education Archives - The Singapore Post

Nepal: Reconstruction work of 66th school under Indian aid begins

25Feb

By Yusara AskariNo Comments

Asia

Nepal: Reconstruction work of 66th school under Indian aid begins

The Embassy of India in Nepal on Wednesday informed that under the Indian grant assistance, the reconstruction work of the 66th school in Nepal has started in Dakshinkali Municipality.“This is the 66th school being reconstructed under the Government of India grant assistance for reconstruction in the education sector. India has committed USD 50 million for the reconstruction of total 71 educational institutions in 8 districts of Nepal,” the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said in a press release.India has also committed a grant of another USD 200 million for reconstruction projects in the health, cultural heritage and housing sectors.Champa Devi Secondary School is being reconstructed at a cost of Nepalese Rs 68.5 million and will be built as per earthquake-resilient reconstruction norms of th

Curbs on Mongolian language teaching prompt large protests in china

4Oct

By Joanne SerriehNo Comments

China, Politics

Curbs on Mongolian language teaching prompt large protests in china

After the announcement that the Mongolian language would gradually be replaced by Chinese in schools around Inner Mongolia, thousands of ethnic Mongolians in northern China have gathered outside schools to express their discontent with the policy which favours Chinese.“We Mongolians are a great race as well,” Dagula, a 39-year-old mother of two, said. “If we accept teaching in Chinese, our Mongolian language will really die out.”Images of the protests shared on social media sites showed crowds of parents and students amassing peacefully outside schools, singing and shouting slogans as the authorities looked on.In one video, a woman was shown flipping through the pages of a textbook, decrying the absence of Mongolian language. In another, students in blue and white uniforms shouted, “Mongol

J&K: Ganderbal’s Govt Degree College gets massive upgrade

5Aug

By Yusara AskariNo Comments

Asia

J&K: Ganderbal’s Govt Degree College gets massive upgrade

The Jammu and Kashmir government has said that they have now begun at full speed the construction for several new facilities at the Government Degree College located in the Union Territories’ Ganderbal district.According to the Deputy Commissioner of Ganderbal, Shafqat Iqbal, the ongoing construction includes many new projects like an auditorium, new classrooms, an additional modern library, a conference hall, a cultural hall and a debate hall."To boost the education sector in the Ganderbal district, construction has begun in full swing with the support and help of funds issued by the Central government. Earlier, we used to face a lot of problems with funding. But for the last year, ever since our state received the status of the Union Territory, development work has been fast-tracked," he

SP Is the space for critical thinking shrinking in Pakistan?

7Jul

By Yusara AskariNo Comments

Asia

SP Is the space for critical thinking shrinking in Pakistan?

In Pakistan, professors and academic leaving literary institutes has become the new normal. A number of liberal academics have been sacked by their universities, allegedly over their anti-government stance.Ammar Ali Jan, a prominent Pakistani academic and activist has become the latest victim of it. In a Twitter post, Jan said that he would be parting ways with Lahore's Forman Christian College (FCC), where he taught political science.Jan is a renowned progressive scholar who has been vocal against alleged military atrocities in the insurgency-marred Baluchistan province. He also lends support to the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) in the country's northwestern areas."After I participated in a student demonstration, the government registered a sedition case against me. The university admini...

30Jun

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Opinion

Creeping religiosity in Pakistan

It is not by accident that the dark forces of bigotry and obscurantism have become stronger than ever in Pakistan. The regularization of madressahs and the reform of their curriculam were given top priority in the National Action Plan of 2014. While that plan remains unimplemented due to the obduracy of the religious lobby, some school textbooks will not be published unless they are approved and cleared by a religious body. Where is the sanction for this extraordinary decision?It sounds strange that even after 40 years of effort by Ziaul Haq and his successors to impose their version of Islam on the people, a law has to be enacted and executive orders issued to persuade young people to study the Quran Sharif. Now, if there are any hearts in which the fear of God should be planted, then the...

29Jun

By Stuart WhiteNo Comments

Opinion

Creeping silence

It is not new to hear about the curbed academic freedom in Pakistan. What is somewhat new is the frequency with which lecturers, professors, researchers, students, and even writers feel threatened now in both private and public-sector universities. These threats are of multiple nature and presumably emanate from various quarters.For Pakistan, it is essential that people everywhere are encouraged – and especially young people – to think critically and come up with ways to tackle the problems that have darkened the lives of so many in the country. Social inequality, bigotry, ethnic division and other kinds of hate are problems which we simply cannot ignore for long. Yet people who are able to effectively convey the meaning of critical thinking and dissent, in many nations, are being weeded o

23Jun

By Joanne SerriehNo Comments

China

About 110 teachers, 3,600 students arrested over social incidents in Hong Kong since June last year

About 110 teachers or staffs from educational institutions and nearly 3,600 students have been arrested over social incidents in Hong Kong from June 2019 to May 2020, Hong Kong’s education chief said.Answering questions raised by a member of HKSAR's Legislative Council in a written reply on Wednesday, Kevin Yeung, secretary for education of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said that among the people arrested during the period in relation to the social incidents, about 10 of them were staff members of post-secondary institutions and about 100 of them were staff or teachers of primary and secondary schools.“Among the students arrested in the same period, about 2,000 were from post-secondary institutions and the remaining about 1,600 were aged under 18 who we

Pained by academic loss, J&K teachers start community classes for poor students in remote areas

20Jun

By Yusara AskariNo Comments

Asia

Pained by academic loss, J&K teachers start community classes for poor students in remote areas

Ever since the Coronavirus struck India, all institutions and schools were closed shut. While other states managed to continue educating students online, Jammu and Kashmir with 2G internet networks faced a hard time to educate its children.But in Katainwali village of Baramulla district of Srinagar, some government school teachers have taken it upon themselves to continue schooling through COVID community classes - a unique initiative by local teachers to impart education to the poor students in far-flung areas.At exactly 10 am children in Katainwali village put their school bags on their shoulders and walk to a nearby grassland where a group of government school teachers welcomes them as they sit down to scribble the notes.“We were pained to see the plight of the children, who were missin