Stories about Education from January, 2009
Bermuda: No Thank You?
Vexed Bermoothes is sceptical about the Premier's “kind offer” to subsidize the University of the West Indies, saying: “It’s more ideology than about educational opportunity.”
China: Plateau in Peril
A newly launched interactive site ‘China Green’ focuses on China's environmental and climate issues. The first project is about Tibetan Plateau, shows how the effects of global warming on the plateau is posing a grave threat to a third of humanity. This is because most of Asia's might river systems...
China: Name Change for the Minzu University of China
Highpeakspureearth discusses the cultural political implications in the recent change of English name of “the Central University of Nationalities” to “Minzu University of China” (MUC) (since November 20th, 2008).
Reporting the University of Philippines Student Referendum
Student publications led by the Philippine Collegian are conducting an online real-time coverage of the week-long Student Regent Referendum at the University of the Philippines (UP). The referendum will ratify the guidelines for the selection of the highest student official in the country's premier state university.
Egyptians are Going Local
Inji, an avid Egyptian blogger and young economist who is distraught by the numerous emails and SMS messages calling for boycotting products, decided to “boycott the boycott” and take it to a positive extent. Nermeen Edrees brings us the story.
Madagascar's resourceful kids
This week, two videos from Madagascar show us how children make do with their situation and rise above it using ingenuity, creativity and a bit of daring. First is Toky, who makes tin cars out of waste materials, and the other is the Green Boy, a kid who makes a living in the streets not by begging, but by showing off his acrobatic skills.
Russia: “Should People of Color Go to Russia?”
Moscow Through Brown Eyes wouldn't advise “a young person of color” to come to Russia for long-term study: “The world is large and there are many options. You shouldn't have to fear for your life every day.”
Bulgaria: School Access for Disabled Kids
Maya's Corner translates excerpts from Mogilino, a Bulgarian-language blog, on how the “Bulgarian authorities deprive disabled children of education.”
Bangladesh: Cadet Colleges Need To Be Upgraded
Kotha-Chhilo (something to say) comments that the cadet colleges in Bangladesh need to be upgraded.
Kazakhstan: Students Expelled from Universities
KZBlog reports on the claims that 7 000 – 20 000 students were expelled for being unable to pay tuition or fees at Kazakhstan universities and colleges.
Turkey: School Textbook Changes
Armenia: Higher Education & Sciences comments on changes to 8th grade school textbooks in Turkey which will deal with the massacre and deportation of much of the Armenian population in the Ottoman Empire in a more neutral way. The blog says that while the changes might seem negligible at first...
Kazakhstan: World MBA Tour Comes to Almaty
Adam writes about the World MBA Tour, the world’s best and biggest business school fairs, which will take place in Almaty, the biggest city of Kazakhstan, early March this year.
USA: Blogging their Dreams of Citizenship
More than 655,000 people participated in an online vote about which issues activist website Change.org should focus on in 2009. Thanks to campaigning from bloggers and immigrant activists, passing a law that would create a path for undocumented students to gain legal residence in the United States was selected as one of the top 10 priorities.
The Egyptian Bloggers Bookfair
With more than 15 new titles, Egyptian bloggers take the 2009 Cairo International Book Fair by storm. Marwa Rakha reports how bloggers are planning to organise group visits to make the most out of the annual show.
Ecuador: Biology Student Abroad
The blog Estudiantes Fuera del Ecuador [es] is devoted to topics related to Ecuadorian students abroad. It returns after a six-month hiatus with an interview with Edu, a Ph.D biology student in Spain.
Japan: Coming of age in 2009
Every year, on the second Monday of January, in the neighbourhood of every city hall of Japan, one can see young men wearing the hakama (typical Japanese trousers) and women dressed up in furisode (long sleeved kimono, traditionally worn by unmarried girls). On that particular day, in fact, since 1946,...
Lessons From Gaza
A Bengali In TO summarizes some lessons from the recent Gaza conflict and says: “The Muslim world has a surplus of martyrs and a deficit of scholars.”
Pakistan: Seeking Donation For A Private School
Kashif Aziz at Chowrangi shares an interesting ‘Pledge Form’ distributed by one private school in Karachi, asking parents to donate money for construction of its main campus.
Turkey: Armenian “Martin Luther King Jr.” Commemorated
The second anniversary of a murdered journalist once again had the power to move mountains in strained relations between between Armenia and Turkey, two states separated by the biblical mount Ararat and an unholy history. Yesterday's commemoration might not have been on such a large scale, but newspaper articles, editorials, and reaction from bloggers show that the murder of a prominent member of Turkey’s dwindling Christian Armenian minority by a Turkish ultra-nationalist continues to shock the world.
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: The Face of HIV
“Sometimes, life in small island societies can have immense drawbacks”: Blogging from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Abeni says that some of them are “the whisperings about persons with HIV and the subsequent ostracism that takes place.”
Jamaica, U.S.A.: Political Comparisons
As America gears up for the inauguration of President Barack Obama, diaspora blogger Geoffrey Philp is reminded of “the euphoria that many Jamaicans experienced when Michael Manley was elected as Prime Minister in 1972.”
