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LHASA, July 18 (Xinhua) -- The government is planning to raise the higher education gross enrollment rate in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region to 30 percent in less than five years, meaning that three out of every 10 Tibetan students will enter college by 2015, local officials said Monday as Vice President Xi Jinping inspected Tibet University.

More than 31,000 students, mostly ethnic Tibetans, currently study in Tibet's six universities and junior colleges. Of them, 718 are pursuing post-graduate degrees. In addition, many students from Tibet are studying in universities outside the region, officials said.

Tibet's first modern primary school opened in Lhasa in 1952; the first secondary school opened four years later with significant government investment. In the 1970s, Tubdain Kaizhub attended a county-level high school near Lhasa, where courses were mainly taught in Tibetan. He managed to pick up Mandarin Chinese, the most widely-used language in China, from his neighbors in a military compound.

Many undergraduates are struggling to show their natural flair after being ordered to write in a highly-structured way to pass exams, it was claimed. Robert Tombs, professor of history at St John's College, Cambridge, warned that students were “drilled into writing” in a formulaic manner between the age of 11 and 18, leaving them unable to articulate their ideas on degree courses.

A study last year suggested that almost half of employers were being forced to provide remedial lessons in the three-Rs because teenagers finish compulsory education lacking good levels of English and maths.

Speaking at the seminar in central London, Prof Tombs said many undergraduates had been taught to write essays at school simply to pass tests. "One of the things that one notices in student essays is how much damage has been done by the imposition of artificial structures for essay writing,” he said.

Nearly 1 million youth between the ages of 12 and 18 have been cyberbullied (Robers, Zhang, & Truman, 2010). This anthology, co-edited by two widely published and recognized experts in online safety, is an ambitious compendium of the latest research and resources related to cyberbullying. Early chapters describe how the generational technology gap between many adults and youth magnify the challenge in educating adults about what cyberbullying is and how it can be addressed. In Chapter 1, Anne Collier depicts a modern, “living Internet” where young people (and others) contribute and consume both informational and behavioral content in a social space that youth do not perceive as being separate from their “real life” off-line. The dynamic nature of the web is one of the reasons why Collier recommends “…creating cultures of self-regulation [emphasis in original] which include critical thinking…and respect for others at home and school (p.3)” as a strategy to protect youth from cyberbullying and other online risks.

What are the implications for children’s development if the age at which they complete their compulsory schooling is 14 but the legal minimum age for employment is 12? Or vice versa? What happens if a girl can legally be married before finishing compulsory education? Will she return to school and develop her potential to the fullest? And who ensures that relevant education of good quality is in place to prevent juvenile delinquency or to facilitate the reintegration into society of children in conflict with the law? These are some of the questions raised in At what age?... are school-children employed, married and taken to court? – Trends over time. Covering 186 State reports over a period of 18 years, this research confirms that States have not yet fully upheld the right to education in their legislation. Nor have they agreed standards for the transition from childhood to adulthood, either domestically or internationally.

ADDIS ABABA, 18 January 2012 (IRIN) - Parts of Ethiopia are still reeling from the effects of recent drought, flooding, conflict or a combination of the three, resulting in increased numbers of children dropping out of school, say officials. At least 385,000 school-children need "emergency education assistance this school year", Alexandra Westerbeek, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) communication manager in Ethiopia, told IRIN. "In addition, 70,000 children among [the] refugee population also need emergency education assistance." 

Despite pouring billions of dollars into education, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has little to show for its money except for public primary schools regarded as among the worst in the world and millions of students destined for a life in the underclass. "If you don't have an education, you don't have a chance in life," said Netshiozwe, who is unemployed with little prospect of finding regular work. She and her HIV-infected aunt live together and scrape by on about $100 a month in welfare benefits. Nearly half of South Africa's 18 to 24 year olds -- the first generation educated after apartheid ended in 1994 -- are not in the education system and do not have a job, according to government data. Academics have called this group the "lost generation" and worry it will grow larger unless the government fixes a system riddled with failing schools, unskilled educators and corruption that stops funding from reaching its intended destinations.

Corruption eats away at money. Teachers are poorly trained and challenged by a constantly shifting curriculum. Schools are often shut by teachers' strikes.

Once almost exclusively white, universities now reflect the racial composition of the country with more people from groups disenfranchised by apartheid climbing the ladder with a degree or diploma. But at the same time, the number of people living in poverty has changed little since apartheid ended, with no remedy in sight given the structural problems in education.