Education blog

Archive for June, 2010

Britain’s new coalition government has moved quickly to introduce flagship changes to the education system, which herald radical changes once the policies begin to take effect.

The larger party in the coalition, the Conservatives, made reforming the schools system one of its core manifesto promises in the run-up to the May 6 general election.

New Education Secretary Michael Gove revealed last week that “free” schools would be set up, free from the control of local authorities.

Most schools in Britain are controlled by municipal authorities at a local level. Gove’s reforms allow schools to be run independently of local authorities.

Gove has also aimed at cutting red tape around setting up schools. He has scrapped some planning laws in order to allow schools to be set up in former shops, homes and other former business premises. This will speed the process up and save money too, said Gove.

Gove wants the scheme to start very soon. The Department for Education said 750 groups, ranging from teachers or parents to businesses or faith groups, are set to apply to start a new school.

The central government oversees the scheme to prevent extreme groups forming schools.

“In this country, too often the poorest children are left with the worst education while richer families can buy their way to quality education via private schools or expensive houses,” said Gove.

Where a family lives often has a significant bearing on where their children can go to school, with local schools being favored.

“By allowing new schools, we will give all children access to the kinds of education only the rich can afford — small schools with small class sizes, great teaching and strong discipline,” Gove added.

He said hundreds of groups, from teachers to charities have expressed an interest in starting new schools, and the scheme was based on the successful charter schools in the United States, which have support from across the political spectrum.

He stressed the schools will have the freedom to innovate and respond directly to parents’ needs.

The Labor party, which was defeated in the general election after 13 years in power, is now the main opposition party in the House of Commons.

Labor’s Ed Balls, the shadow education secretary who until the new coalition government was formed had Gove’s job, was critical of the reform.

“Not only will these plans put rising school standards under Labor into reverse, they’re also deeply unfair,” said Balls.

It is not just new schools that will feel radical changes.

Gove’s first move in office was to offer a radical reform to existing schools.

The former ruling Labor government had introduced the Academy School Scheme during Tony Blair’s period of leadership.

Academy schools have much more freedom from municipal and central government control. They can, for example, choose their own curriculum, run their own budgets, hire their own staff, set their own term times and length of the school day.

They can also control pay, giving them the opportunity to headhunt the best teachers and headteachers with tempting pay packages.

Despite running for several years the academy program under Labor had created only a few hundred academy schools.

Gove intends to widen the program and get it moving quickly. Shortly after taking office he wrote to all schools in the country offering them the chance to take on academy status.

“I believe that headteachers and teachers know best how to run schools, not local bureaucrats or politicians,” said Gove.

“That’s why I wrote to every school in the country inviting them to take up academy freedoms if they wished to do so. The response has been overwhelming.”

A total of 1,114 schools took the opportunity to apply for academy status, including primary schools, which had previously been excluded.

Schools deemed to be outstanding under the current education inspection regime will be fast-tracked into the scheme and could be operating as academies by September. Others will be able to take advantage of a quicker and less bureaucratic application procedure.

The extension of the academy school scheme met stern criticism from unions.

The teachers’ union with the most members, the National Union of Teachers, is opposed to both more academies and free schools.

“Creating academies on the scale proposed by the government will have the effect of transferring billions of pounds of publicly funded assets in the form of buildings and land into the hands of private sponsors,” said the union’s general secretary Christine Blower.

“This is a retrograde step which will cause social division and planning gridlock, and drive a bulldozer through properly accountable local authority provision of education. What is needed is a good local school for every child working within their local family of schools.”

Government policy for universities and further education is also set for big changes, driven by the minister for universities and science David Willetts.

Willetts outlined earlier this month that the government is considering raising the annual fee for an undergraduate degree, which currently stands at 3,235 pounds (about 4,800 U.S. dollars).

This would allow universities to provide better services and to balance their budgets. “There are universities struggling to make ends meet. Some have been prudent, but others have planned on the assumption of ever-rising budgets,” he said.

Willetts also said the cost of funding degree courses was a “burden on the taxpayer that had to be tackled,” hinting at further changes to come.

Willetts will now wait for an independent report into university tuition fees, which will be completed in the autumn, before taking firm action.

Twelve law students from universities in Beijing and Shanghai were honored with the annual International Legal Fellowship awards here Monday, the sponsor, Jones Day International Law Firm, announced.

