Un prototipo de aulas para refugiados y desplazados se halla entre los proyectos presentados por la Cumbre Mundial de Innovación para la Educación (WISE, por sus siglas en inglés), con cita en esta capital.
Al dialogar sobre la iniciativa hoy en sesión plenaria, la presidenta de la Fundación de Qatar para la Educación, la Ciencia y el Desarrollo Comunitario, Moza bint Nasser, catalogó al modelo de asequible y adaptable a diferentes condiciones climáticas.
El aula innovadora, diseñada por Zaha Hadid y llevado a cabo por el grupo Zaha Hadid Arquitectos, forma parte de los esfuerzos de la Fundación Educación Sobre Todo, también creada por la jequesa, de proveer oportunidades de educación a grupos en situación de crisis o pobreza.
Por medio de la fundación más de 10 millones de niños han accedido a las escuelas, afirmó Moza bint Nasser, quien llamó a ver a los infantes desamparados con ojos de padres y trabajar en pos de la meta de cero niños sin educación.
En su discurso, recordó la alegría expresada por la reconocida creadora iraquí al proponerle tomar acción, desde la arquitectura, a favor de los refugiados y desplazados.
Hadid, quien falleció en marzo de 2016, diseñó el estadio Al Janoub, uno de los que acogerán la Copa Mundial de la FIFA 2022 en Doha.
De hecho, las 100 aulas trazadas para el proyecto servirán durante el certamen como pasaje de entrada del público a los estadios, y luego serán destinadas como aulas en Cambodia, Cameron, Colombia, Jordania, Lebanon, Mali, Myanmar, Palestina, Sudán del Sur, Sri Lanka, Turquía y Uganda.
A diferencia de las tiendas tradicionales, el prototipo puede reajustar su tamaño y diseño a la locación y las necesidades de sus beneficiarios, y gracias a la calidad del material que emplea cuenta con una mayor ventilación y entrada de luz.
Por otro lado, debido a su flexibilidad y movilidad, puede ser ensamblado, desmantelado y transportado de un espacio a otro, a lo que se suma la extensión de su vida útil a al menos 10 años en condiciones normales frente a los cuatro de las carpas utilizadas hasta el momento en campos de refugiados.
No obstante su función escolar, estas aulas tendrán otros usos para la comunidad una vez concluidas las clases.
Próximamente, uno de los modelos irá a Mali para ser probado allí; el primero de ellos superó de forma exitosa su ensayo en el campo de refugiados Nizip 1, al sureste de Turquía.
Según un nuevo informe, la tasa de aborto cayó a su nivel más bajo en Estados Unidos desde que se legalizó el procedimiento de interrupción del embarazo por una decisión de la Corte Suprema de 1973.
Pero los expertos dicen que la causa de esta disminución puede ser difícil de aislar.
El estudio publicado la semana pasada por el Instituto Guttmacher, una organización de investigación que apoya el acceso al aborto, dijo que hubo una disminución del 7% de la práctica entre 2014 y 2017.
El grupo calcula que en 2017 se realizaron alrededor de 862.320 abortos, casi 200.000 menos que en 2011 y por debajo de un máximo de 1,6 millones en 1990.
A pesar de casi una década de esfuerzos por parte de políticos conservadores estatales y de varios condados para restringir el acceso al aborto, Guttmacher dice que la disminución no está necesariamente vinculada a las nuevas leyes.
Entonces, ¿cuáles son algunas de las teorías que explican la caída récord de la tasa de aborto en Estados Unidos?
1. Mejor salud reproductiva
Los autores del informe Guttmacher, que se realiza en base a la compilación periódica de encuestas en hospitales y clínicas de aborto, descubrieron que una causa de la disminución podría ser un mejor acceso a la anticoncepción y la mejora de los dispositivos anticonceptivos femeninos.
Los dispositivos e implantes intrauterinos mejoraron en la última década y cada vez más compañías de seguros los incluyen en sus planes bajo la Ley de Asistencia Asequible (ACA) de 2009, también conocida como Obamacare.
Elizabeth Nash, gerente de políticas del Instituto Guttmacher, dice que la ACA, junto con otras leyes locales, aumentaron el acceso al control de la natalidad.
También advierte que el informe muestra el promedio nacional, pero no cuenta historias individuales.
Derechos de autor de la imagenGETTY IMAGESImage captionUn nuevo estudio revela que la tasa de abortos cayó a su nivel más bajo en Estados Unidos.
