· August, 2007

Stories about Education from August, 2007

Egypt: Complaining for Change

Something I love about Egyptian blogs is our tendency to complain. Firstly because we're Egyptian and its our nature and secondly because we have so much to complain about. Among our complaints this week: international scandals, intellectual persecution, the Egyptian Legal system (or lack thereof), the question of beauty and as usual, religious persecution rounding out the group, writes D.B. Shobrawy.

Mauritania : Ignorance and Tradition

  30 August 2007

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Generously endowed women are favored in Mauritania. The fatter the woman, the more beautiful she is thought to be. Being big is also a sign of wealth and the search for beauty and signs of exterior wealth leads to some unorthodox methods...

Iran:Crackdown on Professors

Kamangir says according to a new law, all state-run universities are obliged to report any trip their faculty members go to outside the country. The trips have to be reported whether or not they are sabbatical or personal and for pleasure.

Lebanon: Uproar at School in NY named after Khalil Gibran

Beirut Spring writes about an uproar surrounding a newly established public school in Brooklyn (NY), that is named after the Lebanese/Arab writer and poet Gibran Khalil Gibran. The school teaches many of its material in Arabic and has some courses on “Arab Culture”. Jewish groups demonstrated and condemned the opening...

Africa: Using ICT to promote culture

  28 August 2007

Using ICT to promote culture: “This can however only be achieved by using the ICT infrastructure as a tool in promoting science and technology education, enhancing our culture by producing local digital content and nurturing home-grown ideas.”

Arabeyes: Just a Pretty Face

Miss South Carolina's response in the Miss USA Pageant to a question on why a fifth of US students couldn't locate their country on the map was the butt of jokes on Middle Eastern blogs today. Here's a quick review of what some bloggers had to say about her ramblings.

Jamaica: Bilingual?

  27 August 2007

“The very worst thing to do is to pretend that no language difference exists, and to proceed as if you are being fully understood”: Francis Wade examines the language barriers that exist in Jamaica.

India: Reverse Brain Drain from America?

  27 August 2007

The Indian Ex-President Abdul Kalam was one of the many Indian scientists who stayed back and wanted this reverse brain drain. The media in the recent days has been playing a major role in bringing to light that not only is there reverse brain drain, but foreign students now want...

Gambia: The religion of sycophancy

  26 August 2007

A Gambia Professor, Ba Banutu Gomez, leaves the US and returns to Gambia, but…: “What gets under my skin though is the tendency of African intellectuals returning home and all of a sudden converting to the religion of sycophancy to fit in the system.”

South Africa: Continuing education is working

  25 August 2007

The nonrequired writes about the success story that is continuing education in some African nations and how it can prevent the brain drain. Continuing education is paid for by companies and provided by local universities at an affordable cost. It has been succesfully implemented so far in countries such as...

Trinidad & Tobago: A Case for Condoms

  24 August 2007

“The reality is that people are having sex, illicit or otherwise, with frightening proportions in our country being infected with HIV and other STIs.” Ramblings and Reason makes a case for educating youngsters about being sexually responsible.

Hong Kong: Nine-year-old Enters University

  24 August 2007

A nine-year old genus was accepted by the Baptist University of Hong Kong. Willsin thinks that it is ridiculous as the kid doesn't need to enter university to prove that he is a genus and university life in Hong Kong will kill his childhood fun (zh). Erynnyes feels that the...

Tanzania: Buy a calendar to support a school

  22 August 2007

Support the School of St. Jude in Arusha, Tanzania, by ordering their 2008 calendar: “A School of St Jude calendar is the perfect gift for that person for whom it is impossible to buy anything – Aunty Madge has enough Body Shop loofahs! And this is a great way to...