Sacramento, 13/04/04 

Who is competent to decide on the sex of transsexual persons? In the Californian school district of Orange a recent law gives this right to anyone who is accused of discrimination rather than to the person concerned. CNN reports how this view of the situation contrasts strongly with the law in most other Californian states and which in Orange is considered to be immoral.

London, 12/04/04 

Ethnic tensions in UK schools have reached increasingly dangerous levels, above all because of the spread of racist movements like the British National Party. As reported in a BBC program, the alarm signal comes from the National Union of Teachers, one of Britain’s main teachers’ unions. The teachers say that flyers and booklets which only serve to poison the atmosphere in schools are continuously being distributed.

Bombay, 9/04/04 

Nine-year-old Rahul Sidhpura is not only a gifted child but according to his teachers a genius. Like all kids he loves to play but his family do not have the money to buy toys. For this reason, as related in a story in The Times of India, the youngster has rolled up his sleeves and has started to earn a little money by giving coaching classes to other kids.

Buenos Aires, 5/04/04 

Schools and Communication Media: this is the title of a program involving 6,000 schools in Argentina. The daily newspaper Clarìn relates how this program will help students make movies and TV programs. The main purpose of the activities, however, which are being carried out with UNICEF support, is to help young people develop their ability to understand and critically analyse information.

Kampala, 1/04/04 

Among the 5 victims of an act of aggression by rebels belonging to the “army of the Lord’s resistance” active in the north of Uganda, there was also a two-year baby. The people were gathering food in a wood when they were attacked by the guerillas, according to a report from the agency MISN. The story was related by a young woman who was left alive on purpose just so she could describe what had happened, but only after they had cut of her lips and the lobes of her ears.

Seattle, 1/04/04 

Security agents in primary schools in Kent, in the American state of Washington, have used handcuffs to immobilize very unruly kids. This story comes from the daily newspaper Seattle Times, which gave the added detail that all the youngsters treated like this were black. School authorities have defended the actions by saying that they were necessary to prevent the children from harming themselves.

Milan, 18/03/04 

Bullying in schools is also getting worse in Italy. 64% of primary pupils in Milan and 50% of those in junior high schools have been involved in bullying, whether on the receiving end or the giving end. Some of the acts have involved physical violence. These figures have emerged from an investigation conducted by the Italian Region of Lombardy which got information more than 10,000 students and 59 schools in Milan.

Rome, 7/03/04 

It is better to wait until after 11 o’clock before giving students class tests. It has been shown that students have limited powers of concentration and application during the earlier hours of the morning. A report in the newspaper La Repubblica was written by the University of Milan’s Italo Farnetani, pediatrician, who also cites recent French research on chrono-psychological rhythms.

London, 5/03/04 

US$5.6 billion is the amount of money it would take to provide schooling for the 100 million children in the world who are at the moment deprived of education. This is about half the amount of money that is spent in Europe each year on ice cream, according to an estimate made by the Global Campaign for Education and quoted on the BBC. The campaigners have asked parliamentarians throughout the world to take a day at school on April 23, the day before the World Bank meeting in Washington.

Bangkok, 2/03/04 

The Thai government has now revoked a law which required the majority of bars and night clubs involved in providing prostitution services to close at midnight. The agency MISNA reports that young people under 18 must still be accompanied by their parents if they are outside their homes between the hours of 10pm and 4 am. This curfew is aimed at curbing juvenile crime.

Bucharest, 29/02/04 

There are now French specialists working in Romanian schools in order to develop computer learning systems. The news agency France Presse points out that most students have neither books nor access to a computer; some of them do not even have TV. Many of the schools are trying to involve parents too and so homework is becoming a kind of family fun.

Chicago, 27/02/04 

One of the weapons the Chicago school authorities are using to combat early leaving is to require potential drop-outs and their parents to sign a document which lists the possible consequences of not staying on at school. These range from difficulties in finding a job to falling into a life of crime and eventually jail sentences. CNN reports that 13% of Chicago students drop out from school and that this is a good 5 percentage points above the national average.

Geneva, 27/02/04 

UNICEF reports that four states in northern Nigeria have said no to a polio vaccination program even though poliomylitis affects 60 million children in 10 West African nations. The reason seems to be that these are states with an Islamic majority who are convinced that the vaccination campaign is really an American plot to sterilize Muslim girls.

New Delhi, 26/02/04 

An Indian scientific foundation has launched a phone service offering help to students in difficulties with their math problems. The daily newspaper The Times of India writes that this initiative has been a great success. Compared with boys, double the number of girls call in. So are the girls weak in math? No, reply the experts in the foundation; the girls are simply more honest and less timid than the boys.

Dortmund, 19/02/04 

According to the German broadcasting service, WDR,   Dortmund police have reported a decrease in the number of accidents involving children in 2003. However, accidents involving bike riders have increased. The reason seems to be that, compared to previous years, 2003 saw an increase in fine weather and more people than usual were encouraged to go cycling, not all of whom respected the rules of the road.

Paris, 18/02/04 

According to the social study group presided over by the ex-president of the European Commission, Jacques Delors, as reported by France Presse, a million children are living in poverty in France. European statistics define poverty as earning less than half of the national average, which in France means €650 per month, a sum which would offer a comfortable life in some other, less developed countries.

Padova, 18/02/04 

Because a child was disturbing the lesson, the teacher tied him to the seat and shut his mouth with a plaster. An article in the Italian daily La Repubblica writes how this happened in a primary school in Padova to a six-year-old boy with social problems. When the authorities were alerted to the situation by the boy’s parents, they opened an enquiry and meanwhile a local magistrate has also started investigating.

Tegucigalpa, 17/02/04 

The Honduras law to combat juvenile crime, which was approved in August 2003, has failed to reduce the problem. This is the finding of a non-government organisation which was reported by the news agency MISNA. After a momentary fall, homicides committed by young people under the age of 23 have recently increased and there were 557 victims in 2003. Considering that there are fewer than 7 million people in the whole country, this is indeed a shockingly high number.

