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Speech-language, special education teachers in big demand due to retirements Trained teachers for helping students with Speech and Language disability are now in short supply due to retirements in Schools in La Crosse, USA. The school authorities have been finding it more and more complicated to locate trained teachers to assist students, more than 32,000 other Wisconsin children, who have a primary speech-language disability. There are about 1,900 speech-language pathologistsare working in Wisconsin schools, about one for every 16 children with a speech disability. A mass exodus of retiring teachers in the spring created 19 openings in the district’s special educa-
tion programme, five in the speech and language department alone. With days approaching for a new school year, the district is yet to fill all the openings. Teachers trained in speech-language pathology must have a master’s degree in order to be certified by the state. They are the only class of special education teacher that must meet such a demand.
Former education chief of Florida says state’s schools going backward Test results show Florida is going backward in preparing students for college, yet high schools keep getting high grades from the state, a former education commissioner told a higher education study panel recently. That disconnect is holding back efforts to improve schools, said John Winn, who was commissioner under Gov. Jeb Bush. Winn urged the state Higher Education Coordinating Council to take a look at Florida’s high school grading formula, which is heavily based on Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) scores, and recommend changes for reducing grade inflation. Students’ scores on standardized exams such as the FCAT steadily fall as they move from elementary school to middle and high school, Winn said. The ACT scores which was released showed Florida increased its composite score only slightly, from 19.5 to 19.6. Only Tennessee and Mississippi had lower scores.
Major literacy drive in Iraq A literacy and life skills training programme for 6,000 unemployed youth and women in Iraq has been launched by UNESCO. The grant programme, funded by the Office of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, First Lady of Qatar, UNESCO’s special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education, is part of the Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE) project in Iraq which aims to achieve the Education for All (EFA) goal of reducing illiteracy by 50 per cent by 2015. The programme will help
Arizona lawmakers cut $30 million from vocational programme
25 local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the Iraqi education ministry to establish community learning centres throughout the country.
Texas Early childhood education programme sees increase in applications Many of Midland ISD’s early childhood classes won’t be complete when classes start for the coming semester, although registration for early childhood programs began in April. The district has received more than 200 applications for the program since Aug. 1 and has been unable to complete processing.
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The district did not anticipate so many late enrollments, and although it has been overwhelming.
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One reason applications may be up is because early childhood classes are being offered on elementary campuses instead of at early childhood centers. In April, the board of trustees voted to close Bunche and West Early Childhood centers to save money and begin the district’s reconfiguration process.
Thousands of high-school students will have one less year to study business, biotech, engineering, multimedia, refrigeration repair and dozens of other career and technical-education subjects after state lawmakers cut $30 million from a statewide program. The classes are part of the Joint Technological Education District, which offers vocational education through central and satellite programs in the state. Legislators passed a budget in the spring that eliminates funding for ninthgraders in vocation-education programs such as culinary arts, automotive repair and engineering. The cut costs 13 districts statewide, including the East Valley Institute of Technology and Western Maricopa Education, or West-Mec, almost $30 million. Authorities estimate that the cuts affect 20,000 to 25,000 students who will lose a year to explore whether a career- and technical-education track is right for them.
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Fall in number of Welsh students in UK universities Education experts called for scrutiny of this year’s A-level results as figures revealed the number of Welsh students being accepted into university has fallen. Figures released by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) to the Western Mail showed there were 159 fewer Welsh students accepted into university this year than at the same time last year. Fears that fewer top grades could lead to more talented students from Wales missing out on
Chilean Population March for Education Thousands of people gathered in Santiago , Chile’s capital, last week, to ask for improvements in the country’s education system. Protests have been going on for the past three months with most of them ending in violence, but the latest event was peaceful. It was attended by thousands students, teachers and even families with small children. The concerned authorities proposed a new education bill, but student leaders said it does not go far enough to bring equal access to schooling for the poor.
higher education were felt with successful applicants down by 1.4%. This was despite the number of applicants rising by 289 to 24,284 – from 23,995 in 2010. The data, which does not consider clearing or those reapplying from last year, also revealed a fall in the number of Welsh students winning entry into Welsh universities. The Welsh Government said it was too early to make an assessment on the figures with the clearing process still under way.
Dubai Ministry clarifies on school uniform order The Ministry of Education in Dubai has clarified that education zone administrations were instructed to obtain new unified school uniforms last year. A clarification was issued saying that the Ministry did not instruct schools to enforce a unified school bag system, contrary to what some might be saying or doing by asking parents to buy a specific school bag. A guideline regarding the unified school uniforms was
sent a year ago to the education zone administrations and that it will be implemented during the 2011/2012 school year. The new guideline takes into consideration the appropriate appearance of school students that are in line with the values of the school community of various education levels, and reaffirms the importance of the society’s values and identity. The new guideline obligates male students to wear the
dishdasha (kandura), the traditional UAE dress, as well as a sports uniform of a common colour and specifications. As for female students, the ministry was very keen on taking into consideration the society’s values and traditions when specifying the girl’s school uniforms, saying that the new uniform will be distinguished by modesty while still reflecting the virtuous attributes of their society.
NUS Bioengineering kicks off 10th anniversary celebrations with well-known international congress
The Bioengineering division of NUS’ Faculty of Engineering celebrated its 10th anniversary this year with a series of programmes. The dynam-
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ic Congress brought together some 260 tissue engineers, biomaterials scientists, clinicians and regenerative medicine specialists from different parts of the world to discuss a wide range of topics within the fields of tissue engineering, biomaterials, stem cells, and regenerative medicine.
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The conference featured many prominent global experts in the field, including Sir Roy Calne, a pioneering transplant surgeon who performed several first transplant operations in the world; Dr Alan Colman, the first in the world to clone a sheep; as well as Dr Cao Yilin,
known for his expertise in tissue engineering and its applications to repair defects. The Bioengineering division’s anniversary celebrations will culminate on 29 October 2011 with an open house showcasing its labs and research and a book and video launch.