The winners received 15,000 yuan (about 2,207 U.S dollars) each to “support their education and experience in the legal area of their choice,” the firm said in a statement.

This year’s winners are from top universities including China University of Political Science and Law, Fudan University, Peking University, Shanghai International Studies University and Tsinghua University.

The Jones Day International Legal Fellowship has granted a total of more than 1.7 million yuan to 123 students from 17 universities in Shanghai and Beijing over the past decade.

John Kao, partner-in-charge of Jones Day Beijing, said, “We have seen a strong improvement in the quality of applicants over the past 10 years, which indicates that the future of the legal profession in China is clearly very bright.”

Winners are students who have outstanding academic records, display original and creative thought, have strong communication skills in English and Chinese, and have shown exceptional interests and promise in the legal profession, according to the firm.

Jones Day is an international law firm with more than 2,500 lawyers worldwide.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Wednesday that job creation would be one of the top priorities for his administration in the new year.

In his annual State of the State address before a joint session of the California legislature, the governor made it clear that his number one priority in 2010 is fostering a business-friendly economy and creating jobs.

He announced the California Jobs Initiative designed to create jobs and ensure that California is a better partner to the economy.

“Creating jobs and getting our economy back on track, protecting education, reforming our tax and pension systems and putting an end to our boom and bust budget cycle must all be priorities,” said Schwarzenegger.

The California Jobs Initiative will pump jobs into California by creating or retaining up to 100,000 jobs and providing training to 140,000 individuals to enable them to retain their current positions or compete for higher paying jobs.

Schwarzenegger’s job-creating plan will cost 500 million dollars, which would initially come from a surplus that exists in a state disability insurance fund, the governor’s spokesman Aaron McLear said.

The unemployment rate in California, which ranks as the world’s eighth-largest economy, currently hovers above 12 percent, significantly above the national average.

Under Schwarzenegger’s jobs plan, 200 million dollars over 18 months would go to employers or employee associations to train workers, at a cost of about 1,400 per individual, according to the Los Angeles Times, which first reported Schwarzenegger’s jobs plan days ago.

The plan is part of a five-point package, which also includes tax credits for first-time home buyers and lower sales taxes for green technology.

Schwarzenegger also announced Operation Welcome Home, a program to ensure that returning veterans are provided access to the services and opportunities they deserve.

The governor reflected on the teamwork that brought California through the worst recession since the Great Depression in 2009.

“This coming year can be summarized in one word: priorities. Aswe face another round of fiscal challenges, we must get our priorities straight and keep them straight. I know that if we can recreate the teamwork we built last year and focus together on these priorities, California, already seeing clear signs of recovery, will emerge from these difficult times stronger and more vibrant than ever.”

In addition, the governor announced a historic shift in California’s priorities by proposing a constitutional amendment to ensure that the state never again spends a greater percentage of funds on prisons than on higher education.

He pledged he would work to protect California’s schools and to shield higher education from further cuts. The governor called on the legislature to help him make California’s education system a higher priority than prisons.

Under the governor’s initiative, no less than ten percent of the General Fund dollars would be allocated to fund public institutions of higher education and no more than seven percent would be allocated to support the state prison system. These mandatory limits would begin in the 2014-15 fiscal year.

The governor said the amendment will include a provision that allows the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation the authority to contract with private entities — while retaining all authority — to build or operate prisons and manage or transfer inmates. This would save the state billions of dollars per year.

In 2009, California’s economic growth declined 2.8 percent, but the state’s tax revenues were down more than 8 times that much — reinforcing the fact that the budget woes are self-inflicted wounds, the governor said.

Afghanistan now stands at “a critical juncture” after a year that had been “extremely challenging,” with difficult elections, deteriorating security, doubts about the current strategies of both the government and international community leading to further violence and uncertainty, Ban said.

There could be no doubt that the country would remain a priority for 2010, with the aims of strengthening the government and coordinating all programs under the United Nations umbrella, he said.

Ban said last year’s electoral process was problematic, to say the least, though the results were ultimately accepted.

Preparations for this year’s parliamentary elections were expected to start soon and the United Nations stood ready to offer support, technical assistance and institution-building.

More generally, Ban hoped that the tremendous political energy released during the recent elections would now be directed toward a meaningful, realistic and renewed compact between the Afghan government and its people.

