In The News

After the Bombing, Reflections

Abeer Mishkhas May 20, 2003
Now that bombs have finally reached Saudi Arabia's own capital, the illusion that the Kingdom could not be a target has disappeared. Abeer Mishkhas argues in this Arab News article that ignorance is what has led to prejudice and hatred, and that "if ignorance is removed, the evils can be conquered." A more tolerant teaching philosophy that educates the children to think...

More 'Can I Help You?' Jobs Migrate From U.S. to India

Amy Waldman May 11, 2003
Due to advances in global media technologies, the public and the private sectors in the United States are increasingly subcontracting services to countries with cheap labor. Contractors for the State of New Jersey arranged for telephone operators in Bombay, India to handle calls from the state's welfare recipients. These telephone operators are paid by a US-based company, owned by an...

Parents, Shopping for Discipline, Turn to Tough Schools Abroad

Tim Weiner May 9, 2003
Wwasps, a Utah-based private school organization, has taken to setting up shop abroad, where rules on student treatment are not as tight as in the US. Beating students’ heads against concrete, enforcing prolonged periods of isolation, and creating affection-less environments are the mainstays of these “behavior-modification” schools, which call themselves “specialty boarding-schools”. Without...

Beijing Closes Schools as SARS Cases Rise

Erik Eckholm April 23, 2003
After revealing an increase in SARS cases in Beijing, Chinese officials have shut down the city's primary and secondary schools for at least two weeks. The city recently admitted it had concealed the severity of the epidemic, and is now struggling to contain both the disease and related public panic. In an effort to maintain a semblance of routine, and aided by a recent increase in computer...

Globalization and Science: A Speeded-Up Virtuous Cycle

Ramamurti Shankar March 28, 2003
In many academic disciplines, books, journals, and letters have long been the preferred ways of communicating over long distances. Thanks to the 'information revolution' facilitated by the internet, though, today the spread of knowledge around the world can happen almost instantaneously. In Physics and other branches of science, researchers and scholars are enjoying tremendous...

Top Chinese Varsities Take After US Colleges

Jason Leow March 11, 2003
Through international conferences, journals, and the internet, educational theories and models are extremely mobile. Although most of China’s universities and colleges still require high school applicants to list their three most preferred schools and a corresponding major, 3 prestigious institutions are now switching to a system modeled after US colleges. Students at Qinghua, Beijing, and...

Controversial Findings Rekindle Education Debate

Carola Schlaghec March 7, 2003
Debates over immigration policy have been tense in Germany in recent years. This week, however, findings that schools with more immigrant students do worse than schools without immigrants are fueling the discussion even further. Immigrant children, particularly those from poorer backgrounds who do not speak German, have a disadvantage entering the school system. The results of this latest study...