The European Commission will try to lower bureaucratic hurdles for students and researchers visiting from outside the European Union by introducing a new directive, the commission announced in Brussels last week.
“Coming to the E.U. for research or study is far more difficult than it should be,” Cecilia Malmstrom, the European commissioner for home affairs, said in a statement, noting that “mobility benefits the E.U. and our economy through the circulation of knowledge and ideas.”
The new rules would mandate maximum visa-processing periods of 60 days, easier transfers between member countries and access to jobs during the stay.
Every year, about 200,000 students and researchers from abroad temporarily spend time in the European Union.
The directive is aimed at facilitating stays exceeding three months for students, researchers, au pairs and trainees from outside the European bloc. It still needs the approval of both by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. It would take effect in 2016.
Singapore center to focus on region’s business families
Singapore Management University has announced Southeast Asia’s first institute focused on addressing the needs of business families in the region.
The Business Families Institute, a research and education center, will draw on the university’s experience to offer insights on issues like business succession and family ownership.
“Since 2010, S.M.U. had recognized the emergence of Asian business families and discerned that they require specifically contextualized thought leadership and applied knowledge,” Professor Arnoud De Meyer, president of the university, said in a statement.
The institute will introduce its first program on leadership transition in family businesses later this year. The five-day workshop, “Growing the Family Business Through Generational Change and Governance,” will include lectures from faculty members and panel sessions with family business leaders. — CALVIN YANG
British government policies get bad grades from union
The British government’s education overhauls are highly unpopular with teachers, lecturers and support employees, a survey released last week by the country’s third-largest education union showed.
Ninety-one percent of education employees surveyed by the union, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, gave Education Secretary Michael Gove a grade of D or lower, with 45 percent assigning him a U grade, the lowest possible score.
“It’s clear from this survey that the government, and especially Michael Gove, has not been listening to the education professionals that his policies directly affect,” said Mary Bousted, the union’s general secretary, according to a statement.
Advocated by Mr. Gove, the government’s education proposals, which included a failed attempt to replace the traditional British G.C.S.E., or general certificate of secondary education, with the English baccalaureate certificate, have been controversial in Britain.
The government’s Academies Act of 2010 is among the most unpopular education policies of the Conservative-led government, according to the educators. Under the program, failing schools are required to convert to academies, a change that would put the affected institutions under tighter national fiscal control.
A policy that since 2012 allows teachers not qualified by the state to teach in academies ranked as the least popular of the government decisions, with 70 percent of the respondents giving it a U grade. — CHRISTOPHER F. SCHUETZE
Harvard president calls for opportunities for women
Drew Faust, the president of Harvard University, concluded her recent five-day visit to Asia by calling for more educational and employment opportunities for women around the world. She was addressing an audience of more than 500 academics, students and guests at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.
“Any society that leaves out the wide talent pool of females is undermining its effectiveness,” said Ms. Faust, the first woman to serve as Harvard’s president. “The challenge is not only to educate females, but to create opportunities for their skills and talents to help build better and more prosperous societies to improve everyone’s lives as we improve women’s lives.” She was awarded a Distinguished Honorary Ewha Fellowship at the event. — CALVIN YANG
EU Plans to Ease the Way on Visas for Visiting Students
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