WORSENING SECURITY

At the moment, “insecurity remains the single biggest impediment to progress,” Ban told the Council.

In his most recent report to the Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan, Ban pointed to a dire picture of the worsening security situation.

An average of 1,244 incidents per month occurred in the third quarter of 2009, a 65-percent increase over 2008, with armed clashes, improvised explosive devices and stand-off attacks constituting the majority, the report shows.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) recorded 784 conflict-related civilian casualties between August and October, up 12 percent from the same period in 2008, with anti-government elements responsible for 78 percent of the total, of whom 54 percent were victims of suicide and improvised explosive device attacks.

“While the violence was caused by a politically driven insurgency, it has also been exploited by criminal groups, drug traffickers and others,” Ban said. “There have been increased civilian casualties and greater risks for UNAMA and other Afghan partners.”

Taliban and insurgents had attempted to prevent people from participating in the electoral process, and had also destroyed social structures and traditional security mechanisms, he said.

“The vulnerability of civilians is a serious issue, with great implications for the standing of the government and its partners in steering the country towards stability and peace,” he said.

POLITICAL STRATEGY

Both Ban and Eide called on the Afghan government and the international community to re-evaluate the current strategy and put more weight on empowering the government and building civilian institutions.

All the key players — Afghan and international — had drawn important lessons from controversial experiences and missed opportunities, the secretary-general said.

The sharpened strategies of the international community demonstrated a clear understanding that continued pursuit of the same policies would not lead to success, but for them to be successful the new government must fulfill its far-reaching pledges, he stated.

“Better coordination based on strong political willingness of donor countries and strong local effort is key to resolving the current situation,” Ban said.

“We need strategies that meet the requirements of building sustainable institutions to deliver services to the Afghan people, and to develop the Afghan economy,” he said.

Eide, who also heads UNAMA, said that since the United Nations undertook to engage in the post-Taliban Afghanistan nine years ago, it had achieved much in the areas of education, health, and institution-building.

However, worrisome “negative trends” had since arisen, bringing a growing impatience among the donor community and troop-contributing countries, increasing frustration among the Afghan public, and difficulties in putting the insurgency on the defensive, he said.

“If these negative trends are not soon reversed, then there is a risk that they will become unmanageable,” he warned.

Eide said the Afghan people should be allowed to take charge of their own future through a transition strategy that should include systematic build-up of civilian institutions.

The transition strategy’s civilian aspects must be taken as seriously as its military component, he said. As the international community had long held for years, the strategy must be politically, not militarily driven.

He offered an outline for a political strategy, which he said should consist of a systematic approach to civilian institution-building.

Anti-corruption policies were important, as were training, education, and the creation of infrastructure and incentives, he said.

Representatives from the 15 Security Council members, the European Union, Afghanistan and a number of other member states also exchanged similar views and concerns in a meeting that was presided over by Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yesui, the Council president for this month.

Afghanistan’s UN Ambassador Zahir Tanin assured the Council that the newly-formed government shared the same ultimate goal as the international community: to prepare and empower Afghans to take charge of their own destinies.

In the next five years, he said, the central goal of the government would be preparing for the transition to full Afghan rule by strengthening sovereignty and national ownership.

Tanin called upon the international community to ensure that every action taken in the country was in support of those efforts.

The year 2010 is a very special one for China and Zimbabwe because not only will Zimbabwe be celebrating her 30th anniversary of independence, but the two countries will also be marking 30 years of diplomatic relations, Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe Xin Shunkang said on Wednesday.

The Chinese ambassador told Xinhua that he is confident that the relations between the two countries, which date back to the time Zimbabwe was fighting for her independence, would continue to grow as evidenced by the level of bilateral economic and cultural cooperation between them.

The ambassador highlighted projects and activities to be done during the year, which included the establishment of a solar energy plant, the commissioning of two primary schools, the completion of an agricultural demonstration center and awarding of scholarships to 32 Zimbabwean students to study in China as examples of good cooperation between the two countries.

“You can see that this year is going to be a very busy year and we still have a lot of work to do and we can do it step by step, one by one, with the support of the Zimbabwean side,” he said.

He said the two countries have enjoyed frequent high-level contacts, enhanced political mutual trust and cooperation in such fields as economic development and trade, culture, education, health and military affairs. This is coupled by close cooperation and consultation in regional and international affairs.

