Joseph Califano’s 1977 warning about the control of ideas via national school curriculum was resurrected this week in a column by George Will, who quoted it while criticizing President Obama’s Common Core Education Standards. Califano, who was the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare in the Carter Administration said: “in its most extreme form, national control of curriculum is aRead more

The Georgia Department of Education has released a list of the state’s 78 underperforming ‘priority schools’ as part of its No Child Left Behind waiver. To be considered a “Priority School,” one would have a graduation rate of 60 percent or less for two consecutive years, have low achievement on standardized tests or receive School Improvement Grant (SIG) funds toRead more

A newly released Auburn University study found that the Southern states have the highest rates of sexually transmitted infections and teen pregnancy in the country. The study, titled “Sexual Health of Young People in the U.S. South: Challenges and Opportunities,” was compiled by the university’s Center for Demographic Research and covered 19 U.S. states. The authors of the report pointRead more

Giatmara will open its first overseas skill training centre in Thailand next year in a bid to offer skill trainings to Thai citizens in various fields, its chairman Datuk Shahiruddin Ab Moin said. "Discussions on the matter will be convened between the staff of Giatmara and the relevant agencies in Thailand soon," he said. For a start, Shahiruddin said severalRead more

The availability of school places in Dubai and Abu Dhabi is becoming increasingly important to expat families in those cities, as competition heats up for space at international institutions. The findings of a study published by UK-based ISC Research said many parents considering a move to the UAE are now more concerned with finding school places for their children thanRead more

A French police special forces unit hunting an anti-Semitic serial killer launched a pre-dawn raid Wednesday on a house where a man claiming al-Qaeda ties was holed up, a police source said. Two police were slightly wounded as the operation got underway, led by officers investigating three attacks by a lone gunman in which three off-duty soldiers, three Jewish schoolRead more

Teachers are being forced to stage emergency lessons in make-shift classrooms amid a surge in demand for primary education caused by immigration and rising birth rates, it was revealed. Official Government forecasts show that almost 455,000 extra primary school places will needed in England within the next three years to deal with an increase in the number of four andRead more

Schools throughout France observed a minute's silence on Tuesday at 11.00 am (1000 GMT) in memory of three children and a teacher shot dead at a Jewish school a day earlier in Toulouse. President Nicolas Sarkozy paid silent homage to the victims at a school in Paris close to a Holocaust memorial, while his Socialist rival for the presidency FrancoisRead more

Despite new rules to try to stifle the practice, many parents in China are continuing to push their pre-school age children into private courses to try to prepare them for elementary school. Most of the students in this training class in Beijing are between five and six years old and have been studying for more than six months. According toRead more

A Canadian college said Monday it has suspended eight students who allegedly took part in off-campus St. Patrick's Day riots that led to 11 arrests. "Sadly, I must say the actions of some of our students not only endangered themselves but put our emergency responders and our community at risk," said Howard Rundle, president of Fanshawe College in London, Ontario.Read more