Move to educate students on voting and elections


The Election Commission is planning to educate students, presumably those in Form 5 and Form 6, on elections. It seems that the goal is to impress upon them to register as voters when they reach legal franchise age.


   The commission is seemingly alarmed at the large number of eligible voters -- almost three million -- who have not registered for voting in the next general election which is tipped to be held in June during the school holidays.


   Do you think students will be interested in the campaign? While they are still studying, any political mumbo-jumbo will surely turn them off. Voting or election does not click with them; it will bore them.


    If the commission goes ahead with its plan, it will be a waste of taxpayers' money. Instead it should allocate funds to practical ways of making eligible voters register. For instance, why not set up registration booths at shopping complexes and busy commercial locations? It can also send mobile vans to strategic places in villages, townships, suburban areas and cities.


    The commission has kept telling the public that a large number of eligible voters has failed to register. Is it doing something pragmatic about it? Does it come up with a list of post offices with the computerised system for voters' registration?


    Any forward-thinking commission will promptly be targeting voters who are qualified to cast votes at this moment not youths who will be eligible one day. It appears that it does not have clear directions at all and that it is getting their priorities wrong.


   It's time that it put on its thinking cap.

Where you can find foreign students

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Colleges and universities across the globe have set their sights on drawing foreign students. All are striving to get a slice of the pie – US$2.5 trillion, the value of the global education market. Private spending on higher education amounts to US$400 billion.

   Students pursuing tertiary education overseas exceed 3.4 million. Out of every 10 tertiary students studying abroad, four are Asians, three Europeans and one African. Eight out of 10 Europeans students choose to study in Europe

   The biggest draw is the US, home to more than 723,000 overseas students. Nearly 63% of foreign students in the US are from Asia. Affluent and qualified students seek places in top institutions such as Harvard, Stanford and Yale.

   In recent years, especially after 9/11, a growing number of foreign students have chosen Asian destinations for further studies. Inexpensive tuition and course fees, security, wide choice of diploma and degree courses, presence of foreign university campuses and lower living costs are some of the factors that appeal to foreign students. 

   Another trend is that more and more women are enrolling in institutions of higher learning. In fact, 46% of all foreign students abroad are women

   Where do foreign students go? The charts below indicate their whereabouts.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN THE U.S.
TOTAL	MAINLY FROM	INTAKE
670,000 including major markets:	China	158,558
• Germany • UK • Brazil • Thailand	India	103,895
• Hong Kong •France • Nigeria	South Korea	73,351
• Indonesia • Colombia • Iran	Canada	27,546
• Venezuela • Pakistan • Kenya	Taiwan	24,818
	Saudi Arabia	22,704
	Japan	21,290
	Vietnam	14,888
	Mexico	13,713
	Turkey	12,184
	Nepal	10,301
	Malaysia	6,735

IN AUSTRALIA
TOTAL	MAINLY FROM	INTAKE
469,619; 227,230 in universities,	China	126,313
including major markets:	India	68,758
•Indonesia • Singapore • Hong Kong	South Korea	25,909
• Japan • South Korea • New Zealand	Malaysia	21,451
• US •Thailand	Vietnam	18,920

IN THE UK
TOTAL	MAINLY FROM	INTAKE
428,200 including major markets:	China	23,049
• Pakistan • Spain • Bulgaria	Malaysia	9,859
• Singapore • Lithuania  • Saudi Arabia	France	7,699
• Italy • Norway • Sweden	Hong Kong	7,370
• Romania • Canada • Sri Lanka	Germany	7,087
• South Korea	Ireland	6,490
	Poland	5,323
	India	5,322
	Nigeria	4,757
	Greece	4,657
	Cyprus	4,267
	US	3,965

	Mongolia	1,060

IN GERMANY
TOTAL	MAINLY FROM	INTAKE
246,000 including major markets:	China	24,746
• France • Cameroon • South Korea	Turkey	22,335
• Greece • Spain • Iran • Croatia	Russia	12,378
• Vietnam •India • US • Romania	Poland	12,252
• Tunisia • Bosnia • Luxembourg	Bulgaria	9,544
	Ukraine	8,557
	Austria	7,014
	Italy	6,863
	Morocco	6,649

IN CHINA
TOTAL	MAINLY FROM	INTAKE
292,611 including major markets:	South Korea	64,481
• India • France • Pakistan	Japan	18,640
• Kazakhstan  • North Korea • Yemen	US	14,758
• Canada • Italy • Singapore • Ireland	Vietnam	9,702
	Thailand	7,306
	Germany	1,280
	Russia	1,224
	Nepal	1,199
	Mongolia	1,060

IN FRANCE
TOTAL	MAINLY FROM	INTAKE
284,659 including major markets:	Morocco	60,000
• Spain • Belgium • Senegal	Algeria	29,100
• Vietnam • Lebanon • Cameroon	China	27,100
• Congo • Gabon • Mauritius	Tunisia	9,130
• Estonia • Latvia • Russia • Poland	Senegal	8,020
	Germany	6,521
	Italy	4,452

IN CANADA
TOTAL	MAINLY FROM	INTAKE
218,000 including major markets:	China	13,668
• Taiwan • Hong Kong  • Iran • UAE	India	11,530
• Russia • Vietnam  • France • US	Japan	3,630
• UK • Morocco • Tunisia	Saudi Arabia	3,500
	Mexico	2,585
	Germany	2,511
	Brazil	1,428
	South Korea	1,400

IN JAPAN
TOTAL	MAINLY FROM	INTAKE
141,774 including major markets:	China	86,173
•Mongolia • Myanmar • Sri Lanka	South Korea	20,202
• France • Germany • India • UK	Taiwan	5,297
•the Philippines • Canada • Russia	Vietnam	3,597
• Cambodia • Brazil • Australia	Malaysia	2,465
• Egypt • Saudi Arabia • Laos	Thailand	2,429
	US	2,348
	Nepal	1,829
	Bangladesh	1,540

IN MALAYSIA
TOTAL	MAINLY FROM	INTAKE
80,750 including major markets:	Iran	10,932
• Iraq •Pakistan • Thailand • India	Indonesia	9,812
• Maldives •Kazakhstan • Sri Lanka	China	9,177
• Tanzania • South Korea	Nigeria	5,960
	Yemen	4,931
	Libya	4,021
	Sudan	2,443
	Saudi Arabia	2,331
	Botswana	1,939