Xin added that China would also extend its assistance to Zimbabwe in line with the 8-point plan announced by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at the 4th ministerial conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Egypt in November 2009.

The new 8-point plan focuses on climate change and sustainable development, trade, infrastructure, education, science and technology, agricultural technology, debt cancellation for highly-indebted poor countries, human resources development and health services support.

Chinese embassy officials have since met with senior Zimbabwe government officials, the academia and business leaders to review the plan and the parties agreed to establish a think-tank to facilitate the implementation of partnership programs.

The think-tank, to include academics and members of the business community, will advise the Chinese embassy on the effective implementation of projects in line with the country’s needs.

Xin said the embassy has planned to invite artists from China to participate at this year’s Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA), while a film festival would also be held to mark the 30 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

He also expressed hope that the inclusive government in Zimbabwe would continue to improve people’s lives.

The formation of the inclusive government has resulted in the improvement of the economic and political environment, which augured well for future investors from China and other countries, he said.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina completed her first year in office Wednesday, overcoming various national and international challenges.

On this day a year ago, she assumed office for the second term after her Awami League-led grand alliance achieved an overwhelming victory in the general elections held on Dec. 29, 2008.

With some visible success in the first year and many more challenges in the future, Hasina has stepped into the second year of her government.

Political analysts say the most critical challenge of Hasina’s first year rule was the bloody mutiny by paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) at their Headquarters in Dhaka on Feb. 25-26. Some 57army officers were killed along with several BDR soldiers and civilians.

Admitting the gravity of the incident Hasina herself said a certain quarter wanted to push the country towards a civil war and oust her elected government by staging the BDR mutiny. However, she had successfully put down the mutiny.

In her first one-year governance, the Prime Minister has successfully put the things on the right track.

In line with her election pledges, Hasina’s government brought down the prices of essentials to great extent and the country gained bumper production in wake of giving subsidy to agriculture inputs.

Shortage of electricity that led to frequent load shedding and irritating traffic congestion in the capital Dhaka raised public discontent.

The law and order situation seems to have improved as the government dealt with terrorists and militants. The U.S. government dropped Bangladesh from its watch list following the improvement in the human rights scenario.

Despite global economic recession, the Bangladeshi economy did not suffer the way as feared by many economists and experts. The stimulus package announced by the government for vulnerable sectors helped a lot to keep the economy going.

The country’s foreign exchange reserve exceeded 10 billion U.S. dollars, and inflation has been pulled down to 4.69 percent in August 2009 from 10.11 percent when she formed the government on Jan. 6 last year. The flow of remittances has increased 22.4 percent from the previous year.

On climate change issue, the Prime Minister faired well convincing the world leaders at the Copenhagen climate change conference about the country’s most vulnerability to the global warming.

However, there are mixed reactions about the first year of Hasina’s rule. Her major ally in the government, Former President H.M. Ershad said despite the passage of one year, there is a big gap between expectation and achievement.

Commenting on one-year rule, eminent economist Dr. Khaliquzzaman told Xinhua that the country started moving on the right track to establish an economic vibrant and democratic welfare state which is the election pledge of the Prime Minister.

“If one looks at the formulation of the national budget, national education policy and climate change strategy and action plan, it appears that the country is moving on the right path,” said Khaliquzzaman, former professor of Dhaka University. However, he stressed on removing bureaucratic tangles to implement the government policies and programs.

Dr. Mizanur Raman Shelley, a former minister and think tank, said the remarkable inadequacy of the Hasina’s government is the inability to tone up the administration for good governance.

He said politicization of the administrative machinery creates great problem. In addition, he said the slow progress in improving infrastructural facilities such as electricity and gas supply obstruct desirable investment.

The executive board of Thailand’s ruling Democrat Party Wednesday voted at a meeting to appoint a new public health minister, Thai News Agency reported.

The meeting agreed to transfer Education Minister Jurin Laksanawisit to become the country’s new public health minister.

The meeting was held after Witthaya Kaewparadai resigned last Tuesday as the public health minister after a government-appointed panel has discovered a sign of irregularities on managing funds, which will be allocated to finance mega healthcare projects.

Witthaya has denied all of the allegations arguing that the funds were not yet disbursed, however, his resignation was to show a political responsibility.

