Sunday, December 18, 2005
Rural Education in the News
From this week's Google News Alert for rural education...
Rural education funds may help local schools
St. Thomas Times-Journal - Canada
Schools in east and west Elgin may see the benefit of a new provincial program addressing the specific needs of Ontario's 75,000 rural high school students.According to Ontario Minister of Labour and Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Steve Peters, the Rural Student Success Program, announced Monday by Ontario Education Minister Gerard Kennedy at Lord Dorchester Secondary School, could benefit schools in Elgin county."West Elgin certainly has had some threats of closure … this is a great opportunity to take advantage of additional funding to develop unique programs," said Peters. [See all stories on this topic]
Empowering women farmers in China
UNESCO (Communiqués de presse) - Paris, France
A UNESCO literacy programme boosts rural women's confidence and helps them become community leaders. Beautiful and productive courtyard is the story of Qiaozhen, a poor woman who lives with her family in a small village in rural China. After attending literacy classes at night school where she also learns about farming techniques, she is able to convince her husband that diversifying crops in their courtyard would make it more productive. Over time, they start growing a wide variety of vegetables – enough to feed their family and to sell in the local market – and significantly increase their income. Qiaozhen’s success motivates other women in the village to follow her example.
School groups split over rival proposals
Helena Independent Record - Helena, MT, USA
Lance Melton, executive director of the Montana School Boards Association, and Dave Puyear, director of the Montana Rural Education Association, came out in support of a bill sponsored by Rep. Bill Glaser, R-Huntley that would pump more money into Montana public schools and give $30 million in property tax relief to Montana homeowners.Both groups were members of the Montana Quality Education Coalition, the group that organized the 2004 lawsuit challenging Montana’s method of paying for public schools. In December 2004, the Montana Supreme Court sided with the coalition, prompting an overhaul of the state’s school funding scheme that is the focus of the ongoing special legislative session.Another main player in the coalition, MEA-MFT, the state’s largest union of teachers and public employees, backed Schweitzer’s plan, which was widely thought Wednesday to emerge victorious. [See all stories on this topic]
Saving lives in India
Davis Enterprise - Davis, CA, USA
Davis resident Koen Van Rompay, founder of Sahaya International, has raised thousands of dollars over the past seven years to help women and children in southern India.Last year at this time he scored a real fund-raising coup when the Elton John AIDS Foundation in London gave Sahaya a grant for $100,000 for a specific HIV program. He estimates that in the past year 50,000 people in rural Tamil Nadu have learned something about HIV and AIDS, what it is and what it isn’t.
Govt to spur consumption by increasing purchasing power
Xinhua - China
The Chinese central government aims to spur domestic consumption by increasing consumer purchasing power in the coming years in a bid to continue maintaining a steady development of the nation's economy. A national economic conference, which ended on Dec. 1 and was attended by China's top policy-makers, has designated consumption expansion, especially rural consumption, as China's long-term development strategy. [See all stories on this topic]
Country schools get Grit support
London Free Press - Canada
Farm-belt high school students in Ontario will now get credit for joining rural clubs and taking farming courses. A $10-million pledge for innovation and a new emphasis on rural education in the curriculum were announced yesterday by Education Minister Gerard Kennedy at Lord Dorchester secondary school. [ee all stories on this topic]
Licence a necessity in rural Ontario
Toronto Star - Canada
Is Mike Harris back or what? Education Minister Gerard Kennedy's proposal to tie driver's licences to graduation or school attendance is one of the most ridiculous and punitive ideas I have ever heard, matching his equally ridiculous proposal to require young people to stay in school until age 18. Kennedy's own background documents cite the curriculum introduced by the Harris Conservatives as a main contributing factor to the higher dropout rate. [See all stories on this topic]
Congressmen vote to trim education aid, other programs
Cleveland Plain Dealer - Cleveland, OH, USA
Lawmakers voted Wednesday to cut federal aid to education for the first time in a decade, as the House narrowly passed a spending bill that would freeze or cut back a wide variety of domestic programs. The $602 billion measure covers education, health research, and medical and job training programs, among others. After years of increases, the measure essentially imposes a 1 percent cut upon programs funded at lawmakers' discretion, providing $142.5 billion for them. The rest of the funding in the bill represents mandatory payments, chiefly for the Medicare and Medicaid programs. [See all stories on this topic]
Rural transformation, my mission
The Tide - Port Harcourt, Niger Delta, Nigeria
Development of rural areas in Ebonyi State has become the major issues in development policy of the state government. The importance of this informed both the state and local governments to institute different ministries and offices charged with the develop of rural dwellers. This also contributed to the creation of development centres out of the old local governments to ensure a positive impact on the rural dwellers. Our correspondent Regis Anukwuoji in this interview with Hon Commissioner for Rural Development in Ebonyi State, Barrister Marcel Ali x-rays his ministry’s aims and objectives and rolled out the ministry’s action plan to invoke developments in the rural areas.
