· December, 2007

Stories about Education from December, 2007

Brazil: OLPC After First Round of Bidding

  31 December 2007

OLPC News provides information on the status of bidding for the purchase of 150,000 laptops for children in Brazil and also links to an interview with David Cavallo, OLPC representative in that country.

Jamaica: Qualified Unemployment?

  28 December 2007

Francis Wade republishes a letter to the editor by a returning Jamaican national who can't get a job in order to make a point about why educated Jamaicans remain abroad.

Nari Jibon: Women bloggers and the dowry problem in Bangladesh

  28 December 2007

This week we look at some brilliant articles from Nari Jibon’s women bloggers. They discuss the menace of wedding dowries, which make the lives of poor families difficult by forcing parents to consider female children as burdens. Also, one NJ participant dreams of becoming president and changing the present society to an enlightened, educated and dowry-free society.

Russia: Ded Moroz Ad Banned; Yolki in Moscow

  27 December 2007

James of Robert Amsterdam's blog writes about the government's ad on “a TV ad from an electronics retailer which poked fun at the existence of this mythical gift giver on the grounds that it broke a rule discrediting parents and teachers.” Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow posts his 2005 pictures...

China:Seething Eve on Nankai Campus

  27 December 2007

Though it is not the first time for a crash between pass-by vehicles and students riding bicycles, in the campus of Nankai University, such a significant accident is unprecedented. Hundreds of restless students, 20 police cars, and a broken, battered Buick sedan marked the seething Christmas Eve of this prominent school.

Georgia: Election Pressures

  24 December 2007

TOL Georgia reports on allegations that students are being coerced into publicly supporting the Georgian president, Mikhail Saakashvili, ahead of January's vote. According to a personal source, students are allegedly being threatened with expulsion from their colleges if they do not comply.

Bahrain: The debt owed to the Indians of the Gulf

  23 December 2007

This is the second post from Bahrain this week; the first covered various celebrations, and demonstrations. In this post we'll be examining the official population statistics, hearing about a frustrating experience in Saudi Arabia, seeing what role graffiti can play in political mobilisation, and acknowledging the debt owed to South Asians in the Gulf.

Armenia: Another Blogger Outraged at Azerbaijan Event

  21 December 2007

Blogian weighs into the controversy that surrounded the opening of a Days of Azerbaijan funded by the British Embassy in Yerevan earlier this week. Supporting the action of those bloggers who protested the event in person, Simon says that such an event is unthinkable on the second anniversary of the...

Madagascar elections: a warning for the current regime?

  21 December 2007

The final results of the municipal elections for Antananarivo, the capital city of Madagascar, were handed out last week. The independent candidate, Andry Rajoelina, won against the candidate of the presidential party, Hery Rafalimanana, in an upset many bloggers perceive as a warning for the current president.

The Balkans: Fighting Genocide Deniers

  20 December 2007

Srebrenica Genocide Blog has two new posts up: on the atrocities of 1943, and on Darko Trifunovic, a “Srebrenica genocide denier” employed by the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Security Studies. In a comment, Alan Jakšić of Serbian Anarchist recommends that Daniel of Srebrenica Genocide Blog file a “formal complaint”...

Barbados: Matters of Race

  20 December 2007

Barbados-born pop star Rihanna's revelation that she was bullied at school for being “white” causes Barbados Free Press and What crazy looks like to blog about “the intersections of race, colour, class and gender in the Caribbean.”

Iran:A Court Considered Three Jailed Students Innocent

  19 December 2007

According to Daneshjoo blog[Fa],an Iranian court considered three jailed university students,Tavakoli,Ghasaban and Mansouri, innocent.These students have been in prison for 9 months and were forced to confess about publishing anti regime articles.Now an Iranian court says they never published such articles.

Haiti: Haiti Now! Film Festival

  19 December 2007

kiskeácity links to a review of the Haiti Now! Seminar, held earlier this year: “There have been some misunderstandings between anglophone West Indians and Haitians over Caricom and its role in Haiti so this kind of cultural effort for mutual understanding is worth noting.”

Soviet History: 1963 Race Rally

  18 December 2007

De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis writes about a little-known 1963 rally in Moscow's Red Square, when 500 African students rallied against racial discrimination, following the death of a Ghanian fellow student.

Jordan: A Doctor's Journey

  18 December 2007

“People know that it takes a long time for a doctor to graduate, but they don't know about the whole process. I'll give you a brief description of how a clueless high school graduate ends up a doctor,” writes Jordanian blogger Hareega.