Por ejemplo, la distancia promedio que las mujeres debieron recorrer para realizar un aborto en 2014 fue de 55 km, aunque algunas mujeres se vieron obligadas a viajar mucho más lejos para el mismo procedimiento.
«Algunas personas recorren cientos de kilómetros mientras otras viven en ciudades donde pueden tomar el autobús o el tren», dice Nash.
2. Abortos en el hogar
Las mujeres también recurren a abortos en el hogar en lugar de la cirugía, dice el informe, señalando que el 95% de todos los procedimientos documentados todavía se realizan en clínicas especializadas.
Los abortos realizados fuera de una clínica son más difíciles o imposibles de rastrear, y podrían ayudar a explicar la caída.
Derechos de autor de la imagenGETTY IMAGESImage captionUna causa de la disminución de la tasa de abortos podría ser por un mejor acceso a la anticoncepción y la mejora de los dispositivos anticonceptivos femeninos.
Los abortos médicos, haciendo uso de la llamada píldora abortiva, representaron el 39% de los abortos en 2017, frente al 20% en 2014.
Casi cuatro de cada diez abortos en 2017 se realizaron con píldoras abortivas en lugar de cirugía, señala el informe.
3. Mayores restricciones legales
Entre 2011 y 2017, 32 estados promulgaron un total de 394 nuevas restricciones al aborto.
Algunas de las restricciones más severas hasta la fecha fueron aprobadas por estados conservadores en 2018, después de que se realizó la última encuesta del informe Guttmacher, pero varias de esas restricciones fueron bloqueadas temporalmente por los tribunales.
Los opositores al aborto celebraron la disminución de la tasa como prueba de que las leyes regionales funcionan para evitar los abortos.
«Creo que están teniendo un impacto», dice Laura Echevarria del antiabortista Comité Nacional por el Derecho a la Vida (NRLC, por sus siglas en inglés).
Derechos de autor de la imagenGETTY IMAGESImage captionMuchas mujeres deben recorrer varios kilómetros para tener acceso a una clínica para tener un aborto seguro.
«Si no están teniendo un gran impacto, ¿por qué todos en la industria del aborto se ponen en pie de guerra cada vez que se aprueba una ley?».
Sin embargo, Nash de Guttmacher dice que si bien las restricciones regionales «ciertamente juegan un papel» en la caída de las tasas nacionales, «los números no cuentan toda la historia».
«La tasa de aborto, ya sea que disminuya o aumente, no es realmente el indicador de acceso. Lo que debemos hacer es pensar cómo cada individuo ve los servicios de aborto y si son asequibles o no».
Algunos estados que aprobaron restricciones al aborto entre 2014-2017 tuvieron aumentos en la tasa de aborto.
Y en varios estados que abrieron nuevas clínicas, la tasa de aborto disminuyó.
En general, en Estados Unidos hubo un aumento en la instalación de clínicas de aborto en los tres años que abarca el informe. Sin embargo, varias clínicas cerraron desde 2017.
4. Tasa de natalidad más baja
Derechos de autor de la imagenGETTY IMAGESImage captionOtras de las razones ante la caída de la tasa de abortos en Estados Unidos es que las mujeres eligen tener menos hijos.
Las mujeres eligen tener menos hijos, con una tasa de natalidad en Estados Unidos en su nivel más bajo desde 1987, según datos del gobierno estadounidense publicados el año pasado.
Tanto la tasa de natalidad, que es la cantidad de nacimientos por mil mujeres, como la fertilidad, que es un pronóstico promedio en la vida de una mujer, cayeron a su nivel más bajo en 30 años, según el informe de 2018.
La disminución en los nacimientos se atribuye en parte a que más mujeres buscan educación superior y empleo, de acuerdo a investigadores estadounidenses.
Otras posibles explicaciones incluyen el cambio de las expectativas sociales, un mayor acceso a la anticoncepción y una provisión limitada para el permiso parental del trabajo.
5. Mayor conciencia del embarazo
Derechos de autor de la imagenGETTY IMAGESImage captionTambién las tasas de natalidad cayeron a sus niveles más bajos en 30 años en Estados Unidos.
Grupos antiaborto como el Comité Nacional del Derecho a la Vida reconocen que los datos de Guttmacher son precisos, debido a su estrecha relación con muchos proveedores de servicios de aborto.
«Los esfuerzos del movimiento pro-vida para educar a los estadounidenses sobre la humanidad del feto y aprobar una legislación pro-vida protectora están teniendo un impacto», indica Carol Tobias, presidenta de NRLC.
