As a Demi pair, students can save on the costs of accommodation and living expenses while they study. They would be staying in the home of the Australian family. In exchange for the hospitality given to them, the student must be willing to help in the household chores as well as in childcare.

A minimum of 15 hours is usually needed by each student to contribute to household chores. Tasks can vary from cleaning dishes, to laundry duties, prepare lunches for other children, helping to prepare dinner, cleaning the house or ironing clothes.

Placement Details

Prior to living with the Australian family, a student need to arrange stay for 4 weeks. This allows the student to explore the Australia, specifically Perth, before she moves in with the family. This also allows the family some time to prepare for the Demi Pair’s arrival.

A student’s stay with an Australian family can vary from 3-6 months. The hours needed to help the family with the household chores that can be arranged when the student moves in. They can agree on the hours and days that the student would work in the home. An experience in child care is essential to be accepted in the program as most Australian families who take in Demi Pair’s have small children.

The program would be a unique learning experience for the student as well as for the Australian family.

There are several programs that the Walt Disney Program offers each year. Each program typically last from 5-7 months. Each interested student must be willing to attend an information session personally or through the web that Disney conducts before being considered. The students who are selected will receive an acceptance letter within 3-4 weeks of a phone interview.

Benefits of the Walt Disney Program

The Disney College Program is a unique program that strives to provide students with an opportunity to learn from a combination of work and educational experience. From the program, students can learn work experience from a leader in the entertainment industry. They can create friendships and connections from people all over the globe. They can also enjoy the benefits and privileges of being a part of the Walt Disney cast member include discounts on merchandise, theme park admissions and resort accommodations.

The program is a learning experience for a student because they can obtain the necessary insight into running such a large corporation. They can meet executives and leaders during activities that are hosted by Disney and learn from their experience. Students also enhance their problem solving as well as written and verbal communication in dealing with guests personally, online or through phone. They also are given the choice to take courses and earn college credit from the program. These can be useful as students study management and leadership concepts as well as apply this to the workplace in Disney.

The program intends to enrich a students learning and educational experience by providing them with the opportunity to study in other European countries. This instills in them what it means to be a European citizen as well as open a lot of doors for other educational and employment opportunities. It also allows the students to learn other European languages that may deem to be helpful in looking for employment across Europe. Employers also value the students’ experience and training of such an education abroad. This program is not limited to students alone. Teachers who wish to teach abroad may also be funded by the program.

The Origins of ERASMUS

The program is named after Desiderius Erasmus. He was a Dutch philosopher who lived, traveled and worked all across Europe. Through his travels he had gained much knowledge and insight.

The ERASMUS was first proposed in 1986. However, varying reactions from the Member States had delayed the formal adoption of the program until 1987, where It was officially adopted. This was due to a large opposition from Member States who had an already existing exchange program. Prior to its formal adoption, pilot student exchanges have already been supported by the European Commission for six years.

The ERASMUS program had already successfully funded two million students for the past twenty years. It aims to reach 3 million students by 2012.

Most of the institutions for higher education are State funded. In 2010, 11 out of the 16 states of Germany provided tuition for free while only five of those states charged tuition fees on colleges.

The universities for applied sciences or Fachhochschulen are the largest and youngest sector of Germany’s higher education. All of the Fachhochschulen are accredited by the State. The establishment of Fachhochschulen was partly due to a growing demand for higher level education as well as the need to respond to newer challenges in the workplace. The Fachhochschulen mission is to cultivate arts and sciences through continuing education and research. It also aims to train students for them to be more prepared for occupations that require the application of scientific findings and skills. The courses and curriculum offered in Fachhochschulen are geared towards the needs and requirements of the workplace.

The Admission Process of Fachhochschulen and other Universities

The German government has several quotas to ensure a fair admission process among all applicants. Quotas specify that 20% of the slots for admission must be given to students who graduated from the top 20% of their class. Another 20 % of admission slots should also be given to students who have been on the waiting list the longest and at least 2% are to be given to students that are considered “hardship cases”.

Universities are also not allowed to show any type of preferential treatment or discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, gender, race or social class except those that are considered “hardship cases” which may be shown preferential treatment.

Universities offer a Bachelor’s degree which usually lasts to three years. Upon completion of a first degree, students are allowed to take a postgraduate degree which includes a Master’s degree that takes up to one year in research or education and a Doctorate degree that typically takes three years in research.

The undergraduate Master’s degree is being offered by some Universities as a first degree. This usually takes four years of education. The large difference in tuition fees for first degrees and Master’s degree makes it more like for students to take an undergraduate Master’s degree as their first degree.

Famous Universities in the UK

Universities in the UK are famous for its excellence in education and the quality of its teachings. The quality of teachers in the UK is largely influenced by the State who has a large control over training courses among teachers. The State maintains high standards among teachers and their training courses by making use of Ofsted instructors.

