What the facial evolution of children’s toys tells us about our conflict-driven society.
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Tag: education
WARSAW – Children’s education used to be in hands of educated women – for whom it was the only way to make a living – or less well-off students. Many famous writers and scientists have held this position at some point in their life. The governess may seem like a thing of the past, but […]
A proposed bill that would allow the use of English in universities has set off an uproar among intellectual champions of the French language.
Worldcrunch A year after Saudi Arabian women were allowed to participate in the Olympic Games for the first time, the government announced this week that girls could now play sports in private schools. The news on the Saudi sports front reminds us that advances on gender equality around the world remain both slow and uneven, […]
The “dual” vocational training system used to be derided as limiting university degrees. Now it is being lauded in the U.S., and exported to struggling southern European countries.
A probe finds Dilma’s government taking shortcuts to achieving competitiveness for the country.
Imagine your child’s school is always open — and serves breakfast, and takeaway meals at pickup. It exists, affordably, in Sweden, where the private sector pushes education innovation.
BEIJING – Last month Shandong University announced that 97 of its students wouldn’t be granted their diplomas due to “poor academic performance after frequent warnings.” Ninety-seven is a drop in the bucket next to the school’s 43,000 undergraduates; and even of those 97, all but 16 have been given a reprieve allowing them to graduate […]
HANOI – We are in Hanoi, sitting in Mrs. Vu’s kitchen. The table is weighed down with exotic delicacies, passion fruit, pineapple, slices of melon, litchis, dragon fruit, kumquats, grapefruit, heart-shaped pieces of watermelon and small, fat bananas. We’ve already made considerable inroads into the spread, as if we hadn’t eaten for days. Mrs. Vu, […]
It’s simple economics: people with math skills have higher-paying job offers than teaching.
BEIJING – On March 9 and 10, many Chinese families were disappointed. It was on those two days that American private high schools announced their admission results for foreign students. For those who have just been through the one to two year enrolment process that includes cramming for tests, sending application forms and recommendation letters, […]
The shooting of teenage blogger Malala Yousafzai was just the tip of the iceberg. Extremists are taking aim at all girls schools of northwest Pakistan. What does the Taliban fear?
SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG (Germany) Worldcrunch BERLIN – What better way to help educate kids on healthy eating than with some Big-Mac-And-Large-Fries-sponsored lessons!? This special sauce comes courtesy of a German non-profit, that has called on McDonald’s to be one of the sponsors for a new government-sanctioned program to provide nutrition education in schools, writes Süddeutsche Zeitung. […]
-Editorial- MEXICO CITY – There are many possible interpretations of the sudden and public imprisonment of the extravagant Elba Esther Gordillo, who until a couple of days ago was the president of the Mexican teachers’ union, and who is accused of having embezzled $160 million from the union. Gordillo is known throughout Mexico as “The […]
NEW DELHI – Mukesh is standing barefoot in front of the computer embedded in the wall, deep in concentration. He’s trying to guide the little arrow of the mouse onto the number eight because the talking machine asked him how old he was. This is the first time that he has come to the “Hole […]
BERLIN – In my local video store, they’ve just created a new section for TV series. The very great majority of the series are American: The Wire, Mad Men, The Sopranos, Desperate Housewives, Sex and the City, Girls, Modern Family, Lost, 24, various CSIs, and so on and so forth. The dominant culture in Europe […]
PARIS – Temptations for children take many forms: video games, computers, TV, tablets. According to French audience measurement company Mediametrie, children between four and 14 spend more than two hours in front of the TV every day. On Jan. 22, the French Academy of Sciences issued a warning about children watching television or movies from […]
-Essay- RABAT – Along with Arabic, French has long been one of Morocco’s languages. It is the language of culture; it is the flipside of our identity — of our double identity, if you will, which is the result of a long coexistence and exchanges between generations. Even though Morocco has been independent from French […]
MADRID – Spanish has become the most spoken language in the world after English – in real life as well as on social networking sites. It is the second most used language on Twitter, after English, ahead of Portuguese and Japanese. These findings were presented in Madrid last week by the head of the Cervantes […]
BBC NEWS, ITV (UK) Worldcrunch BIRMINGHAM – Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban for urging girls to attend school, has been released from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, reports ITV. The Pakistani schoolgirl activist was admited at the hospital in October following an attack on October 9 on her schoolbus in […]