London, 17/02/04 

Classes comprising students of different ages: this is the formula being studied for high schools in England, according to a BBC report. As the experts of a study group set up to examine the situation have said, every teacher knows that not all students make the same progress at the same pace. Progress through the school should depend on a student’s ability and in fact this is what already happens in many schools.

Singapore, 15/02/04 

Even in Singapore, Muslim students do not have the right to wear a veil at school; however, Sikh students may wear turbans. This situation is different from France where the law forbids the display of all religious symbols. The contradiction in Singapore, reports France Presse, has provoked strong discord among the Malaysian Muslim minority who are supported by the two neighbouring nations, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Louisville, 12/02/04 

In Shepherdsville, a small town in Kentucky, the ministers of the Baptist church had the habit of meeting with the students during breaks and the lunch hours. But this has now been stopped by the school authorities, CNN reports, because of protests by the teachers who cited the principle of a purely lay education.

Rio de Janeiro, 12/02/04 

In the future, children from rich families will not be the only ones able to attend Brazilian universities: this is one of the aims of the Ministry of Education in the government presided over by Lula da Silva, according to a report in the daily newspaper O Estado de Sao Paulo. The plan is to favour wider admission to university by students coming from poor families or from ethnic minorities.

Buenos Aires, 12/02/04 

The Argentinian Education Minister, Daniel Filmus, has  said that it is time to cease aiming at the lowest common denominator and to stop accepting lack of effort. The daily newspaper, Clarìn, reports that Filmus accused teachers of having too little confidence in students’ ability. He also asked parents to push for stricter, more demanding schools.

Perth, 10/02/04 

Referring to the case of a mentally disadvantaged 12-year-old, David Wood, founder of the Kids First organisation, said that it is nothing more than child abuse. The boy was placed inside a kind of cage during lessons and the daily newspaper, The Australian, said that an inquiry had been opened after the boy’s grandmother protested to the school authorities.

Lecce, 10/02/04 

If you want to know what your child is doing in kindergarten, just go to your home computer and with a click your child will appear on the screen. This is possible in a kindergarten in Lecce, Italy, where a webcam has been installed. The daily newspaper, La Repubblica, writes that, although this initiative has been successful, there remain some reservations about the law of privacy and the autonomy of teachers.

Paris, 1/31/04 

According to a report on violence in French schools by the sociologist Eric Debardieux of the Univeristy of Bordeaux, commisioned by the Minister of Eduction, the sense of danger is in decline in Elementary schools but is increasing in high schools.  The researcher was cited by the AFP as saying that the situation should be neither blown out of proportion nor easily dismissed; he did suggest preventative measures.

Düsseldorf, 30/01/04 

A recent international study was conducted in Pisa to evaluate the effectiveness of school programs. The results relating to the German educational system were disappointing and, as a result, many states in the Federal Republic are setting about to bring their programs up to date. An example was given by the broadcasting network WDR: in the state of Nordrhein-Westphalen new primary school programs are already being studied with the idea of implementing them in 2006.

London, 26/01/04 

An entrepreneurial spirit is developing among British young people, according to a recent survey reported on the BBC. 43% of a sample of young people aged between 14 and 19 would like to start up their own company. A similar survey also took place in 2000 and the number of would-be entrepreneurs was only 35%. Two thirds of these were boys, but even the number of girls with the same aspirations is growing.

Dhaka, 26/01/04 

In two and a half years, between January 2000 and 2003, more than 2,400 youngsters disappeared in Bangladesh. Most of these were under ten and more than 1,000 were taken out of the country, in particular to the Gulf states. According to the news, which was attributed to a non-government agency and reported by the agency MISNA, the boys were put to work while the girls were forced into prostitution.

Chicago, 23/01/04 

A radical disinfestation campaign had to be put into effect in 600 public schools in Chicago after the canteens in thirteen of these were closed because they were plagued with mice. CNN reported how the students will have to be content with cold meals brought in from outside during the 10-week operation. The cost will be between $2,000,000 and $4,000,000.

Rome, 22/01/04 

"Child Soldiers" is the title of a book by Luciano Bertozzi, published recently in Rome by the Italian Missionary Publishers. The agency MISNA writes how the number of child soldiers has assumed huge proportions in the last few years: 300,000 minors are currently engaged in military operations, while another 500,000 are enrolled in the armed forces of around 90 countries.

Newham, 19/01/04 

In the primary schools of the east London suburb of Newham an experiment is about to begin to determine if a restriction of classes to a morning timetable will, as some believe, have positive effects on students’ results. The BBC reports that parents will still be able to leave their children at school during the afternoon, if they wish, but the afternoon hours will be devoted to  games and sports.

Lima, 14/01/04 

During the 90s, the period of bad government in Peru under Alberto Fujimori saw the illiteracy rate for minors climb above that of adults, which is around 10%. The agency MISNA informs that this accusation was made by the present government led by Alejandro Toledo. An extensive campaign has been started to encourage youngsters to go to school and one of the inducements they are offering is free textbooks.

Paris, 14/01/04 

Now that the new law prohibiting any display of religious symbols in French schools is about to be approved, many Muslim female students are looking for ways to get round the ban on veils. According to France Presse, some girls are covering their head with what is arguably only a scarf in the case of contestation. Others are awaiting instructions from the religious authorities.

Sandringham, 13/01/04 

Is it right to shoot pheasants near a primary school and in sight of hundreds of children? This is the question the BBC has been asking after pheasants were shot on the Queen’s Sandringham Estate where the Royal Family was spending their Christmas holidays. A spokesman for the Queen explained the situation by saying that hunting is a rural sport that has been practiced on these lands for centuries.

Tegucigalpa, 31/12/03 

One thousand youngsters were killed in Honduras during 2003: this is the horrifying figure given for a country whose population is under seven million. Referring to civil rights reports, the agency MISNA concluded that this situation is the result of fights between rival gangs. But there is also a suspicion that many victims are the result of police violence.

