Education, Education, Education

Look at these children singing in the video.  They are singing about love and values in English – a global language. But, until less than three years ago, the language of violence dominated their daily lives.

These children in fact come from Nepal, a Southeast Asian country which until 2006 was still in the throes of a deadly civil war. 

The education record of the country is far below average. In 2003, only 38% of public school students passed their school leaving certificates.

But now, Nepal is investing in education in a bid to improve the long-term performance of its economy. In order to achieve its goals, the government has obtained the financial and logistical help of various organisations, inlcuding the World Bank. 

These projects have already helped more children gain access to education in a caste-ridden society. 

These success of these projects, another video from the World Bank claims, was made possible through a system of community school management, where the shcool is directly managed by its surrounding community.

However, these projects also need money. And money only comes from the developed states. With the rise of the global financial crisis, the goal of global enrollment in primary education was seriously put at risk.

I hope that developed states, including states like ours, see sense to the situation and commit themselves for the development of education worldwide.

We are one world after all.

Brown claims global leadership spot as his economy’s still in coma

Saying that Gordon Brown’s ambitious is an understatement.

The Guardian today quotes Brown telling GMTV that his government is leading the world in its policies for dealing with the global downturn.

Earlier on today, Brown’s government announced it will give employers up to €2,800 for every new worker they hire prompting newspapers to dub this initiative as the ‘golden hello’.

The initiative will cost the public coffers €560 million.

Young graduates are also on top of Brown’s agenda as plans to create 35,000 new traineeship posts were unveiled.

Brown has been on a spending spree since the begninning of the crisis. However, Sky reports how he’s failing to excite business confidence with only 28% confident in his ability as PM.

Maybe Brown would be better off in stimulating the businessmen’s creativity with funds fostering more innovation and research and helping those who are really in need rather than giving handouts to everyone.

Obama should remove export and visa restrictions, report suggests

A report published by the National Research Council urges Obama to remove export and vis restrictions which make it harder for academics, scientists and businessen to travel to the United States and thus stimulate its economy, the AFP says.

“To reform visa controls and grant US businesses access to the most talented scientists, the report recommends streamlining and including “skills-based preferential processing” in the visa application process to facilitate entry into the country for foreign researchers and students.

Foreign student visas should also be extended so that recent graduates can properly search for work with US-based employers, the report recommended.”

This is a golden opportunity for Malta to strengthen relations with the world’s largest economy after it joined the US Visa Waiver Programme on 22nd December 2008.

Are Brits past their best-before date?

Did you ever taste Nutella past its best-before date? According to Brits, it tastes even better in times of crisis.

News which appeared yesterday on The Financial Times shows how British web site selling foodstuff which is past its best before date has registered a tenfold increase in its sales since the start of the financial crisis.

Elizabeth Rigby and Jane Croft report how Approved Food, a Sheffield based web-site, is selling like crazy.

Tough times ahead for the fine stomach.