«El conocimiento de lo que sucede dentro del útero» se ha vuelto fundamental, agrega la portavoz de NRLC Laura Echevarría, señalando un anuncio reciente del Super Bowl que muestra una ecografía de un niño por nacer con hambre de bocadillos.
China’s prestigious Tsinghua University has unveiled its Big Data Intelligence Research Center as part of efforts to push forward the development of artificial intelligence (AI).
The research center, which is coordinated by the university’s Institute of Artificial Intelligence, will focus on the improvement of AI’s theoretical research and big data computing method. Through the interdisciplinary research of data science, cognitive science and social science, the center aims to develop a new generation of people-oriented big data intelligent computing.
Zhang Bo, director of Tsinghua’s Institute of Artificial Intelligence, said the center will improve basic theoretical research of data intelligence as well as promoting integration with industries and fostering international cooperation.
You Zheng, vice president of Tsinghua University, said the center hopes to pool wisdom in AI research and generate theoretical achievements with international influence, contributing to China’s AI development.
Information reference: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-09/25/c_138421861.htm
Early pregnancy and early marriage worsens poverty conditions of families and girls, instead of reducing it, Machakos County Director for Education, Mrs. Shamsa Adan Mohammed has said.
She said access to education was the surest way to breaking the vicious cycle of poverty that teenage pregnancy and early marriages sustained in families.
She girls should take advantage of the Free Primary and Day Secondary Education programme the government provided to break the chains of poverty by completing primary and secondary education.
She made the remarks at Makivenzi ABC Girls Secondary schools during a Joint Mission to assess the preparedness of the Counties in implementing Secondary Education Quality Improvement Project (SEQIP) in 110 sub counties are the most disadvantaged sub counties in 30 counties.
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The team was led by the National Coordinator of the Project, Ms Jane Mbugua, and World Bank Task Team Leader, Ms Huma Ali Waheed. The team visited eight schools in Murang’a and Machakos Counties, which is among 30 Counties to benefit from the project.
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The Project worthy Shs.20 billion, and funded by the World Bank, aims at improving student learning and transition from Primary to Secondary education in 110 sub counties that the most disadvantaged areas in 30 counties.
The Project targets 7,852 Primary Schools and 2,147 secondary schools in 110 Sub counties in the 30 Counties.
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Under the project, Class 7 and 8 and forms 1-4 in targeted schools have already received textbooks in Mathematics, English and Science subjects, thereby achieving a student-textbook ratio of 1:1.
Under the project, Kenya Institute for Curriculum Development (KICD) has received technical support in developing Competence based curriculum grade 4, 5and 6.
Schools in the target regions have been selected schools and are set to benefit from infrastructure support which includes classrooms, science laboratories, library, toilets, water facilities and electricity.
Embedded in the project, is a scholarship programme to enable vulnerable students to complete secondary schools.
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has recruited 600 teachers to serve the targeted region in the last financial year, to address teacher shortage in the area. Kenya National Examinations Council has been able, under the auspices of the Project, to strengthen national examinations and assessments systems.
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The strengthening of the national examinations and assessments systems follows adoption of the Competence based curriculum. KNEC will now examine and assess the effectiveness of the teaching and learning of the repertoire of skills that learners are expected to learn and internalise.
The project aims at, among others, addressing barriers to access to inclusive quality education in the region, as part of the strategy to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals.
Source of the notice: https://www.kbc.co.ke/ending-child-marriage-and-teenage-pregnancy-in-kenya/
Pakistan ranks as the sixth most dangerous country in the world for women, with cases of sexual crimes and domestic violence recording a rapid rise. Activists blame society’s patriarchal attitudes for the problem.
40-year-old Shazia S. was busy talking to her daughter at her parents-in-law’s house in Lahore. The mother of six barely had any idea what awaited her. Her husband Sajjad R., a mason by profession, suddenly turned up and asked her to accompany him. She was surprised, but went with him nonetheless.
«He grabbed me firmly, shoving me against the wall and unleashing a barrage of kicks and slaps,» Shazia told DW. «Then he picked up a metal pipe and started hitting me mercilessly,» she added. Shazia’s husband suspected that his wife was having an extramarital relationship. He kept asking about it while hitting me and wouldn’t listen to me even though I stressed that I wasn’t having any extramarital affair, she said.
Sajjad even threatened to kill her and used his knife to cut off her nose, Shazia said. «No one could hear my cries because he had tightly locked the door. He also inflicted wounds on other parts of my body, including my neck, and then fled. He left me bleeding and crying for help,» she recollected.
After the ordeal, Shazia’s neighbors took her to a hospital, where she was treated. The doctors said they couldn’t fix her nose with plastic surgery, but that she could try and get some treatment abroad.
