Education

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Ethiopia: Planning for a differentiated higher education system

Noticias

Africa/ Ethiopia/ 24.04.2019/ Source: qswownews.com.

 

The Ethiopian higher education landscape is in a critical need for distinction and an ideal opportunity has emerged with the establishment of the Education Development Roadmap (2018-30), which acknowledges the benefiting of driving quality and competitiveness with reference to programme offerings, functional focus, institutional status and student composition, combined with the nation’s fifth Education Sector Development Programme or ESDP V (2015/16-2019/20). However, strategies are essential as to how this can be realised.

Despite of the two decades of change and transformation, the higher education framework in Ethiopia still comply with similar patterns and trends. There is limited differentiation among public universities in their missions, visions, governance structure, student admission policies, core activities and the disciplinary mix which characterises their programme. The resemblance also include research engagement and output.

The residential framework remains the prevalent design across the public sector. Further, regardless of their differences in resources and capacities, public and private universities are required to deliver the fundamental undertakings of teaching, research and community services.

The primary justification for this similar scope is due to the fact that the development of the Ethiopian HE system over the last two decades is not supported by the features of an individuated system, even with early calls for such a system.

However, the present advancements both at national and institutional levels demonstrates the sector’s keenness to take on board a new frontier of a more distinguished HE system. Among the most distinctive remarks of this readiness are the strategies integrated in the nation’s fifth ESDP V and the recently established Education Development Roadmap.

Ethiopia’s new Education Roadmap has acknowledged the values and need for a distinguished HE system. Further to recognising the perks of  advocating institutional quality and competitiveness, the roadmap illustrates the need for planning multiple directions of “differentiation” based on programme offerings, functional focus, institutional status, student composition etc without implementing regulations on the paths to be sought after. This policy can be deemed as a critical initial move towards nationwide planning and institutional actions.

However, no distinctive strategy or system is implemented to regulate such a system. The new Education Roadmap fails to demonstrate what course the differentiation should take, how and when. Given the demand for such a system, the next move should place emphasis on detailed planning by looking into both international and local experiences that can result in effective lectures.

Several practical proposals have been made since before the early 2000s, towards the development of a unique system in Ethiopia. At present, Ethiopia desires to become a middle income country by 2025 and hopes to leverage on higher education to reduce poverty and develop its economy. The shift in its agriculture-led economy to an industrial one is therefore dependent on the existence of an educated workforce that can contribute predominantly in technology transfer and knowledge creation.

All in all, a differentiated HE system should be undertaken to meet the overall national vision of improving local development and initiating an internationally competitive labour force that supports in the present shift towards the development of a knowledge society.

The corresponding growth and experiences attained over the last two decades illustrate the alignment of Ethiopia’s development strategies with the tenacious growth of its higher education sector urge for a holistic vision and strategy that should lead the future advancement of institutions, their systematic deployment and utilisation.

The option of a detailed national subsystem of differentiation should not place emphasis on certain institutions; but rather on how all institutions within the system are classified and utilised to react to nationally-envisaged goals and to regional and international positioning.

The project requires in-depth review of current institutions, their related strengths, aspirations, institutional cultures, resource and location advantages and the significance of a differentiated system. The task demands expert knowledge, long-term vision and the engagement of relevant stakeholders.

Regardless of the choice of execution, the system’s achievement would be dependent on its primary objective, that is the smooth integration of the components of access and excellence.

Source of the noticie: https://qswownews.com/planning-for-a-differentiated-higher-education-system/

 

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Education on AI proposed for all university and technical college students in Japan

Noticias

Asia/ Japan/ 23.04.2019/ Source: www.japantimes.co.jp.

 

A panel of experts has called for all university and technical college students in Japan to be given beginner-level education on artificial intelligence.

The proposal is part of a package of AI-related ideas presented by the panel at the day’s meeting of the government’s innovation promotion council, headed by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.

