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Jos — A three-day inter-faith conference on peace in Plateau State came to a close with participants drawing up a 12-point communiqué on how lasting peace can be achieved in the state.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Mrs Tallen noted that the crises that had torn the state apart in the past has been an eye opener to all those who knew the price of peace, adding that both religion has their sad tales to tell. According to her, the time has come for youths in the state and across the country, to learn to say no to violence and be tolerant of each other no matter what it may entail.

A big lesson, he said had been learnt and with this conference, it was expected that all forms of hatred should be eschewed in the interest of lasting peace, even as it had become mandatory that people from both religion must learn to live together as it was the case in the past. In his own comments, Mr. Daniel Choji said the conference had assisted in no small measure in identifying the causes of the problems, and the frank discussions had enabled all participants an opportunity to take the messages back to the grassroots as that would be the only way to mend fences properly.

Gender “Gender” refers to the social differences and relations between men and women which are learned, vary widely among societies and cultures, and change over time. The term “gender” does not replace the term “sex”, which refers exclusively to biological differences between men and women. For example, statistical data are broken down by sex. The term “gender” is used to analyse the roles, responsibilities, constraints, opportunities and needs of women and men in all areas and in any given social context. Gender roles are learned behaviours in a given society, community or other social group. They condition which activities, tasks and responsibilities are perceived as male and female. Gender roles are affected by age, class, race, ethnicity and religion, and by the geographical, economic and political environment. Changes in gender roles often occur in response to changing economic, natural or political circumstances, including development efforts or structural adjustment, or other nationally or internationally based forces. The gender roles within a given social context may be flexible or rigid, similar or different, and complementary or conflicting. Both women and men are involved in reproductive, productive and community management activities and play roles within social and political groups. Their involvement in each activity reflects the gender division of labour in a particular place at a particular time. The gender division of labour must be reflected in gender analysis.

2. Education for peace

272. Governments, non-governmental organizations, women's groups and the mass media should encourage women to engage in efforts to promote education for peace in the family, neighbourhood and community. Special attention should be given to the contribution of women's grass-roots organizations. The multiple skills and talents of women artists, journalists, writers, educators and civic leaders can contribute to promoting ideas of peace if encouraged, facilitated and supported.

273. Special attention should be given to the education of children for life in peace within an atmosphere of understanding, dialogue and respect for others. In this respect, suitable concrete action should be taken to discourage the provision of children and young persons with games and publications and other media promoting the notion of favouring war, aggression, cruelty, excessive desire for power and other forms of violence, within the broad processes of the reparation of society for life in peace.

goals of equality, development and peace for all women everywhere in the interest of all humanity

the status of women has advanced in some important respects in the past decade but that progress has been uneven, inequalities between women and men have persisted and major obstacles remain, with serious consequences for the well-being of all people

Women's empowerment and their full participation on the basis of equality in all spheres of society, including participation in the decision-making process and access to power, are fundamental for the achievement of equality, development and peace

violence against women is an obstacle to the achievement of equality, development and peace

violence against women constitutes a violation of the rights and fundamental freedoms of women

violence against women is a manifestation of historically unequal power relations between men and women, which have led to domination over and discrimination against women by men and to the prevention of the full advancement of women, and that violence against women is one of the crucial social mechanisms by which women are forced into a subordinate position compared with men

OECD’s influential Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, which gathers information on education systems, schools, families and students through surveys of school leaders, students and parents is launched, but where – asks EI – is the voice of teachers? Despite the triennial report claiming ‘good educational policy is informed educational policy in which all responsible actors (policy makers, school principals, teachers, students and parents), are provided with the knowledge that they need to make good educational decisions,’ EI cannot understand why the perspective of teachers, who are the first actors to be called upon to implement education policy in schools, continues to be ignored. EI has long argued that a questionnaire to survey the views of teachers in those schools that are sampled for the study will generate data that can augment the views of students and parents, and provide a robust understanding of the learning context in which findings can be interpreted.

The continuing exclusion of teacher voice from this report is a missed opportunity and undermines PISA’s aim of offering informed policy guidance to governments, or using the results to show what countries can learn from each other to set and achieve measurable goals.”

With the goal of changing teaching and learning in its classrooms, Singapore's Nanyang Girl's High School has replaced its textbooks with iPad tablet computers.

"We found that it was a very good personal learning device, extremely mobile, light weight and it is easy to use. I think if you talk to the girls you will realize that they practically don't need training. I think if anything, the joke is the teachers probably taking a little bit longer time in getting used to it. So it seemed to be a device that was just the thing that we were looking for and we were glad that it came out and so we grabbed the opportunity to use it."

