Stories about Education from November, 2011
Colombia: President Asks Congress to Remove Education Reform Law 30
A tweet by the Presidency of the Republic [es] (@infopresidencia) reported that President Santos already sent a request to Congress asking for the removal of the project to reform higher education Law 30 [es]. Consequently, the MANE [es] (the National Student Board) said they would [es] lift the national university...
Trinidad & Tobago: Parental Disconnect?
West Indian Mother wonders if “by being so connected – so technologically available – [parents are] potentially losing touch with the little people who should be their priority.”
Cuba: The Democracy of Twitter
Generation Y is shocked at the “arrogance” with which Mariela Castro responded to a question she posed on Twitter, but still believes that “verbal attack is a habit that can be cured. The voice can be trained, tolerance acquired, the ear opened to listening to others. Twitter is a magnificent...
Colombia: Massive National Mobilization Rejecting Reform of Law 30
Blog El salmon [es] published [es] a post titled “|No to Law 30|… We are occupying Bogotá!!” on the November 10 national mobilization [es], reporting that other social movements like indigenous people and transportation workers have joined the protest. It is estimated that 35 thousand people are protesting. Bogota is...
Latin America: New Online Learning Platform Oja.la
The Next Web highlights new online leaning platform Oja.la [es], which plans to offer IT courses in Spanish starting with “How to find investors for an online project” with entrepreneur Wenceslao Casares. However, as TNW explains, students have to pre-register through Facebook because Oja.la wants to “makes sure enough people...
Colombia: Online Petition Calls for Resignation of Minister of Education
With widespread opposition to the Colombian government's reform to higher education, Pilar Sáenz (@Mapisaro) tweets a link [es] and shares that she signed an online petition [es] that calls for the resignation of the current Minister of Education, María Fernanda Campo [es]. A Senator [es] has been promoting this measure....
Colombia: President Santos Proposes Removal of Reform to Law 30 if Students Lift Strike
Seconds after President Juan Manuel Santos announced [es] that if students lifted their strike he would remove the project to reform higher education Law 30 from Congress, ‘Presidente Juan Manuel Santos’ [es] and ‘Santos‘ [es] became local Trending Topics on Twitter. This occurs on the eve of a protest scheduled...
Côte d'Ivoire: When Will the Universities Reopen?
During the post-electoral crisis in Ivory Coast, at the beginning of 2011, the country's three universities were closed and those living in the university halls of residence made to leave. Today many are now questioning the uncertainty surrounding the reopening of the universities.
Uruguay's Unemployed Youth
Denisse Gelber in the blog Reasons and people: rethinking Uruguay [es] writes about youth unemployment, presenting the stories of two young Uruguayans from different socioeconomic backgrounds but with the same problem: a lack of employment opportunities in their chosen field.
Japan: Using videos to explain basics of nuclear power
MOJO [ja] creates 2-3 minute videos that explain the basics of radioactivity monitoring and decontamination, via conversations between illustrated characters and interviews with officials and experts. Their most recent video [ja] answers the question, “What is decontamination?”.
Colombia: Universities Continue Strike in Protest of Law 30
Colombian university students are still on strike in protest of a reform to Law 30. They argue the reform will privatize public universities, and emphasize they will not start classes until the bill is withdrawn from Congress.
Colombia: Anonymous Invites Citizens to Protest on November 10
Anonymous, through its Twitter account @Anonymiss_Co [es], links to a video [es] where they confirm their support of the student strikes in rejection of a reform to higher education Law 30. They also congratulate the students for their resistance, and invite citizens to join a national mobilization on November 10, 2011.
Albania: Universities – Quantity vs Quality
Home of the Albanian Blogger writes about a BalkanInsight.com article, whose author has “counted some 10 public and over 30 private universities [in Albania], which beats the rest of the Balkan countries.” The quality of education at some of these institutions is something to be worried about, too.
Malaysia: Petition to Teach Science/Math in English
The Parents Action Education Group has set up a Facebook page to gather support for its petition asking the government to make the teaching of science and math in the English language as an option in schools. More than 100,000 people have already joined the group
