Partnerships

IIE used its prestigious annual gala dinner in Manhattan, New York, to help bond Brazil and the US over their tertiary education ties. And Brazil's Education Minister, Aloizio Mercadante, confirmed a long-term plan to commit significant revenue from the oil industry towards empowering Brazilians through education.

LSBF has partnered with pathway provider North Consortium UK to offer English and academic preparation courses at its London campus. The collaboration will see LSBF's pathway portfolio grow to include programmes that feed into other institutions around the UK.

Non-profit, online institution the University of the People will team up with Microsoft's 4Afrika Initiative to offer 1,000 scholarships to students across Africa. The news follows recent research from eLearning Africa that shows HE stakeholders believe mobile technologies are a dominant "change driver".

A consortium of London-based universities working together to promote London as a pre-eminent international student destination recently toasted its first year milestone and significant successes increasing London's exposure and enhancing its brand as a study destination with strong employment links, notably in the markets of India and China.

Australian vocational provider, TasTAFE, is to offer new courses in China, strengthening a long-running partnership with Shanghai Bangde Vocational College. Courses on offer will include diplomas in business and banking, accounting and hospitality and will include English language tuition.

Sweden-based study travel giant, STS, has agreed the terms of a pilot project to deliver English language training in China, to 720 students at Chaoyang Foreign Language School in Beijing. The programme has the backing of the Chinese government and the company hopes it could be the first of many initiatives.

The international pathways operator ELS has launched its first centre in Europe through a partnership with SKEMA Business School in France, and says it now plans to expand on the continent. The company now wants to explore further partnerships in France, as well as Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Successful private Russian language teaching organisation, Liden & Denz Language Centre, is to open its third language centre, this time in Riga, Latvia; an EU member state. The school will be run in cooperation with another EAQUALS member and benefit from easy access throughout Europe.

The USA and UK have announced a first-ever partnership to fund collaborations between HE institutions in the two countries and valuable projects within higher education in emerging economies. Sec of State John Kerry said the scheme would foster important collaborations in science, technology and engineering.

A campaign to encourage and enable UK students to gain studying or internship experience in China was launched this week by the British Council, with an ambition to see at least 15,000 UK students in China by September 2016. Funded study and intern opportunities will be up for grabs, with a university roadshow planned to promote this and the wider importance of gaining China experience.

In a major transaction in the international schools sector, World Class Learning (WCL) Group has been sold to another major player, Nord Anglia Education, in a deal which sees Sovereign Capital "realise the investment" it made in WCL Group – which operates 11 schools globally – in 2008. The acquisition is said to be worth US$222 million.

Two leaders in the homestay industry have partnered to form the world's largest education homestay organisation. The alliance between the American Homestay Network and the Australian Homestay Network will see both entities grow their respective businesses through 2014 before expanding into other countries.

Pro-active international university, the University of Nottingham, has launched a unique training programme via its Ningbo campus in China which will enable Chinese students to become the integrated circuit (IC) designers of the future. Integrated circuits are crucial in the manufacture of digital devices.

Global business school LSBF has teamed up with one of the best known British football teams, Liverpool Football Club, to launch a new education brand that will offer management and leadership training by teaching skills that segue from football club to professional world.

An Australian English language school that operates interesting "Teach and Travel" programmes in China and Vietnam has received official endorsement from the government of Vietnam. English Language Company (ELC) Australia signed an MOU with the government earlier this month.