According Singapore’s Ministry of Education, there’s only one primary school and three secondary schools in the country that are giving the iPads a try.

The educationist was speaking at a ceremony to award certificates to teachers who had attended an in-service training with Teachers without Borders (TWB). The US organisation supports teachers worldwide with professional development opportunities.

In the TWB course, teachers learn how they can enlighten learners and the society on MDGs to fast-track their achievement."One chooses an MDG to focus on. They either teach it in their schools/community or contribute to an existing initiative that focuses on the MDG," said Mr Mathias Osimbo, a representative of teachers without borders.

Osimbo said the course, taught free to teachers at primary and secondary schools, aims at increasing the impact of teachers in society."It makes teachers to be instruments of change beyond the classroom border by working with communities," he said.Michael Ndung’u, a beneficiary of the program says that the course has helped him enrich his teaching skills."It makes one move from being a passive disseminator of information to an active collaborator and inquirer," he notes.Besides MDGs, teachers also train in effective classroom management methods and teaching multi-cultured learners.Members of the organisation are also offered a platform where teachers can interact with others across the world and share experiences.

TUNIS, Tunisia, 23 February 2011 - After his school was attacked three times in two weeks, *Issam, 13, admits he’s afraid. Popular protests in Tunisia started mid-December in the interior regions of the country and led, a month later, to the toppling of the then President, causing schools to close down for two weeks.

Since interim authorities have taken over, schools have begun to reopen. Now, after a few days of strikes, schooling is slowly returning to normal. Insecurity, however, remains a concern. Across the country, schools have reported incidents of theft, looting, burning and armed attacks.

Most of the demonstrators are believed to be outlaws whose sole purpose is to destabilize the country. On one occasion, according to Imene, they came with knives, sticks and shards of glass. They even locked the teachers in one room and left with the key.

The political upheaval in Côte d’Ivoire is taking a heavy toll on education, especially in the north, illustrating starkly the devastating impact conflict can have on learning opportunities – and the vicious circle in which conflict and education can become trapped.

A teacher described his school in Abidjan, the commercial capital, as much better than others in the city: “There are around 63 students per teacher – that’s a small class; it’s considered good. But there are no tables, no chairs, sometimes there’s no light. Sometimes students take it in turns to come into the classroom to sit on the few chairs.”

This year’s Global Monitoring Report focuses on other ways in which education failures can stoke conflict – such as perpetuating prejudice instead of promoting tolerance, and failing to pass on the skills that children need to escape poverty. The report lays out practical steps that governments and the international community can take to make sure that education builds peace rather than fanning the flames of war.

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana teachers could play a key role in suicide prevention under a bill that supporters say would help prevent tragedies. The push is part of a national movement to enlist teachers and school personnel to help recognize behavioral changes and other signs that could suggest suicidal tendencies. At least four states require teachers and school personnel to be trained in warning signs, and Indiana is one of several others considering legislation that would increase opportunities for such training.

In many ways, Kenya is an example of an African success story in education. According to the 2011 EFA Global Monitoring Report, growth in the number of children attending school has accelerated, the gender gap has narrowed and it is one of the few countries in the region expected to achieve the Education for All goal of halving adult illiteracy by 2015. Efforts are being made to ensure education quality does not suffer as the number entering school expands. The Kenyan government should be commended for its efforts in all of these areas.

Despite this progress, one marginalized group has remained beyond the radar: displaced people. Kenya is host to some of the largest refugee populations on the continent. The government is unable to stretch its limited resources to support their education, and education is not seen as a priority by international agencies in humanitarian situations – just 2% of humanitarian aid overall is allocated to education. This is part of the hidden crisis documented in the 2011 Global Monitoring Report.

Speaking of the Dadaab camps in northeastern Kenya, home to some refugees for as long as for 20 years, Mohamed Elmi noted: “Dadaab suffers from overcrowded classrooms, insufficient trained teachers, and too few opportunities for secondary-age students.”

Almost half of the world’s population – nearly 3 billion people – are under the age of 25. They are often marginalised and deprived, with poor access to education. But now young people in Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Syria, and Yemen are calling for genuine opportunities to design their future.

“In the past we had civic education as part of our system, but it was taught under a totalitarian regime and therefore nobody was really interested,” said Ms. Elbadawy. “The ministry of education should consider reintroducing this subject again in a more interactive way so people will be interested.”

“The new education system needs to be tailored to the 21st century” he said. “Children in underdeveloped countries need to be brought up to speed with the latest developments in technology, industry and new media.”

