The report presents a mixed picture. Over the past 25 years, there have been notable improvements in child well-being in the group of countries examined in this report: steady decline in child mortality, overall reduction in adolescent suicide and increase in school completion rates. But the last five years have …
THE goal of universal education eludes India even though there is now a primary school in practically every village. The rate of dropouts continues to be over 50 per cent. The greatest casualty in the failure of our education system has been the girl child - whether in terms of …
ONE CHILD in three is not registered at birth, leaving them without proof of identity or age that may deny them education, healthcare and even nationality, according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). The UNICEF says that a birth certificate is required for vaccination in at least 20 countries …
Under a unique two-year distance education programme drawn up by the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bangalore, farmers in Karnataka, from June 1 will have an opportunity to enhance their knowledge about farming as well as learn about new farming technology. It is for the first time that any agricultural …
" dig deep', that must be the standing motto when it comes to archaeology. Travelling across the world to far-away excavation sites, salvaging ruins of ancient civilisations, unlocking the secrets of unknown or long-forgotten cultures
it started off as a picnic. About 50 children in the 12-13 age group from schools in and around Delhi were taken on a boat ride down the river Yamuna on Saturday, May 2. The aim: sensitising the children to the state of the river that flows through the city …
for the second time, I would like to draw attention to Social Watch , the annual report on social development presented by an informal network of international non-governmental organisations ( ngo s). This "social watchdog' appears to be quite successful in tracing whether governments fulfill promises they so elegantly make …
A recent issue of India Today laments the tightening of state funds to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technologies ( iit s) and the resulting problems that this is creating for the faculties and student bodies. It invokes the evil influence of the World Bank to say that Indian 'economic …
there are around 50 million children not attending primary school in South Asia. And of those who do go to school, 60 million drop out each year. Welcome to South Asia: the most illiterate region of the world. Excluding Sri Lanka and Maldives, the rest of the region stands nowhere …
long before the 83rd Constitutional Amendment Act-1997, making primary education a fundamental right, was tabled in the Indian Parliament, the state of Madhya Pradesh had embarked on an innovative scheme called Education Guarantee Scheme ( egs ) in January 1997. This guarantees education to citizens on demand, and also aims …
scientists in the us have discovered why Asians often do better at school. Parents and children in Asia think that one has to work hard to do well while those in the West think one must have a good teacher. Researchers trying to understand why children from Eastern cultures excel …
To clarify whether dyslexia, a fairly-common disorder characterised by an unexpected low reading ability, involves the brain's defective processing of visual information, US-based National Center for Research Resources-funded experts studied brain activity in a visual pathway. Using a method known as functional magnetic resonance imaging, that non-invasively measures changes in …
english is perhaps the most widely understood language. Even computers can survive it without much difficulty, thanks to recent innovations like the speech recognition software packages. However, bored without anything to tease their problem-solving skills, some programmers at International Business Machines ( ibm ), usa , have taken on a …
THE southern state of Kerala has performed extraordinarily in the areas of public health, education, family welfare and adult literacy. Its success in areas other than population control are easier to understand, but its miracle in bringing down birth rate below replacement level without any significant advance in economic field …
The us will provide an additional amount of us $500,000 to support the implementation of the second phase of the plan to eliminate child labour in garment industries of Bangladesh, said Andrew James Samet, us deputy under secretary. The amount will be spent over the next two years to support …
according to a study conducted by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (oecd), nearly half of American adults have trouble with common mental demands of life in reading newspapers, filling out job applications or balancing a chequebook. "Low literacy is a problem everywhere,' the report said. The oecd …
A US $12.5 million project that focuses on poverty alleviation, environmental protection and improving the quality of education has been launched in Pakistan. The project, instituted by the United Nations Development Programme, will create teacher training and resource centres to improve the quality of teaching and of primary and secondary …
AUTOMATIC vending machines for condoms will be available at street corners throughout the country by December. The scheme has been finalised by the Union health ministry as part of its AIDS control programme. The ministry has asked for prototypes of the machine from indigenous manufacturers, which can accommodate different types …
Children under five years of age should not be admitted into schools as it may lead to behavioural changes that are harmful in the long term. A team of researchers led by Michael Weitzman at the Rochester University, UK, examined 1,000 children aged eight months to four years. By the …
Photo on the NetSubscribers would now be able to order photographs on the Internet. Eastman Kodak, a Germany based company, has launched services that would allow paid subscribers to store their pictures on the Internet and order reprints with the click of a mouse. Initially, the company expects to attract …
