MuncangEducation News Update
Some 67 million children out of school, UN goal may be out of reach
New York – The United Nations goal of providing primary education to all children in the world by 2015 may fail because an estimated 67 million children were out of school in 2008, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said Tuesday.Among those not in school were 28 million children caught in armed conflicts, UNESCO said in a global monitoring report on education. It said the 2015 goal of primary school for all children will be missed by a “wide margin.”The report said an additional 52 million children enrolled in primary school between 1999 and 2008. But the number of children out school was falling too slowly – to 67 million in 2008.”If current trends continue, there could be more children out of school in 2015 than there are today,” the report said.The report said children continued to be drafted as child soldiers in armed conflicts in 24 countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, the Central African Republic, Myanmar and Sudan.UNESCO said all that was needed was 16 billion dollars a year in development assistance to put all children in the world through primary school.By contrast, it said the United States and Europe spent a combined 31 billion dollars a year on ice cream, 13 billion dollars on perfume and 12 billion dollars on pet food.
London university looking into Gaddafi’s son plagiarism claims
London – The London School of Economics (LSE) said Tuesday it was looking into claims that Colonel Moamer Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, had plagiarized his doctorate thesis.”LSE is aware that there are allegations of plagiarism concerning the PhD thesis of Saif Gaddafi,” the university said in a statement.”The School takes all allegations of plagiarism very seriously, and is looking into the matter in accordance with standard LSE procedures.”Saif al-Islam studied at the LSE between 2003 and 2008 and left with a Master of Science degree and a doctorate.But, according to British media reports, he employed a ghostwriter and copied parts of his thesis.The LSE has already had to defend itself from criticisms over its involvement with the embattled Libyan leader after it emerged that the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation had in 2009 pledged a donation worth 1.5 million pounds (1.8 million euros).
Thousands of Ukrainian educators, students protest funding cuts
Lviv/Kiev – Thousands of Ukrainian educators and students demonstrated on Monday against planned funding cuts that the government has said are necessary to reduce the budget deficit and obtain more loans from the International Monetary Fund.More than 5,000 people gathered in Lviv’s Freedom Square to show their opposition to the education funding reductions proposed by Prime Minister Mykola Azarov.The cuts would freeze teacher salaries at 2009 levels, end payment of overtime and cancel bonuses paid for seniority. Stipends paid to university students would also be reduced.Banners carried by the peaceful demonstrators read, “Stop shaming us, it’s your children we are teaching!” and “You sell Europe natural gas for a European price, give us European salaries!”Ukraine’s 2011 national budget is currently being debated by the legislature. Azarov, in a televised speech to parliament last week, said it was necessary to slash spending on education because of increased energy costs and falling tax revenues.Reduction of Ukraine’s government deficit is a key condition for the former Soviet republic to receive additional loans from the International Monetary Fund.More protests against the Azarov government’s belt-tightening measures were planned for Tuesday elsewhere in Ukraine, organizers said
Germany to ease barriers for immigrant professionals
Berlin - Germany is to make it easier for immigrant professionals to practise their vocations, according to a draft law approved by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet on Wednesday.”The law is an overdue sign that we respect the qualification of others. It will lead to a reduction of snobbery,” said Education Minister Annette Schavan.Many qualifications obtained in non-European Union countries are not recognized in Germany at present. As a result, a qualified Indian engineer may only find work as a taxi driver, for example, despite employers crying out for talented staff.The agreement – which followed more than a year of wrangling between nine ministries, the federal states and wage negotiators – will entitle foreign nationals to submit their qualifications for recognition within Germany.The 16 federal states will be responsible for its implementation, which is expected to be a drawn-out process requiring changes to dozens of regulations.Schavan estimates that the law will affect around 300,000 non- EU nationals already living in Germany who are currently unable to carry out their professions.In certain regulated professions – such as the case of Turkish doctors who studied in Germany – it is their nationality alone that rules out qualified specialists from practicing their career.”In future, the question of somebody’s nationality will not play a role in professional recognition,” Schavan said.Once approved by parliament, the new legislation would apply in particular to 350 German vocations – in trade, craftsmanship, industry and administration – assessed against strictly defined criteria.In coming years, Germany needs technical specialists, care workers such as nurses, as well as qualified doctors, the minister said.The new law will set up a central hotline where foreign nationals can apply for their qualifications to be reviewed.German assessors will have up to three months’ time to decide whether to recognize an individual’s qualifications, based on data about vocational standards around the world
Thousands of Ukrainian teachers protest education spending cuts
Kiev – Thousands of Ukrainian teachers demonstrated in the capital Kiev on Tuesday to protest drastic cuts in education funding planned by the government.A crowd of between six and seven thousand teachers, almost all employed in Kiev-area schools, gathered next to the cabinet of ministers building to shout anti-government slogans.”Shame!” “Obey The Law On Education!” and “We’d Love To Have Your Salary!” were among the insults hurled at police and government officials approaching the crowd, who mostly were women.Hundreds of teachers blocked Kiev’s central Hrushevsky street, an avenue heavily used by senior government officials, for almost ten minutes before police pressed them back to the sidewalk.Foul language and shoves were exchanged in the fracas.