Richmond, 28/12/03 

Can a school be named after Jefferson Davis, the Confederate President, or after southern generals (or supporters of slavery) like Stonewall Jackson? According to CNN, there is open debate about this matter in the eleven states of the old South where many schools bear these names. Some schools have already changed their names and one has even cancelled the name of George Washington, the father of independence, because he too possessed slaves.

London, 26/12/03 

Children’s TV programs are not only non educational but are actually violent, in the opinion of Charles Clark, the English Minister for Education. In an interview with the weekly newspaper The Observer, Clarke stated that violent scenes on the screen persuaded youngsters that certain types of behavior are acceptable. The minister has asked the broadcasting stations to study the relationship between TV programs and juvenile delinquency.

Paris, 20/12/03 

The controversy continues in France about the right of Muslim girls  to wear the veil to school. Jacques Chirac, the French President, agrees with the conclusions reached by the commission set up specially to deal with the issue: any religious sign or symbol is forbidden. The agency France Presse reports that there are two sides to this debate: on the one hand, the principle that schools are secular, on the other, respect for personal liberty.

Annapolis, 20/12/03 

Universities in the American state of Maryland must let students know four years in advance what fees they are going to have to pay. This is so that families and students can plan their financial affairs and understand just what they are paying for. According to the daily newspaper, Washington Post, this measure has become necessary because of the numerous protests made when fees were unexpectedly raised in the last few years.

Dar es Salaam, 19/12/03 

The primary school development plan adopted by the Tanzanian school authorities has been successful in lifting the country’s scholastic standards. Quoted in the newspaper, The Guardian, the Tanzanian Minister for Education, Joseph Mungai, said that 124 schools reached the top level fixed by the plan and many other schools were making excellent progress.

Belfast, 19/12/03 

In the unsettled province of Northern Ireland, the teachers are up in arms and threatening industrial unrest in the coming weeks. The BBC reports that the problem lies in the way these teachers’ salaries are penalised in comparison with those of their colleagues in the rest of the United Kingdom. The decision to strike was made by the four largest unions with more than 75% in agreement.

Washington, 19/12/03 

After reaching a peak during the 90s, drug use among American youngsters has finally started to fall off, according to the annual federal government report.  Reuters, the news agency, relates how consumption has dropped off by 11% in the last two years among students between 13 and 18 years old, while the number of young people using drugs has fallen by 28% in the last year.

Sydney, 18/12/03 

Both government agencies and teachers’ unions are refusing to publish documents which would show families how well or how badly schools are teaching, according to an expert in the matter, Jennifer Buckingham. The daily newspaper, The Australian, writes that this researcher recommends that the public be informed about the comparative data showing how well qualified the teachers are, the size of classes and the results achieved by students.

Atlanta, 17/12/03 

In rural areas of the United States, school results are better than those in the large cities. This is what came out of a study into reading and math ability, according to a report on CNN. Experts say that this difference can be explained by social factors: the presence of ethnic minorities in large urban areas negatively affects the results.

Singapore, 10/12/03 

How can learning be made more attractive? In the middle school of Juwing, in Singapore, games are being used as a teaching aid and the daily paper The Straits Times writes that the experiment is working. Physics lessons are held outside in the playing field and students who are learning about, say,  the force of gravity learn while they play on the swings.

Buenos Aires, 7/12/03 

"Journalists for a day” – this is the slogan of an initiative involving high schools in the Argentine capital. The daily paper, Clarìn, has published the report on poverty written by a class in which they describe how 1,130 people live on the streets, 890 in temporary housing, 9,000 in public refuges and the same number able to pay rent only because they receive government assistance.

Mulhouse, 28/11/03 

The controversial issue of the Muslim veil keeps on popping up in France. The latest episode is reported in the newspaper Le Monde.  A 12-year-old girl named Hilal was expelled from her school near Mulhouse, Alsace, because she refused to take off her veil during lessons. The school rules specifically ban headcovering in class.

Geneva, 27/11/03 

According to a  UNICEF press report, entitled “The Lost Generations of Africa”, there are at present 11 million AIDS orphans in Africa. But the UNICEF Agency for Children says the worst is still to come. It has been calculated that, in the next 7 years, 20 million African youngsters will have lost one or both parents to the disease.

Timaru, 27/11/03 

The New Zealand Ministry for Education intends to close some of the 34 schools in the Timaru district because of serious budget deficits. However, as the daily newspaper The Timaru Herald writes, the citizens are ready to do battle with the minister Trevor Mallard when he comes to explain to them the government’s program. Other parts of New Zealand find themselves in a similar situation.

Valetta, 26/11/03 

How to speak to youngsters in school about alcohol and drugs? The Maltese school authorities, according to the daily paper, The Malta Independent Daily, have decided on an approach whereby the teachers will speak about the problem in language that students understand. The program is entitled: “Yes to Life and No to whatever gets in the way of healthy development”.

Sao Paulo, 25/11/03 

Child labor is one of Brazil’s great social problems but there have been some encouraging signals in the past few years. If the figures appearing in the daily newspaper, O Estado de S. Paulo, can be relied on, between 1991 and 2002 the number of working underage children dropped by more than 45%. The largest group still to be found is in the farm sector.

Tokyo, 25/11/03 

The students in the Wakamatsu primary school in the western suburbs of Tokyo had a special day recently. The daily paper, Asahi Shimbun, writes that they received a visit from foreign students studying at the University of Tokyo, who told their native stories and played their native music. The students came from Myanmar, Vietnam, South Korea, Afghanistan and Malaysia.

Washington, 25/11/03 

The American school population which was growing rapidly during the nineties has slowed down and is actually decreasing in the northeast. The daily newspaper Washington Post quotes government figures that show  how the 54 million students attending public and private schools in 2001 will grow only by 5% to reach 56.4 million in 2013.

