ARCHIVES: INTERNATIONAL NEWS ROUNDUP 2008-09

International News Roundup is a monthly email product that aggregates education-related news items from around the world into a single weekly email. English language articles are selected for their relevance to an Australian audience. If you do not already receive the newsletter and would like to do so, please enter your name and email address in the box to your right and click on the subscribe button. If you have any concerns about what might happen to your details, please see our Privacy policy. If you have any other enquiries about the newsletter, click here to email us.

December 2009: GLOBAL: Education for Sustainable Development, Education key to inclusion for street children; CANADA: Financial literacy, K-12 schools, action learning, deeper learning; FINLAND: Immigrant pupils; INDIA: Too few teachers; INDONESIA: Teachers blogging; IRELAND: Rural school for global IT project; LEBANON: English language gaining ground; NEW ZEALAND: Public-private partnerships, Positive Behaviour for Learning Action Plan, principals deeply concerned; SCOTLAND: Class sizes; UK: Making children media savvy, co-ed but separate, case for and against single sex classes, benefits for maths & science teachers, slang in schools; USA: High school teachers' priorities, self-harming students, test scores, how to turn schools around, teacher wage deferrals; VIETNAM: When principals are good teachers ... read more

November 2009: EL SISTEMA: An education phenomenon goes global: Australia, Canada, England, Scotland, USA, The Film; CANADA: Closing half-empty schools; FINLAND: Social differentiation of schools; INDIA: Protect students from overloaded school-bags; IRELAND: Teachers trying to make maths add up; ISRAEL: Hopping on the anti-obesity bandwagon; KUWAIT: Teachers may strike; LEBANON: Promote social cohesion; NEW ZEALAND: Mentor programs; THAILAND: Right To Play fosters new learning experience; UK: School starting age, grammar, allegations against teachers, Teacher of the Year, parent backlash against discipline, truancy, parents turned into school gate cheats, equal opportunity; URUGUAY: Laptops for primary school students; USA: 21st century skills, bullying, teacher-student cyber talk, youne people stressed, charter schools success; VIETNAM: Keeping students at school ... read more

September 2009: BRAZIL: Islam Missing in Brazilian Textbooks; CANADA: Science teacher survey, School test results raise red flag, Alberta schools told to give back $44M, sports cuts; CHINA: Chongqing Federation of Trade Unions subsidizes 20,000 needy students; HONDURAS: Teachers killed in violent repression; INDIA: Teacher education, fake education agents; IRAQ: Iraq Rebuilds Higher Education Abroad; ISRAEL: One-third of outstanding schools are from Arab sector; KUWAIT: Swine flu in schools; NEW ZEALAND: Expulsions and suspensions, Schooling by Skype, closing residential schools; QATAR: Youth voice their hopes and fears; SAUDI ARABIA: Need for job-oriented courses emphasized; SINGAPORE: US, Other Education Officials Get Lesson in School Success; UK: State schools may be run for profit, Fewer primary children reach English standard, bullying, 'bogus' foreign students, future of free education, trainee teachers quitting, league tables, A-levels, boys miss writing target at 7, rural schools to close, Teachers' workloads; USA: Special Education Parent Information, Toughen the Tests, Gates Foundation funds Memphis schools, don't use data against teachers, what Ted Kennedy meant to education, teaching mentoring, quality teachers improve their colleagues, parents upset over Obama speech, counting too much on calculators; VENEZUELA: Violence Erupts Over Proposed Education Reform; VIETNAM: Student splashes teacher with acid, teacher recruitment ... read more