Amjad Ali, an investigating officer in the case, told DW that the police raided various locations to nab the accused, but could not find him. Shazia’s husband has now received bail and the court hearings of the case are set to take place in the coming weeks.
«The police failed to arrest my husband, who managed to get bail even before his arrest,» Shazia said. «He came back to our area just the other day and told one of the residents that he chopped off my nose to teach me a lesson and save his honor, because he suspected me of meeting another man.»
Shazia, who is now living with her mother in Lahore, fears for her life. Her husband wants her to withdraw the case against him. But she says she cannot imagine living together with a person who has ruined her life. She is also afraid that her father-in-law, a retired police official, might influence the authorities and seek to compromise the legal case against his son. Shazia stressed that she would not let her husband go scot-free.
Rising numbers
Shazia is not the only victim of gender violence in Pakistan over the past several months. Recently, a woman was badly beaten up by her husband, a policeman, in Sheikhupura, a city located 55 kilometers away from Lahore.
Violence against women has been on the rise in Pakistan, a country of over 200 million people. It ranks sixth on the list of the world’s most dangerous countries for women.
According to statistics collected by White Ribbon Pakistan, an NGO working for women’s rights, 4,734 women faced sexual violence between 2004 and 2016. Over 15,000 cases of honor crimes were registered. There were more than 1,800 cases of domestic violence and over 5,500 kidnappings of women during this period.
According to media reports, more than 51,241 cases of violence against women were reported between January 2011 and June 2017. Conviction rates, meanwhile, remain low, with the accused in just 2.5% of all reported cases ending up being convicted by the courts.
The chief justice of Pakistan has recently announced that 1,000 courts would be set up to deal with the cases of violence against women.
«Women police stations and other facilities are set up in cities while the majority of the violence cases take place in villages,» Mai said. «In rural areas, feudal landlords call the shots; the administration and police are subservient to these feudal chieftains who view women as commodities. So how can justice be delivered in such cases?»
Farzana Bari, another prominent women’s rights activist, believes the patriarchal attitudes prevalent in Pakistani society are responsible for the problem. «No government has ever tried to put an end to this mindset,» she said.
«It can be done by educating women in rural areas, empowering them economically and raising their representation in the legislature. If women constitute more than 45% of the population, why should they not have the same representation in the economy, employment and government?»
Critics say the current Pakistani government, under Prime Minister Imran Khan, hasn’t been focusing on empowering girls and women.
In the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, governed by Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, official recently issued guidelines ordering girls to wear the veil or abaya.
The order drew widespread outrage, forcing the government to reverse the decision. PTI leader and former federal minister Ishaq Khakwani admitted that the government did not pay enough attention to address the issue of violence against women.
«Only the government cannot be blamed for this situation. The entire society will have to come forward. The police and the judiciary will also have to play their roles. If cases linger in courts for years, then victims are forced to find other ways to settle such cases. So a comprehensive reform program is needed and all sections of society will have to play their role.»
Source of the notice: https://www.dw.com/en/violence-against-women-on-the-rise-in-pakistan/a-50550672
India released a Draft National Education Policy (DNEP) in June 2019. It’s the first comprehensive policy proposal on education in the country since 1986 and a major, game changing statement.
Australia has a moral duty to engage with the global challenge of providing quality education to hundreds of millions of Indian youth. And by engaging with India as it rolls out this policy, Australian universities stand to gain knowledge and research capacity, among many other things.
What’s the new policy trying to achieve?
India’s National Policy on Education was framed in 1986 and modified in 1992. Clearly a lot has change in the country since then.
The proposed new policy is remarkable for two main reasons.
First, it takes a cold-eyed look at the existing educational structures and processes in India. The document reflects honestly and in depth on state-level universities and colleges where the majority of students study. In these institutions, the facilities, teaching, and governance are usually poor.
A second remarkable element to the draft is the scale and boldness of the vision. The policy aims to make changes across all levels of education – from early childhood to university.
The draft policy, which is currently in the consultation phase, recommends doubling funding for public education from the present figure of roughly 3% of GDP to 6%.
It aims to change the structure of school education so children begin their schooling at three years old, with three preschool years incorporated into the formal structure.
The draft policy also calls for an overhaul of teacher training which will now occur in universities rather than specialist colleges, which are often of low quality.
In tertiary education (though the draft is weak on the issue of vocational education), the policy sets a target of 50% of youth being enrolled in universities by 2035 (in 2016, the figure was 24.5%).
