Kuwait to give laptops to pupils

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Kuwait to give laptops to pupils

Monday, Jun 21, 2010

Gulf News

Manama Kuwait’s education minister is set to launch a project that will provide every high school pupil with a laptop to help move schools into the digital age.

“The project will start right after we finish the necessary infrastructure,” Moudhi Al Hamoud said. “There is also an agreement with the curricula directorate to upload all curricula on the education ministry website,” the minister told Kuwait News Agency (Kuna).

Under the digital plan promoted by the minister, all schools will be interconnected and linked with the ministry.

“We are looking at the Singapore experiment and we are keen on benefiting from their expertise in this field,” said the minister.

A delegation from Singapore will soon visit Kuwait to assess the situation and present a report on the best way to make Kuwait move ahead with its project.

Kuwait has been steadily enhancing the use of technology in various spheres and this year its ranking improved in the UN e-Government Survey from 57 to 50 among 192 UN member states.

Al Hamoud has been pushing for improvements in education standards despite heavy challenges from conservatives while promoting best practices in learning acquisition.

Gov’t to subsidise transportation of university students

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1 June 2010
AMMAN (JT) – The government on Sunday announced that it has allocated JD30 million as annual financial support for the public transportation sector, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

During a press conference held at the ministry’s headquarters, Transport Minister Alaa Batayneh said that the support comes in a two-phase plan that entails subsidising transportation of state universities’ students by 50 per cent. The other phase is related to infrastructure development.

The minister indicated that the government will allocate money to support the transportation of students, starting with the Hashemite University (HU) and the Jordan University Of Science And Technology(JUST) this summer semester, saying that the plan will later cover all public universities.

Batayneh explained that the reason behind choosing HU and JUST as the first to receive the support is that these universities already have deals with transportation companies that adopt advanced ways for collecting transportation fees. This, the minister said, helps in documenting the number of students who benefit from the initiative.

He also indicated that a total of 15,000 students will benefit from the support plan during the summer semester whereas the total number of beneficiaries will rise to 23,000 in the first semester.

There are 10 public universities and 17 private universities in the Kingdom, with the total number of students enrolled is estimated by the Ministry of Higher Education at both public and private universities at nearly 236,000.

© Jordan Times 2010

KHDA working to the benefit of Dubai students

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21 June 2010
The schools’ inspection regime, launched two years ago by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) of Dubai Government, has shown its value by forcing a clear improvement in the standards of schooling in Dubai. More schools are getting ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ ratings and fewer schools are getting ‘acceptable’ and ‘unsatisfactory’ ratings. This is a clear demonstration to educationists and parents that something is going right.

The KHDA has come under attack from many groups, including some school managements who want to raise their fees and some teachers who resent the two-year-old inspection regime, and many parents, managements and teachers who are confused by the apparently blurred authority between the KHDA and the federal Ministry of Education. But the figures from the latest round of inspections show that there is no doubt that the KHDA’s inspection regime is doing its job and working to the benefit of Dubai’s students.

Any schools’ inspection regime needs both the inspectors and the school managements to work together to understand their different perspectives and Dubai’s new inspection system is no different. It has made allowances for the many different curricula available in Dubai. It would clearly be silly for Indian curriculum schools to be inspected by someone trained by England’s Ofsted. Many school managements have worked hard to understand and meet the KHDA’s requirements and the KHDA has been willing to listen to well-informed suggestions on how to improve the inspection regime.

But the KHDA has to get tough with many schools who continue to get away with lip-service to teaching Arabic as well as Islamic studies. These two subjects have been at the heart of most of the disputes with the KHDA, but the KHDA has been right to insist that they are taught to the same standards as any other core subject.

© Gulf News 2010

General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions select Pearson VUE for online exam delivery

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21 June 2010
The General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI) has announced that it will deliver tests online for the first time in its history after agreeing to a partnership with Pearson VUE.

Formed in 2001, CIBAFI is a non-profit organisation based in Manama, Bahrain which provides information and services to the Islamic Financial Services Industry (IFSI).

CIBAFI, through the International Center for Islamic Finance Training, recently launched its Certified Islamic Bankers (CIB) qualification – the first ever internationally recognised Islamic banking certificate – to target candidates around the world. From August, the initial five-year partnership with Pearson VUE – the global leader in computer-based testing – will ensure that Islamic bankers have greater access to the prestigious award via a network of over 5,000 test centres worldwide. Initially, the exam will be delivered in Arabic but will later be made available in English and French to further increase global accessibility.

Dr. Ezzedine Khoja, Secretary General for CIBAFI said:

“We are delighted to administer tests in partnership with Pearson VUE. The agreement shows our dedication to making CIBAFI exams more accessible to Islamic bankers not only in the Middle East but around the world.”

Suzana Lopes, Pearson VUE, VP Sales and Marketing EMEA, added:

“This partnership will help to ensure that CIBAFI offer even more accessible and recognisable awards. Our status as the global leader in computer-based testing, combined with our ability to deliver a full suite of testing solutions, will ensure that we meet all of CIBAFI’s future needs.”

Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences receives another suspect

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Education policy focuses on religious education

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Islamabad:

The new education policy of the federal government has focused on teaching of human rights as envisioned by Islam. In line with the policy, religious education will be promoted through hiring of qualified teachers and publication of quality textbooks. The objective of religious education is to teach ethics and good behaviour to the students and make them learn the basic principles for spending their daily social life.According to the policy, Islamiat will be taught as a compulsory subject from Class 1 to 12. Students will be instructed about morality through examples set by Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) in his day-to-day affairs and dealings with Muslims and non-Muslims. The government will ensure that the Islamiat textbooks and other learning materials do not contain anything contrary to Islamic injunctions or any controversial material regarding any sect or religious and ethnic minorities. The policy will make sure that the Islamiat textbooks allow the children to learn, understand and apply the fundamental principles in their lives, with an aim to change and build a society based on the principles of Quran and Sunnah. The policy will focus on the rights and duties of parents, relatives, neighbours, teachers, friends, companions, children, women, orphans, widows, patients, handicapped persons, elders, travellers, guests and non-Muslims. There will also be lessons on tolerance, forgiveness, patience, honesty, piety, chastity, enlightenment, service to humanity, punctuality, simplicity, love for the country and countrymen, Islamic brotherhood, truth, dignity of labour, equality, commitment to vows, ‘halal’ earnings, discipline, respect for law, national unity, mutual co-existence and purity in the light of Islamic teachings. The policy says that qualified teachers will be appointed to teach Islamiat and Arabic, adding that training programmes in the two subjects will be provided for pre-service and in-service teachers. The government plans to arrange for the printing of rare books on Islam and charts and materials relating to Islamic injunctions, and will distribute them amongst the libraries of schools, colleges, universities, research institutions and madrassas. The government will award scholarships to students, who want to get higher education in Islamic studies. The new policy also has a provision for non-Muslim students to study ethics and moral education in place of Islamiat.

Positions of 13 Central Superior Services (CSS) candidates

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ISLAMABAD: Positions of 13 Central Superior Services (CSS) candidates were downgraded on Friday as the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) reviewed the CSS result that was earlier dispatched on FPSC website.

According to sources, 266 positions of CSS candidates were changed as a result of this review.

The final result of the CSS 2009 examination appeared on the FPSC website on June 15 and candidates were only waiting for the final group allocation. However, FPSC all of a sudden withdrew the list from their official website. – DawnNews