Pakistani Curriculum Pits Bile Vs. Nation-Building

Schools no longer required to teach it

(NEWSER) - Inevitability department: Indiana has removed a district requirement that elementary schools teach students cursive handwriting, reports Fox 59 in Indianapolis. Beginning this fall, schools can teach cursive if they want, though they may prefer to use the time honing typing skills: Students will now be expected to be proficient in keyboarding. More»

Let's not get cynical about education

(NEWSER) - Nicholas Kirstof is reeling from the allegations against Three Cups of Tea author Greg Mortenson , who he considers a personal friend. “Part of me wishes that all this journalistic energy had been directed instead to ferret out abuses by politicians who allocate government resources to campaign donors,” he gripes in the New York Times , “but that’s not a real answer. … We need to hold school-builders accountable as well as fat cats.” More»

Makeover aimed at boosting education, tolerance, fighting extremism

(NEWSER) - Out of the $1.5 billion in civilian aid the US is sending to Pakistan this year, $20 million is being used to enlist Elmo in the fight against Islamic extremism. USAid is funding a Pakistani remake of Sesame Street in an effort to educate children in deprived areas, the Guardian reports. Pakistan's failing education system is seen as a major cause of religious extremism. Elmo will be in the remake, but other characters like Big Bird have been cut to make way for new Pakistani characters—including a schoolgirl who loves reading. More»

(NEWSER) - Pakistan’s education system is so dysfunctional that for many rural children, Islamic schools are the only option, the New York Times reports. The growth of madrasas, which teach little besides Koran memorization, is especially pronounced in places like southern Punjab, home to half of the country's at least 12,000 madrasas. Police there estimate that two-thirds of all suicide bombers have attended the schools. More»

Proposed UK curriculum focuses on learning skills, flexibility

(NEWSER) - Why learn about World War II or Queen Victoria in elementary school when you can always look them up on Wikipedia? That seems to be the rationale behind a new proposed overhaul of the British school system. Because secondary schools teach plenty of history, the reasoning goes, early schooling should focus on the basics, including typing and Twitter, reports the Guardian. More»