ALEPPO – As a man cleans his Kalashnikov, another next to him is peeling garlic for supper. At his feet, the assigned cook has left his pistol and his knitting, with the needles stuck inside – it is a striped scarf with the colors of the rebellion. A small fire is lighting up the walls […]
BUENOS AIRES – They’re the daughters of Argentina’s upper class, and they go to the most prestigious and traditional high schools in the country. Today, the differences in school curriculum for boys and girls are shrinking, and the social role that girls “are expected” to meet is being tied increasingly to the values imparted to […]
SOUTHERN PEOPLE WEEKLY (China), MING PAO (Hong Kong) Worldcrunch HONG KONG – Martial arts star, Jackie Chan, has kicked up a fuss this week when suggesting that Hong Kong authorities should crackdown on the nation’s burgeoning protest movement. Chan, who was born in Hong Kong, told China’s Southern People Weekly: “Hong Kong has become a […]
GRENOBLE – Since she joined as staff at the Dojo Grenoblois — the judo and ju-jitsu club located in the heart of the housing projects of Villeneuve, south of Grenoble — Laëtitia Cardaci has gotten used to locking the door of the room where she gives her class in Japanese taïso exercise. For this bubbly, […]
KOMMERSANT (Russia) Worldcrunch MOSCOW – The government in Chechnya, Russia’s Caucasian republic that has tried twice to gain independence in bloody wars of secession, has decided to start teaching the basics of Islam in preschools, Kommersant reports. Chechnya is predominantly Muslim. The initiative comes directly from the Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadirov, who has already appointed […]
-Editorial- BEIJING – In response to a letter sent by a women’s rights NGO regarding quota on enrollment of women in certain colleges and universities, China’s Education Ministry said that this restriction was based on “considerations of national interest.” The officials probably thought they would subdue any unruly voices with such a pompous answer. However, […]
RADIKAL, KEHABER (Turkey), FINANCIAL TIMES (UK) Worldcrunch ISTANBUL – A Turkish education union has pressed charges over the distribution of anti-Semitic books to schools in Istanbul’s Maltepe district, the daily Radikal reported. “The books include phrases that are unscientific, anti-Semitic, anti-Armenian and humiliate Christians, non-religious people and people with a left-wing philosophy,” read a statement […]
While debate continues about controversial new national education reforms, hundreds of children in the southeast province of Hakkari have been locked out of their schools due to a major teacher shortage, the Dogan News Agency (DHA) reported. The 2012-2013 Turkish academic year kicked off on Sep. 17 with the implementation of the new 4+4+4 education […]
GENEVA – Sami, age 7, is puzzled. On the screen of his iMac, a small Darth Vader orders him to conjugate verbs in the future tense. The boy hesitates at the first question. “You… will likes?” Darth Vader squeaks. Wrong! Sami pulls his grammar book out of his desk, checks it, and corrects his answer […]
ISTANBUL – As children in Istanbul packed their bags this week to start a new school year, protests broke out against the controversial “4+4+4” education reform, recently implemented by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Large crowds gathered outside the Istanbul imam hatip religious schools on Fatih Street to protest the new education system […]
WUHAN MORNING POST (China), CHINA TIMES (Taiwan) Worldcrunch BEIJING – These days, being a teacher in China comes with its perks. Not only would the position offer you absolute imperial authority, but you would also get lots of presents. Some very NICE presents. September 10 was Teacher’s Day, and on that day Chinese teachers are […]
MILAN – Some stories do have a happy ending. The most multiethnic school in Italy, Lombardo Radice public school in Milan, had a new batch of first graders again this week. Last year it wasn’t allowed to open to a new incoming elementary school class because it had “too many foreigners.” It had appeared to […]
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS (USA), CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY (Taiwan) Worldcrunch The United States has become the primary destination for Chinese students wishing to study abroad, receiving more than 170,000 students over the past two years. That shouldn’t really surprise anyone. The real news is the wave heading in the other direction: the multiplying numbers of […]
SAINT-OUEN – At what age does gender inequality take root? As early as the crib, according to the staff at one nursery school in Saint-Ouen, in the northern suburbs of Paris. Bourdarias nursery school was the first pre-school establishment in France to adopt an anti-sexism policy, in 2009. France’s Minister for Women’s Rights Najat Vallaud-Belkacem […]
THE GUARDIAN (UK), LE FIGARO (France), WALL ST. JOURNAL (U.S.) Worldcrunch The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has risen to the top spot of the annual QS University World Rankings. Last year’s top two universities, Cambridge and Harvard, both lost out to the science and technology university, being bumped down to second and third place […]
AMÉRICA ECONOMÌA, THE SANTIAGO TIMES (Chile) Worldcrunch SANTIAGO – A total of 139 people, most of whom were students, were arrested during the eviction of three schools in the center of Santiago, the local Chief of Police Victor Tapia told América Economìa. The three schools (Darío Salas School, Miguel de Cervantes and Confederación Suiza School) […]