MEXICO: Social Movement in Oaxaca Rejects Violence

Leaders of the social movement that has been at the centre of unrest in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca since May, demanding that the local governor step down, have asked self-styled guerrilla groups that have come out in defence of the protests not to interfere.

RIGHTS-US: For Muslim Law Students, Knowledge Is Power

His name is Junaid Ahmad. He is 24 years old. And he is among a rapidly increasing number of first generation Muslim-Americans who have decided to pursue careers in the law.

BRAZIL: Teens Teach Parents New Family Farming Techniques

For centuries, farming methods have been passed down from parents to children. But an innovative rural education programme has broken with that tradition, and students are now bringing home new techniques to teach their parents in the Brazilian municipality of Três Passos.

RIGHTS: Disabled Treaty to Reverse Years of Neglect

After five years of debate on a draft treaty to protect the rights of the disabled, which will directly affect 650 million people, or 10 percent of the global population, the United Nations has finalised its first ever legally binding treaty on the issue.

MEXICO: No End in Sight to Civil Unrest in Oaxaca

In the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, teachers are leading a strike that has dragged on for over three months, masked activists armed with clubs have occupied radio and TV stations, and the police have opened fire on demonstrators and journalists and are accused of abuses against protesters who have been arrested.

UAE: More Women in College, Fewer Find Jobs

Two out of every three graduates in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a woman. Yet, when it comes to finding work, women comprise 50 percent of unemployed citizens in the Gulf Arab state.

CULTURE-CAMEROON: Celestial Solutions for Material Problems

Crumbling campuses, inadequate equipment, a lack of bursaries: the problems facing Cameroonian students are numerous - and they're not only compromising the education that students receive. These difficulties have also laid the ground for sects and religious groups to flourish on campuses.

EDUCATION-AFGHANISTAN: Schools Shut Down on Taliban Orders

Lack of infrastructure and lawlessness have forced thousands of children out of schools in Afghanistan this year, according to news reports.

KENYA: Stopping Pregnancy From Being the End of the Educational Road

Are the effects of teenage pregnancy on the education of girls being addressed with sufficient vigour in Kenya? With statistics indicating that pregnancy accounts for 31 percent* of all school drop-out cases among girls, this is a question that begs asking.

BRAZIL: Race Quotas – Accused of Racism

The imminent approval of a law that establishes obligatory quotas for Afro-Brazilians and indigenous peoples at public universities, and of a Racial Equality Statute that defines public policies for promoting ethnic groups who suffer discrimination, has sparked a resurgence of the controversy about how to combat racism and inequality in Brazil.

SRI LANKA: Civilians Caught in Tamil Militant Factional Rivalry

The large sign alongside the Batticaloa lagoon in eastern Sri Lanka reads "Vanakam (Welcome) TMVP" in bold, red Tamil letters, proclaiming that the writ of the formidable Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) does not run in these parts.

/REPEAT/EDUCATION: More Schools, but Many Children Aren’t Learning

World Bank investments in education may be sending more children to school across the world, but the quality of learning is poor and many children are not gaining better skills as originally hoped, the Bank's own watchdog says.

AFGHANISTAN: Girls’ Schools Under Siege

Despite popular support for girls' education, attacks by a resurgent Taliban and other groups in southern and southeastern Afghanistan are forcing the closure of schools throughout the region and beyond, according to a new report released Monday by Human Rights Watch (HRW).

EDUCATION-LATIN AMERICA: Examining the Teachers

What role does teacher expertise play in education quality? How can what teachers do be evaluated? By an internal process involving reflection, or using external mechanisms with rewards for good practice?

TSUNAMI IMPACT: Indonesian Kids Put Tragedy Behind Them

''Acehnese children have come alive. They are like horses galloping, full of enthusiasm and conviction,'' wrote ten-year-old Titan Putra Arian, a grade four student at an elementary school here.

U.S.-CUBA: Academics Decry Travel Restrictions

As the United States and Cuba fire accusations at each other in the latest tumultuous chapter in their conflictive relationship, some members of U.S. scientific and student communities are working to salvage exchanges between the two nations.

HEALTH-URUGUAY: Recovery Arrives on Horseback

Quickly and decisively, Matilde, a hyperactive 12-year-old girl with Down syndrome, seems to bond with a horse at the equine therapy ranch run by Uruguayan physiatrist Néstor Nieves.

EDUCATION-LATIN AMERICA: Reading, Writing…and Then What?

María del Carmen Cervantes has learned to read the mysterious signs she couldn't decipher before, and now she wants to "go on reading and studying," a goal that is not always possible for recently literate adults in Latin America, because of deficiencies in the literacy programmes.

EDUCATION: Students in a Strange Land

They grow up in the world's most impoverished region with many hardships in life to cope with, yet they are outnumbering their counterparts from the rest of the world who seek higher education abroad.

CHILE: Gov’t Removes Police Official after Crackdown on Students

Wednesday was the second day of a strike by some 600,000 secondary students in Chile who are demanding reforms of the educational system, and the second day of their talks with the centre-left administration of President Michelle Bachelet.

POLITICS: India in Epic Caste War

An epic battle is in progress in India over the issue of affirmative action in favour of socially disadvantaged groups, in particular those who belong to the lower castes in India's notoriously hierarchical social order.