The proposals, released Friday, are expected to be reflected in a comprehensive innovation policy package, which will be drawn up around June, and an AI strategy, to be formulated by summer.

In Japan, some 500,000 people graduate from universities and technical colleges every year. The panel called for having all university and technical college students take beginner-level programs on math, data science and AI, and letting half acquire the skills to apply AI to their own fields of study.

It also asked the government to provide working adults with opportunities to learn such AI skills.

Aiming to beef up research and development on AI, the panel proposed the establishment of a related cooperation network with universities and other research organizations. The government was urged to strengthen its support for AI and other researchers.

With regards to areas where AI should be actively used, the panel cited the health, medical and nursing care sectors; agriculture; disaster resilience and preparedness; transport infrastructure and logistics; and regional revitalization.

The panel specifically hopes AI will be used to reduce the burden on workers in the medical and nursing care sectors, beef up safety of infrastructure at a low cost and promote so-called smart cities.

At Friday’s meeting, the government council decided seven principles that researchers and others should take into account in establishing an AI society with humans at its center, including respect for fundamental human rights, privacy protection and the creation of an environment to ensure fair competition.

Source of the notice: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/03/30/national/social-issues/education-ai-proposed-university-technical-college-students-japan/#.XLyIBTAzbIU

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Education in Nigeria is in a mess from top to bottom. Five things can fix it

Noticias

Africa/ Nigeria/ 23.04.2019/ Source: www.icirnigeria.org.

NIGERIA’S education system is based on the (1)-6-3-3-4 formula: one year pre-primary education, six years primary, three years junior secondary, three years senior secondary, and a minimum of four years tertiary education.

The model had been used successfully in China, Germany and Ghana before Nigeria adopted it in 1989.

But it’s never been fully implemented in Nigeria. Although successive governments have theoretically upheld its objectives, none has successfully implemented the policy.

Nigeria’s educational system is in assorted crises of infrastructural decay, neglect, waste of resources and sordid conditions of service. The country has over 10 million out-of-school children. That’s the highest in the world. Another 27 million children in school are performing very poorly. Millions of Nigerians are half-educated, and over 60 million – or 30 per cent  – are illiterate.

On top of this, many eligible young Nigerians can’t gain admission into public universities. At the same time prohibitive tuition fees, among other factors, are a barrier to the country’s private universities.

As the Buhari-Osinbajo government starts its second term it should focus on key areas that will dig Nigeria’s education system out of the deep hole it’s in. I have identified five priorities it should attend to first.

Appointment

The new government should appoint an expert Minister of Education, not a political party lackey. In the past, Nigeria’s educational system has fared better under expert education ministers who earned their stripes through the system.

Take Professor Jubril Aminu, who served in the portfolio from 1985 to 1990. The 6-3-3-4 system was inaugurated during his tenure. Aminu also introduced “nomadic education” in 1989 for nomadic Fulani and other migrant ethnic groups.

Aminu was followed by Professor Babs Fafunwa (1990 to 1992). He overhauled the national education policy. He also provided room for education in mother tongue, a universal practice which most African countries have not fully implemented. UNESCO recommends education in mother tongue because of its immense advantages.

Lastly, under Professor Sam Egwu (2008 to 2010), a controversial agreement was signed between the government and the union representing the country’s academic staff. The agreement – signed in 2009 after drawn-out negotiations – stipulated conditions of service and remuneration for lecturers, the autonomy of universities and how the government should fund tertiary education.

But successive governments have violated the terms of the pact, claiming that they didn’t have the money to meet some of its terms. Officials claimed that sections of the pact were difficult, and in some cases impossible, to implement. However, the union rejects these claims and has accused the government of using delay tactics and questionable criticisms to frustrate the deal.

Funding

Funding is the biggest problem confronting Nigeria’s education system. The percentage of the budget allocated to education annually is abysmally low. In 2018, only 7.04 per cent was allocated to education. This is far below UNESCO’s recommended 15-26 per cent.