Glasgow, 24/11/03 

Since the number of Muslims in Scotland is constantly increasing, the Glasgow school authorities are considering whether to allow Muslim schools to be financed with public money. According to the BBC, there are four Scottish schools where more than 90% of the students are Muslim. The large Pakistan community greeted the news with satisfaction.

Kansas City, 23/11/03 

How to get rid of old school buildings? In the La Crosse district of south Kansas, they tried using the internet to sell off a school that had been closed for years, and immediately got a positive response from a lot of potential buyers. CNN reports that, as a result of this response, other school districts are making use of the internet to sell off property, and that the income received is helping to finance the existing schools.

Paris, 7/11/03 

The sense of touch could lend help to the eye during the early stages of learning to read. According to the agency France Presse, this is the conclusion that a group of French researchers have arrived at. After testing a new system with a sample group of children and comparing their results with those obtained using traditional teaching methods, it has become clear that touching letters raised in relief aids an analytical approach to learning to write.

Dixon, 7/11/03 

A  school week of only four days, from Tuesday to Friday. This is the solution devised in Dixon, Kentucky, for reducing the costs of school transport, school lunches and support personnel. CNN reports that similar measures have been adopted, or are going to be adopted, in other parts of the US. The need to balance the budget is the reply usually given to the families who are, for the most part, opposed to this new system.

Wellington, 6/11/03 

The New Zealand Minister for Education, Trevor Mallard, in a recent TV interview, reassured the Chinese government about the safety conditions in his schools, according to the Singapore daily The Straits Times.  There are 80,000 foreign students in the NZ school system and most of them are Chinese. The minister was reacting to the reports of the collapse of two schools and to a number of episodes of violence.

Buenos Aires, 5/11/03 

Giving up one’s schooling during a period of unemployment irrevocably leads to juvenile delinquency. This is the opinion of Daniel Filmus, the Argentine Minister for Education, according to the agency MISNA. The minister is reported as saying that almost 50% of youngsters do not finish middle school and that continuing with one’s studies is the only sure way of not ending up a criminal.

Ankara, 5/11/03 

On the anniversary of the foundation of the Higher Education Office, the state body that controls Turkish universities, groups of students demonstrated in both Istanbul and Ankara. They were protesting against the American occupation of Iraq. The Turkish Daily News reports that the police had to use teargas and water hoses to disperse them and that two policemen were injured during the skirmishes.

London, 5/11/03 

There are too many weapons in British schools and the alarm has been raised by teachers’ unions who have asked the government to face up to the problem of safety in schools. The BBC reports that a recent stabbing in a school in Lincolnshire has made the subject an urgent one. Many young students carry knives, according to the broadcasting corporation, precisely to discourage would-be aggressors.

Washington, 3/11/03 

In the primary schools of Glen Forest, near Washington DC, a large number of students go to amusement arcades at lunchtime instead of to the school canteen. The daily paper, Washington Post, reports that these are young Muslims who, although they have not yet reached adolescence and are therefore exempt from fasting, wish to publicly show their faith during this period of Ramadan.

Buenos Aires, 31/10/03 

For the third year running, the program “Parliament in Schools” has taken place in Argentine schools. In every province, middle schools hold courses on how laws are made and the best students are selected to go to the Congress in Buenos Aires. The daily paper, Clarìn, reports how from the Senate benches these students illustrate their vision of a better world.  

Athens, 29/10/03 

The best student of Thessalonika, Odysseas Cenai, was awarded the honor of carrying the Greek flag during the parade for the national holiday on October 28. The parents of his fellow students, however, prevented him from doing this because Cenai is not Greek but Albanian. The episode, according to the Paris newspaper, Le Monde, set off a bitter debate in Greece where a tendency to xenophobia and racism has become the cause of growing concern.

Sao Paulo, 6/10/03 

The daily newspaper, O Estado de S. Paulo, has pointed out that certain countries which are at a similar stage of development to Brazil invest a lot more money in education and ensure that their citizens spend on average longer at school. Mexico, India, Portugal and Ireland are mentioned in particular. The paper concluded that it is in Brazil’s interest to catch up with these other countries.

Colombo, 6/10/03 

Just as 49 kidnapped children were released by the Tamil Tigers, the rebel movement which is seeking independence from Sri Lanka, another 23 were kidnapped. The press agency MISNA reports, however, that the rebels have denied any responsibility for this latest event. Although the long and bloody guerilla warfare conducted by this separatist movement has been put on hold by a ceasefire for the past two years, youngsters have often been forced into becoming involved as combatants.

Shanghai, 5/10/03 

In many of the schools in Shanghai, one of the liveliest economic centers of the People’s Republic of China, experiments in bilingual lessons have started. The newspaper China Daily reports that the teaching of English is gradually being introduced into primary and secondary schools and that English alongside Chinese will be used to teach mathematics, science, geography and computer science.

Siena, 2/10/03 

Although there is a nursery school in Castellina, a small Italian village situated in the Chianti Hills, seven youngsters cannot attend. Classes have already reached 28 pupils, the maximum number allowed, and there are no teachers available for another class. According to the daily newspaper, La Repubblica, this is because government funding has been reduced and there are also waiting lists in a few larger cities.

Paris, 1/10/03 

At the end of primary school, some 17.5% of French children have reading difficulties. 4% have serious problems and are to all intents and purposes illiterate. The newspaper Le Monde, which obtained these figures from government sources, has pointed out how new preparatory programs are needed for the students as well as more careful training courses for teachers.

Turin, 29/09/03 

The Carabinieri, an Italian police force, recently discovered a ten-year-old Moroccan boy who was forced to sell drugs in a public park in Turin and subsequently were able to arrest his handler. This was reported on Il Nuovo:  a daily news service. In another story, this time in Naples, a man was arrested for drug peddling and, in order to cover up his activities, he always took his five-year-old son along with him.

