Page 5 - ELG1601 May Issue 436

ELdata
May 2016 Page 5

Top marks for Europe’s new unis

urope dominates the Times Higher
Education (THE) rankings of uni-
Eversities under fifty years old.
Sixty-two per cent of all 150 universi-
ties listed by THE are geographically in Melanie Butler analyses the Times Higher Education rankings for universities less
Europe, compared to 37 in Asia (see bar
chart, Figure 2). However Australasia, than fifty years old and finds that many of the new stars are from the old world
with a population of just 28 million peo-
ple, has twenty ranking new universities,
or one per 1.8 million people, compared in Singapore and one in Hong Kong, as Fig 1: Proportion of world-ranking
to one per eight million people in Europe. you can see in the pie chart on this page new unis by country UK unis in the
Australia, with nineteen ranking uni- (Figure 1). ‘top 150 under 50’
versities, comes in as the second most Three times as many of Europe’s uni-
successful nation, just behind the UK, versities, however, have made it to the Hong
which has 25 – all listed here. top in both the under fifty and in the top Belgium Kong Top 100 (ranked in order)
The worst performers are the 200 overall. France Dundee (University of)
Americas, with just ten ranking new Germany alone has three and Spain South Korea Bath (University of)
universities – five in the US, four in has two, doubling its representation Surrey (University of)
Canada and just one, the State Univer- in the top 200 world rankings. Indeed Europe Stirling (University of)
sity of Campinas in Brazil, in the whole nearly half the twenty European coun- Plymouth University
of Latin America. However, the raw data tries whose have universities in the ‘150 Germany Singapore Loughborough University
must be read with care because some under 50’ have at least one of those in Aston University
figures may be more of a reflection of the top 200 in the world. Only one of Brunel University London
the policy of individual governments in those countries, the UK, is English- UK UK City University London
the last fifty years than of the strength of speaking, although in the Netherlands Heriot-Watt University
the academic infrastructure. English is widely used as an academic Portsmouth (University of)
Both Australia and the UK, for language, even at undergraduate level. Italy Switzerland
example, launched massive univer- The big mainland EU countries, Top 101–150 (ranked alphabetically)
sity building programmes in the 1960s Germany, France, Italy and Spain, are France Luxembourg Spain Bournemouth University
aimed at increasing the number of grad- fighting their way into the rankings and Bradford (University of)
uates in the working population, while using their new universities, rather than Netherlands De Montfort University
the US, which already had a much larger their underperforming traditional aca- Germany Hertfordshire (University of)
percentage of graduates, did not have demic centres, to do so. Only three of Kingston University
a policy of further expansion. The new the sixteen top-ranked new universities Liverpool John Moores University
universities there have tended to be for- are in English-medium higher education Spain Fig 2: Proportion of top Manchester Metropolitan University
profit colleges. systems: Dundee, Hong Kong University 150 new unis by region Middlesex University
Government policy in Asia, by con- of Science and Technology and Nanyang Italy Asia Northumbria University
trast, has largely been to invest more Technological University, Singapore – The Open University
in existing universities to improve their although the University of Maastricht, in Australasia Taiwan Oxford Brookes University
performance rather than push to expand the Netherlands, also teaches most of its others South Korea University of Salford
the sector. This has helped drive more courses in English. Americas Australia Hong Kong Ulster University
Asian universities up the overall world It is perhaps not the rise of Europe but Japan West of England (University of)
university rankings – indeed four of the rise of non-anglophone universities US
Asia’s new universities in the under fifty which is the most significant development Canada New others
Zealand
list are already in the THE top 200 uni- in the THE’s latest ranking of universities Brazil
versities worldwide: two in Korea, one which are under fifty years old. n 742m 955m 28m 4,400m (population)

Taking the next step

Melanie Butler talks to Nile’s Dave Allan about its new
partnership with Macmillan training teachers overseas

T he news that Nile and learning from each other as well.
Macmillan
Our focus is very much on helping
Education
teachers develop the pedagogies
have formed a partnership
is something of a first in Brit- that allow them to take advantage
ish EFL – a materials publisher of the benefits of technology to
and a teacher-training specialist. help their learners. We will con-
I understand the main aim is to tinue to embrace innovation, but
work together on government we will always keep teachers at
contracts overseas. What kind Courtesy Nile the heart of what we do.
of projects are you expecting to Are there any projects
collaborate on and how will the already in the pipeline?
different skills profiles of the NEW PROJECT Dave Allan From the day we signed the
organisations help that? agreement there has been a huge
Yes, it is something of a first of extending the partnership amount of interest in our partner-
and I don’t know why we didn’t come about? ship. Almost immediately we
think of it earlier! It’s a very natu- The overwhelming response started working together on offer-
ral step given that institutions are to win a scholarship place at Nile ing teacher development solutions
more and more interested in dis- this summer as part of the Mac- to ministries and institutions across
cussing the complete package of millan Education Teachers at the the globe. It’s been clear that work-
materials, product training and Heart competition was a clear ing together we are able to offer
teacher professional development sign that this partnership has a more complete package that
from a validated provider, particu- potential, and the approach from schools and institutions are find-
larly with the advent of changing both parties definitely helped us ing really suits their needs. We’re
teaching methodologies and an to cement what we’d probably already working on the second
increasing demand from govern- known for many years – that we phase of our partnership, which is
ments for teachers to have higher share the same ethos, goals and very exciting – but of course I can’t
levels of English. Macmillan Edu- passion for teacher development. reveal all our secrets now.
cation is a world-renowned quality Both Nile and Macmillan Edu- What do you feel are the
producer of learning materials and cation are renowned for blended shared values that will take the
has a reputation for supporting learning and online courses. partnership forward?
teachers, while Nile can offer the How do you see the role of tech- Aside from the fact that we like
whole range of learning opportu- nology in this partnership? each other and working together
nities for teachers to progress with Macmillan Education and has been a great pleasure so far,
their professional development and Nile have always sought to use we really do share common values
guide others in their institution. what technology offers to sup- in our work ethic and our vision
Together we can help ministries, port the teacher. You will see that and views for teachers’ profes-
institutions and individuals to meet continue to run through the part- sional development. We want to
their training and professional nership. Technology, of course, help the teacher of today and pre-
development needs at the highest helps us reach out to teachers pare the teacher of tomorrow – we
levels of quality. far from our home bases here in think that together we can make
I know you have already Britain, allowing us to create a a great impact and reach more
collaborated on the Macmillan global community of teachers – teachers than before to help them
Education teacher scholarship fully engaged in the development and their learners develop to the
competition. How did the idea offered by our team of trainers but benefit of their nations. n