Scottish Universities Urged To Dramatically Lower Entry Grades

Chinese universities open research centres dedicated to President Xi Jinping’s Thought

One of the country’s elite universties, Renmin University of China, opened a research center dedicated to President Xi Jinping’s ideology only a day after thousands of Communist Party delegates voted to have his though included in the official party dogma. Additional 40 universities followed up and opened their own “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in a New Era” centres. This move has been generally seen as a way to impose even tighter ideological control under Communist party, reports the Washington Post.

Ban on 19 universities in Tanzania remains in force

Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU) banned 19 Tanzanian institutions of higher education due to irregularities. They will not be able to admit students in the 2017/18 academic year and will have to wait next admission date to take in new students. “None of the banned institutions has been allowed to take in new students in this academic year. They failed to comply with regulations and will therefore not admit new students in this year,” said executive secretary of TCU, professor Eleuther Mwangeni. Furthermore, none of the institutions can admit more students than TCU allowed them. Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said: “The government wants universities to produce well trained professionals who would be an asset towards the realisation of the country’s dream of industrialising its economy and thus thrusting it into the middle-income status.”

Scottish universities urged to dramatically lower entry grades

Scotland’s top universities have been urged to dramatically lower entry grades for students coming from poorer backgrounds. Some of the elite institutions such as those in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and St Andrews should drop their requirements to five “B” grades for courses such as law, science, medicine, accountancy and mathematics. Currently, benchmark for the most competitive degrees is five “A” grades, and only two can be lowered for bright students coming from poorer backgrounds. This recommendation was made by academics from Durham University and it was commissioned by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), reports Herald Scotland.

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