Southampton, 26/09/03 

There is a danger that school sporting programs, and even games during school recess, will come to an end in British schools because of widespread fears of being sued for damages. This at least is how the BBC foresees future developments. TheTV service was commenting on the case of a child who fell off a swing in the school playground and broke his arm. However, experts say that part of the learning process involves teaching a child how to take reasonable risks in life.

Berlin, 25/09/03 

The German Constitutional Court has established that, in the absence of any state law to the contrary, Muslim students cannot be prevented from wearing a veil to school. The daily newspaper, die Tageszeitung, reported how this sentence, which recognizes that the Länder may still limit this right, was commented on negatively by those who favor complete liberty for citizens to follow any of the precepts of the Koran.

Washington, 25/09/03 

Hurricane Isabel not only devastated a wide swathe of territory along the Atlantic coast of the US but it also upset the school calendar. The daily newspaper Washington Post reported how lessons had to be suspended for more than two days in some counties and it is now necessary to make up for this lost time. Two snow days a year, when schools can close due to heavy snowfalls, are usually included in the annual scholastic calendar.

Bobigny, 19/09/03 

A young 18-year-old Frenchman was given a four-month suspended prison sentence plus 120 hours of community work because he had pulled out a pistol and fired off a shot during a quarrel that took place during school hours. The incident occurred at the high school he attends in Noisy-le-Sec. The Prosecution had asked for 8 years’ imprisonment, according to the report released by  France Presse , which commented how lucky it was that no one was hit by the bullet.

Kinshasa, 18/09/03 

The scandal of the child soldiers continues in the Democratic Republic of Congo (ex Zaire). The news agency MISNA reports that around half of the hundred or so soldiers arrested recently in the country’s north east were under age. UN agencies and volunteers working in this African nation racked by civil war are now tackling the difficult task of getting these young people back into mainstream society.

New York, 17/09/03 

One teacher for every five students, or at least one for every seven. According to the New York Times this is every educator’s dream primary school. Columbia University has started such a school in order to prepare some of its students from their earliest school years. Of course, the teachers are super-selected and very well paid, and naturally the fees are high, but the university will refund these in inverse proportion to a family’s income.

Washington, 17/09/03 

11% of the staff of the CIA, the US intelligence agency, are Afro-americans, just under the percentage of American blacks in the total US population. According to the vice-director, John McLaughlin, the CIA would gain much from having a greater ethnic minority presence and, in a report on CNN, he has invited young blacks to consider entering the service.

Buenos Aires, 16/09/03 

The daily newspaper, Clarin, reports that, according to the Ministry of Education, the worst moment for young Argentinian pupils is their first year at primary school. This is the most-repeated year, with 10% of pupils having to repeat. The situation is not uniform throughout the country: in the capital the figure is only 6% whereas it can go beyond 20% in certain provinces.

Auckland, 13/09/03 

Sometimes young New Zealanders get too carried away by their passion for the internet, at least this is what the daily newspaper The Dominion Post has to say. Some youngsters have been known to spend up to 19 uninterrupted hous in front of their monitor screens. There are frequent cases of young people falling asleep at school and giving up all forms of social intercourse. There are even some instances of attempted suicides after parents insisted on turning off the computer.

Luanda, 13/09/03 

Although the Angolan civil war finished a year and a half ago, 15 million landmines were left scattered throughout the territory. This means one and a half mines for everyone of the 10 million inhabitants of this African nation. The news agency MISNA gives a figure of 70,000 for the number of people who have lost a limb as a result of a landmine explosion; among these are 8,000 are babies. If today’s rhythm of clearance continues, it will take 100 years to clear the country of landmines.

Madrid, 11/09/03 

Whenever a young person suffers from snoring, it is probable that his schoolwork is not up to standard. This results from a German study whose results were published in a specialist American journal and recently publicised in the Spanish daily El Mundo. In particular, science, maths and grammar are the subjects that suffer from this disturbance and the best way to deal with the problem is to consult an ear, nose and throat specialist. 

Cardiff, 10/09/03 

Although this 14-year-old Welsh boy had been expelled for serious breaches of discipline, he came back after 6 months to say Hi to his companions. The BBC  reports how, when a teacher told him to leave the school, the boy laid him out with a punch on the chin and then knocked down a female teacher who had rushed to help her colleague. He was later sentenced to 4 months imprisonment.

Belém, 9/09/03 

In Belém, in the Brazilian state of  Parà, the trial is proceeding of 2 doctors, a businessman and a policeman; these four people are accused of cruelly abusing, mutilating and then killing a number of youngsters between 1989 and 1993. The agency MISNA reports that many relatives of the victims who are closely following the trial have made threats against the accused, so much so that the police, fearing for their safety, have put them under guard.

Washington, 7/09/03 

One tends to think of school bullying as a kind of rite of passage which is not only inevitable but basically harmless. However, according to  Associated Press Agency, a recent US study shows that this is not the case. It appears that often the young bully is embarking on a life that will lead eventually to criminal behaviour. InAmerican schools 3.7 million young people are deemed responsible for acts of violence.

Osimo, 6/09/03 

Italian students in the last year of in primary school make a lot more writing mistakes than those of 50 years ago. Although statistical confirmation is not yet available, this is the result of an experiment conducted in a school in Osimo. A piece of dictation dating from 50 years ago was given to a group of today’s students and, as reported in the daily newspaper La Repubblica, they made four times as many mistakes as did their grandparents.

London 4/09/03 

Among other things, the shortage of public money available in England and Wales is leading to a reduction in school staffs and, as a result, teachers are up in arms. The BBC reports that teachers’ unions are contesting the fact that school heads have asked them to devote more time to administration. They are complaining that the government had in fact promised them less work not more.

Dispur, 4/09/03 

UNICEF and the government of the Indian state of Assam have been accused of responsibility for the death of 30 children who took excessive doses of vitamin A in 2001. The agency MISNA explains that this substance was found in a drug designed to prevent blindness, but in more than double the normal dosage. UNICEF denies the accusation saying that although the dosage in the drug was correct the drug itself was improperly administered.

