Biden’s Student Loan Scam

The Dems would be unable to pull these foul tricks off without the full collaboration of black misleaders.

Margaret Kimberley

The Greanville Post | August 31, 2022

The Biden administration announcement of so-called student loan debt relief does little to alleviate the problem it claims to solve. Forgiving $20,000 for Pell grant holders and $10,000 for all who earn less than $125,000 is questionable for a variety of reasons. It is a midterm election bait and switch that pleases gullible democrats, helps only a minority of borrowers, and is nothing like what candidate Biden proposed during the 2020 campaign.

French Students Protest Government Apathy in Education Sector

STUDENT PROTEST IN FRANCE

Peoples Dispatch | January 21, 2021

On January 20, thousands of university students marched in the major cities of France demanding concrete actions from the government to help the students who are in distress due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Communist Youth Mobilize Across Italy Demanding Safety in Schools

LEFTISTS MOVEMENT ON EDUCATION IN ITALY

Peoples Dispatch | January 10, 2021

Communist youth stage a protest in Turin: Photo: FGC

On Thursday, January 7, Communist Youth Front (FGC) organized demonstrations in several cities across Italy demanding safer classrooms. Schools across Italy were supposed to be reopened on that day but the government postponed the reopening to Monday. The FGC organized protests in the cities of Rome, Milan, Naples, Turin, Florence, Perugia, Catania, Padova, Salerno, Taranto, Cosenza, Gorizia and Ascoli. The protesters said that since the beginning of the pandemic, nothing substantial has been done to ensure safety in schools and respect for students’ rights during online lessons.

University Rankings Need a Rethink

WORLD ACADEMIA

Elizabeth Gadd

Nature | November 24, 2020

Researchers often complain about the indicators that hiring and grant committees use to judge them. In the past ten years, initiatives such as the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment and the Leiden Manifesto have pushed universities to rethink how and when to use publications and citations to assess research and researchers.

The use of rankings to assess universities also needs a rethink. These league tables, produced by the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) and the Times Higher Education World University Ranking (THE WUR) and others, determine eligibility for scholarships and other income, and sway where scholars decide to work and study. Governments devise policies and divert funds to help institutions in their countries claw up these rankings. Researchers at many institutions, such as mine, miss out on opportunities owing to their placing.

Trump to suspend new visas for foreign scholars

by Nidhi Subbaraman and Alexandra Witze

Nature | June 23, 2020

US President Donald Trump has issued new immigration restrictions that will affect people working in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty

With a proclamation issued on Monday, US President Donald Trump extended and expanded immigration restrictions to limit the entry of foreign workers to the United States. The move set off ripples of alarm among scientists and drew fire from experts concerned about the future of US science.

According to the order, the United States will stop issuing certain categories of foreign-worker visa — notably the H-1B visa given to foreign faculty members hired at universities and employees hired by tech firms — until the end of the year. The Trump administration characterized the decision as a plan to stave off the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, and to prioritize jobs for US citizens.

UNESCO recognizes Cuba’s leadership in education

In a recent report, the United Nations organization recognized Cuba’s work to achieve quality, inclusive education

by Enrique Moreno Gimeranez

Granma | June 25, 2020

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has recognized the results of Cuba’s work to achieve quality, inclusive education in the 2020 Global Monitoring Report on Education for All -known as the GEM report.

This global monitoring mechanism is used to evaluate progress on Sustainable Development Goal (SDA) No. 4: Ensure inclusive, equitable, quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.

The 2020 report emphasizes that Cuba has achieved 100% participation in early childhood education, in accordance with target 4.2 of this goal: “By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood care and development and preschool education, so that they are ready for primary school.”

Disappearing classrooms: Teaching in a post-COVID world

by Trishna Sarkar

Down To Earth | May 30, 2020

 In a post-Covid-19 world, teaching has undergone a rapid transformation. Institutes and teachers are following different online methods to connect with students. (Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)

 

Until a few months back, we use to read new reports alarming us to the excessive use of mobile phones among youngsters and its adverse effects. I, being a dutiful mother, tried to snatch the mobile from my daughter’s hand whenever I found her with the device.

However, the whole situation turned almost overnight after Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared a nation-wide lockdown on March 23, 2020 to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 disease. We are currently in the fourth phase of the lockdown and restrictions on movement have been eased in several regions across the country. The COVID-19 lockdown has presented us with a unique situation. The whole world has become highly dependent on the internet, apps, mobile and computers.

New education system was central to the Kurds’ Rojava Revolution in northern Syria – now it’s under attack

The Conversation| October 15, 2019

An Islamic State tank beneath a statue of a Kurdish fighter in Kobanî, northern Syria. Elise Marie Boyle Espinosa, Author provided

Kobanî, in the de facto autonomous region of northern Syria known as Rojava, was at the forefront of the battle against Islamic State (IS) back in 2014. With the aid of US airstrikes and Iraqi-trained Pêşmerge soldiers, the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) successfully repelled IS from the city in early 2015.This marked a turning point in the battle against IS, with various Kurdish groups uniting along with Arab units as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and becoming the Western coalition’s primary ally. It was also a key moment for the Kurds in Syria taking part in what they call the “Rojava Revolution”, as they went on to secure the north of the country.

Oregon teachers, parents, students walk out to demand more school dollars

by Mark Gruenberg

People’s World | May 09, 2019

Oregon Education Association photo.

PORTLAND, Ore.–More than 20,000 Oregon public school teachers statewide — at least two-thirds of all teachers in the state — walked out of classes on May 8 to demand more state funds to fix crumbling schools and provide up-to-date textbooks.

Tens of thousands of students and parents joined the teachers, with 25,000 people marching in Portland alone. The Oregon Education Association, the state’s NEA affiliate, organized the walkout, and NEA national President Lily Eskelsen-Garcia addressed the crowd.

Militant history

by Asher Gamedze

Pambazuka News | May 0, 2019

The article is a review of a recent book on the PAIGC education programme in the anticolonial movement for national liberation. The piece raises questions about what a militant approach to history might be.

When she gave me the book (to carry back for my friends), Sónia Vaz Borges, the author of the recently published Militant education, liberation struggle, consciousness: The PAIGC education in Guinea Bissau 1963-1978, described the book to me as “history, or, more like militant history.” Because somehow “history” is not enough.