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| February 2007 |
Bosnia:
The World Under One Roof
28 February 2007
An international school in Bosnia has shown that students here do not have to be segregated.
by Mirna Skrbic
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Kyrgyzstan:
Pay as You Go
16 February 2006
Why combat bribery in Kyrgyz universities when students, teachers, administrators, and even employers have learned to work the system?
by Jessica Jacobson
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Corruption bedevils higher education across the post-socialist world, driven by obsolete teaching methods, low teacher salaries, and the pressures of
globalization. Perhaps nowhere is the problem worse than in Kyrgyzstan, where students commonly buy their way into university, buy good
grades without ever reading a text, and buy a passing mark on their final exams. TOL's Jessica Jacobson spoke with students and administrators
about the practice in several Kyrgyz universities and explored ways to combat the problem.
In Bosnia, segregated classrooms have been the norm since the country's three main ethnic groups ended their bitter wars against each other
in 1995. But now an international high school in the divided city of Mostar is showing that young people are eager to learn, and live, side by side with the former "enemy."
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To Subscribe
A bi-monthly newsletter sponsored by OSI's Education Support Program, the Open Society Education News highlights upcoming events, new publications,
and all of TOL's education articles. Subscribers to this newsletter will also receive notifications about opportunities to contribute to
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Take a look at the previous education newsletters:
http://archive.tol.cz/nsl-list.html.
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Two booklets have been published regarding the debate on school autonomy
“School Autonomy, Debate Supporting Materials” and “Invitation for Debate: School Autonomy” have recently been published by the Education
Development Association in Albania, an OSI-RE:FINE grantee. The publications provide experiences of school autonomy and also serve as a
guide to facilitating the debate on school autonomy.
“School Autonomy, Debate Supporting Materials” focuses on countries in transition, introducing successes and reform ideas from Bulgaria, the
Czech Republic and Hungary. Successful experiences of school autonomy from western countries and extracts from western specialists in
school autonomy are included.
Topics include:
- Decision-making at the school level on staff, curricula and finances;
- The role of parents, students and civil society in school governance;
- School assessment/evaluation and monitoring;
- School relations with local government.
“Invitation for Debate: School Autonomy” is a guidebook intended to facilitate the debate on school autonomy. The booklet provides
general guidelines about the moderation of an efficient debate, topic selection, and forms of debate organization. It also classifies
various forms of decision-making at the school level, using different criteria and key questions that further probe the quality of school autonomy.
Debates about school autonomy in the areas of curricula, finance and staff, as well as the role, composition and election of school boards
are included in the booklet.
In each of the above areas the following is presented:
- Situation in Albania;
- Possible reforming alternatives according to foreign experiences;
- Provocative key questions;
- Possible debate elements such as the preliminary development of questionnaires, simulation, division in small groups and comparison of findings.
A list of possible decisions at the school level is also provided along with examples of foreign experiences.
Both booklets have been used in teacher training activities and workshops. For further information please contact Stavri Llambiri at
llambiri@albmail.com.
Summary of results from the “Position of Youth with Disabilities in Secondary Education in Serbia and Montenegro” survey
The survey was carried out by the OSI-RE:FINE grantee Association of Students with Disabilities of Serbia. The association’s main aim is the
promotion of inclusive education in Serbia and Montenegro. One of its projects targets high school students with disabilities, as possible future
students and leaders of the movement for people with disabilities. The overall goal of the project is to promote equal rights for youth with
disabilities and to create conditions for an inclusive secondary education system in Serbia and Montenegro.
The survey’s goal was to examine educational opportunities and obstacles for youth with disabilities in secondary schools (both mainstream
and special schools). The survey was conducted in questionnaire format and contained questions on accessibility of schools and boarding
schools, possible discrimination that was experienced in schools and boarding schools, interaction between school personnel, other students,
and students with disabilities as well as motivations for future education.
For full survey details and results please contact Julija Jeremic at
jjulija@adsyu.org. More information is at
www.adsyu.org.
The Network of Education Policy Centers (NEPC) publishes latest newsletter
The February 2007 edition of the NEPC newsletter is available at www.edupolicy.net. The newsletter
discusses the outcomes of the network’s first general assembly held in December and announces the network’s plans to institutionalize
and acquire an individual identity as an international NGO after three successful years of common project work and professional growth.
The newsletter also discusses new projects and initiatives and provides a publication review of “Strong Foundations: Early Childhood
Care and Education” (the title of this year’s Education for All Global Monitoring Report) by Grace Kaimila-Kanjo, an NEPC editorial board member.
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