South Africa’s Progress on MDGs Questioned

With five years left till the Millennium Development Goals' 2015 deadline, civil society groups say South Africa has made progress on some goals but regressed on others.

ECONOMY-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Threat of States Collapsing Looms Large

The mooted restructuring of the revenue-sharing agreement of the world’s oldest customs union could lead to at least two of its Southern African members collapsing into "failed states" status as well as macroeconomic crises in two of their neighbours in the sub-region.

KENYA: Primary School Teachers Test Poorly in Mathematics

Like many primary school teachers in Kenya, Nemwel Mokua is not coping. He has to teach at least six subjects a day, which include a mix of arts, mathematics and science.

MIDEAST: Divided We Educate

A thin Palestinian boy, no older than ten, darts between the piles of garbage and the congested lines of traffic which converge at the Qalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem.

PERU: Quechua Congresswoman Fights Discrimination in Education

Hilaria Supa has broken down many barriers in her life. Now she has overcome another one, in an unprecedented achievement: this Quechua indigenous woman who never went to school is today chair of the congressional education committee in Peru.

SPAIN: Puppet Marathon for Building School in Bolivia

The 17th Titirilandia (Puppetland) Festival will conclude with a marathon puppet show, to be held Sunday Aug. 29 in Spain's capital city in aid of a school in the remote Bolivian mining province of Potosí.

NICARAGUA: Major Blow to Illiteracy Among Native Groups

For 46 years, Nicanor García didn't know that his first name was seven letters long and that the first letter was also the start of the names of his country, Nicaragua, and his father, Norberto. He found out just eight months ago, when he finally learned how to read and write.

SOUTH AFRICA: Teachers’ Voices Heard in Public Sector Strike

South African teachers - along with other public service employees - have embarked on an indefinite strike over wages. The unions are demanding an 8.6 percent wage increase. Government says it cannot afford to offer 1.3 million striking public servants any more than seven percent.

MIDEAST: This Math Class May Figure Out Israel

In a bright and spacious classroom, with plants overflowing in the courtyard outside, six students lean forward at their desks looking at the 10-digit addition they are asked to make. One student stands before the numbers on the chalkboard and a red and yellow-beaded abacus. But her attention is on the abacus she visualises in her mind.

HEALTH-KENYA: Attempts to Modernise Traditional Circumcision Rites

During every year that ends in an even number, the month of August is a special occasion for young men in Kenya’s Western Province. During this month thousands of boys aged between 10 and 18 undergo male circumcision – something that is seen as an important rite of passage into manhood among their communities. But it is also a time were nearly half the young men circumcised will have to fight for their lives.

PAKISTAN: Schools Cross Extremism Out Of Textbooks

Turn schools into hate-free zones, and achieving peace in violence-wracked Pakistan may not be far behind.

Burkinabe Women’s Economic Empowerment Key to Girls’ Education

An initiative to keep girls in school by supporting income-generating activities for their mothers is bearing fruit in Burkina Faso, where poverty and cultural values still deprive many girls of an education.

U.N. Targets “Lost Generation”

Even as the U.N. launched the International Year of Youth last week, one of its agencies was warning of a "lost generation" of disillusioned young workers who are unable to find decent jobs.

The Novelist at Sixteen

At first glance, Sara Samarasinghe's website could be any teenager's: cheerful pink text scrawled against a black background, blog entries about summer clothing sales, and lists of favourites: music (Kelly Clarkson), movies (10 Things I Hate About You), and quotes (Jennifer Aniston, J. K. Rowling).

DR CONGO: Sticks And Straw Out of Our Schools

Led by the local church, residents of Gungu administrative zone, in the southwestern Democratic Republic of Congo have used their own resources to transform the conditions in which their children study.

Developing More Top African Women Research Scientists

In a tiny village near Kisumu city in Kenya, scientific researcher Mary Anyango Oyunga spends most of her time educating women about something they have always done – grow sweet potatoes.

BRAZIL: Young Indigenous Hero Teaches History in Video Game

Computer game technology can have an impact on the way we view the world. In a new video game developed in Brazil, a young indigenous boy named Jeró helps break down the stereotypes of the worldwide video game industry while teaching about the history of colonialism.

MALAYSIA: Debate on Sex Education Rises with Teen Pregnancies

The prospect of motherhood filled 17-year-old Fatimah’s heart with dread.

EDUCATION: Taking Science into the Streets

A group of 80 students, broken into smaller groups with their notebooks in tow, troop through the boroughs of New York City to survey the produce that populates farmers' markets and grocery stores in their neighbourhoods. Across the world, a similar image emerges in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where female students are learning to grow edible mushrooms in their villages.

Football Leaves Legacy of Hope in Namibia

Throughout the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, organisers have insisted that the legacy of the event goes far beyond the sporting spectacle. In the dusty streets of a Windhoek township, Deon Namiseb believes this is true.

Controversy Dogs Brazil’s Racial Equality Law

The Statute of Racial Equality, soon to be signed into law in Brazil, is at the centre of a controversy between those who consider it a historical achievement, like the abolition of slavery in 1888, and those who see it as failing to satisfy the demands of the black movement.