Ei-iE

U-Multirank, a new university ranking system, was launched last month under the Irish EU Presidency at a conference in Dublin. Proponents say the new system marks a radical departure from the traditional methods of ranking higher education institutions which tend to focus mainly on research performance.

University tuition fees have been eliminated in Germany as the last two remaining states to charge students have change course.

The OECD has released the first two volumes of the Feasibility Study of the Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO). The first report focuses on the development and implementation of the study while the second provides information about data analysis and national experiences.

A number of EI’s higher education and research affiliates are joining forces to foster capacity building initiatives with sister unions in developing countries. The EI consortium is being established to pool resources to better support the strengthening of trade unions in the sector.

At its meeting last October, the EI Executive Board unanimously adopted a new policy statement on tuition fees.

Defending higher education in an age of austerity - a view from the University and College Union (United Kingdom) By Kathy Taylor, President, University and College Union, United Kingdom

There is a popular Ghanaian saying, “All fingers are not equal”. Indeed, some are stronger than others, some are longer than others, and some are efficient than others. At certain times, however, they collaborate to overcome difficult challenges.

In the recent OECD report, Education at Glance 2012, a number of indicators clearly show the critical state of education in Italy. This country invests less than two per cent of its GDP in higher education and research, its graduate numbers are falling, as is the number of its researchers...

EI members firmly committed to defending and promoting the professional, academic, trade union, and human rights of the higher education community. The commitment was made at EI’s 8th Higher Education and Research Conference, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 25-27 September.

Dear colleagues and distinguished guests,

From 25 to 27 September, more than one hundred teachers and trade union leaders from all over the world will meet in Buenos Aires to debate and coordinate action to effectively develop higher education and research, focusing on ensuring high-quality universal public education.

In a joint statement, the members of EI, the Quebec Federation of University Professors of Canada (FQPPU) and the national trade union of higher education of France (SNESUP-FSU), undertook to pool their resources to defend public universities.