11 May 2012

The Group of Eight (Go8) universities have welcomed the Coalition’s announcement that it aims to revive the teaching of Languages Other Than English (LOTE) in Australian schools.

Group of Eight executive director, Michael Gallagher, said graduating from school and university with an ability to speak another language is becoming imperative. Graduates with an international outlook and global connections and appreciation of cultural diversity are also important for Australia’s economy.

“Go8 universities already demonstrate a strong commitment to LOTE. All 35 of the languages available at university level in Australia are taught in Go8 member universities.

“Go8 universities do the heavy lifting when it comes to languages education at university level, but have long advocated the need for the expansion of incentives to encourage the completion of language studies in school.

“However, despite many positive efforts from committed teachers and language experts, the percentage of Year 12 students graduating with a second language has fallen from 40 per cent in the 1960s to as low as 6 per cent in some states in Australia today.

“On this score we are at the very bottom of the OECD rankings. The Go8 believes we must do better if Australia is to remain economically and educationally competitive with other developed countries around the world.

“The Go8 therefore welcomes the Coalition’s commitment to ensure that at least 40 per cent of Year 12 students are taking a Language Other Than English within a decade.

“The Go8 looks forward to seeing the funding detail behind this policy and would welcome the opportunity to help identify the range of educational and policy issues involved with ensuring its successful implementation,” Mr Gallagher concluded.

The Go8 universities offer a range of incentives to students to study languages at school and to continue on to university level. These incentives are outlined in the Go8’s LOTE incentives scheme document available at:

http://www.go8.edu.au/university-staff/agreements/go8-lote-incentive-schemes

9 May 2012

The Group of Eight commends the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research, Senator the Hon Chris Evans, for his efforts to prevent Budget cuts in higher education and research.  However two key problems remain – inadequate funding per student and a deep hole in funding for research infrastructure.

“In a Budget environment where other portfolios had to make savings, the Minister has maintained funding commitments to Australia’s universities” said Mike Gallagher, Executive Director of the Group of Eight.

“We commend the Minister’s success in protecting higher education from arbitrary cuts.

“The Budget confirmed funding for the demand-driven system, indexation and research block grants.  There is some new funding to support low SES and under-prepared students.

“Universities need extra resources to support less prepared students to complete their degrees.The extra funding is a small first step in the right direction.

“Despite the protection of funding in this year’s Budget, universities will face some serious financial challenges in the next few years.

“Funding per student is too low and remains under threat due to growing student numbers.  

“The Government has not responded to the Base Funding Review that it commissioned.

“Funding for major research infrastructure under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) has terminated and has not been replaced.  Meeting both of these challenges will be impossible without changes to financing policy.

Media contact:
Kerrie Thornton: Ph: 02 6239 5488

13 March 2012

A delegation of Australian academic leaders is travelling to South America this week to strengthen links with a region that is fast becoming an important education partner for Australia.

The Group of Eight (Go8) delegation will visit Chile and Brazil for meetings with university leaders and education officials in Santiago, Brasilia, Belo Horizonte and Sao Paulo.

Dr Michael Spence, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney and leader of the delegation, said: “Australia’s links with South America have flourished in the last decade and we are keen to explore new areas of cooperation and engagement.

“We are interested in building long-term relationships, and it is important for us to focus on partnerships that bring mutual benefits and broaden our research base.”

Many Go8 universities already have existing links with the region’s top research-intensive universities such as the University of Sao Paulo, the University of Chile and the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.

From 2004 to 2009 the number of agreements between Australian and South American universities almost trebled, from 80 to 230. During the same period the number of South American students across all sectors in Australia grew from 7000 to more than 30000.

In Chile the delegates will meet representatives from CONICYT, the National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research, and members of the Chilean university rectors’ group, CRUCH.

In Brazil the primary focus of the visit is a meeting with the Ministry of Education to follow up on the Science without Borders program recently announced by President Dilma Roussef. This will invest $2 billion in scholarships to send 100000 Brazilian students to the world’s best universities. The program aims to increase Brazil’s capacity in the knowledge economy, scientific production and technological innovation.

Michael Gallagher, executive director of the Go8, said: “There is considerable interest across South America in partnering with Australian universities in double degrees, student exchange and research collaborations.

“Our leading universities have an excellent reputation in the region, but there is still much work to be done in the area of qualifications recognition which can be very complex in South America.”

Delegation members:

Dr Michael Spence, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, The University of Sydney

Mr Michael Gallagher, Executive Director, The Group of Eight

Professor Bruce Robinson, Dean of Medicine, The University of Sydney

Ms Sandra Meiras, Director, International Services, The University of Sydney

Dr Eugene Sebastian, Director, Strategy and Planning, Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Global Engagement), Monash University

Professor Zlatko Skrbis, Dean of Graduate Studies, The University of Queensland

Ms Suzanne Hancock, Manager, International Scholarships, The University of Queensland

Mr Maximiliano Jarpa, University representative in Chile, The University of Adelaide

Professor David Beckett, Associate Dean, School of Graduate Research, The University of Melbourne

Professor John Hearn, DVC International, The University of Sydney (Brazil only)

Professor Rod Chaplin, Associate Dean International, The University of New South Wales (Chile only)

Ms Carla Gonzalez Zlatar, Business Development and Project Coordination, The University of Queensland (Chile only)

Schedule:

15 – 17 March, Santiago, Chile

19 March, Brasilia, Brazil

20 March, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

21 March, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Media contacts:

Australia: Kerrie Thornton: Kerrie.thornton@go8.edu.au

Chile: Sofia Pereira: sofia.pereira@austrade.gov.au

Brazil: Patricia Monteiro: patricia.monteiro@austrade.gov.au