July 2009: CANADA: Video surveillance, bus driver rules; GLOBAL: UNESCO Global Education Digest 2009; INDIA: woes of Indian stduents in Australia, teacher profile; INDONESIA: Producers want badminton included in school curriculum; JAPAN: nutrition classes, post-earthquake building education revolution; MALAYSIA: English teachers in rural areas to get extra incentives; NEW ZEALAND: Chemistry Olympiad, Hong Kong students in Christchurch, exam rules breaches fall, China-NZ FTA brings students; RUSSIA: Secular ethics and religion to teach values in Russian schools; SAUDI ARABIA: English as medium of instruction; UNITED KINGDOM: the gender gap, new primary science curriculum under fire, playground games disappearing, gifted and poor, how to be a green school, home schooling, clip-on tie switch, recruiting male primary teahcers, too much change, Singapore's success; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: teacher evaluation, 'cons' destroying public education, student test scores, draft common academic standards ... read more

June 2009: CANADA: New education subsidy to enable First Nations, Metis and Inuit adults to become teachers; EGYPT: Aussie Muslim School Gets Fatal Blow; EUROPE: Teacher effectiveness hampered by lack of incentives and bad behaviour in the classroom; INDIA: Adressing systemic malpractice, attacks on students in Australia; KENYA: School Doesn't Make Better Leaders; KOREA: Survey shows 6 out of 10 teachers suffer from occupational illnesses; MALAYSIA: Teachers' forum urges Commonwealth governments to invest in developing the teaching profession; NEW ZEALAND: QPEC welcomes criticism of integrated school fees; NIGERIA: Nigerian and UK teachers swap notes; SINGAPORE: Singapore to Hold International Education Roundtable; SOUTH AFRICA: Language Policy 'Discriminates'; UNITED KINGDOM: Ofsted finds schools failing on new secondary curriculum + 7 more items; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Bullying Top Issue for School Safety Chief + 7 more items ... read more

May 2009: AFGHANISTAN: Despite Dangers, Afghan Girls Determined To Learn; CANADA: Teens teaching teachers technology, himan rights legislation issues; CHINA: student mental health; INDIA: Sparing/not sparing the rod; INDONESIA: The missing link in Indonesias public school curriculum; NEW ZEALAND: Budget blues for education, boys lag developed world; PAKISTAN: Religious schools get scrutiny; RWANDA: dropout rate rising, new curricula introduced; SOUTH AFRICA: 'Rent-a-Cop' for Cape Schools; TIMOR LESTE: Education and Cultural Ties Strengthened; UNITED KINGDOM: Michelle Obama, teacher-pupil contact, creative curriculum, "19th century" schooling, parent prosecuted for lying to obtain school placement, student meditation, bad behaviour, history education falls, lack of autism support, specialist schools; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Students protest teacher cuts, Gates Foundation, school-community partnerships, testing primary teachers for maths, biosciences education falls, budgets cuts hit California schools, role of rap, Obama commits $5 billion to schools ... read more

March 2009: CANADA: Oakville parents claim French immersion bias; EUROPE: Public debate on the future of education in Europe; GERMANY: School sheriffs keep eye on problem pupils in Berlin; INDIA: US seeks applications from Indian teachers to study English, Class 8-9 students caught answering under-graduate exam; ISRAEL: Teachers hold one-hour strike to protest high school violence; NETHERLANDS: A parents' guide to education in the Netherlands; NEW ZEALAND: School system fails in its approach to reading, Released reports confirm school funding woes, Behaviour Summit Overlooks Bullying; SINGAPORE: Why Singapore is another model for teaching excellence; SPAIN: Teaching English in Spain; SWEDEN: Swedish study shows fish may be brain food for teenage boys; UNITED KINGDOM: Schools may try to boycott Sats + 6 more items; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: School sports & extra-curriculars on chopping block + 10 more items; VIETNAM: Kindergarten kids learn gender equality ... read more

