· October, 2007

Stories about Education from October, 2007

Iran:Student Protest

  30 October 2007

According to[Fa] Salam Democrat blog, students demonstrated today in Alameh University in Tehran.The students asked that jailed students get freed.The blogger says seven other students were arrested today.

Iraq: Breathing Slowly

  30 October 2007

Iraqi Aunt Najma sums up her sentiments about life in Iraq as follows: “Breathing slowly.. In and out..that's what I have to do to keep myself from crying, and stay alive. I'm more depressed than I've ever been in the last year I think.” She also describes the daily difficulties...

Korea: School Field Trips and Income Gap

  30 October 2007

School excursions are memorable experiences. Being in unfamiliar circumstances and spending several nights with friends give the chance to build stronger friendships and to better understand teachers and other friends. But recently school excursions have become a source of dispute, as wealthier students can afford trips to places that poorer...

China: Province scraps Hukou system

  30 October 2007

Jeremy Goldkorn at Danwei with breaking news of southwestern Yunnan province's plans to abandon the hukou system, implemented in the 1950s, making it the first province in China to do so: “This is significant news. The hukou system is one of the biggest problems migrant workers face in getting urban...

Jamaica: Slave Mentality

  29 October 2007

“Sometimes I wonder if to be black in this world is to be absolutely unaccountable. For anything.” Marlon James picks apart the slave mentality.

Japan: Racial profiling in the U.S. and Japan

  27 October 2007

Hasan at hasanhujairi[dot]com writes about his experience being a Middle Eastern foreign student in a post 9/11 world, subject to racial profiling first during his time in the U.S., and then again in Japan.

Iran:Bookstores in trouble

  25 October 2007

Iranian government clamps down on bookstores’ coffee shops.Kaghz Pareh says[Fa] that he does not understand the reasons of government's decision in a country where not many people read books.

China: Affirmative Action for Rural Students

  25 October 2007

Xueyong suggests that universities in China should adopt the policy of affirmative action for rural students (zh). At present, among the top rank universities, only 20% of the students comes from rural area, although rural population is consisted of more than half of the whole population. As education is a...

China: Heavy schooling fees and migrant workers

  23 October 2007

Yuan Guiren, Chinese Vice Education Minister, emphasized the equal education rights for the migrant workers’ children at the CPC press conference last Saturday. However, the tough reality makes some migrant parents worried if they can find an adequate school for their children next term.

Hong Kong: University Master Plan

  23 October 2007

The Chinese University Student Union has launhed a signature campaign against the university's undemocratic practice in Master Plan process (zh). The students demanded the university to include representatives of stake holders in the master plan steering committee and disclose all information in relation to the campus planning. HK-x-force, a student...

Uganda: Poverty and Paris Hilton

  22 October 2007

Wednesday's Public Poverty Forum in Kampala had one blogger, Tumwijukue, asking, “Did they (re)define poverty? Did they speak of poverty of the mind? Or did they merely use the event as a networking opportunity and an excuse to miss work for the day, rushing to the organizer's table at the end of the forum for the Ushs. 50,000 delegates' allowance?”

China: Education

  22 October 2007

Li Yinhe compares the difference between Chinese and westerner's attitude toward education (zh). For westerner, education is to learn something, while for Chinese, education is the only path towards success.

Peru: Purchase of OLPC Computers

  22 October 2007

Desde El Tercer Piso [ES] reflects upon the Peruvian government's decision to participate in the One Laptop Per Child project with the purchase of 40,000 XO computers.

China: No PC Allowed

  15 October 2007

Several universities in Mainland China has forbidden university first year students from bringing their personal computers to the classroom in order to stop them from playing computer game in the classroom. Xuexheshidai points out (zh)that some universities in the U.S would sponsor students to have their own PC. The blogger...