Australian universities take in Christchurch students
Sydney – Hundreds of university students in quake-ravaged Christchurch were Wednesday offered places at institutions in Australia while New Zealand’s second-largest city rebuilds.Adelaide University is offering an initial 500 places for first-year undergraduates at Christchurch’s University of Canterbury.”If they have more than 500 then we’ll expand the programme and take 1,000 if that’s what they have got, but we are working on the basis of up to 500,” University of Adelaide vice-chancellor James McWha said.The students would not have to pay additional tuition or fees but would have to pay for accommodation in Adelaide.McWha said he expected students to stay for the first semester of the year, then return to Christchurch when Canterbury is able to put on classes for them.
Thousands of teachers march in Belgrade for better wages
Belgrade – Several thousand striking teachers and their supporters rallied Friday in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, demanding higher wages and an end to corruption.The demonstration, which took place in a square in central Belgrade, was organized by one of the country’s four teachers’ unions.The teachers, who went on strike in January, have been seeking salary increases of 20 per cent. Three of the unions went back to work in February after the government promised a 15-per-cent wage hike.The union said that, instead of imposing wage cuts, the authorities should crack down on corruption. Union members said the country loses 100 million euros (140 million dollars) every year through corrupt contracts.Speaking separately, Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said he did not understand the protest and promised that striking teachers will get paid after they hold classes their students missed.”I am mystified, because the government met all its promises,” Cvetkovic told reporters.
Daughter caught taking vital Nepal school exam for lawmaker mother
Kathmandu – A member of Nepal’s legislature was accused of using her daughter to sit in for her at exams to obtain a school-leaving certificate, the common year-ending tests for 10th-graders in the country, local media reported.Kirankumari Ray’s daughter, who was not named by police, was detained Sunday at an exam centre at a school in Barahathawa in the south-central district of Sarlahi, the nepalnews.com news website reported.Ray, a lawmaker from the ruling Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist-Leninist party, was barred by the Controller of Examinations, the government body that administers the exams throughout the country, from taking any further part in the tests.The daughter, who holds a bachelor’s of arts degree, was able to complete two of the eight examination papers for her mother before she was caught.
South Korea protests Japan’s claim to island in school texts
Seoul – Seoul protested Wednesday against the new edition of a Japanese school textbook which lists South Korean-controlled islands as Japanese territory. The Foreign Ministry said the Dokdo islands belong to South Korea “historically, geographically and by international law,” using a phrase it has repeated several times in recent years.
Parents, teachers demand right for children to cheat in Nepal exams
Kathmandu – A group of parents and teachers demonstrated outside a school exam centre in Chappani in central Nepal, demanding that their children be allowed to cheat in crucial year-end exams. In a separate incident, Constituent Assembly member Kiran Kumari Ray was detained after her daughter allegedly took her place during the first two exams. The daughter, who was not named, was reportedly caught at the weekend as she was about to take the third paper