demanding an independent state of Biafra, some in the north have asked the Igbo to leave the region within [...]
British Prime Minister Theresa May risks losing her position to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn following her Conservative Party’s poor performance in the just concluded election.Corbyn has vowed to finish what he started by getting rid of Theresa May within a matter of days.He plans to use the Queen’s Speech as his first opportunity to topple the floundering PM.In an interview [...]
On the solemn morning of June 4, I woke to discomfiting reports of a terror attack on London Bridge. A three-man gang weaponised a van and ploughed through pedestrians, killing seven of them and injuring at least 48 others.A few days ago, a suicide bomber killed 22 persons among whom were children at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. And [...]
Seven Nigerians emerged victorious in the recent parliamentary election held in the United Kingdom. Most of them retained their constituencies, having secured victory in the 2015 general election. We bring you highlights of these citizens who have brought honour to the most populous black nation on earth. CHI ONWURAHPrior to the election, Onwurah, 52, has been the shadow minister (department for business, energy [...]
The British high commission has announced that email inquiries by visa customers applying from outside the UK would attract a fee as from June 1.The high commission made this known in a brief report on changes to UK visas and immigration customer care operations made available by the media officer, Joseph Abuku, in Abuja on Monday.According to the report, the [...]
Chris Uzoh, a Nigerian medical doctor, has been banned from practising in the UK for one year after he was accused of pestering his unnamed patient with love messages.Until his suspension, the doctor worked at the Murdishaw Health Centre in Runcorn.According to NAN, Uzoh was said to have sent a text message to his patient, 30, after he finished an [...]
Built in the late 1800’s, 45 Lindsley’s history started with the steamboat culture of the mighty Cumberland River. Over the years it has been home to a family that made “cure-all ointments” and survived a fire in which it was nearly lost. The walls are rich with stories displayed by the original patina you see on them today: this is the history of Rutledge Hill, the history of Nashville. The VICTORIAN is one of the last remaining homes of that era in the neighborhood. Sharing this historic backdrop with friends, family and colleagues adds character to any event.
Bringing “new” to the historic element of The Cordelle, The GREAT HALL is perfect for seated and standing events. Truss ceilings and a westerly wall of windows and glass doors add to the airy beauty of this hall. The GREAT HALL has been designed to create a flow throughout your event with accessibility to the covered porch, the gardens, the kitchen, restrooms, the LOFT and VICTORIAN. The seamless nature of this room adds to the venue’s unforgettable appeal.
Shaded by a 100-year-old Hackberry tree, our garden brings the serenity of the country to downtown Nashville. The openness of the 4,000 square foot outdoor lawn allows for tented events and gives the flexibility to bring in décor that will personalize your unique occasion. The landscape of the area provides a lush natural backdrop just off the covered porch.
Bridal suite, green room, VIP or staging area, the LOFT is a perfect addition to the venue below. Hand crafted barn doors by local artisan, Holler Designs, make the balcony entry to this area a spectacular place for photos or a grand entrance. The LOFT is complete with a private suite, lounge and dining area, wet bar and separate bathroom.
The Cordelle is located in downtown's historic Rutledge Hill, less than a mile from Nashville's state of the art Music City Center Convention Center.
Clients will have access to the entire property on the day of their event. This will include The Victorian, The Great Hall, The Loft, The Garden and catering kitchen at no additional charge.
Off-site parking is available at an additional fee or street parking for up to 150 guest count is available at no charge.
Process maps are a well recognized device for sharing a common understanding of business processes and enabling ongoing business improvement. Mapping processes effectively, though, is an acquired skill. Learn from an expert as he crystallizes ten key pointers for getting the most out of your process mapping exercise.
I see many organizations, both large and small, continue to communicate fragments of important policies and processes to employees through one-time emails and the like. This could include a new purchase authorization policy or a new data entry procedure. Expecting employees to forage through past emails and other transitory type documents only leads to wasted time and exasperation.
