· May, 2006

Stories about Education from May, 2006

Thailand: Trouble in the South

  22 May 2006

Andrew Biggs writes about a north Thai school teacher who became a victim of religious divide in the deep south of Thailand. Most of Thailand is Buddhist while the southern provinces close to Malaysia have sizeable Muslim population. Religion based violence has flared up often in these areas in recent...

China: Legal reference lists

  22 May 2006

Among several tips for better investing in China and a post—For Your Eyes Only—on the Ernst & Young estimation—since retracted—earlier this week of China's $900 billion in bad debts from Dan Harris at China Law Blog comes a list of even more Chinese law research guides.

Iran: Women Pilots

Noushin Najafi, photoblogger, has published a couple of Iranian woman pilot photos. Noushin says most of the women pilots after graduation will be attracted by foreigner airlines. Iran airline has employed only two women pilots after 1979 revolution.

India: Why is Tamil Nadu quiet?

  19 May 2006

As the rest of the country takes up strong demonstrations against the reservations quota, Nathanworld wonders why one particular state doesn't seem to be making too much noise.

Ukraine: New Mayor Against Teachers

Scott W. Clark of Foreign Notes writes about Kyiv's new mayor's alarming first steps: “We know someone who is a teacher in the Kiev district. She tells us that Chernovetsky [new mayor] has taken away the bonus that Omelchenko [ex-mayor] gave them for some reason. She says he's anti-teacher but...

Poland, Russia: Sciagawki/Shpargalki

Edward Lucas, Central and East European correspondent of the Economist, writes about sciagawki: cheat sheets used by Polish students to survive exams, which are “largely a memory test.” Tom Adshead of The Future of Russia points out in the comments section that sciagawki is shpargalki in Russian – and that...

Iran: Professor in Danger?

Samimanetar writes that it seems Dr.Ahmad Naghibzadeh, Professor of Political Sciences in University of Tehran, is under pressure (by government). Blogger says recently Kayhan, a very conservative journal, talked about Naghibzadeh's relation with foreigners (Persian).

Barbados: Common entrance examination

  17 May 2006

“Monday was Common Entrance Exam day in Barbados,” writes Titilayo at The Pan Collective. She explains why this exam (sometimes called 11-plus), which determines which secondary schools children will attend, is such a big deal. “To a child that age, it can probably feel like your entire future is hanging...

Cambodia: Is the world getting Flat?

  17 May 2006

Kalyan in Cambodia is reading Thomas Freidman's “The World is Flat“. Kalyan is asking the visitors to her blog “Do you believe that the world is or is going to be flat?”

Lebanon: Chomsky's visit

lebanon.profile thinks that the American University of Beirut, the institution that paid for Chomsky's visit, should provide a more rounded view of the United States rather than present only the opinions of – what in the United States is deemed – the radical left.

China: Textbook reform urged

  17 May 2006

As a pan-Asian consensus seems to have been reached on changes to a revisionist Japanese history textbook, a translation from Joel Martinsen at Danwei of historian Ye Yonglie's essay Textbook Problem suggests Chinese textbooks should be next.

China: New political campaign shows sarcasm is alive and well

  15 May 2006

A strange custom of every Communist Party of China leader is for them to come up with their own theory or “ism”. Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping had their own respective variations of Socialist theory. Jiang Zemin has his Three Represents. And what about the current Chinese president Hu Jintao?...

Poland: Controversial New Minister of Education

Students and teachers protested this week in Poland against the appointment of Roman Giertych – “catholic-nationalist, arch-conservative” – as Minister for Education, the beatroot reports – and then muses on what “Polish education curriculum [would] look like if [Giertych] had a free rein to do what he liked.”

France & Francophonia Commemorate Slavery Amidst Curriculum Controversy

  14 May 2006

Image courtesy of oliviermr2 A Day of Remembrance France commemorated slavery for the first time on May 10, reports Haiti's Alterpresse: Le président francais qualifie d’infamie, la traite négrière et invite les Français à « regarder tout notre passé en face », « sans concession ». Abdou Diouf, Secrétaire général...