Nigeria’s experience with the commercialisation and neglect of government secondary and primary school levels has led to poorer education outcomes. Nor is privatisation the answer: it’s only likely to widen the gap between the rich and the poor. It will deny many children an affordable quality education, increase the rate of illiteracy and reduce academic performance at the tertiary level.

If the government continues to privatise government-owned universities, as is already the case with the proliferation of private universities with high fees, tertiary education will become the exclusive preserve of the rich upper class. This, in a country where more than 90% of the population is currently living in abject poverty.

The government should also cut wasteful expenditure. For example, I would argue that the “school children feeding programme” is a massive drain on resources.

The government reported earlier this year that it allocated 220 billion naira for the programme and of that, about 50 billion naira was wasted. This money could have been spent on more pressing problems such as building more classrooms and equipping them, supplying teaching and learning materials and improving staff welfare and remuneration.

Money for research

Research suffers in three ways in Nigeria. First, researchers work without sponsorship, particularly in the core sciences. The Tertiary Education Trust Fund is virtually the only source of money. The Trust funds and sponsors research projects give grants for research and sponsor lecturers for academic conferences, among other things. But its resources are limited and its operations are slow, highly selective and sometimes politicised.

Secondly, study findings are often abandoned on library shelves because the government isn’t committed to research-oriented development. Researchers don’t have the means to promote their work and research findings.

Third, research output is mediocre and repetitive because there are no effective measures in place to track research output nationwide.

Stop incessant strikes

In 1978, the Academic Staff Union of Universities was established to represent academic staff in Nigeria’s universities. Since then, there have been strikes almost every year, disrupting the academic calendar.

To stop these annual disruptions, the government must increase budgetary allocations to the sector and honour agreements that have been signed with the unions.

The only way that strikes will be stopped is if the welfare of all staff, from teachers to lecturers, is prioritised.

In conclusion

If these priorities are successfully implemented, Nigeria’s education system would be well on its way to realising the government’s commitment to its own policies and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Source of the notice: https://www.icirnigeria.org/education-in-nigeria-is-in-a-mess-from-top-to-bottom-five-things-can-fix-it/

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The Fleecing of Millennials

David Leonhardt

By: David Leonhardt.

Their incomes are flat. Their wealth is down. And Washington is aggravating future threats.

For Americans under the age of 40, the 21st century has resembled one long recession.

I realize that may sound like an exaggeration, given that the economy has now been growing for almost a decade. But the truth is that younger Americans have not benefited much.

Look at incomes, for starters. People between the ages of 25 and 34 were earning slightly less in 2017 than people in that same age group had been in 2000:

Why is this happening? The main reason is a lack of economic dynamism. Not as many new companies have been forming since 2000 — for reasons that experts don’t totally understand — and existing companies have been expanding at a slower rate. (The pace of job cuts has also fallen, which is why the unemployment rate has stayed low.) Rather than starting new projects, companies are sitting on big piles of cash or distributing it to their shareholders.

This loss of dynamism hurts millennials and the younger Generation Z, even as baby boomers are often doing O.K. Because the layoff rate has declined since 2000, most older workers have been able to hold on to their jobs. For those who are retired, their income — through a combination of Social Security and 401(k)’s — still outpaces inflation on average.

But many younger workers are struggling to launch themselves into good-paying careers. They then lack the money to buy a first home or begin investing in the stock market. Yes, older workers face their own challenges, like age discrimination. Over all, though, the generational gap in both income and wealth is growing.

Given these trends, you’d think the government would be trying to help the young. But it’s not. If anything, federal and state policy is going in the other direction. Medicare and Social Security have been spared from cuts. Programs that benefit younger workers and families have not.

The biggest example is higher education. Over the past decade, states have cut college funding by an average of 16 percent per student. It’s a shocking form of economic myopia. In response, tuition has risen, and students have taken on more debt. Worst of all, many students attend colleges with high dropout rates and end up with debt but no degree.

