World Forum Boosts Education for Palestinians

Education in Palestinian areas and the longing for a homeland were given a major boost over the weekend through the World Education Forum (WEF). The four-day education conference Oct. 28-31 was held in cities across the West Bank and in Gaza, as well as Lebanon.

MIDEAST: The People Speak

The focus on people's movements in Palestine continues to gain momentum with growing non-violent demonstrations in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, and with a Palestine-wide call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel.

ZIMBABWE: Failing to Address Schoolgirl Pregnancies

Concern over reports of growing numbers of pupils dropping out of school due to pregnancy has rekindled debate over the link between intergenerational sex and HIV infection among Zimbabwe's youth.

NICARAGUA: Machismo Just Isn’t Cool

As he left a workshop in the Nicaraguan capital about gender equality, Alejandro Silva was forced to confront a show of machismo, ironically, with his fists. He was attacked by classmates who taunted him that he was gay.

UGANDA: Sand Fleas: Neglected Threat to Primary Education

Jowaali Dhikusoka sits on the side of the road, alone and bored. The twelve-year-old doesn’t play much with the other children in his village because he has trouble walking. His hands and feet are infested with sand fleas, in Uganda commonly called jiggers, which itch and cause him a lot of pain.

Outcry as Rwandan Govt Shifts Money to Primary Education

In an attempt to meet the development goal of universal access to primary education by 2015, Rwanda’s government has decided to reallocate a large part of its tertiary education budget to the primary education sector.

LATIN AMERICA: And Now For Non-Sexist Education

Women in Latin America have broken down barriers in education, and in several countries have more years of education than men. But the task now is to make sure that education reduces, rather than fuels, inequality between men and women.

SOUTH AMERICA: Student Exchanges to Foster Mercosur Identity

An exchange programme was launched this week for university students in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, to foster a broader sense of belonging to South America's Mercosur bloc.

AFRICA: Hunger Intensifying But Cash Transfers Improving Lives

Chronic hunger is intensifying in Africa, despite the world’s commitment to address this Millennium Development Goal and reduce world hunger by half by 2015.

MIDEAST: Arabic Comes to Jewish Schools

"As a democracy Israel aspires to complete equality of all its citizens," said Dr. Shlomo Alon, head of the education ministry's Arabic and Islam education division as he launched a programme at the beginning of the new school year to make classes in Arabic compulsory in all Jewish public schools. But just a month later, the commitment to "complete equality" looks like it's taking a back seat.

Education Cracks in Haiti

When Angelique tells her story, sadness and anger are mixed in her voice. She's a student at the bustling University of Paris 8 here, but her country and family are never far from her thoughts.

INDIA: Indian Schools Will Spare the Rod, and the Child

Child rights activists hope that the arrest of the principal of one of India's elite public schools for caning a student and possibly abetting his suicide will serve to put an end to the widespread practice of corporeal punishment in this country's educational institutions.

PHILIPPINES: Over Decades, Child Poverty Hasn’t Changed Much

His bones pushing against his skin, Lean Ray Francisco has been feeding on rice coffee, or coffee made from roasted rice, and rice water - left over from boiling rice - for most of his three years.

PAKISTAN: Education Falling Out of Afghan Refugees’ Reach

He is only 13 and a refugee in a not-too-hospitable country, but Ahmed Jamal already knows what he wants to do for the next decade or so: follow in the footsteps of his older brother.

UNICEF Leads Campaign for 69 Million Out-of-School Children

The U.N. children's agency UNICEF is taking the lead in an intense global campaign to provide schooling to some 69 million children who are unable to go to school - or don't have any schools to go to.

THAILAND: Teachers Take to Guns as Insurgency Targets Schools

Teachers heading for work in the 380 public schools across Thailand’s southernmost province of Narathiwat take more than a bag filled with textbooks and lecture notes. Many go armed with guns.

U.S.: Librarians Lead Fight Against Banned Books

Penguins are indisputably cute. And a children's book about such inoffensive animals could hardly be expected to trigger a nationwide controversy. But then came "And Tango Makes Three" and a heated debate was fired up.

Surfing the Web without Being Swept Away

City life and access to information technologies can open up a whole new arena of possibilities for young girls: better education, access to healthcare, new skills and a plethora of new ideas.

AFRICA: More Commitment to Education Needed

African nations lack the political will to provide access to primary education to all children, according to the Global Campaign for Education (GCE), a coalition of organisations in 100 countries.

ETHIOPIA: Children Delight in Tales on Wheels

The middle of September marked the beginning of Meskerem, the first month, the beginning of a new year, just after the girls dance in Tigray to mark the end of the rains and the coming of the summer in a ceremony called Ashenda. Children in Mekelle and other parts of this region in northern Ethiopia had added reason to rejoice.

Inequality, Chile’s Bicentennial Challenge

Chile is celebrating 200 years of independence as one of the Latin American countries with the lowest proportion of poor people, but also one of the most unequal.