FRANCE: Differences Arise Over Education Law

The government of President Nicolas Sarkozy announced after it was swept into power this spring that its policies would bring a "tranquil rupture" with many cherished traditions, particularly in education.

VENEZUELA: A New Life for At-Risk Kids, and Music Too!

On tour in Germany after performing to rave reviews at the BBC Promenade Concerts in London, the members of Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar Youth Symphony Orchestra and its wild-haired conductor, Gustavo Dudamel, have made a remarkable journey from their less than promising social origins.

Q&A: “I Have Ideas for Things That Need To Be Done in All Social Sectors”

It's a long way from the north of France to West Africa - and from studying mathematics at the University of Lille to becoming a mayor in central Cameroon. But Marie-Hélène Ngoa has successfully undertaken both these journeys.

TRADE-EAST AFRICA: Learning From Past Glories

East African scholars are delving into history for clues on cultivating economic ties and dealing with challenges in a new era of expanding trade with China and India.

BRAZIL: Schools as Tools to Combat Violence

The assault on a physical education teacher was the last straw. Three teenagers beat him with sticks, causing a head injury which required 17 stitches. The school closed for three weeks from that day, Apr. 30, 2003.

DEVELOPMENT: A New Breed of Hero

In September 2000, at the United Nations Millennium Summit, world leaders came together and agreed to a set of time-bound and measurable goals and targets for combating poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women.

CULTURE: It All Begins With a Webcam and a Smile

Imagine rolling out of bed, sprinting to class in your pyjamas and meeting face-to-face with friends in Egypt, the Netherlands, Belgium and Morocco.

MIDEAST: A Divisive Word Surfaces

Right-wing lawmakers in Israel are fuming over a decision by Israel's education minister to permit use of a textbook in state-run Arab schools that includes the word "nakba" - Arabic for "catastrophe", the term Palestinians use to describe the founding of the Jewish state.

EDUCATION-PAKISTAN: Taliban Orders Girls Into Veils in Border Areas

Threatening letters sent by pro-Taliban rebels in a border area of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in Pakistan warning girls to wear a veil or keep away from school have had the desired results.

EDUCATION-NICARAGUA: Down, Down with Adult Illiteracy

An adult education programme beginning this month in Nicaragua is part of one of the Sandinista government's most ambitious social projects: to declare this country free from illiteracy in 2009.

LABOUR-PERU: Strike Ends as Teachers and Gov’t Sit Down to Talks

Peru's teachers' union, which has been giving the Alan García administration its worst headache, decided to suspend its protests after 15 days of violence that resulted in three deaths and dozens of wounded across the country. But its battle with the government has barely begun.

DEVELOPMENT: ‘Aid for Trade’ May Cut Health, Education Funds

African governments are worried that funds from the European Union (EU) to help them increase their countries' share of world trade could be at the expense of other forms of development aid.

SIERRA LEONE: Caught Between Leaving the Kitchen and Putting Food on the Table

When Iyesha Josiah told people last year that after the August 2007 general elections, she would stand before them as a new member of parliament for Sierra Leone, they thought she was joking.

RIGHTS-MOROCCO: Childhood Being Stolen

Habiba Hamrouch describes her daughter, Sanaa, as her "revenge" - her blow against the mixture of abuse, tradition and indifference that enables thousands of girls to be exploited as domestic servants in Morocco.

AFRICA: Child Bride Symbolises Reasons Why MDGs Will be Missed

The woes of the child bride in many ways illustrate the conditions underlying the failure of African countries to achieve many of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

PERU: Escalating Conflicts Put Pres. Garcia on the Spot

Three people dead, several injured, and fire at an airport: the results of a wave of protests in Peru, regarded as the worst social crisis since Alan García became president nearly one year ago. Thousands of teachers, workers and peasant farmers continued the mobilisation Thursday.

RIGHTS-IRAN: Students Unfazed by Arrests, Suppression

When six members of Iran’s largest students’ organisation, ‘Office to Foster Unity’, risked arrest and indefinite imprisonment to stage a sit-in demonstration, this week, it was a measure of their determination to take on the suppressive, hard line regime of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

DEVELOPMENT-EUROPE: Commission Sets Policy Against Health and Education

The European Commission has decided that its development aid activities should not focus on health and education, a senior official with the EU executive has admitted.

CUBA: Women Combating Shortage of Decent Housing

Juana Hilda Naranjo no longer worries when it rains. For the last three years she has been living in a modern apartment out of reach of the water and wind, thanks to the efforts of the Taller de Transformación (Transformation Workshop) in the poor, predominantly black Havana neighbourhood of Pogolotti.

DEVELOPMENT-MOZAMBIQUE: An MDG Temperature Check Gives Mixed Results

Only about 30 percent of Mozambicans think that their quality of life has improved since 2000, the year when the international community agreed on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), while about 42 percent believe life has not changed.

DEVELOPMENT: EU Failing to Support Health and Education

The European Union is failing to prioritise health and education in its plans for spending aid in poor countries, according to a new study.