Global, UK, Hong Kong: Education News

Government ministers are encouraging UK universities to do all they can to enable Syrian students to continue their courses, The Telegraph reports. Business secretary Vince Cable and universities minister David Willetts sent a letter to higher education action group Universities UK. They highlighted initiatives already under way to support those affected by the conflict in Syria, including allowing student to defer fee payments, access to hardship funds and counseling - and appealed for more universities to introduce these measures.

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The University of Hong Kong is appealing for members of the public to donate their bodies to the university after they die, for use in research and teaching, South China Morning Post reports. Currently the university is largely dependent on the unclaimed bodies of homeless people for its medical research and training – but better economic conditions mean there are fewer of these. Chan Lap-ki, of the department of anatomy, says the university needs at least 20 human bodies each year for medical tuition.

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A study of international students at top US universities highlights concerns over whether they really integrate with their US peers, Insider Higher Ed reports. Chris R Glass, a researcher at Old Dominion University, conducted interviews with 40 international students, both undergraduates and postgraduates. He found that while all described close relationships with other international students, only one described a “significant relationship” with a US student – something which seemed to him “a striking omission”.

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New Zealand’s capital city, Wellington, has a target of attracting 1,000 more foreign students by the end of this year, Stuff.co.nz reports. This would bring the total number of international students in the city to about 7,000.

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