Paying heed to the fact that in the future, Massive open online courses (MOOCs) would play a crucial role in students’ decision of applying to colleges, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has decided to use it as an admission test. The institute is starting a pilot project within a master’s programme in supply-chain management where students who perform well in a series of free online courses and a related online exam, offered through MIT’s MOOC project, MITx, can get a chance to join the fulltime on-site master’s course. After completing the free online programme, students can join the course directly from the second semester. This reduces the cost of the master’s programme to half. Students who complete the programme will also be awarded a “micro-master’s” from MIT.
Fundraising driveThe University of Cambridge has launched a £2 billion fundraising drive to compete with its Ivy League rivals such as Yale and Harvard. With an endowment of £5.9 billion already at its disposal, the university is already the wealthiest in the U.K., but dwarfed by the wealth of rival American universities. Prof Leszek Borysiewicz, vice-chancellor of Cambridge, said that the funds would allow the university the space to innovate, free from the constraints of political and economic change. Other universities in the U.K. have also been working hard to raise money to secure themselves as the government’s spending review next month looms on the horizon.
Niqab banCairo University, one of Egypt’s oldest institutes of higher learning, has banned women lecturers and teaching assistants from wearing niqab – a full faced veil. According to the university, the move is aimed at improving communication between lecturers and students. Gaber Nassar, president of Cairo University, said that students have a right to see the teacher’s face so that there would be direct communication between them and refuted claims that the ban is unlawful. He said that the rule applies only when teachers are inside lecture halls. The first-of-its-kind ban at Egypt’s 42 public and private universities has sparked controversy among academics with many labelling it a violation of human rights and condemning it as discriminatory.
