For nearly 300000 kids in Russia, growing up in an orphanage is a reality. Many question the ability of these institutions to prepare children for adult life...
A Gift of Future: What it takes for Russian orphans to make it in life
Students vs State: US budget too cool for school?
Hundreds of students have been arrested in the US after nationwide protests over cuts in education funding turned violent. The demonstrators were angered at a steep hike in tuition fees and teachers being laid off - measures the government says are necessary to tackle the budget deficit.
US academia to protest 'low' education quality
America's college students and professors are to hold March 4 rallies nationwide in protest to the declining quality of education, which is suffering from fee hikes.
University students and professors in more than 30 US states are planning demonstrations on Thursday in order to voice their anger about the increasing costs of studying over the states' cutting of education budgets that has brought about furloughs, tuition hikes, job cuts for professors, reduction of study programs and the general erosion of education system.
'Pink slips' sweep away teachers in US
US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan expresses concern as budget deficits expose American teachers and educators to risk of imminent layoff.
"I am very, very concerned about layoffs going into the next school year starting in September. Good superintendents are going to start sending out pink slips in March and April, as they start to plan for their budgets," said Duncan, referring to the slips of paper included in some paychecks to notify a person of being fired.
Philippines' failing schools
State-run schools in the Philippines are suffering from years of neglect and a lack of government investment. Even though primary education is mandatory in the country, on average more than 40 per cent of students are expected to drop out before they finish high school. For those who do stay in school, there is often not enough teachers, classrooms or books. The Philippines spent just $138 on average for each of its school children in 2008. As the lack of support for education unravels, the group Education Network is pushing harder for reform. Al Jazeera's Marga Ortigas reports on how the declining school system is trapping many Filipinos in a cycle of illiteracy and poverty. [February 21, 2010]
12-year-old American arrested for doodling on desk
A 12-year-old girl from New York has been handcuffed and arrested by the police for doodling on the classroom desk, an incident that has shaken the US education system to its core.
Alexa Gonzales, a seventh grader at the Junior High School in Forest Hills, had written the words "I love my friends Abby and Faith. Lex was here 2/1/10 :)" on the classroom desk with a green marker when the school principle decided to have her arrested by the New York Police.
