Stories about Education from May, 2012
Bangladesh: Shawpno Rath – A School For Slum Children
A group of young people have started a school 'Shawpno Rath' (Chariot of Dreams) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with the aim of providing schooling to disadvantaged children.
China: Netizens Want Confucius to Return Home
A new visa policy was announced on May 17, 2012 by the U.S State Department which put the Confucius Institute under the spotlight in the Chinese blogosphere. Chinese netizens take the opportunity to ask Confucius to return home and teach the poor Chinese kids instead.
Mozambique: Diving and Defending Marine Life
Recent alarm has been raised about overfishing at one of Mozambique's most important tourist beaches. We document involvement of Mozambicans as dive professionals and conservationists - crucial to a sustainable future for Mozambique's coastal areas, where it is estimated two-thirds of the population lives.
Côte d'Ivoire: Controversy during 2012 Tech Conferences
Between May 15 and 18, 2012, Côte d"Ivoire played host to two important tech conferences. Covering IT and communications technology (ICT), among the themes intended to be covered were cybercrime and the inclusion of women in the world of ICT. ‘Google Days’ and the JNTIC 2012 conference caused controversy and debate, with many people on the Ivorian blogosphere reacting passionately to the issues raised.
Mauritania: Student Scandal Rocks Presidential Palace
On May 3 a group of Mauritanian students made a surprise revelation at a press conference. They announced that the president's chief of staff Isselkou Ould Izidbih had attempted to bribe them to give up their struggle for students' rights as well as to stop sit-ins and protests.
Video: Defying the Stigma of Speaking Indigenous Languages
Al Jazeera's Living the Language video series brings us the stories of indigenous activists and communities throughout the globe who are standing up against stigma and are proposing solutions to recover the spaces for indigenous languages.
Russia: Q&A with Tina Kandelaki
Tina Kandelaki is a Russian journalist, a TV celebrity and producer, a widely read blogger, and -- more recently -- a visible presence in Russian politics. Be it on the cover of Russian Maxim magazine or in her endorsement of Vladimir Putin, Kandelaki has aroused the interest and sometimes the ire of other prominent RuNet actors. Ms. Kandelaki recently spoke to GV about her public life.
Video: How Societies Work – a Look at Unconventional Arrangements
The VJ Movement has partnered with the London School of Economics to bring us videos and stories that attempt to show how societies in conflict and crisis-affected areas across the globe are facing their futures.
Video: Youth Media Organization Sign up for Mozilla Popcorn Story Camp
Mozilla will be running a free six weekly modules summer camp to empower youth to use online tools for telling compelling interactive stories. Youth organizations can sign up on behalf of their students. (via @futuresoup)
South Korea: Taking Evolution out of Textbooks
An atheist blogger who works as an English teacher in South Korea, Chris Hallquist wrote about some efforts made to strip evolution out of science textbooks. Based on his experience in South Korea which he defines as ‘a pretty secular country’, the blogger commented on the Christian organizations’ influence on...
Bulgaria: Discussing the “European Idea”
Young Bulgarians and guests from Italy, with support of the New Bulgarian University and project “Beautiful Europe” [bg] will meet on May 23 to discuss the “European idea” and what Europe means to Bulgarians at an event called “Blue Night” – an evening dedicated to the European idea [bg]. The...
Haiti: Haitian Flag Day
Haitians all over the world recently celebrated the 209th Haitian Flag Day along with the country's educational system. Martinican blogger at Bel Balawou publishes a stream of pictures [Fr], taken during the event in Haiti, while Haitian Alterpresse explains and comments [Fr] on the main speeches of the day.
French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique: Ministers Appointed for Skills or as Tokens?
With a great majority of voters for candidate Hollande in the French presidential elections hailing from the overseas regions, French-Caribbean bloggers were impatient to see which French Guyanese, Martinican or Guadeloupean politicians would be assigned a key government ministry.
Science Blogging in Sub-Saharan Africa
Blogging has become an integral part of popular culture in Sub-Saharan Africa but blogging about science is still lagging behind. Many initiatives have been launched to increase the culture of sharing in the African scientific world, yet African science blogs, particularly about research, are still few and far between.
Video: Capacity Building in Rising Voices Media Training
In the border between Burma and Thailand, the Rising Voices grantee project Karen Border News has launched their audio podcast workshop. In this short film, the students of the radio journalism course speak about their experience.
Afghanistan: Women's Voices Raised to Poetry
Through twitter, Al Jazeera shares the video story of a group of Afghan women who are using poetry as a way to empower themselves and reclaim their voice.
Togo : Presidential Patrimony versus University Facilities
Commenting on the declaration of assets of the new French President Francois Hollande, Jeogo wrote [fr]: “What is certain is that the patrimony of Francois Hollande (..) is no match for the patrimony of the “big shots “of the Togolese Republic (..) yet the crowded university is still without air-conditioned computer rooms; one room...
Bolivia: Web 2.0 Workshops for Aymara School Teachers
In early May 2012, a series of Web 2.0 workshops were held for Education professors from the Teacher Training Superior School (ESFM for its initials in Spanish). The event's objective was to help the professors and their students begin to create digital media content in the Aymara language. Victoria Tinta from Global Voices in Aymara shares a summary of the workshop and its results.
Video: Anatomy of a Good Advocacy Video by WITNESS
WITNESS, a site advocating for Human Rights Issues has produced a nice analysis of what makes a good Advocacy video, using Aristotle's’ Poetic regarding story arcs.
Argentina: Transforming a Neighborhood Through a Cultural Shed
The Piedrabuenarte Cultural Shed in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina is transforming the neighborhood through culture, arts and citizen media. Formerly a warehouse for discarded scenery and sets for the Colon Theater, the space was transformed by artists in the community into a center for arts. Through their YouTube channel they are telling the world about it.
Ghana: We Must Reject Free Education
Samuel is against free education in Ghana because “I’m convinced beyond doubt that making secondary education free is not the way to go about improving education in Ghana. Such a move, I dare say, might cause our already fragile education sector to crumble like the Biblical wall of Jericho or...
