Rio Tinto talent development programme in Mongolia
Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi mine in the South Gobi desert invested US$1.5 million in education and training programmes during the first half of 2015. To date they have funded the training of nearly 300 teachers and school managers to Australian national standards. In addition, Rio Tinto’s education programmes focus on identifying future leaders. During 2014 and 2015, five Mongolian managers, 19 superintendents and 54 supervisors were promoted into leadership roles within the company. Click here to read the full article.
Tiger mum takes it too far
A Nanjing woman known as Li, has been jailed after beating her foster child for failing to complete his homework. The case went public in April as pictures of the 9-year-old’s injuries were published online. Despite calls for leniency from the child’s biological parents, Li was sentenced to six months in prison. Click here to read the full article.
Education spending continues to rise
Chinese government investment in compulsory education has grown at an annual rate of 19.4 percent over the past decade. Growth in spending will continue with the state committing to rectify disparities between funding for rural and urban areas. Students covered by the compulsory education program will receive free tuition and textbook fees from 2017, and allowances will be paid to families facing financial difficulties, at an estimated cost of 15 billion yuan to central and local governments over the next two years. Click here to read the full article.
St Joseph’s benefit from Capital Grants Programme
St Joseph’s School in Hectorville, Adelaide, has officially opened its new Mackillop building after receiving $1m in federal funding from the Capital Grants Programme. The Hon Christopher Pyne MP attended the opening on behalf of Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham, Minister for Education and Training. This contribution is part of the Commonwealth’s record commitment of $69.5bn to government, independent and Catholic schools over the budget and forward estimates. Click here to read the full article.
Australia China Education and Industry Roundtable
The Australian Embassy Beijing, the ACAA and AustCham Beijing co-hosted a roundtable discussion between Australian and Chinese universities, and business leaders in Beijing. Ricky Niu, the AustCham Beijing Education Working Group Deputy Chair; ACAA Education Committee Member; and Senior Manager, China, for UTS International facilitated the roundtable. Participants included university and business leaders, international school and state government representatives as well as New Colombo Plan scholars. Topics covered included implementing the New Colombo Plan in China, providing internships and career opportunities to develop job-ready skills for Australian students and recently returned alumnus in China. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
Australia China Education and Industry Roundtable, Source: DFAT