Stories about Education from June, 2012
Benin: Introducing the African School of Economics
Dr. Leonard Wantchekon introduced the African School of Economics ASE at the World Bank on June 14. The campus will be located in the city of Akassato in Abomey-Calavi (Benin), near Cotonou. The goal of the school is to “to address the dearth of quality tertiary education, cutting-edge research, and innovative public policy in...
Cuba: Clicking Towards the Future
Havana's recently concluded Festival Clic, which was designed to discuss Internet and Society in Cuba, has got several bloggers talking about technology and the role it can play in the country's future.
Slovakia: Teachers Call for Help in Open Letter to Education Minister
Two elementary school teachers wrote an open letter to the Slovak Minister of Education, highlighting the problems they face with their students who are “significantly maladjusted socially, [and] are almost exclusively students of the Romani origin,” sparking controversy.
China:Famous School Teacher Harassed Boys
FMN reported that a deputy principal of high school affiliated with East China Normal University has been accused of having harassing his male students at school. Several victims decided to break the silence after 15 years. Official news says Zhang is fired from his position now. Read the full story...
Afghanistan: More Girls Poisoned for Attending School
Following our recent report on a string of attacks targeting female students at schools in Afghanistan, there have been three new attacks over the last three days in the country's north. About 300 girls have been poisoned. Commenting on the latest attack, Brazilian journalist Maria Stella Soares writes on Twitter: “Ignorance...
Puerto Rico: Goodbye, Mara Negrón
The digital magazine 80 Grados dedicates [es] it's edition to scholar and professor of the University of Puerto Rico Mara Negrón, 51, who died in Paris due to a very recently diagnosed leucemia.
Lebanon: Protesting Shalala's Honorary Degree
Rami reported and posted a video of demonstrators who disrupted the Master’s graduation ceremony at the American University of Beirut to protest against awarding an honorary degree to Donna Shalala. The demonstrators protested Shalala's support for engagement with Israel.
The world viewed through 3054 languages in danger of extinction
Endangered Languages is a project started by Google which provides technology to individuals and organisations so that they can tackle the threat of certain languages becoming extinct. The page contains information, learning materials and text files, sound and video in languages including Aragonese, Ainu, Navajo and Catalan sign language gathered from...
China: NGOs Struggle Under the ‘Big Government’
A TV host's comment on the Hunan education authority's uncooperative attitude towards a rural teacher training program has turned into a national debate on whether or not the Chinese NGOs sector should be more independent from the state.
Belarus: Views From the Ground
Below is a selection of some "views from the ground" - recent posts by Belarusian bloggers about the situation in the country and what it is like for ordinary people to live there.
Costa Rica: The Need to Treat Computer and English “Illiteracy”
Costa Rica has a high literacy rate; but the blog Carepicha [es] argues that the country should also strive to increase computer and English-language “literacy”.
Rediscovering Africa's ‘Forgotten’ History
Contrary to what former French President Sarkozy said in a speech in Dakar, the history of the African continent is full of rich civilisations and iconic characters. But this history is too often overlooked or ignored. Here you will find some reasons to rediscover Africa's history.
Trinidad & Tobago: Speaking Out Against Sexual Abuse
The case of a 12-year old girl, who recently gave birth to her stepfather's child in Guyana, gets Outlish talking about feminism, education and the everyday reality of women in the Caribbean, while journalist and blogger Lisa Allen-Agostini says it is time to speak out about child sexual abuse.
China, Hong Kong: ‘Happy Ad’ for Student Abortions Ignites Debate
A hospital in mainland China has advertised a special installment payment package for university students, for getting abortions conveniently in the event of accidental or unwanted pregnancies. The hospital's marketing poster has caught the attention of Hong Kong's netizens.
Algeria: Twitter Protest Against the State of Education
Algerians on Twitter staged a protest against the state of education in their country, with Aboubakr Benbouzid, the Minister of Education, serving as a focal point. Borrowing from the slogan "Ben Ali dégage" (Ben Ali get out) made famous by the Tunisian revolution last year, they adopted the hashtag #BenbouzidDégage.
Nicaragua: The Continued Struggle to End Child Labor
It hasn't been easy to try and stop child labor in Nicaragua. While some families are seeing value in getting their children educated and are responding to awareness campaigns, for others child labor is the way they keep their families afloat.
Bangladesh: Is a Cartoon Teaching Kids to Speak Foreign Language and Lie?
A popular cartoon show aired on the Disney Channel India dubbed in Hindi has stirred a debate in Bangladesh. It is claimed that long exposure to the Japanese anime show Doraemon is prompting children to learn to speak Hindi and also tell lies.
Serbia: “Internet (R)evolution”
Center for Internet Development in Serbia reports [sr] that Serbs use the Internet mostly for current news (63%) and educational purposes. The research was conducted in April 2012, with a sample of 1,239 respondents: 80% of them considered communication and info-exchange with government institutions via Internet very relevant, while 68%...
China: Grandpa Wen, I want to go to school!
Ministry of Tofu has captured some protest photos of rural migrant children at the entrance of Fengtai District Education Commission in Beijing, pleading to Chinese Primer Wen Jiabao with a banner: “Grandpa Wen, I want to go to school!”. 14,000 kids have been kicked out of schools since the Beijing...
Video: Youth and the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development
Andrea Arzaba[es] posted a video of young people from all over the world who are attending the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) sharing their perspective on sustainable development in the Latin American region, what they are doing to help and what results they expect from the conference which...
Tunisia: Baccalaureate Exam Leaked
Netizens were struck by the leak of the Arabic test of the national baccalaureate examination, criticising the government for the fail. Salah Almhamdi rounds up reactions on Twitter.
