University news home and abroad

Enrolment in Myanmar state-run universities down 70 per cent

SINCE the military coup in early 2021 in Myanmar, student enrolment in state-run universities has gone down by 70 per cent, that is according to a recent survey. Around 1 million students were enrolled at state universities prior to the coup by the Burmese military that deposed the democratically elected government. That number has now fallen to around 300,000. Prior to the coup in the 2019-20 academic year, roughly 910,000 students sat Myanmar’s matriculation exam compared to 160,000 sitting the exam in 2022-23. The decline in enrolment is reported to be due to several factors, including difficulty of access — with hundreds of thousands having been displaced by the coup, whilst students face financial distress under a struggling economy, and issues like prolonged blackouts further complicate matters. Many students have also boycotted the juntarun education system, instead opting for institutions that, like Spring University, have been set up in collaboration with the government-in-exile, the National Unity Government (NUG). This is still a risky path, though, with 30 teachers thought to be affiliated with an NUG-recognised online school having been arrested last year.

Labour abandon plans to scrap tuition fees if elected

RECENTLY, in a BBC Radio 4 interview, Sir Keir Starmer pledged to “move on from the commitment” of tuition fees for students, suggesting that Labour are looking for alternative options for funding. University fees were originally introduced by Tony Blair’s Labour party before they were tripled by the Conserv ative-Liberal Democrat coalition government.

In 2019, the Institute of Fiscal Studies, a think tank, estimated that scrapping tuition fees would cost around £6 billion per university year-group. Tuition fees in England are the high est in the UK so Starmer had promised to abolish fees under the heading of “social justice”. In contrast to this, the Conservative government is in favour of maintaining tuition fees and said they would be frozen at £9,250 for the next two years. The previous tripling of the tuition fees caused mass protests among students so Starmer’s latest promises to stem the costs could be enough to diffuse this social unrest.

Trinity College's library to be renamed over slavery links

BERKELEY Library in Trinity College Dublin is to be renamed due to links between its namesake, the philosopher George Berkeley, and the slave trade. After a two year investigation into its links with slavery, Trinity College has declared the continued used of the Berkeley name to be “inconsistent with the University’s core values” and is working on a new name for the library. Berkeley bought enslaved people, named Philip, Anthony, Edward and Agnes Berkeley, to work on his Rhode Island estate in the eighteenth century, and supported the slave trade throughout his writings. The University stated that they will continue teaching Berkeley's works and "does not deny [his] importance as a writer". This coincides with calls across higher education led by students and acadmics, for universities to reckon with their links to the slave trade.

Jacinda Ardern to join Harvard University as dual fellow

AFTER serving as New Zealand’s prime minister for more than five years, it has been announced Jacinda Ardern will be starting a dual fellowship at the Harvard Kennedy School in the autumn of this year. As part of the Angelopoulos fellowship, Ms Ardern will spend time in residence to “transition from her public service role” and help “students and faculty in building leadership skills.” The second fellowship falls under the Law School and will look at improving “standards and accountability to combat extremist content posted online.” During her time in office, Ms Ardern has had many notable displays of leadership from the response to the Christchurch shootings to the Covid-19 pandemicand Harvard praised her “strong and empathetic leadership”. Looking forward to the fellowship Ardern shared her excitement, stating that “not only will it give me [her] the opportunity to share my [her] experience with others, it will give me [her] a chance to learn.” She added that the importance of being able to reflect is “critical if we are to support the next generation of leaders.”

By Austin Taylor, Gracie Moore, Amy Rushton and Anabel Costa-Ferreira