When you fall 26 times, you get up and try it again. I have so much respect for the gentleman in India who dreamed of becoming a teacher. I am taking my time to find the newsworthy stuff, and let me tell you: I am having a ball.
Africa
South Africa
A three-year-old stranded in Nigeria after his mother was imprisoned is home in South Africa. Embassy staff pooled their own money for his airfare, and a consular official accompanied him home.
Algeria
Eleven Sahrawi workers run a tiny pharmaceutical laboratory in the Tindouf refugee camps, producing antibiotics, eye drops and creams despite desert heat and shortages.
Ethiopia
Thousands gathered in Addis Ababa for the enormous Meskel bonfire, part of a centuries-old Ethiopian Orthodox celebration recognized by UNESCO.
Zimbabwe
Harare’s Bira ReMbira festival celebrated the mbira, Zimbabwe’s distinctive metal-keyed instrument and a UNESCO-recognized musical tradition.
Asia
India
Vijay Kumar Sharma failed the government teacher exam 26 times. He finally passed at 59, giving him just over two years to teach Sanskrit before mandatory retirement.
Sumitra Devi has won a 37-year legal battle after being denied daytime industrial work because she was a woman. India’s Supreme Court ultimately ruled in her favour.
Kashmiri artist Masood Hussain is hand-painting the poetry and imagery of 14th-century mystic Lal Ded onto pashmina shawls, turning literature into wearable art.
India’s first passenger train capable of running on both liquefied natural gas and diesel made its inaugural journey.
Japan
Japanese fiction in English translation is booming internationally. Publishers report particular enthusiasm for stories about alienation, feminism, cats and coffee shops.
Australia & Pacific
Australia
Modern forensic techniques may finally identify one of two men whose bodies were discovered near a remote Northern Territory cattle station 50 years ago.
Australia is running short of skilled stonemasons capable of restoring historic buildings. Veteran craftspeople warn that practical knowledge is disappearing as older masons retire.
Scandinavia, Nordics & Arctic
Svalbard
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault now safeguards more than 1.4 million seed samples. Its main door normally opens only three times a year to receive new deposits.
Europe
Spain
Málaga artist Naomi Lautier is 14, autistic and still in school—and is moving from a Barcelona group exhibition into solo gallery shows internationally.
Austria
Austria will experiment with keeping children in primary school for six years instead of four, beginning next school year.
Ireland
Beibhinn Parsons became Ireland’s all-time leading women’s rugby try scorer today, scoring twice in Ireland’s 31–24 victory over Japan.
Middle East
Iran / Great Britain
More than 300 works by over 100 Iranian artists are being shown in London. With art materials difficult to obtain, some artists have resorted to used cardboard, old book covers and tea-stained paper.
Yemen / Djibouti
Thousands of Yemenis have crossed the Red Sea to Djibouti seeking safety, and the Markazi refugee camp near Obock is approaching capacity.
North America
Canada
Saskatchewan’s Culture Days has grown to 45 community hubs, offering free performances, workshops and exhibitions around the province.
United States
California
A teenager created Tumor Tactics, a card game that teaches children how cancer works and how doctors select treatments. Summer workshops taught 150 children, each of whom received a free game.
Interesting to read about Austrian primary schooling – in Australia that has always lasted six years in every school . . . AND, . . . my two daughters went to a Dalton Scheme (wonderful!) private school – the six years of primary were preceded by a formal year in kindergarten plus one year in ‘transition’ – ie, they began at 4 and started high school at 12 – worked wonderfully!
There are three school systems in Austria (the same as in Germany) Elementary school (grades 1 to 6) and high school (grades 7 to 10 or 12). There is also a Gymnasium, which is the ultimate school. That’s where kids have to learn old Greek and Latin. Only students which graduate from a gymnasium with good grades go on and study at universities and colleges (for free of course).
At fourth grade, that’s when parents and teachers have to decide if a child stays in the normal school system or if a pupil will go the gymnasium, which starts at 5th grade.
I went to preschool with four and because I was dismissed (long story) I started school at five. I went to the gymnasium when I was nine years old.
I always thought it was very young to judge a child’s capability at that age.
So the six years in primary school (elementary school) is a significant change, one that I am all for.
Thank you so much for the explanation – actually it works out the same in the end 🙂 ! It’s funny – in Estonia ‘Gumnaasium’ simply means ‘High School’, especially a girls’ one 🙂 ! The ‘Dalton’ idea came from a system in the US – from NY! For the first half of the day in high school students had formal lessons in their classroom . . . after lunch it was their choice into which ‘subject’ rooms to go > English, history, geography etc – ie in which they might be weak > they would do their homework there, lining up one after the other to get private help from the subject teacher. It worked extremely well – they knew what they needed and could approach the teacher 2-3 times during the session, then go to the next classroom. I had a couple of Ascham Dalton Scheme girls in first year medicine – they did not have to be ‘spoonfed’ but knew exactly how to study by themselves . . . so we picked that school !!!
I looked up Naomi Lautier and spent quite awhile on her website. Her art is interesting.