Stories about Education from April, 2009
Cayman Islands: Same Old
“This election has the potential to again be nothing more than ousting current politicians who do very little and replacing them with politicians who are entirely incapable of bringing their generalizations to life”: The Cayman Islands’ Blog Man is afraid it's politics as usual for his country's upcoming elections.
Azerbaijan: Last day of April
Sheki, Azerbaijan comments on today's massacre of at least 13 students at a university in Baku and says that the end of April will now live on in the collective memory of the country as the day when the children of some families never came home.
Bangladesh: Value Achievements Not The Ancestry
Citing the example of Dr. Atiur Rahman, the newly appointed governor of the central Bank of Bangladesh who made a life out of nothing, Shada Kalo urges Bangladeshis to stop the practice of “inferring the quality of a human being based on his or her family background.”
China: Ongoing urbanization
With the Olympics long gone, the gentrification of Beijing neighborhoods continues. “Still, the signs go up, the schools and shops close down, and jobs, education and the prospect of permanent residence are suspended,” writes changing china blogger Ray Deng in his two-part photo essay.
Pakistan: This Is Not Islam
Pakistani blogger Faisal K. at Deadpan Thoughts questioned an enlightened scholar of Islam to confirm that what the Talibans are preaching is “hardly the Islam brought by the Quran and taught by the Prophet through his teachings.”
Antigua & Barbuda, U.S.A.: Kincaid Honoured
Repeating Islands learns that Antigua-born author Jamaica Kincaid “is among the 231 new members chosen to join the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009.”
Jamaica: Mad Tax
Abeng News Magazine‘s Michael Spence says: “The new gas tax added in the latest Jamaican national budget is bad but when you tax reading material…this has to come from a government that has gone mad and is intent on helping the poor to get poorer.”
Bubisher: A Bus of Books for Children in Western Sahara
Do you want to go to the Sahara desert and read for children living in the refugee camps? Bubisher is a mobile library being driven across Western Sahara refugee camps. In those refugee schools, the bus shares with youngsters food for the soul and mind: books. Renata Avila highlights the initiative.
St. Lucia: The Heat is On
Repeating Islands reports that the race for the prestigious position of the Oxford Professor of Poetry has become “decidedly unpoetic”.
China: Peking University Humiliated
Veteran Party member and man of letters Ren Yanfang has spoken out [zh] online about the fate of an anthology set to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the founding of Peking University, in the spirit of the May Fourth Movement. Involving 188 high-profile academics and administrators, preparations began in 2004;...
Azerbaijan: Email correspondence with expelled student activist
Thoughts on the Road says it has communicated with Parviz Azimov, a youth activist recently expelled from his university, via email. The blog says his former student intends to appeal and protest the decision to international bodies.
DoGooderTV: Voting Open for the NonProfit Video Awards
The voting period to select the winners of the DogooderTV 2009 Non Profit Video Awards ends this Saturday, April 25, so now is the perfect time to head over to their site, view the different videos uploaded by organizations to promote a cause. Today we´ll show you some of the competing videos which focus on international issues.
Bangladesh: Student Politics
An Ordinary Citizen is worried about the continuous violence in different campuses of Bangladesh and comments that it is time to rethink about the objective of student politics in the country.
Azerbaijan: Student protest
Following the expulsion of Parviz Azimov from his university in Lankaran State University, the Dalga youth movement have staged an action demanding his reinstatement. Video of the protest at the Azerbaijani Ministry of Sport and Youth is available on YouTube.
Lebanon: Activists Experiment with Social Media
The use of social media tools such as Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, and mobile technology has become increasingly popular in activism and advocacy work worldwide in recent years. In Lebanon, a group called Social Media Exchange teaches activists how to utilise social media to promote their work and reach a wider audience. Mohammmad Azraq digs into the Lebanese social networking and online scene to find out more.
Azerbaijan: Corruption in the education sector
Thoughts on the Road updates its readers on the case of Parviz Azimov who was recently expelled from his university. The blog says that if administrators and professors had hoped Azimov would now remain quiet about corruption in the education sector in Azerbaijan, they were very much mistaken.
Korea: Is teachers’ physical punishment toward students a crime?
A second grade student at a primary school was struck 27 times by her teacher because she gave the wrong answer to a math question. After her mother put a photo of her daughter’s bottom with bruises on the internet, parents’ associations and other netizens criticized the teacher’s behavior. In...
Azerbaijan: Youth activist expelled from university
According to information spread by the Dalga Youth Movement, Parviz Azimov, the head of its Southern Regional Office, has been expelled from university. Both inside and outside Azerbaijan, bloggers are concerned by the action taken against the student activist.
Taiwan: Promoting language diversity
Taiwan is home to a range of Austronesian and Chinese languages. Taiwanese Identity discusses ways to promote Taiwan's languages.
Barbados: The Danger of Hate Speech
Bajan Dream Diary makes a case for hate speech legislation in Barbados.
Maldives: Quality Of Education
Abdullah Waheed questions the education system in Maldives. Although some students found themselves ranked amongst the world top ten in the Cambridge O’ level exams this year, 73% of the 7000 candidates failed the exams.
