Education

Boko Haram attacks hit school attendance in Borno State

KANO, NIGERIA, 14 May 2013 (IRIN Africa) - Around 15,000 children in Borno State, northeastern Nigeria, have stopped attending classes since February 2013, according to a Borno State Ministry of Education official who preferred anonymity, as Boko Haram extremists continue a wave of attacks on state schools. full report

Women yet to regain their place

 DUBAI, 6 May 2013 (IRIN Middle East) - In the 1980s, Iraqi women enjoyed more basic rights than their counterparts in the region; today, despite steps taken after decades of conflict and sanctions, Iraqi women do not have equal educational or employment opportunities, and many are subjected to gender-based violence. full report

Schools try to play catch-up

 BAGHDAD/DUBAI, 26 April 2013 (IRIN Middle East) - Iraq’s education system was once the jewel of the Middle East. Today, it is struggling to catch up, with five million children out of school, according to a 2007 survey. full report

Children bear brunt of CAR crisis

 BANGUI, 25 April 2013 (IRIN Africa) - Sporadic armed clashes, looting of orphanages, recruitment into armed groups, and widespread school closures have made life perilous for children in the Central African Republic (CAR) in the wake of a 24 March rebel coup by the Séléka alliance. full report

Iraq 10 years on: the humanitarian impact

 BAGHDAD/DUBAI, 23 April 2013 (IRIN Middle East) - Ten years after the toppling of Iraq’s former leader Saddam Hussein, human development statistics – flawed as they are – paint a complex portrait of a country that has seen improvement over the last decade, but is still largely struggling. full report

Education takes a hit in Myanmar’s Kachin State

 MAI JA YANG, 23 April 2013 (IRIN Asia) - Traditional Kachin music fills the community hall as a troupe of singers bellows out a song for family and friends at the Teacher Training College in the town of Mai Ja Yang. It is a night of celebration for 65 graduates who have upgraded their teaching skills in Myanmar's northern Kachin State, not far from the Chinese border. full report

Far from home, but closer to school in Pakistan

 PESHAWAR, 17 April 2013 (IRIN Asia) - Ten-year-old Aliya and eight-year-old Asma arrived at Jalozai refugee camp two weeks ago, after escaping a recent surge in hostilities between government forces and militants near the border with Afghanistan. full report

Briefing: In Somalia, relative peace belies rocky road ahead

 MOGADISHU, 26 March 2013 (IRIN Africa) - Since the August 2011 withdrawal of Al-Shabab insurgents from the Somali capital, Mogadishu, security has improved, allowing for the gradual resumption of government functions. But sporadic suicide attacks, conflict-related population displacement and socio-economic problems persist, exemplifying some of the daunting challenges still ahead. full report

Drive for quality in global education post-2015

 DAKAR, 21 March 2013 (IRIN Africa) - Education experts gathered in the Senegalese capital Dakar this week to discuss what priorities should look like once the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) expire in 2015. The conclusion: more focus on quality and how to measure it; on equity and access for hard-to-reach children; and on what should happen during the first three years of secondary school. full report

Scientists call for development goals to protect Earth

 JOHANNESBURG, 21 March 2013 (IRIN Global) - Development can no longer focus exclusively on improving people’s lives. Countries must now link poverty eradication to protection of the atmosphere, oceans and land, said a group of international scientists in a comment piece published today in the journal Nature. They propose six Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that do just that. full report

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