News: Education

MEXICO CITY, Mar 14 (IPS) - Ten-year-old Jessica Algoneda leaps in the air, raising her arms and spinning around at her primary school in the Mexican capital, as if in honour of Terpsichore, the Greek muse of dance and poetry.

Islamic University in Uganda is set to start a medical school at its Kampala campus in Kibuli, a city suburb.

It seemed like an impossible dream to join a university but today, in his second year of study, he can't believe the hoops he has to jump through to get the money for his tuition.

The Makerere University guild presidency has over the years been a hotly-contested seat many times attracting the major players in Uganda's politics. Records indicate that in the last 10 years, the ruling NRM has won the seat once - in 2008/9 when Robert Rutaro was the victor - with opposition parties having had a field day.

It is graduation day. Young people of different ages are being passed out to start life as responsible productive members of the community after a year of learning different skills. The excitement is fever high.

The 2010 World Bank report on African development indicators that will be released today, has warned of grave consequences if much attention is not given to the current quiet corruption experienced on the continent.

One of the current difficulties for institutions of higher learning is how to prepare their graduates to engage in productive work of some sort when they leave school. Instead of joining already weary and countless troops of job seekers on the streets, it is hoped that some graduates may apply skills and knowledge from higher education in the establishment of new business enterprises. In a bid to improve their possibilities in this area, a new subject, entrepreneurship education, was introduced in Ugandan secondary schools about seven years ago. Do education authorities really hope there will be a few more entrepreneurs with this new subject as it is? What is being taught in entrepreneurship education? What part of entrepreneurship can in fact be taught and examined on paper? It is possible to teach someone how to manage a small business. But can we teach people to be courageous in taking risk, how to bear uncertainty or how to know when a profit opportunity presents?

The Ministry of Education and Sports is to blame for the poor performance of rural schools at all levels countrywide, Prof. Mondo Kagonyera, Makerere University Chancellor, has said.

ZIMSEC has launched an internal investigation following indications that a November 2009 O'Level Maths paper was leaked. Insiders revealed that results released last week show that an unusually high pass rate was recorded in the subject.

Members of Angolan National Assembly visited the works (in conclusion phase) of higher polytechnic institute in eastern Moxico province, as part of their visiting programme to some institutions.

About 5,000 teachers did not turn up for the Federal Ministry of Education's training programme meant to update their knowledge and boost quality of teaching in public schools across the country.

The governor of northern Uige province, Paulo Pombolo, Friday stressed the importance of university in training of higher personnel for the country's development.

The governor of the coastal Kwanza Sul Province, Serafim do Prado, said on Friday in the central Benguela Province that he wants that Katyavala Bwila University be strong and competitive compared to the other institutions.

On March 4, the new prefects of Entebbe Junior were sworn in. They were 25 in number and each was decorated with two different badges.

The department of education in Nankova, southeastern Kuando Kubango province is in need of didactic material like school books, blackboards, pencils, cleaners and exercise books, a local source told Angop today.

The O director of northe-eastern Lunda Norte province's Augusto Chipombela High Pedagogic School, said in Dundo that the institution will start running a BA degress as from 2011.

The Kigali Health Institute (KHI) has established a long-term strategic partnership with University of Emory that will focus mainly on outreach and service delivery.

Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu, weekend, said the Federal Government has released N30billion towards funding of federal-owned universities in the country. He said the move was meant to improve academic performance in the universities and ensure that they are at par with their counterparts worldwide.

The federal government under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) support has released N96.5 million to 36 states and FCT for literacy by radio programme.

ACTING Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education, Jibrin Paiko, Thursday in Abuja, lamented that over N30billion of the fund needed for the eradication of illiteracy are trapped in banks, un-accessed.