Meanwhile, Chinnaworn Boonyakiart, chief coalition whip, was voted to replace Jurin as the new education minister.

Indonesia observed the Palestine Day on Friday to reflect its support to the nation in seizing its independence, a statement of the country’s Foreign Ministry said.

The event held in the capital city of Jakarta was a follow-up of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed on cooperation of education and training for Palestinian diplomats and the commitment of the Indonesian government to supporting the nation’s struggle in gaining independence, said the statement.

Indonesia has so far held a diplomatic training for 10 Palestinian middle officials in 2008 and a senior diplomatic training for five Palestinian ambassadors in 2009.

“Besides, five Palestinian officials participated in protocol training while other high-ranking officials have joined a capacity building training,” said the statement.

Currently, there are four Palestinians who are attending Indonesian language program.

The Palestine Day activity, themed “the Palestinian Humanity Situation,” consisted of various activities, like speeches and showing films.

Brazil will distribute 150,000 laptops to 300 schools in the country in 2010 through the project “One Laptop per Student”, local media reported Thursday.

The project, which will cost the federal government 82 million reais (47.6 million U.S. dollars), has been stalled since 2008 when products made by Comsat, winner of the government bidding, failed evaluation tests by Brazil’s Ministry of Education.

In the government’s final appointment, the CCE company, runner-up in the bidding, will replace Comsat and is set to provide the first 3,000 laptops to be used for teachers training in 30 days. Each laptop will cost about 550 reais (319 dollars).

Schools will begin receiving the computers after carrying out training for teachers on notebook use and achieving wireless Internet access.

The project is now carried out in schools in the states of Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Sao Paulo, Tocantins and the Federal District.

The government is also working on ways to facilitate the purchase of school-use laptops in other parts of the country. In December 2009, an interim injunction granted tax exemption for computers to be used in Brazilian schools.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday signed a historic education reform legislation that will make California more competitive to get federal funding in education.

The legislation ensures that California “can submit a highly competitive application for up to 700 million dollars in much needed funding for our schools by implementing historic and sweeping education reform measures to better California’s education system,” the governor said in a statement.

“Today is a truly historic day for children and parents throughout the state of California — and for the future of our state’s education system,” said Schwarzenegger. “President Obama called for positive change across the nation and California’s leaders answered that call. Working together we have passed sweeping education reforms to better our children’s education, empower parents and make California highly competitive for much needed federal funding for our schools.”

In addition to ensuring California’s application for the federal funding, the signing of these legislative measures into law demonstrates California is ready to break away from the status-quo and work to truly improve education for students — as envisioned by President Obama’s Race to the Top initiative, Schwarzenegger said.

The reforms will change the culture of education in California by empowering parents to have a true voice in making choices for their children and ensuring their voices are heard at every level of their school district, according to the governor.

Intended to address the Obama administration’s competitiveness requirements, highlights of these reform measures include:

– Implementing bold turnaround strategies in the bottom five percent of persistently low-performing schools;

– Allowing California parents more freedom to choose the school that best serves their children by authorizing open enrollment for students in the lowest-performing schools;

– Enacting new authority for parents to petition and require school boards to fix failing schools; and

– Affirming California’s student and teacher data systems may be used by local districts to evaluate teachers and principals, subject to collective bargaining.

“California now has a bold action plan to empower parents, embrace accountability, transform under-performing schools and help give every child equal access to education and to success,” said Schwarzenegger.

“For years we’ve imagined a day when parents have the right to move their child out of a failing school and the right to make major changes in chronically under performing schools — in California that day has arrived,” he said.

On July 24, 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced federal eligibility and competitiveness requirements for states to compete for 4.35 billion dollars in Race to the Top funding, the single largest pool of discretionary funding for education reform in U.S. history.

On Aug. 20, Schwarzenegger called a special session of the legislature and announced a legislative package to ensure California is eligible and highly competitive for this funding.

LOS ANGELES, March 19 (Xinhua) — U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday that his country must do more if it wants the best education system.

The U.S. education system needs reform in addition to more funding, Obama said at a town hall meeting in Los Angeles. Full story

WASHINGTON, March 10 (Xinhua) — U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday laid out the details of his plan to overhaul the country’s education system “from the cradle up through a career.”

“We have let our grades slip, our schools crumble, our teacher quality fall short and other nations outpace us,” Obama said in an address to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce here.