And as badly as the government is treating the young today, the future looks even more ominous.

First, the national debt, while manageable now, is on pace to soar. The primary cause is the cost of health care: Most Americans receive far more in Medicare benefits than they paid in Medicare taxes. The Trump tax cut also plays a role. It is increasing the debt — and it mostly benefits older, affluent households.

Second, the warming planet is likely to cause terrible damage and bring huge costs.

Young Americans favor aggressive action, now, to slow climate change. But the Republican Party — which wins elections with strong support from older voters — has vetoed any such action. As a result, greenhouse gases keep spewing into the atmosphere, and the climate crisis is likely to be far worse than it needs to be. Today’s young Americans will be left to suffer the consequences and bear the costs.

Last week, one of those young Americans — somebody who qualifiesas an older millennial — announced that he was running for president: the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Ind., Pete Buttigieg. A Navy veteran and Rhodes scholar who’s been praised by Barack Obama, Buttigieg (“BOOT-edge-edge”) is a rising star in Democratic politics. But of course he is a long shot to win the nomination. He is the mayor of a moderate-size city, after all.

And yet I think his candidacy is important, because it has the potential to influence the entire campaign. Buttigieg kicked off his run by talking about “intergenerational justice” and made clear that he would focus sharply on the future. After we spoke on Friday, I looked at my notes and discovered he hadn’t said “Trump” once.

During our conversation, I asked him how he hoped to win over older Americans — who, to their credit, vote at much higher rates than the young — and he told me an intriguing story. When he first ran for mayor of South Bend in 2011, he had the money to conduct only one poll. In it, his team asked voters how they would feel about having such a young mayor. The group most likely to see it as an advantage were the oldest voters.

“Many of the people who respond most positively to a moral message about the future are older people,” he said. “The American story is one of making sure that each generation is better off than the last. I don’t want my generation to be the first not to enjoy that. But I also think older generations don’t want to be the ones to cause that.”

There are some unavoidable trade-offs between the young and the old: A dollar spent on Medicare is unavailable for universal pre-K. But the country’s biggest economic problems aren’t about hordes of greedy old people profiting off the young. They’re about an economy that showers much of its bounty on the already affluent, at the expense of most Americans — and of our future. The young pay the biggest price for these inequities.

That’s a vital subject for the 2020 campaign, whoever the leading candidates end up being.

Source of article: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/27/opinion/buttigieg-2020-millennials.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FEducation&action=click&contentCollection=opinion&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=7&pgtype=collection

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School Climate Strikes: Tens of Thousands of Children Skip Class in Third National Action

Noticias

Europa/ Reino Unido/ 17.04.2019/ Source: rightsinfo.org.

Schoolchildren are on strike for the third time today, with tens of thousands of young people expected to skip class and join one of more than 70 protests happening up and down the country – but campaigners and parents are concerned that some teenagers have been issued with harsh punishments for walking out.

Charities and parents report some local education authorities levying fines on the parents of children who participated in the first and second strikes, while some schools have put protesters in detention. Worryingly, it seems that children at state comprehensives are being penalised disproportionately, while private school pupils are often allowed to strike.

An estimated 50,000 school children took part in strikes in March in more than 150 towns and cities, building on a 15,000 turnout in February. Around the world, more than one million young people took part in a coordinated international action on the same day.

Teenage organisers say today’s #YouthStrike4Climate demonstrations will be bigger and bolder than previous strikes, with more children taking part than ever before and sizeable events planned in most major towns and cities including London, Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester and Brighton.

Image credit: Charlotte England

The group has also officially come out in support of a Green New Deal for the UK – an idea recently popularised in the United States by the Sunrise Movement and outspoken supporter Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Anna Taylor, co-founder of the UK Student Climate Network (UKSCN) said strikers were sending a clear message to politicians that urgent action must be taken on climate change.

