9.5 million Chinese students sit for world's largest exam

The two day national entrance exam is regarded as one that could decide the lives of Chinese students in a fiercely competitive society. Over 9.5 million chinese students appear for the annual national college entrance exam, the largest of its kind in the world ! The exam will will last 2 days for students in the provencial areas, and three or four days in Shanghai, Shandong, Guangdong, Hainan, and Jiangsu.

The Ministry of education said that a record 10.1 million students had applied to take the exam and only 5.7 million would be able to enter college. It is not only a fight for the candidates, but also an impact on their families and the whole society as eager parents of single child families accompany their wards to the exam centres.

In Huangshan City, east China's Anhui Province, an aircraft's route was changed, as parents worried the noise could affect their children's listening comprehension in the English test. Prior the exam, authorities conducted checks around many electronic markets, confiscating many smart devices that could help students cheat ! This year marks the 30th anniversary of the restoration of the national college entrance exam or "gaokao" in Chinese. Over the past 3 decades, almost 60 million chinese took part in Gaokao, with 10 million enrolled at universities.

Source: PTI/Beijing

Google to digitize top US libraries

Google has tied up with 12 varisities to digitize their libraries that can be easily accessed. Big Ten conference schools will digitize select collections in each of the universities libraries, up to 10 million volumes as part of Google's Inc. scanning project.

Under the 6 year agreement Google will fund the digitization and each institution will cover the costs of preparing the books. The books will be from each university's distinct collection areas.

The partnership will speed up the digitization process that might have taken hundred of years. It will result in a digital repository that faculty, students and the public can access quickly on Google.  

The agreement covers Google and the 12 schools on the Committee on Institutional Cooperation(CIC), the academic arm of Big Ten Conference. The schools on the committee includes the Big Ten schools affiliated through athletics -  Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, and Wisconcin - plus the University of Chicago.
 

The digitization of the CIC library holdings will provided an unprecedented resource for learners and researchers everywhere. By making their 10 million volumes available online, CIC institutions are allowing ideas and references to become more discoverable  and searchable and this broader access will at the same time, preserve and stabilize the legacy of their collections.

Sources: AP, Genaro Armas, New York

Students in Asia lag behind in tapping education loans compared to students in West ?  

A recent study by an top Industry body Assocham in India, revealed that less than 3% of students in  India, avail of loans against 85% in UK, 77% in the US and 70% in Germany. This is despite several welfare schemes introduced by the government to provide financial assistance. This figure could be reflective of most developing countries in Asia and in fact around the world. This is attributed to 2 factors that is responsible for low numbers:

1. The amount given as loan is too low to be useful

2. The procedure is too slow, long and cumbersome 

US spends nearly $80 billion annually, mostly in the form of aid on higher education, India allocates merely $3.5 million for merit cum means scholarship schemes.

Microsoft launches Innovative Teachers program.

Microsoft has launched an Innovative Teachers program to help teachers  become an active stakeholder in their  profession. This allows to network within a global community interested in education focused on 21st century learning. It also  recognizes exemplary teacher efforts to prepare students to become productive 21st century citizens.

This  program has two primary offerings:

Innovative Teachers Forums - Annual regional events that reward teachers who practice elements of 21st century learning and then incorporate these skills into the student learning environment.

Innovative Teachers Network - A worldwide network of portals—local in implementation but global in reach and scope—that allows educators to share successful methodology and protocols on an international basis