Tags: aera, rural, education
Rural education funds may help local schools
St. Thomas Times-Journal - Canada
Schools in east and west Elgin may see the benefit of a new provincial program addressing the specific needs of Ontario's 75,000 rural high school students.According to Ontario Minister of Labour and Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Steve Peters, the Rural Student Success Program, announced Monday by Ontario Education Minister Gerard Kennedy at Lord Dorchester Secondary School, could benefit schools in Elgin county."West Elgin certainly has had some threats of closure … this is a great opportunity to take advantage of additional funding to develop unique programs," said Peters. [See all stories on this topic]
Empowering women farmers in China
UNESCO (Communiqués de presse) - Paris, France
A UNESCO literacy programme boosts rural women's confidence and helps them become community leaders. Beautiful and productive courtyard is the story of Qiaozhen, a poor woman who lives with her family in a small village in rural China. After attending literacy classes at night school where she also learns about farming techniques, she is able to convince her husband that diversifying crops in their courtyard would make it more productive. Over time, they start growing a wide variety of vegetables – enough to feed their family and to sell in the local market – and significantly increase their income. Qiaozhen’s success motivates other women in the village to follow her example.
School groups split over rival proposals
Helena Independent Record - Helena, MT, USA
Lance Melton, executive director of the Montana School Boards Association, and Dave Puyear, director of the Montana Rural Education Association, came out in support of a bill sponsored by Rep. Bill Glaser, R-Huntley that would pump more money into Montana public schools and give $30 million in property tax relief to Montana homeowners.Both groups were members of the Montana Quality Education Coalition, the group that organized the 2004 lawsuit challenging Montana’s method of paying for public schools. In December 2004, the Montana Supreme Court sided with the coalition, prompting an overhaul of the state’s school funding scheme that is the focus of the ongoing special legislative session.Another main player in the coalition, MEA-MFT, the state’s largest union of teachers and public employees, backed Schweitzer’s plan, which was widely thought Wednesday to emerge victorious. [See all stories on this topic]
Saving lives in India
Davis Enterprise - Davis, CA, USA
Davis resident Koen Van Rompay, founder of Sahaya International, has raised thousands of dollars over the past seven years to help women and children in southern India.Last year at this time he scored a real fund-raising coup when the Elton John AIDS Foundation in London gave Sahaya a grant for $100,000 for a specific HIV program. He estimates that in the past year 50,000 people in rural Tamil Nadu have learned something about HIV and AIDS, what it is and what it isn’t.
Govt to spur consumption by increasing purchasing power
Xinhua - China
The Chinese central government aims to spur domestic consumption by increasing consumer purchasing power in the coming years in a bid to continue maintaining a steady development of the nation's economy. A national economic conference, which ended on Dec. 1 and was attended by China's top policy-makers, has designated consumption expansion, especially rural consumption, as China's long-term development strategy. [See all stories on this topic]
Country schools get Grit support
London Free Press - Canada
Farm-belt high school students in Ontario will now get credit for joining rural clubs and taking farming courses. A $10-million pledge for innovation and a new emphasis on rural education in the curriculum were announced yesterday by Education Minister Gerard Kennedy at Lord Dorchester secondary school. [ee all stories on this topic]
Licence a necessity in rural Ontario
Toronto Star - Canada
Is Mike Harris back or what? Education Minister Gerard Kennedy's proposal to tie driver's licences to graduation or school attendance is one of the most ridiculous and punitive ideas I have ever heard, matching his equally ridiculous proposal to require young people to stay in school until age 18. Kennedy's own background documents cite the curriculum introduced by the Harris Conservatives as a main contributing factor to the higher dropout rate. [See all stories on this topic]
Congressmen vote to trim education aid, other programs
Cleveland Plain Dealer - Cleveland, OH, USA
Lawmakers voted Wednesday to cut federal aid to education for the first time in a decade, as the House narrowly passed a spending bill that would freeze or cut back a wide variety of domestic programs. The $602 billion measure covers education, health research, and medical and job training programs, among others. After years of increases, the measure essentially imposes a 1 percent cut upon programs funded at lawmakers' discretion, providing $142.5 billion for them. The rest of the funding in the bill represents mandatory payments, chiefly for the Medicare and Medicaid programs. [See all stories on this topic]
Rural transformation, my mission
The Tide - Port Harcourt, Niger Delta, Nigeria
Development of rural areas in Ebonyi State has become the major issues in development policy of the state government. The importance of this informed both the state and local governments to institute different ministries and offices charged with the develop of rural dwellers. This also contributed to the creation of development centres out of the old local governments to ensure a positive impact on the rural dwellers. Our correspondent Regis Anukwuoji in this interview with Hon Commissioner for Rural Development in Ebonyi State, Barrister Marcel Ali x-rays his ministry’s aims and objectives and rolled out the ministry’s action plan to invoke developments in the rural areas.
Tags: aera, rural, education