“Our futures, the health of our environment and the lives of those around the world already suffering the devastation of the climate crisis are not up for debate,” she said. “We need you to act to protect people and planet, at the same time as creating a better world for everyone. That’s why we’re calling for a Green New Deal in the UK to do just that. We want good and well paid green jobs, a healthy planet and a future to look forward to!”

Young people are also demanding the government declares a state of climate emergency and communicates the severity of the ecological crisis to the general public. Additionally, campaigners want the education system reformed to address climate change as a priority, alongside including youth voices in policy-making and lowering the voting age to 16.

Protests so far have been chaotic and sweary, with children taking aim at Theresa May and the Tories. Last month a handful of students were arrested for blockading Westminster Bridge using similar tactics to direct action group Extinction Rebellion. In general, however, the protests have remained peaceful and been tolerated by the police who often appear reluctant to take action against under 18s. The biggest opposition, it seems, is coming from schools and local education authorities.

Image credit: Charlotte England

The Right To Protest

Campaigners say reports that some parents have been fined for allowing their children to skip school could amount to a breach of their human rights. According to human rights think tank Child Rights International Network (CRIN), some students have been threatened with or given after-school detention for taking part in local strikes, while others have been marked as truant or even suspended.  “These restrictions and penalties are not only unwise,” the group said, “they also interfere with the rights guaranteed to everyone under the age of 18 under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).”

The group continued:

“Under-18s have the same right to free expression as anybody else, a right to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds. They also have the right to freedom of association and to freedom of peaceful assembly. These rights unquestionably include the right of young students to speak out and protest about climate change, the burden of which will fall most heavily on those who are the youngest among us today.”

The CRC also states that the education of children should include helping them to develop a respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, in order to prepare them to live responsible lives in a free society. CRIN point out that a school that respects this would support the strikers, arguing “it is a short-sighted school that excludes these lessons from its curriculum by punishing students who engage with their society and its government.”

Image credit: Charlotte England

The CRC has itself applauded students for taking part in the protests, with a UN committee describing the strikes as “desperately needed in today’s political climate of lassitude and decision paralysis”.

Another concerning issue with the punishments levied on some protesters is that parents, teachers and activists are reporting that students at state comprehensives seem to be facing harsher sanctions than students at private schools, who are generally allowed to strike if they have high enough attendance and good grades. This exacerbates a notable problem with children from upper-middle-class backgrounds finding it easier to engage with the strikes.

Jake Woodier, of the UK Youth Climate Coalition (UKYCC), a group of 18-29-year-olds that has been supporting the strikes from the onset, agreed that “kids who come from better off backgrounds or go to more prestigious schools probably do find it easier to engage”. He said that although he believes organisers are working to address this, schools are making it harder for them to do so.

Woodier said he’s heard a couple of reports of state school kids in London being given, or at least threatened with, serious punishments for striking. A teacher at a secondary school, who did not want to be identified, confirmed that this was the case in the London comprehensive school where he worked.

Woodier cited fines, which better off parents are more able to afford even if they are applied to everyone equally, as a particular problem. It’s essential, Woodier said, for the movement is to be representative and harsh sanctions are damaging efforts to include everyone. “If this movement is to be successful it can’t just fall into the trap of age-old environmentalism,” he said, “where it’s primarily been the domain of fairly wealthy middle-class white people”.

According to a report in online magazine the Ecologist last month, some parents have already sought legal advice regarding the fines, with a human rights barrister agreeing the right to protest must not be restricted to those who can afford it.

Woodier echoed this. “Children have the right to go and protest and it shouldn’t just be available to those that can afford to pay,“ he said.

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‘Education and action needed to combat Islamophobia’

Noticias

Asia/ Turquia/ 17.04.2019/ Source: www.aa.com.tr.

Describing Islamophobia a “very very dangerous threat” not only to Muslims but to all of humanity, a group of scholars on Sunday insisted that Muslims need to educate themselves to fight this growing problem.