Process clarity is one of the three key foci in effective organizational design, along with people and technology. Yet with the haphazard process management common in many businesses, it is little wonder that employees struggle to do a good job. How an invoice is processed, customer complaint handled or engineering drawing approved in many organizations depends more on who does it and what day of the week it was done on rather than on sound business reasoning. Where process and role clarity is lacking, personal idiosyncrasies and political maneuvering take over.
Moreover, research indicates that less than 20 percent of product defects and service problems are due to non-random factors, such as malicious employees, machine breakdown and poor raw materials. The other 80 percent or more of problems is due to systemic deficiencies with processes. So, although mapping your business processes is relatively simple to do and involves no costly capital expenditure, it pays huge dividends in business efficiency and employee commitment. If you are thinking about mapping your processes, here are ten key pointers to keep in mind.
Employees who do the actual work are in the best position to know the detailed steps in each process. They are also most familiar with the common roadblocks and bottlenecks and the key contacts in the organization to get things done. Involve your employees up front by inviting them to join process-mapping teams. Keep managers and supervisors out of the process-mapping sessions, as they have a tendency to dominate the sessions with their own "expertise".
For each process, clearly identify the start and end. If the team neglects this important step at the start of each mapping session, in the team's enthusiasm, extra activities will quickly creep into the picture until the process becomes unmanageable. Think of one activity that triggers the process, such as an invoice appearing in an in tray. This is the start. Then think of the last activity performed. It may be, for example, posting an item to the General Ledger.
This is where work starts to take on new meaning for employees. The team leader should ask employees why each process is performed and what are the expected results of each process. Not only does this help to focus attention on removing non-value add activities, but it also gives employees a sense of purpose in their working life.
Asking the teams to identify the inputs to the process and the expected outputs will serve to clarify what the process needs before it can begin and what customers of the next process will get before they can begin. For example, agreeing that widget assembly cannot begin until the joining screws are supplied will eliminate a lot of idle work in progress.
Next, each team needs to work out who the suppliers and customers of the process are. This step is critical as it identifies who the team needs to work with collaboratively to maximize business results. If a process does not have a customer, then eliminate it as it has no useful purpose. Every employee working in a process should serve either an internal customer or an external customer or both. Each team should then ask of their customers what it is they want from the process, in terms of quality, turn around time, and so on. For example, the internal customers of the purchasing team may require orders to be fulfilled within two days unless placed on backorder.
Conversely, the team needs to clarify what it is they need of their suppliers, both internal and external, to perform their process effectively and efficiently. A purchasing team may require other departments, for example, to fill in all fields of the Purchase Order prior to submission.
The magic of process maps lay in their seemingly simple visual presentation of complex ideas. One picture can tell a thousand words. Each process map should take up no more than one page, with its definition taking up just one other. If a map takes up more than one page, identify sub-processes within each process and show each sub-process on a separate page. Use clear referencing to link each sub-process with its associated macro process. I have seen process maps that flow on page after page after page. These do little more than confuse employees.
Do not try to document everything that goes on in your organization. Decide on the priority processes and concentrate on these. Processes from which you can gain quick wins are those that interface with external customers and suppliers and those that are currently providing you with your biggest headaches.
The most beautifully documented process will mean naught if there is little commitment from the major actors to follow them. Crunch time will come in those tough times of impending deadlines and snappy stakeholders. I find what works well is getting formal sign-off from the process-mapping team leader, the Process Owner and the managers of the interfacing processes (both supplier and customer). This may seem overkill and you may get some resistance, however, getting formal agreement now will save you much heartache later when people start to come up with excuses as to why the seemingly agreed process does not apply in this or that case.