December 2008: INTERNATIONAL: A sense of urgency underscores Eighth High Level Group meeting on Education For All; Beyond the Diploma Mills; 'Educate girls to stop population soaring'; Inequality undermining education opportunities for millions of children; INDIA: Bill plans to ban school entry test; NEW ZEALAND: Teaching kids money skills goes down well; Schools financial troubles signal need for system review; Unicef report demands government policy responses; PERU: Laptops May Change The Way Rural Peru Learns; SAUDI ARABIA: The joke of private schools; UNITED KINGDOM: Balls to hold agony aunt 'summit'; Agony aunts to cheer up UK's children; Boost for speech and language; Dramatic improvement in science and maths; Schools told reading is top priority; Study indicates white parents 'show less interest in education'; 10 per cent of pupils fail to master maths; Single-sex schools 'are the future'; Pupils' excuses keep up with technology; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Arne Duncan: a reformer as U.S. education secretary; Obama names new US education secretary; Who Will Obama Pick as Secretary of Education?; US Research Report: Special Education in America; But Are the Schools Really Getting Better?; School Finance Systems Need Overhaul, Study Says; Personalized Learning Puts Students In A Class Of Their Own; USA High Schools Add Electives to Cultivate Interests; Project Learning Serves the Most At-Risk Students ... read more

October 2008: DENMARK: Copenhagen Conference; EUROPE: What should our schools be like in the 21st Century?; INDIA: Ministers to decide on providing hot meals to schoolchildren; IRAQ: UNESCO and Iraqi Ministry of Education launch educational TV channel; IRELAND: 100m funding for fee-paying schools; NEW ZEALAND: School funding on the election agenda, Revolutionary guide for schools; NIGERIA: Strategies for Achieving Education for All By 2015; RWANDA: Global Higher Education Summit Opens; SOUTH AFRICA: adapting to a national curriculum; UNITED KINGDOM: End under-achievement and improve mental health, Primary school truancy, School hands out iPods, Philosophy in Year Three, Minister eyes New York's way of grading schools, Row over 'appalling' GCSE results, Basic emotional education, Parents blamed for naughty children, National tests scrapped after marking chaos, A test that deserved to fail, Maybe league tables should be next?, Children with learning difficulties need 'safe' areas, Ofcom inquiry into TV and toddlers, Education expert says school fail black students, Days of children reading books 'are numbered', Schools to be judged on how they boost wellbeing, The burden of homework is too heavy, Schools given advice on preventing extremism, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Financial sector's loss could spell gain for teaching, Dress code will cover city teachers & school staff, Growth Data for Teachers Under Review, States' K-12 Efforts Feeling Budget Sting, Dallas district fires 375 teachers, Early teen drug, alcohol use ups sex and behaviour risks, High-school Social Skills Predict Better Earnings Than Test Scores ... read more

September 2008: INTERNATIONAL: Literacy is the Best Remedy; Australia: Student visa assessment levels changed; CANADA: B.C. government lags on seismic upgrades of schools; JAPAN: Oita school term starts in strained atmosphere; NEW ZEALAND: Helping NZ become the World's Most Literate Nation; Government regulation restricts learning; Public schools should be publicly owned; PAKISTAN: Taliban Violently Campaigns Against Girls' Education; UNITED KINGDOM: Top exam board asks schools to destroy book containing knife poem, Children of the revolution, Weak teachers 'put off pupils', New pressure over faith schools, School bans pupils doing cartwheels; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Providing a World-Class Education 'A Moral Obligation,' Obama Tells Throng, VP Choice Backed School Funding Overhaul, Better education through innovation, Texas truant students to be tracked by GPS anklets, First Phase Of Reforms Launched In Hartford Schools, A Teacher on the Front Line as Faith and Science Clash, Slowing speech eases child's ability to listen, Starting Kindergarten Later Gives Students Only A Fleeting Edge, Study Finds, Piling On The Homework: Does It Work For Everyone?, More schools offering Chinese; educators see it as a language of growing importance, Public School officials look at funding options ... read more

