Asia Top Stories
The recent emergence from the United States of OpenAI’s artificial intelligence-assisted ChatGPT writing tool, and the accompanying worldwide buzz over its ability to respond almost like a human to questions, has upended China’s declared bid to emerge as a global AI innovation power during this decade, according to experts.
PHOTO
Asia News
South Korea’s Ministry of Education this month unveiled a promised plan to strengthen regional universities that have been badly affected by the country’s demographic decline and a strong student preference to study in the capital Seoul and other major cities.
PHOTO
PHOTO In the wake of China’s economic downturn and concerns over a decline in college-age student numbers, the education ministry, after years of unbridled expansion, has directed provinces to rein in plans to build new universities and is now pushing a ‘quality over quantity’ line.
PHOTO A new report provides fresh details of the plight of hundreds of students in Iran who have been arrested and are facing extreme sentences, including the death penalty, and highlights the widespread suspension and expulsion from universities of academics deemed sympathetic to student protesters.
Indonesia’s state universities open this month for registration of new students, the first cohort to sit the new national university admission test which steers away from rote learning and is intended to level the playing field for less-advantaged pupils. But not everyone supports it.
In a bid to end academic fraud, driven partly by a ‘publish or perish’ culture, Thailand’s government has called on universities to check sources of all academics’ research papers and has made it mandatory for academics to show they have conducted ‘community-based research’.
Former Jawaharlal Nehru University student Sharjeel Imam and 10 others have been absolved of charges of inciting violence during a protest against India’s contentious Citizenship Amendment Act at Jamia Millia Islamia, a prestigious New Delhi university. The court upheld the students’ rights to dissent.
Asia Commentary
A great deal can be learned from community radio which challenges the dominant knowledge hierarchies by recognising local communities as the bearers of valuable community knowledge who can then become active producers of content rather than remaining passive consumers or receivers of knowledge.
PHOTO
Asia Blog
To boost Chinese students’ employability, universities in Australia and Chinese students need to do more to address cultural misunderstanding and encourage the creation of effective social networks. Students could do with support in applying for visas, and should improve their English and career management skills.
PHOTO
Asia Features
While students delight in writing essays using artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT, hoping to save time and effort, experts in linguistics warn that widespread use of ChatGPT around the world could reduce linguistic as well as stylistic diversity.
PHOTO
PHOTO After a year marked by political upheaval, protest action and economic crisis in Sri Lanka, there is hope that the start of the process to introduce international university branch campuses and private universities in 2023 will help to energise a battered and bruised higher education sector.
PHOTO A poorly performing economy compounded by last year’s devastating floods suggest that Pakistan’s new ruling party will struggle to satisfy the expectations of greater financial support for the country’s higher education sector – support that was actively championed when the party last held office.
SDGs in Asia
The introduction of a carbon footprint score defined by the transparency of a university in its reporting would enable universities to compete with each other not only in respect of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but by increasing the transparency and availability of data.
PHOTO
Sponsored Article
PHOTO A new university ranking system aims to serve as a catalyst for positive transformation in higher education, ensuring that universities create an environment grounded in integrity and sustainability that inspires and supports students and staff in the development of novel solutions to global challenges. Promoted by Globethics.net.
Sponsored Article
PHOTO In the publication of its first progress report on its contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals, the University of Pretoria is navigating new territory at the same time as it is acknowledging its clear stewardship role in protecting the environment and biodiversity. Promoted by the University of Pretoria.
Sponsored Article
PHOTO Water scarcity has long been an issue in countries such as the United Arab Emirates. But the country’s National Water and Energy Center, based at the United Arab Emirates University, is providing solutions for the efficient exploration, development, use, storage and sustainability of the precious resource. Promoted by United Arab Emirates University.