The most important thing that team leaders can do after the team agrees on the process definition and steps is to write it down. What works well is brainstorming all the process activities first, writing each process step on a Post-it note and then having a team member place the Post-it notes in order on flipchart paper. The next hour or so is then devoted to arguing about the activities and order of steps. Post-it notes can easily be moved around during this debating process. Only when there is full agreement are the lines and arrows drawn in to signify the process flows. Get the process formally drawn up and make sure that they are made easily accessible to all who need them. Fix them to operator machines, post them on the corporate intranet or place them in a loose-leaf binder on each officer's desk. Put them where people do their work and make sure that they are accurate, concise and easily understandable.
Although mapping business processes will not cost you much in capital expenditure, it does require concerted effort. Get the management team to show visible support and commitment to the project. Activities here include holding regular project progress meetings and rewarding the most productive teams. Teams will loose faith and energy quickly if management support is seen as piecemeal or being given grudgingly. Team leaders will need to be able to organize effectively and manage their time, along with possessing the necessary interpersonal and analytical thinking skills. Each team will also need a mix of abilities; people who can think creatively, bond the team and follow through on tasks, to name just a few. Where these skills are lacking, they will need to be learned. Do not skimp on training the teams and their team leaders. This is a very wise commitment, as such teams have proved to be a fertile ground for developing the next line of leaders.
The primary objective of mapping business processes is to form a common understanding from which process improvements can be achieved. If this is the first time that your organization is setting out to map its processes, be ready to receive a bonus. The initial act of defining processes brings new clarity of roles, objectives and activities. For every team that I have worked with, this new shared understanding has uncovered many areas for improvement during the initial mapping process.
Once your teams have completed mapping their key processes, turn them into continuous improvement teams. Not only do the documented maps serve as the agreed baseline for ongoing process improvement, they also make for excellent induction and training resources. Now sit back and watch your business soar.
Harvard has admitted more Latino students to next year’s freshman class than ever before in school history. Of the current high school seniors who received thick envelopes from Harvard, a record 9.8 percent are Latino, up from 8.2 percent last year.
The announcement from Harvard officials yesterday indicates that the composition of the College’s classes is following nationwide demographic trends, but it also demonstrates that Harvard still lags behind the rest of the country in the growth of its Latino population. Individuals of Hispanic origin compose 14.0 percent of the U.S. population, according to Census Bureau data from 2004, the most recent year for which figures are available.
The composition of the Class of 2010 reflects another nationwide demographic trend as well—women now outnumber men among Harvard’s admitted students, just as they do at undergraduate institutions across the country. According to Harvard officials, a record 51.8 percent of admitted students are female, up from 49.5 percent last year.
This year marks just the second time that women composed a majority of Harvard’s admitted class—50.1 percent of students who were accepted to the Class of 2008 were women. Nationwide, more than 56 percent of undergraduates are female.
The percentage of African-Americans in the admitted freshman class remained constant at 10.5 percent. Meanwhile, the percentage of Asian-Americans rose to 17.7 percent, still a full percentage point below the Class of 1998’s mark.
The increased diversity of this year’s admitted class is a result of Harvard’s expanded financial aid program and the admissions office’s outreach efforts targeting students from low-income families, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons ’67 said in an interview yesterday.
“I think it’s pretty clear that the welcoming message from the Harvard Financial Aid Initiative has had a major effect in the way that we and other institutions are perceived,” Fitzsimmons said. The Harvard Financial Aid Initiative, announced in 2004 and broadened yesterday, eliminates parental contributions for families earning less than $60,000 a year and substantially reduces the costs to parents with annual incomes between $60,000 and $80,000.
Fitzsimmons said he projects that 481 of the 2,109 students admitted to the Class of 2010 will qualify for HFAI, but emphasizes that the number is only an estimate.
The admissions office also chose from an applicant pool that was more ethnically diverse than last year. The office said in February that more African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and Native Americans applied for admission this year than in 2005. In addition, a record 51.6 percent of this year's pool was female. Today's announcement indicates that the acceptance rate for females this year was slightly higher than it was for male applicants.