Cambridge is among the most famous universities in the UK. It was developed in the 1200’s and is the second oldest university of the country. Oxford is another prestigious university that was developed in the 11th century. This institution is the oldest in the country. Both Oxford and Cambridge have a college based system. In tandem, these two universities are often referred to as “Oxbridge”.

The acceptance to a university is largely based on a student’s performance on the National Higher Education Entrance Examination or Gaoko. The public universities would require higher entrance scores compared to private universities.

Influences of Higher Education in China

The mindset of the Chinese people is based on teachings of Confucius. This has prompted higher education in China to be largely based on Confucian Ideals. The advent of the Opium War also exposed the Chinese to the western world. They were able to discover development of science and technology that impacted and influenced higher education.

All forms of higher education in China falls under the government leadership. This shift was highly influenced by the Soviet Union during the 1950’s. The government has introduced a centralized system of instruction. This form of unified system poses limited flexibility among universities that continue to struggle with excessive segmentation and departmentalization.

The cultural revolution in China during the 1970’s devastated the education sector. The quality of education was at its lowest. In the 1980’s reforms to higher education were proposed to bring improvement to universities. An increase in flexibility and autonomy was provided for education to increase quality of teaching.

As of the year 2000, China has over 2000 institutions. However, there is a very large demand for post secondary education that the government cannot keep pace to fulfill such a demand. At present, the government continually exerts effort to develop and improve the quality and quantity of education among universities.

The US federal government has no direct participation for the regulation of US universities except for service academies and staff colleges. The individual state is solely responsible for the administration and operation of public universities.

The US college and university system is also highly decentralized. There is no one particular body that regulates the quality for all forms of higher education across the US. Most universities have created independent accreditation organizations to vouch and assess the quality of the different degrees that are being offered. A criterion for accreditation is largely based on academic quality. Colleges and universities that do not receive any accreditation are termed “diploma mills” and its education is thought of as lacking in quality.

US Universities that have Received World Wide Accreditation

Harvard University has received much praise for the quality and excellence of education it has given to individuals. It is the oldest institution for higher education in the US. Harvard University has three main goals which include knowledge creation, opening an individual’s mind to the knowledge created and encouraging students to acquire full advantage of the numerous educational opportunities available.

US universities that are also well known to produce high quality education are Yale University, Duke University, Northwestern University and UCLA are just a few among many others.

The U.S. vocational education differs in each state. Some states operate public schools that have a separate vocational school. Students could attend the vocational school to train in specific programs aside from their academic curriculum as part time during the school day or in the evening. The vocational schools often use cooperative training where students need to work part time for the specific job that they are training. In 2004, the U.S. Department of Education reports that 50% of high schools students during that year had participated in some form of vocational training.

A Higher Emphasis on Academics

Because of the standards based education reform, a greater emphasis is placed on academics rather than vocational training in U.S. public schools. This means that students need are obliged to get a diploma rather than simply to train for a vocation. The higher emphasis on academics has resulted in much more difficult requirements for graduating. This has considerably lessened student participation in vocational programs.

The U.S. vocational programs that were offered mostly targeted jobs in the manufacturing industry such as precision production, mechanics and repair. Such an industry has declined due to recessions in the economy. Thus, the higher focus on academics might be partly due to an increase demand for information and service based economy. An information and service based economy would need abstract and critical thinking skills that could be only be fully developed through academics rather than vocational education.

The Leonardo da Vince program funds various types of projects whose activities include providing individuals with the mobility to train in other European countries. Projects also include small and large scale co-operation activities which allow partnerships among European countries to develop and transfer learning materials and innovative vocational training among each other.

The program can be participated by European countries which includes the Member States of the European Union, countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and countries that are candidates to the European Union.

Objectives of the Program

The program aims to improve the competencies and skills of individuals as well as increase access to all levels of vocational training. It also aims to improve the quality of vocational education and training by being able to transfer ideas, policies, teaching methods and courses as well as methods and procedures among European countries.

Leonardo da Vinci program strives to make vocational education and training more attractive to young people. By helping others gain the knowledge, skills and qualifications through vocational training, the program also helps to boost the competitiveness of the labor market in Europe.

The vocational system is utilized by a large percentage of young people. In 2001, over 51% of individuals under the age of 22 successfully completed an apprenticeship program. In 2004, the German government made an agreement with industrial unions that all large and mid-tier companies must accept apprentices.

Germany’s Various Vocational Training Institutions

The German model’s method of teaching utilizes a dual system. This means that classroom study is combined with an apprenticeship program. The length of the apprenticeship training would depend on previous vocational experience. Full time instruction can last to one year or 3 years for part time training.

The Berufsschule are vocational schools that offer 2-3 year programs to prepare students for a profession. There are also the intermediate technical schools called Berufsfachschulen which offers specific vocational programs for individuals wishing to train for a specialty. Those who want to earn an intermediate school certificate from a Realschule may also attend the Berufsfachschule. The Fachoberschule and the Berufsaufbauschule are two kinds of schools that also offer vocational careers for individuals. As these types of schools are more specialized, one needs to have an intermediate school certificate from a Realschule to enter the program.