Washington, 3/09/03 

Advances in computer technology which allow distance learning through the internet are leading to an increase of home schooling in the USA. CNN reports that, according to the last available official figures, 850,000 youngsters were studying at home,  just under 2% of the school-age population. But these figures go back to 1999 and it is estimated that the number by now exceeds 1 million..

Monrovia, 13/08/03 

Thousands of children are numbered in the columns of refugees fleeing from the horrors of the war still ravaging Liberia, despite the efforts of the international community to bring the conflict to an end. The agency MISNA speaks about continuous streams of refugees arriving in the already overflowing camps where food and water are becoming scarce. The Red Cross is trying to manage this emergency but more adequate humanitarian aid is needed.  

Rome, 10/08/03 

Only three students out of a hundred failed the recent Italian “ maturita’ “ exam, the high school leaving certificate. And, as reported in the newspaper La Rpubblica,  9% were awarded top grades of 100% while 11% had to be content with a bare pass pf 60%. The number of candidates from private schools is increasing.

New Delhi, 8/08/03 

When children blow up in anger, even in what appears to be a hysterical crisis, it should not be too great a cause for worry. This is the opinion of Ravi Mullick, an Indian specialising in the subject, who was interviewed in the daily newspaper The Times of India. The most appropriate response is not punishment, as is often the case, but according to Mullick the best way to deal with these situations is patience.

Cagliari, 6/08/03 

The case of Sara, a Sardinian child suffering from brain damage who was failed in her junior high school exams because her only means of communication is by gesturing, has opened once again the contoversy about disabled children in Italian schools. ISTAT, the Italian bureau of statistics,  reports that there are 133,000 disabled school-age youngsters, 1.5% of the total. Of these, 130,000 or 98% attend normal school programs.

Monrovia, 5/08/03 

Even while the African intervention forces were arriving and being deployed,  the rebel forces have continued to sack Monrovia,. the capital of Liberia. Among the rebels are a large number of minors aged between 12 and 17. The agency MISNA reports that these youngsters, who are committing atrocious crimes, are acting under the effects of drugs which include the sniffing of substances obtained from gunpowder.

Hamburg, 4/08/03 

A number of German educational experts believe that the present period of six and a half weeks’ vacation is too long for students and breaks up the continuity of teaching. They are proposing a review of the school calendar which would limit the summer break to only four weeks. The weekly news magazine Der Spiegel explains that this proposal also has its roots in the idea that long school holidays can create difficulties for many families.

Rome, 2/08/03 

The Italian government is contesting the legitimacy of the recent law on schools made by the Region of Emilia-Romagna (see the relevant article in April’s Foglio Lapis: www.fogliolapis.it/aprile2003-1.htm) and is bringing the matter before the Constitutional Court. The daily newspaper La Repubblica points out that the controversial issues range from ongoing permanent adult education to plans for alternating work with school, including how to organise the entire school network..

Dacca, 28/07/03 

Bangladesh border police have discovered a group trafficking babies to India. They have saved 24 babies and arrested the six women who had abducted them and who were taking them across the border. According to the agency MISNA there are at least 20,000 babies and young girls sent on this road to slavery every year. Sometimes India is merely a way stop enroute to the Middle East.

Paris, 28/07/03 

After a school year marked by an unprecedented number of strikes,  Jean-Pierre Raffarin’s French government has met to discuss what the problems are in schools. The agency France Presse explains that the government is trying to find a balance between the needs of schools and the funds which are available. All the troubles during the past year were due to the cuts made in spending as a result of the public deficit..

Geneva, 23/07/03 

In a study on the situation of children throughout the world, UNICEF reports that, even in some eastern European countries and in some Asian nations of the ex-Soviet bloc, very serious crisis situations exist. For example, in the Caucasus region and in south-eastern Europe, infant mortality rates reach 6%, double the rates recorded in Latin America. Worse, this situation is aggravated by the health crisis created by AIDS.

New Delhi, 18/07/03  

Whenever a newborn child gets sick in India, chances are that if it’s a girl it will die. This came out of a study conducted in a New Delhi hospital and reported on by the BBC.  The experts who carried out the study explain that the reason for this situation lies in the fact that, traditionally, female children are not welcome into their families and consequently, when they get sick, they suffer accordingly.

Lille, 15/07/03 

It will be named after the great Arab philosopher, Averroè, and with its location inside the buildings of a mosque it will be financed by the Lille muslim community. But this school, the first islamic high school in metropolitan France, will be secular in character and open to anybody when classes begin at the start of the next school year. The daily newspaper Le Monde points out that the veil for females, which has created such controversy in French schools, will be neither obligatory not forbidden.

Rome, 12/06/03 

On his return from a trip to the southern part of Uganda which is wracked by civil war, Giulio Albanese, editor of the news agency MISNA, made a vigorous and heartfelt protest against the national and international media which is ignoring the drama that has gripped the lives of the people of this remote area. The war is being ignored by the media for the simple reason that the great powers are also ignoring it.

Miami, 10/06/03 

No more than 18 pupils per class in the kindergartens, no more than 22 in the elementary schools and no more than 25 in the high schools. This is what was voted in by the parliament of Florida despite the opposition by the governor, Jeb Bush who is the president’s brother. In the end, he was forced into signing the bill. The cost of the operation is also contoversial: the estimates vary from 8 to 27 billion dollars over an eight year period.

Lima, 10/06/03 

After a month of paralysis in Peru’s schools, the government of president Alejandro Toledo has threatened to sack the teachers who continue to strike. The main bone of contention is pay, explains the agency MISNA. The 280,000 teachers in Peru receive on average 180 euros a month. They are asking for an extra 50 but the government has offered them only 29.

New York, 9/06/03 

Americans want their universities to be a mirror of their varied population but they reject the idea that admission should be based on race or ethnicity. This is what emerged from a study reported on CNN. The Bush administration is also adverse to a system of quotas but critics consider this to be an example of racial discrimination.