At the end of the third day of the Islamophobia international conference hosted by the Centre for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) at Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, the scholars said that the Muslim community also needs to look within and rectify mistakes.

Elsadig Elsheikh from the University of California said: “There is a need for intervention at multiple levels, including society, education, public policy, and how we tell our story.”

“We need to decolonize ourselves, and there is a need for a lot of work within ourselves and our societies,” he said.

The scholars said that Muslims need to engage with the systems «but with open eyes.”

«We need to display a robust Muslim identity,» said James Carr of the University of Limerick, Ireland.

Luwei Rose Luqui from Hong Kong University said that Muslims in China need to communicate and tell their stories with others in the country.

They should “not just complain and victimize but talk and communicate with people who are not familiar with your situation,” Luqui said about Muslims in China.

Correcting injustice

Khadijah Elshayyal, a researcher working among Muslims in Britain, said that the community needs to rectify mistakes among themselves.

“We have to support and amplify each other’s voices, however, there are injustices and racism [in Muslim community] and that needs to be corrected,” she asserted.

Moreover, she added, Muslims need to extend solidarity with others as well.

Asking scholars to translate their words into action, Shireen Rasheed from the U.S.’ Long Island University said Muslims must also build coalition with other communities.

Varsha Basheer from India said the Muslim community requires structural changes from within.

“Muslims need political power to dismantle the structures of inequality,” Basheer said, referring to India.

“We need power other than the intellect,” she added.

Talip Kucukcan from Istanbul’s Marmara University said a legal framework against Islamophobia is needed. “Otherwise whatever work we do, it will melt down,” he said.

Kucukcan, a former parliamentarian, added: “Politicians need to be involved in raising the issue of Islamophobia.”

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has 57 members, he said, and “this issue need to be raised and nation-states need to be engaged.”

Governments using Islamophobia

Anne Norton from the University of Pennsylvania said people need to protected from “the power of the state,” explaining: “People need to be saved from torture, hunger, separation from their families, and deprivation.”

Sami A. Al-Arian, the Centre for Islam and Global Affairs’s director, said the importance of the conference goes beyond academic interest.

“This conference tried to analyze all different aspects of Islamophobia, specifically the geopolitics and epistemological roots of Islamophobia that are affecting not only the Muslim world at large but Muslim minorities in the U.S., Europe, India and China,” he said.

He added: “We have some governments in the region, in the Muslim world, who are helping Islamophobes and empowering practitioners of Islamophobia in order to fight their own citizens and movements because they are trying to keep their privileges and autocratic regimes.”

He said: “Understanding Islamophobia at every level is important and needs to be confronted at all levels.”

“It is a very very dangerous threat just not to Muslims only but to all of humanity, and we need to educate and then act to confront Islamophobia,” he stressed.

Source of the notice: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/education/education-and-action-needed-to-combat-islamophobia-/1452159

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China ensue education destination for Pakistani students

Noticias

Asia/ China/ 20.04.2019/ Source: www.technologytimes.pk.

 

China’s Ministry of Education released the proclamation that China has become the top education destination for international students. A total of 492,185 international students from 196 countries and regions studied in China.

According to a report, South Korea ranked first with 50,600 students and Pakistan ranked third with 28,023 students, followed by Thailand with 28,608 and the United States with 20,996 students.

The number of Pakistani students has risen in China mainly because of a chain of privileged policies offered by the Chinese government after the launch of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a channel project of Belt and Road Initiative.

Pakistani budding aspirants are studying Chinese language, engineering, medical, computer science and various other fields in china. Currently, 6,156 Pakistani students are studying in Ph.D., 3,600 in Masters, 11,100 in Bachelors and 3,000 in Short Term Exchange Programs across China.

Pakistani students take part in cultural activities organized by different universities across China. Pakistani students represent the country by setting up booths with traditional Pakistani stuff that depicting different social and cultural activities and historical places in Pakistan.

Source of the notice: https://www.technologytimes.pk/china-education-destination-pakistani/

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