Stories about Education from September, 2008
Cuba: Independent Journalists
“There is no better way to learn about journalism than from another journalist”: Uncommon Sense is pleased to report that independent journalism is growing in Cuba.
Deaf Awareness Week: Organizing Offline activities Online
This last segment of the Deaf Awareness Week (part 1, part 2) shows us how the deaf use their videos to organize their communities and strenghten their offline ties.
Morocco: Schools Closing
The View from Fez reports that the Moroccan government plans to shut down 60 Qur'anic schools around the country, all of which are associated with Sheikh Mohamed Ben Abderrahman Al-Maghraoui, who earlier this month decreed that the marriage of nine-year-old girls was permissible. His declaration is an affront to Morocco's...
Japan: Dropping out of Graduate School
At Hatena's AnonymousDiary, a former student of a Japanese graduate school describes their experience and why they decided to drop out [ja]. The student explains that in their lab, what mattered most was not experimental techniques or fundamental knowledge, but just the amount of time that students spent at their...
Barbados, Jamaica, U.S.A.: Political Issues
Living in Barbados says that the recent battle for leadership in Jamaica's opposition party proves “that the overlapping values of candidates’ religion, race, gender, class, colour, speech, perceived intelligence and such personal characteristics–may play out in our little garden of politics at least as much as we think they do...
Armenia: Cultural Control
Unzipped says that there is a link between the decision to remove the screening of a film by well known director Tigran Khzmalyan from the programme at Yerevan's main cinema and his political activities. The blog also says that Khzmalyan and other academics have also been dismissed from their positions...
China: Illegitimate Girl Deprived of the Right to Education
An illegitimate girl of primary-school age in Zhuhai, South China, was turned away by the local schools, because her mother is not able to afford the hefty fine for illegitimacy, according to sohu blogger Han Tao’s report.
Japan: Manga teaches children danger of fast food
Japanese blogger and author Chiki Ogiue [荻上チキ] scans an educational manga book he stumbled on at an eco cafe [ja] that teaches children good dietary habits with incredibly frank visual messages and storylines, emphasizing the danger of fast food and the value of eating rice, among other things. Webpage of...
Deaf Awareness Week: Striving for Quality Education
On this second part of the Deaf Awareness Week posts (part one), we bring you a perspective on education for the deaf, and the different challenges it implies. First, from the Central African Republic, a school that after funds stopped, has continued fueled only by love. Second, from the Philippines,...
Ukraine: Battle for Crimean minds
Kyiv Scoop discusses how pupils and people in Crimea are influenced to love Russia and loath Ukraine.
Deaf Awareness Week: A different type of book signing.
Did you know that most deaf people who sign, consider sign language their first language and the written language as their second? I didn't, but thanks to the dozens of videos uploaded by members of the deaf community from all over the world, I've learned about this and many other things. International Deaf Awareness Week takes place during the last week of September, so I'll be showcasing different videos from or about the deaf communities around the world.
Taiwan: the need for mother tongue education
Talking Taiwanese has written a long essay on the importance of mother tongue education. He discusses how the Taiwanese language is neglected in the education system and the implications this has for students’ academic achievement and the future survival of the language.
Korea: Teachers and Education
On the 15th of September, the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MEST) announced that they will make public the number of teachers who joined Korean Teachers & Education Workers’ Union (KTU) at each school after the MEST agreed to open international secondary schools on the 4th of September. The...
Iran: Ramadan and back to nostalgy
Avayemoj, an Iranian blogger, says[fa] that Ramadan reminds her childhood when she was four or five years old. The blogger writes: ” in my home nobody talked about hell and not even about paradise.God was kind and merciful.”
Slovakia: Common Phrases in Slovak
The Foreigner's Guide to Living in Slovakia shares and explains some common Slovak phrases and even provides a test at the end of the post.
Young Egyptian Women Do Not Want to Work!
While some women are still struggling to prove themselves in the workplace, the young generation of Egyptian men and women seems to be taking different route. Marwa Rakha brings us the story of how young Egyptians told a television show that they did not want their wives to work.
Five Minutes to Midnight: Let the Youth Be Heard
Since June 2003, Five Minutes to Midnight (FMM), a non-profit organization, has been trying to give youth's a voice on human rights and international issues, especially in developing countries. Leonard Chien has the chance to talk to Wojciech Gryc, FMM founder and director, about its past, future and views towards online tools.
Egypt: Another Doweika Tragedy Waiting to Happen!
More than 1,100 students have so far joined a Facebook group crying for attention for a tragedy waiting to happen at Alexandria University's Engineering College. As more than 7,000 students get ready to return to classes, will their plight be heard? Marwa Rakha reports.
Macedonia, Romania: Computer Literacy; Creative Commons
Information Policy writes about Macedonian government's “Computer for Every Child” initiative and the launch of the localized Creative Commons licenses in Romania.
Taiwan: First English blog award begins
Taiwanderful has announced the 2008 Taiwan Best Blog Awards. The awards are for English-language blogs related to Taiwan in eight categories. According to Taiwanderful: “There are hundreds of bloggers writing about Taiwan in English. The English language bloggers in Taiwan contribute some of the most comprehensive up-to-date information about the...
India: The complex middle class
Supriyo Chaudhuri writes in his blog Sunday Posts about the Indian middle class and the complexity of its composition.