London, 9/06/03 

One of the reasons for the lack of knowledge of foreign languages in the United Kingdom is certainly the fact that the English language has achieved universal acceptance. The BBC reports on a new plan to include foreign language teaching in primary schools within ten years. The major obstacle is lack of teachers as so few students are enrolled in language departments at the universities.

Tokyo, 5/06/03 

In the 207 schools of the metropolitan area of Tokyo, the rate of absenteeism is extremely high and the main reason given by students is that lessons are boring or useless. The daily newspaper Asahi Shimbun reports that a plan has been put forward to allow youngsters to evaluate their teachers. It is to be hoped that, in this case, the ideas that emerge will improve the situation.

Auckland, 4/06/03 

The SARS epidemic has indirectly brought about job losses for many of the teachers in New Zealand language schools. The daily paper The Press explained that fear of contracting the disease significantly reduced the number of students from Japan, Korea and Thailand in particular. This meant that the seasonal requirements for teachers, many of whom come from Great Britain for the Northern Hemisphere summer, were reduced.

Turin, 4/06/03 

Hundreds of Turin’s teachers have been forced into making an unusual form of protest against a regulation contained in the budget law that introduces a teacher’s timetable in a way that many consider to be too rigid. The daily paper La Repubblica reports that the teachers showed their disapproval by occupying six different schools with their tents and sleeping bags and that they put up slogans explaining the motive for their protest.

Tucumàn, 29/05/03 

The crisis that continues to affect Argentina is making youngsters suffer above all. The daily newspaper Clarìn recounts the story of Barbarita Flores, a young girl from Tucumàn who, when she was 8 years old in April 2002, confided to the TV reporters that she went to school without eating. Today the situation has gotten worse as she now weighs only 23 kilos, 7 under the norm. In Tucumàn there are around 22,000 undernourished children.

Hanoi, 21/05/03 

When a river ferry sank in the Vietnam province of Quang Nam, 18 children were drowned. The boat was licensed to carry only 20 people but there were 38 passengers on board, according to the Agency  AGI. They were for the most part kids coming back home after school. The ferry capsized during a violent storm.

Washington, 20/05/03 

How to choose a school for your kids? In the columns of the daily Washington Post there is an expert, Jay Matthews, giving parents helpful advice. Some examples? Don’t only check the teaching programs but check the rate of absenteeism among students and teachers; ask the head for a 30-minute meeting to ask questions – if the head is unwilling to agree to this, then be on your guard..

Rome, 19/05/03 

Although there is a lot of talk about hunger in the world, there is very little action and the situation remains dramatic. The Security Council of the Food & Agricultural Organisation meeting in Rome for its 29^th session has confirmed this sad fact. Some data has emerged from the meeting: in Ethiopia and Eritrea more than 13 million people are malnourished, while in nearby Sudan cereal crops have been reduced by a third.

Paris, 18/05/03 

French teachers are continuing their battle against the government’s education policies and this is having heavy repercussions on school activities right before the start of the exam period. In many schools, assemblies are being held and, at the same time, the non-teaching staff is also in agitation. The agency France Presse reports that, according to a survey,  54% of the public are on the side of the teachers.

Sao Paulo, 16/05/03 

The Brazilian daily, O Estado de Sao Paulo, reports that there is positive light inside the teachers’ movements. The main unions have decided to suspend the series of strikes they had planned while they wait for counter proposals from the government. The principal points in dispute concern teachers’ salaries, their autonomy as professionals and future education programs.

Manila, 16/05/03 

It is by using cell telephones that the school authorities of the Philippines intend to solve the problem of how to teach scientific subjects in remote areas of the country. The BBC reports that about 40 primary schools will be equipped with phones that can receive lessons via videomessages. These will be recorded and then rebroadcast by means of TV sets installed in the classrooms.      

Hamburg, 15/05/03 

School students who stay away from lessons are becoming even younger and more numerous, according to a report in the weekly, Der Spiegel. The article refers to a recent study of half a million repeated and unjustified absences. The situation is particularly bad among students who are 11 and 12 years old and who are just about to go on to high school.

Lima, 13/05/03 

Teachers in Peru, too, all 280,000 or thereabouts of them, are on the point of rebellion because of the very low level of their salaries. A protest march in Lima led to a two-day strike. The agency MISNA says that teachers are asking to have their salaries doubled because this is what was promised to them in the last electoral campaign. So far they have not seen a cent in extra pay.

London, 12/05/03 

The BBC reports that the Prime Minister Tony Blair has announced a three-point plan to meet the crisis in certain disadvantaged areas of London. The three points are: new school buildings, easy loans for teachers and zero tolerance for antisocial behavior by students. Blair believes that all citizens have the right to a good primary and high school education in schools in their own district.

Atlanta, 10/05/03 

The quality of food in American school canteens has recently registered a slight improvement, but foods are still being served that exceed the quantity of fats recommended by government health agencies. According to CNN, this was confirmed by an investigation into 20 schools across the USA. About 13% of young Americans are overweight and the number is increasing.

Cape Town, 7/05/03 

The government’s proposal to ban any kind of religious observance in schools, while at the same time, keeping religion as a subject on the curriculum, is causing some discussion in South Africa. Church leaders are afraid that this subject will now be taught by atheists, according to a report in the daily newspaper Cape Argus. The educational ministers in the various Provinces are going to meet and discuss the matter.

London, 7/05/03 

Ryan Bell was a capable and intelligent student, but he had one great defect: he was alcohol dependent. And so an interesting experiment was brought to a stop. Two years ago, the TV broadcaster Channel 4 enrolled the then 14-year-old Ryan in an expensive, prestigious public school, guaranteeing to pay the annual fees of 15,000 pounds. But the boy was expelled when he was found drunk for the third time.

