Majority of World’s Illiterate Women Live in West Africa

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report. A United Nations agency estimates that 516 million of the world’s women cannot read and write. The UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, says programs are needed to help illiterate women learn although they are past school age. Women make up two-thirds of all illiterate adults. […]

Teaching Children the Power of Music

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report. Kid Pan Alley is a nonprofit organization that holds songwriting workshops for students across the United States. The organization recently visited a school in the Anacostia area of Washington. The children presented a concert with the help of songwriter and recording artist Paul Reisler. He established Kid Pan Alley […]

Teachers, Students Recall China’s Cultural Revolution

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report. Almost 40 years have passed since Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong died and his Cultural Revolution ended. Changes in Chinese life caused widespread suffering during the Cultural Revolution. In recent times, some aging teachers and student leaders who lived through this period in Chinese history have been telling their stories. […]

Future Uncertain for African Growth and Opportunity Act

From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report. The United States is considering the future of an American law called the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA. This law allows countries in sub-Saharan Africa to export some goods and natural resources to the United States without duties. AGOA is set to end in 2015. It was signed into […]

Entrance Exams Cause Problems at University of Liberia

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report. Entrance examinations have been causing problems at the University of Liberia in Monrovia. The exams help to decide whom the university will accept as a student. The trouble began after an education specialist, James Dorbor Jallah, was named to direct and administer the testing. Recently, about 25,000 high […]

Students Launch Weather Balloons to Study Ozone

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report. Students at Saint Louis University have launched weather balloons into the sky above the city of St. Louis, Missouri. The United States space agency, NASA, is paying for the project to measure ozone gas. It is part of a study to learn more about air pollution and our climate. The students […]

Syrian University Students Seek Education Overseas

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report. Many Syrians are trying to study overseas while a civil war continues in their country. Thousands of Syrian university students sought help when they learned there was money to help them continue their education. Leen al Zaibak is with Jusoor, an organization for Syrians living overseas. Jusoor joined with the American-based […]

UNICEF Appeals for Help for Syrian Schoolchildren

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report. The United Nations Children’s Fund is appealing to international donors to help provide education money for Syrian schoolchildren. Safe places to learn, teachers and supplies are all lacking, and almost 2 million young Syrian students have dropped out of school. UNICEF says about 40 percent of students from grades one […]

Education Project in Rwanda Combines Online Classes, Local Help

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report. A new experimental program using MOOCs or massive open online courses opened recently in Kigali, Rwanda. The Kepler project is designed for people in the developing world. It uses MOOCs provided by foreign universities. It combines these online classes with help from local instructors and an internship program. […]

United States and Haiti Work Together to Improve Haitian

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report. Haiti is among the poorest nations in the world. Only about half of Haitian children go to primary school. And the United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, says fewer than 25 percent attend secondary school. Many Haitian schools lack running water and dependable electricity. Recently, the United States’ Secretary of Education, […]