The admissions office also accepted more low-income students than last year, even though the number of low-income applicants to Harvard did not rise. The College received 2,353 fee-waiver requests this year, precisely the same number as it did last year—an indication that the number of freshmen from low-income backgrounds next year would remain roughly the same. The current admit pool, however, is projected to see a 10 percent increase in eligibility for HFAI.
Harvard also took 9 percent fewer early action applicants—a group that tends to be wealthier than the regular applicant pool—to the Class of 2010 this past fall than it did for the Class of 2009.
“We were pretty conservative this year with early admission, in part because we certainly had more than an inkling of the success of the HFAI program,” Fitzsimmons said. “We were pretty sure that there was going to be a pretty diverse regular applicant pool.”
Harvard’s acceptance rate will also rise this spring from the record low of 9.2 percent set last year. This year, 22,753 students applied to the College, and 2,109—or 9.3 percent—have been admitted. That percentage is likely to increase slightly after the College takes in more applicants off the waiting list.
And the number of applicants admitted to the Class of 2010 is greater than the 2,074 applicants who were accepted at this stage in the process last year.
In other words, while slightly fewer students applied for admission to the Class of 2010 than to the Class of 2009, more applicants will open thick envelopes this year than last.
Fitzsimmons said that the admissions office is letting in more students this year because the College expects to have a slightly larger freshman class next fall.
“We have about 25 or 30 more spaces, and there are two reasons for that,” Fitzsimmons said. “One is the great success of the study abroad program. The second is that Apley Court”—a freshman dorm that was closed to first-year students this year because of construction on the nearby Hasty Pudding building—“came back online.”
“This year, we’re shooting for 1,684 new students,” he added, referring to a presentation made by Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 and Deputy Dean of the College Patricia O’Brien at a recent Faculty Council meeting. “In the future, we hope to have a steady state of 1,675.”
Fitzsimmons said that the College’s yield—the percentage of admitted students who choose to enroll here—has hovered around 78 percent in recent years, but he noted that it is impossible to predict precisely how many students will accept Harvard’s offer.
Students have until May 1 to reply to Harvard’s offer of admissions. If 78 percent of the 2,109 admitted students decide to come to Cambridge in the fall, the Class of 2010 would have 1,645 confirmed members, leaving 39 more places for the admissions office before reaching the target size of 1,684.
But if a slightly lower yield leads more open spots in the Class of 2010, "we'd love to take 50 to 100 students off the waiting list," Fitzsimmons said.
Fitzsimmons also said that he doubts that the recent turmoil at the University’s highest ranks—including the resignation of its president and the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences—will affect the College’s yield.
“There were some controversies at this time last year, but there was very little activity last year on our message boards or elsewhere,” he explained. “While there’s been a lot in the newspapers this year, there’s been very little concern coming from the students themselves.”
“What it comes down to is that people make their decisions about college with the long-term perspective in mind,” not based on current events, Fitzsimmons added.
In 2005, after University President Lawrence H. Summers’ comments on women in science aroused a controversy that made headlines worldwide, the College’s yield rose by one percentage point over the previous year to 78.5 percent.
Last spring, the admissions office enlisted more than two dozen female math and science concentrators to call all accepted female students who expressed a strong interest in science on their applications—an effort intended to “make sure we cover every possible base,” Fitzsimmons said at the time.
The admitted members of the Class of 2010’s academic interests and geographic distribution are very similar to the figures for last year. The most marked divergence is that foreign citizens, U.S. dual citizens, and U.S. permanent residents make up 19.2 percent of this year’s admit pool, versus 16.9 percent last year.
Fitzsimmons also said yesterday that the recently uncovered grading errors on the SAT did not influence Harvard’s admissions decisions.
“We looked at the people who had score differences, and there was no effect,” he said. “Scores truly are one factor among many.”
At one minute past midnight this Saturday, envelopes bearing the Harvard admissions office's seal of approval began their journey to
Admission to Harvard College became more competitive than ever this year, as the school accepted a record-low 9.1 percent of