Kampala, 7/05/03 

One million people in the north of Uganda are living under the threat of starvation because of the civil war in progress. The condition of children is particularly serious. This is how the World Food Program sees the situation. Moreover, the news agency MISNA reports that many of the deserters from the government forces who are fighting the rebels are under-age minors, thus confirming that this African nation is still making use of child soldiers.

Paris, 6/05/03 

For the fourth strike during the current scholastic year, the number of French school staff who took part was, depending on category and type of school, between 13.5 and 33%. The agency  France Presse calculates that, among the actual teaching staff, the particpation rate was between 22 and 33%, a much higher percentage than in the previoous strikes.

Sao Paulo, 6/05/03 

The new Brazilian government under the leadership of President Lula da Silva means to deal with the serious problem of illiteracy. Around 20 million people, about 14% of the population, are affected. The daily paper O Estado de Sao Paulo announced the setting up of a detailed census which will furnish accurate figures about this phenomenon and so enable the intervention of at least 100,000 “literacy teachers”.

London, 5/05/03 

Heads of schools must have the power to expel students whose parents behave badly in their relations with the school, by for example verbally or physically abusing teachers. This, according to the BBC, is what the President of the Association of British Heads maintains. A government source replies that, while it is true that certain abuses by parents are completely unjustified, this does not mean that students should be punished for the failings of their parents.

Paris, 5/05/03 

There are two federation of school students' parents in France. Faced with the imminent fourth strike in just a few months, one of these federations gave its support to the decision by the unions to strike, while the other remained resolutely opposed. With the exams only a few weeks away, according to AFP, these parents think that it is not the right moment to strike. But the others insist that what is at stake is the whole future of public education.

Lucknow, 4/05/03 

An editorial in the daily The Times of India maintains that the role of the private sector in Indian schools is esssential. In addition to the traditional arguments about the advantage of choice, the paper adds another consideration: it is a fact that, despite all efforts by the government, public education is a long way from being able to satisfy the demand for education.

Chicago, 3/05/03 

Sho Yano is a 12-year-old American boy who prefers studying scientific subjects to playing sports or computer games. He has already taken his high-school certificate in biology and the newspaper Chicago Tribune reports that he is going on to study medicine at Loyola University. His aim is to be able to devote himself to cancer research. Sho has an IQ of 200 and already at the age of four was able to play piano pieces by Mozart.

Washington, 3/05/03 

“We the people”: this is the title, taken from the American Consitution, which President Bush used to launch a campaign in favour of history teaching in American schools. CNN reports that the White House is looking for around 100 million dollars to finance the next three years of the progam. The emphasis is to be on American history.

Rome, 30/04/03 

According to a survey that certainly underestimates the situation, there are 144,000 under-age workers in Italy. This means they are under 15 years of age and that, instead of going to school, they are working as dishwashers, shop assistants, waiters, labourers, farm workers and even as drug pushers. The situation, according to the report in the newspaper La Repubblica, is often aggravated by the harsh working conditions and poor pay.

Sydney, 28/04/03

In Australia, as in other federated states,  the school systems are decentralised. But, as the daily newspaper The Australian  reports, this results in a lot of difficulties for students whose parents have to change their state of residence for professional or business reasons. A proposal has been made to adopt a national curriculum and this will be examined by the Education Ministries in the various states and territories.

Ahmedabad, 27/04/03

Distance learning programs are being put forward as the way to go for India. According to the daily newspaper The Times of India this type of study is the only practicable one for this immense Asian nation, especially when it is borne in mind that only 6% of Indians have access to education. The system is also being favourably regarded even for primary education because of the huge distances and the way the rural population is scattered.

Nairobi, 26/04/03

A reader of The Daily Nation  has written that too  many youngsters in Kenya give up their schooling because their families cannot pay the costs of their education. It is therefore necessary, above all in the poorest parts of the country, to set up funding programs which would be based on how low a family's income was and how much progress was being made by the student.

Geneva, 26/04/03

The WHO and UNICEF report that malaria kills 3,000 youngsters a day. The problem is particularly acute in Subsaharan Africa where 90% of the cases occur. Knowledge about the disease and the means to deal with it exist, but the problem is how to use these on a large scale.

Chicago, 25/04/03

Only a quarter of American students know how to write English correctly and a bare 1% has developed a sense of style. This is, according to an Associated Press report, the opinion of the National Committee for Writing. The experts attribute this to the fact that schools give low priority to good writing skills.

London, 25/04/03

The English educational authorities have let it be known that  any students absent from school after the Easter break for reasons connected with the SARS epidemic will be tolerated, at the discretion of the school head. According to the BBC, this is because some of the students may be returning from China or Canada, the two countries worst affected by SARS.

Paris, 24/04/03

Decentralisation could provide a good opportunity for public schools in France. This is the essnce of a message that Luc Ferry, the French Minister for Education, has sent to school personnel who have been agitating for a long time because of uncertainties about job security resulting from the transfer of certain schools from the state to local control. AFP reports that Ferry is going to start a tour of the country to explain the government's proposals.

Mount Pleasant, 18/04/03

There are about 60 Indigenous Indian colleges in the US and the Washington Post  says they are gaining more and more students. At the moment there are more than 30,000 students. These colleges were born in the 60s in order to provide a suitable form of education for the Indians who live on the reserves and they are mainly concentrated in the midwest and in the southwestern states.

Bogotà, 18/04/03

In order to carry out an attack against a military control post, unidentified Colombian terrorists made use of an 8-year old boy. The news agency MISNA confirmed that someone gave the boy a bicycle and a parcel to be delivered to a soldier. The parcel contained a bomb which exploded earlier than planned and the boy was killed. A bounty has been posted on the people responsible.

Münster, 17/04/03

More than a fifth of the primary schools in the German city of Münster, to be precise 10 out of 48 schools, are prepared to experiment a longer school day. This system, known familiarly as “stay in school until 4 o'clock”, has already been started in other parts of Germany and, according to the broadcasting station Westdeutscher Rundfunk, it will be officially proposed to the school authorities of this city in Westphalia at the end of May.