CAPE TOWN, 11 May 2011 (IRIN) - Instead of providing much needed opportunities, South Africa’s ailing education system is keeping children from poor households at the back of the job queue and locking families into poverty for another generation.

The study, "Low Quality Education as Poverty Trap", found that the schooling available to children in poor communities is reinforcing rather than challenging the racial and economic inequities created by South Africa’s apartheid-era policies.

The government allocated R190 billion (US$28 billion) or 21 percent of its 2011/12 budget to education, but 80 percent is spent on personnel and the remainder is not enough to supply thousands of schools in mainly poor areas with basic requirements like electricity and textbooks.

The Camera as Voice project uses film to give young people opportunities for expression and dialogue about complex issues including globalization, anti-Westernism, modernization, alienation and community disadvantage – all issues that can contribute to radicalism. IREX Europe and IREX, working with the Youth Leadership Development Foundation, based in Sana’a, will train youth organizations in Aden, Taiz, Hadramot, and Ibb to build their capacity to offer youth training and leadership programs. The young people’s films will be woven together to produce professional documentary serving as a “tapestry” of young Yemenis’ views on these issues.

OSH PROVINCE, Kyrgyzstan, 1 September 2011 – Hundreds of children from Shark village have settled down in the new Tolstoy School following a year-long journey. After the civil strife that struck Osh Province in June 2010, when their school was burned down, they studied in tents. Then, when winter came, they shared classrooms of the hospitable Sharipov School nearby. Now, they finally they have come back to their home village to attend a newly built school.

“I had to convene parents six times before they were convinced that it would be safe to let their children go to Sharipov School,” said Tolstoy School director Muradil Moidinov. “UNICEF supported minibuses, which went from house to house to collect children in the mornings and bring them back after school.” Mr. Moidinov promised the students and parents that a new school would be built. He refused to let the children be dispersed among other Osh schools. “It would have been impossible. The nearest schools are so far away. We are very thankful to UNICEF for all the great support they provided,” he said.

The new Tolstoy School’s opening was long-awaited in a community that has seen its share of hostility between people of different ethnic backgrounds. For their part, students still remember the old school warmly. “It was like home” said Muazam Mamadjanova, 15. To make the new building more like home, children have brought in pots of flowers to adorn the windowsills. They are also planting flowers in the beds near the school entrance. In autumn, they plan to plant trees as well.

First, investing in adolescent girls benefits everyone. When they flourish, their families and communities flourish as well. The benefits will go a long way in a girl’s lifetime, and for generations to come.

As One UN, we will support national development efforts to invest in adolescent girls’ rights, health, education, protection, livelihoods. We can no longer afford to exclude the millions of adolescent girls left behind. They are central to the MDGs and we must make them visible in national action plans and budgets. We must improve our data systems to track the change we aspire to see in their lives.

This is because investing in adolescent girls is both the best and smartest investment a country can make. Educated, healthy and skilled, she will be an active citizen in her community. She will become a mother when she is ready and invest in her future children’s health and education. She will be able to contribute fully to her society and break the cycle of poverty, one girl at a time.

Grassroots Soccer is an innovative organization that uses the power of soccer as an entry point to achieve its main objective of providing rigorous health education, focusing on HIV and AIDS

Led by coaches, in addition to engaging students in critical learning about HIV prevention, the program provides psychosocial support and the opportunity for kids to form trusting relationships with responsible adults who are role models.

the Grassroots approach of using fun and games achieves results. In a 2007 evaluation, it was found that children who went through the program had significantly reduced incidences of multiple sex partners compared to children who did not participate.

How can countries encourage girls to attend school? Is the answer providing free textbooks or building schools closer to their homes? While these are important pieces of the puzzle, there is another issue that influences whether girls attend school: menstruation.

According to the United Nations Children's Fund, one in 10 African girls stays home during menses or drops out of school. In many cases, girls do not have access to affordable sanitary pads, and social taboos against discussing menstruation compound the problem.

Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE) in 2007 to address this problem. SHE works in Rwanda with its she28 campaign to develop an affordable and eco-friendly pad made from banana stem fibers so that girls can attend school unimpeded by worries over their menses.

At the end of this week, Southern Sudan will become an independent nation. Citizens of the newest country in the world, the people of Southern Sudan face immense challenges and immediate threats.

They also stand before a unique opportunity to build a country that is free of war, respectful of human rights and prosperous. Education will play a pivotal role in the future stability and economic development of Southern Sudan.

more than 100,000 Sudanese civilians have been displaced due to recent clashes over the contested border district of Abyei. About half of them are children who are being exposed to hunger, violence and disease. They are often separated from their parents and out of school due to the conflict.