The DNEP recommends dismantling the current system of universities and private and public colleges to develop between 10,000-15,000 multi-disciplinary universities, which would be funded in part through the increased government investment in higher education.
The document notes the current system is made up of more than 850 universities and about 40,000 colleges, with 20% of those colleges offering just a single program of study, and 20% having under 100 students.
The main thrust of this policy regarding higher education is the ending of the fragmentation of higher education by moving higher education into large multidisciplinary universities and colleges, each of which will aim to have upwards of 5,000 or more students.
The new institutions are envisioned to promote education in the arts and social sciences. The focus on “liberal arts” will encourage critical thinking and appreciation of the value of education beyond just preparing the population for employment.
The DNEP emphasises the importance of developing a research culture across most universities in India and stresses the value of internationalisation by “preparing our students to participate in world affairs through providing them with learning experiences that cut across countries and cultures”.
It also aims to to “attract students from other countries to participate in our higher education programmes”.
Why Australia should care
The poor quality of school and university described in the DNEP is a critical global challenge. As it stands, large parts of India, especially northern India, are unlikely to meet the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 4, which calls for accessible, quality education for everyone.
Australia should partner with India to address the needs of the hundreds of millions of young people demanding a better education.
Australia has a lot to gain from engaging with India on its new education policy.MICK TSIKAS/AAP
By interacting with top Indian researchers and students, Australia can also improve its own research and knowledge capacity. Australia can make commercial gains from working with India in the redevelopment of its education system.
Australian universities can act in five areas in particular:
1. Build research capacity in India and across the Australia-India boundary
Australia already has a research partnership with India, the Australia India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF). This should be extended, through a joint new research fund with India’s already established new National Research Foundation.
India faces a major challenge in creating a body of excellent researchers capable of occupying positions in its proposed new universities. It is therefore crucial that research partnership also involves building this capacity, especially by creating new PhD training and post-doctoral positions.
2. Partner with India in open and distance learning (ODL)
The DNEP’s goal of increasing the number of students in university in India to 50% can’t occur through bricks and mortar expansion. India has a lot of experience on ODLs but Australia and India could usefully partner in the development of better quality technology platforms.
3. Help train Indian school teachers
Australia has major strength in teacher education. India is looking to other countries to assist in training the staff in universities who will be responsible for training teachers in the new system. Australian action in this area would greatly help Indian education into its next phase.
4. Provide expertise on internationalisation
Australia has been very successful since the 1990s in internationalising its education. Education is now one of Australia’s largest exports. Australian universities and peak bodies such as the Group of Eight Universities could be partners in India’s efforts to internationalise.
5. Building campuses in each other’s countries
The DNEP recommends overturning regulation that prevents foreign universities from establishing campuses in India. It invites the world’s top 200 universities to develop a physical presence in the subcontinent. It also encourages Indian institutions to consider opening campuses abroad.
Australian universities could approach Indian institutions to discuss the development of a physical presence in each other’s countries, such as laboratory spaces, research centres or campuses.
The DNEP is remarkable on many levels: a bold effort to rethink education from first principles in a country containing one fifth of the world’s youth. Australia should make it a priority to engage.
Source of the notice: https://theconversation.com/india-is-reforming-education-for-the-first-time-since-1986-heres-why-australia-should-care-121812
América del Norte/ México/ 26.11.2019/ Fuente: www.elcontribuyente.mx.
La jefa del SAT, Margarita Ríos-Farjat, dijo que es importante desarrollar una conciencia social sobre la importancia de cumplir de forma obligatoria y oportuna con las obligaciones fiscales.
El día de hoy el Servicio de Administración Tributaria (SAT) publicó un comunicado en el que informó de la firma de un convenio con la Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP).
El comunicado de prensa del SAT dice que se espera desarrollar una conciencia social sobre la importancia de cumplir de forma obligatoria y oportuna con las obligaciones fiscales. Se planea hacer esto con los niños, jóvenes y adultos de los diferentes niveles educativos.
En el evento en que se firmó el documento, la jefa del SAT, Margarita Ríos-Farjat, resaltó la importancia de que los ciudadanos conozcan la utilidad y beneficios que trae consigo la actividad recaudatoria del SAT.
El secretario de la SEP, Esteban Moctezuma Barragán, dijo que es importante enseñar a los niños pequeños los valores de la contribución, “que no viven solos sino en grupo, en una sociedad”.
También señaló que en la Nueva Escuela Mexicana se espera formar personas que contribuyan al bienestar de la comunidad, conscientes de que su felicidad también depende de vivir en una sociedad armónica, en cuya construcción tienen que contribuir.
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