We’ve highlighted below some of the most recent developments and occurrences in youth-related news and events. In this week's Friday news we speak about crypto company Ripple giving $50 million to different universities such as Princeton and MIT, staff cuts that dragged New Zealand universities down in world rankings and concerns over India's full online degree programs.
Crypto company is giving $50 million to universities
17 universities around the world, including University College London, MIT, Princeton and the Australian National University will be able to apply for Ripple’s University Blockchain Research Initiative fund. Ripple announced that it will allocate $50 million to finance university research of cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies. Eric van Miltenburg, SVP of Global Operations at Ripple, said: “The University Blockchain Research Initiative is an acknowledgement of the vital importance of the unique role universities will play in advancing our understanding and application of cryptography and blockchain technology. It also speaks to the reality that university graduates will fuel a continually evolving and maturing financial marketplace and workforce.”
Staff cuts dragged New Zealand universities down in world rankings
While the number of foreign students rose up to 38 per cent in the last decade, six biggest New Zealand universities tumbled in the QS rankings this year. What dragged down most NZ universities is the staff/student ratios. Only two smallest universities, Lincoln and Waikalo, have moved up the ranks. QS stated: ”The increase in enrolments – and the decrease in faculty numbers – reported by the country’s universities sees all eight receive a lower score for faculty/student ratio.” Auckland remaind New Zealand’s top-ranked university.
Concerns over India’s full online degree programs
New regulations for online education have been approved by the University Grants Commission. This will ensure that students can earn degrees without acutally attending the college. E-content will replace textbooks, lectures will be delivered via videos and discussions will be held in an online forum. Commission argued that this will help increase the country’s enrolment ratio from 25 to 30 per cent by 2020. New regulations will be applicable from the next academic year. Many online education experts warned that conducting exams, ensuring quality and finding a money to run courses will be challenging.
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