August 2008: INTERNATIONAL: Underprivileged children: doubly disadvantaged at school; CANADA: Education one of Canada's strong suits, Canadian Safe School Network; NEW ZEALAND: Poverty report recommendations must be taken on board, New Zealand-Chile exchanges arranged, Where are Labour and National's education policies?; NIGERIA: Report indicates high figure of unqualified teachers; SPAIN: Divorce may lend to increasing quality of education for children in Spain; UGANDA: A Headmaster's view of strikes in high schools; UNITED KINGDOM: Fairer league tables 'no help to pupils', More school means fewer teenage mothers, Tories attack school poverty gap; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The school bully: does it run in the family?, Kids who sleep poorly at risk for being overweight, Do computers help students to learn better?, If dress code doesn't suit teens, school district will, Education should lift all children, Students, parents like single-gender programs, School board issues social networking warning, Preparing creative and critical thinkers, I know what you did last math class, Budget crunch expected to increase primary class sizes in, Creativity is important but neglected ... read more

July 2008: USA: Area school officials disagree over need for conflict resolvers; UK: Schools of thought: teach children philosophy, experts urge; UK: Running the show; USA: Zero Tolerance: The School Woodshed; USA: Could Standard Grading Practices Be Counterproductive? USA: Technology brings 'new P.E.' to schools; USA: Buzz Lightyear Launches Students Into Space; UK: More parents are keen to send children to private school; UK: Private school demand is highest for five years despite big fee rises; UK: Cuts leave thousands of schools facing toughest squeeze in a decade; USA: Reading First Program Doesn't Help Pupils 'Get it' Are other factors skewing results? USA: Scholastic Report: Kids Still Read for Fun - Teens, Less So; USA: American Association of University Women Sees No Educational Crisis for Boys (But others do); UK: Functionality risks cultural and intellectual impoverishment; USA: Instruction Drives Construction ... Or Should; USA: Put Understanding First ... read more

June 2008: USA: Parental involvement boosts student achievement; USA: Senator Barack Obama Centres Education; UK: the positive impacts of integrated services on children, young people and their families; USA: 'Systems of Care' Found to Benefit Troubled Youths; Canada: Canada examines abuses of church-run schools; UK: University's exam to counter A-level grade inflation; UK: Universities Offer Downloadable Lectures; UK: Private schools plan kite-mark quality scheme; UK: Most teachers lack degree in their subject; UK: Government failing to meet maths teaching target; UK: Don't knock exams - they're a test of character ... read more

May 2008: USA: Improving Schools Requires New Thinking about School Leadership; USA: Arts education described as vital: State work force needs creativity; USA: Homework and Families; USA: Assessment Through the Student's Eyes; USA: Essential Qualities of Math Teaching Remain Unknown; UK - USA: Student Engagement Found to Rise as Class Size Falls; USA: But Smaller Classes Don't Close Learning Gap for Low Income Students, Study Finds; USA: Washington state begins to revise science education standards; USA: After school can be key to student's success: a seamless approach to the learning day; USA: Senate panel proposes no penalty for teaching creationism; NZ: $500 a year: rising cost of free education; USA: Research Shows Quality Time Seems Stacked In Favor of Firstborns; USA: Good pay, steady work, few takers as young people spurn the trades; UK: Schools may be judged on teenage pregnancy rates and drug problems; UK: Only class war on [private] schools can rid us of this unhinged ruling class; UK: This is no magic bullet for teaching children to read ... read more

March 2008: India: Spare the rod, keep child in school; Japan: New cram school blurs public and private line; New Zealand: It's 'presence' that counts in classroom; Pakistan: Cell phone ban in schools sends mixed signals; South Africa: Will School Loyalty Pledge become Compulsory?; UK: A third of teachers 'struggle with technology'; UK schools worst in Europe for bullying; UK: University dropout steady at 22%; UK: Minister defends testing and league tables; UK: PM announces new arts apprenticeships strategy; UK: Universities get 105m to develop new courses; USA: Louisiana Seeks Partners to Take Over Failing Schools; USA: Left in dark over No Child Left Behind; USA: School Racism Exercise Draws Heat; USA: District of Columbia Launches Weekend School Program ... read more