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Posted by redrose64 at
30 June 2010
KUALA LUMPUR — Kuwait Ministry of Higher Education signed Wednesday a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with two universities in Hong Kong, Kuwait Consul General to Hong Kong Bader Al-Tuneib said.
The treaties, aimed at boosting cooperation in the fields of research and scholarships, was signed by Al-Tuneib, representative of Kuwait Ministry of Higher Education Dr. Ahmad Al-Athari, and the deans of University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The agreements would prove fruitful as they will help exchange expertise with time-honored universities, Al-Tuneib told KUNA over the phone.
The MoUs are directed towards boosting visits between officials of the domain in both sides which will be reflected on scientific researches, studies and student activities, he said. Kuwaiti Consulate in Hong Kong presents Kuwaitis willing to persue their education in Hong Kong with the help needed, he added.
By Abdullah Boqus
© KUNA (Kuwait News Agency) 2010
Posted by redrose64 at
01 July 2010
RIYADH – About 720 urban projects including residential and commercial buildings and projects in the sectors of education, health care and recreation are being executed in the Kingdom with a cost of more than SR1.6 trillion.
These projects constitute 25 percent of the construction and urban movement in the Arabian Gulf, which puts the country on top of region’s construction markets.
The increasing attention paid to the Saudi Construction Exhibition 2010 an international exhibition on construction technology and materials to be held from Oct. 18 to 21 and to the Saudi Exhibition for Stone Technology 2010, to be held at the same time, reflects the pioneering position of the Kingdom’s construction markets. The two exhibitions, to be organized by Riyadh Exhibitions Company will be convened with the participation of 42 national pavilions. The international participation has recorded a 12 percent increase with the expected first-time participation of Belgium, Egypt, United Kingdom, France and Taiwan.
Shahid Bahti, Director of the two exhibitions at Riyadh Exhibitions Company, said several confirmations for participation have been received.
He said the local construction sector grew by 3.9 percent last year during the global economic crisis, adding that with positive expectations for the global economy this year, “we expect local and international investment in one of the strongest sectors in the Kingdom (construction and real estate development) to increase.”
By Nawwaf Afit
© The Saudi Gazette 2010
Posted by redrose64 at
02 July 2010
BEIRUT: The Secondary Teachers Association (STA) will suspend boycotting the correction of Grade 12 official exams starting from Saturday, according to Education Minister Hassan Mneimneh.
He made the announcement on Thursday after attending a meeting between Prime Minister Saad Hariri, a delegation from the STA’s administrative committees headed by the body’s chief Hanna Gharib, a delegation from Vocational Training Teachers Association headed by George Qalosh along with members from Association of Private School Teachers led by Nehmeh Mahfoud.
Mneimneh said Hariri and the teachers has reached an agreement by which vocational and secondary teachers would be granted a 4.5- level promotion, adding that the settlement would be considered valid starting from January 1, 2010.
Mneimneh said the money payments required in accordance with the promotion would be paid over two installments per year.
The STA members have been demanding salary increases that would dramatically improve their professional ranking by seven levels, but the Cabinet has said it would only approve a limited pay increase matching a 4-level promotion.
The STA earlier reversed a decision to boycott the setting of standards for correcting, as well as the correction of Grade 9 official exams. It said it was ready to take a similar move with regard to Grade 12 official exams, should their demands be met soon. Teachers have also expressed their full readiness for dialogue with the Cabinet.
Earlier this week, talks were held between Mneimneh and Gharib with no positive results.
After the meeting, Gharib announced that the STA would boycott setting standards for correcting along with correcting Grade 12 official exams.
Delegations from parental committees have repeatedly visited Mneimenh’s office protesting STA’s escalatory move and expressing concern over the academic future of their children who had taken Grade 12 official exams.
In response, Gharib has always assured parents that teachers would devote extra hours to correct the exams once a solution was reached.
“We hope that teachers will fulfill their previous promise and accelerate the correction [of exams],” said Mneimneh.
Meanwhile, Gharib said the deal was a settlement “that enabled STA teachers to gain one-third of their demands.”
“But this agreement will not be put into effect if it does not receive the approval of testing committees, and correctors who will meet in a general assembly [tomorrow],” added Gharib.
Gharib said the STA’s executive committee had not suspended its decision to boycott setting standards for correcting along with correcting Grade 12 official exams, but would recommend that STA’s central council of delegates and correctors suspend the boycott starting from Saturday morning
“[STA’s] executive committee is called to meet tomorrow [Friday] to discuss this recommendation in light of the agreement that we will forward to it,” said Gharib.
Mahfoud said the solution was a compromise that pleased all sides, voicing his belief that teachers had not received all their rights.
“This solution guarantees part of the teachers’ rights, ensures that students will receive their [official] certificates as soon as possible, and takes into consideration the economic situation in the country,” he said.
Separately, Hariri received a delegation from the General Labor Confederation (GLC) headed by its Chief Ghassan Ghosn. The meeting was attended by the ministerial committee tasked with studying demands of the GLC.
The committee comprised Finance Minister Rayya Hassan, Economy Minister Mohammad Safadi, Minister of State for Administrative Reform Mohammad Fneish, Labor Minister Butros Harb and ministers of state Youssef Saade and Adnan al-Qassar.
Earlier, the GLC revoked a call for a general strike that was to be held on June 17 in protest against the economic policy of the government, which the GLC said relied heavily on taxation.
The protest was cancelled after the formation of the ministerial committee by the Cabinet.
© Copyright The Daily Star 2010.
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RIYADH: The Kingdom’s Al Khaleej Training and Education a pioneering firm in the fields of training, language teaching, communications and IT, has announced plans to open several world-class international schools.
These schools, staffed by highly skilled faculty members, will be the first to follow a fully-fledged American syllabus, with added emphasis on the all-round development of students.
Sobhy Shabanah, public relations manager at Al-Khaleej, made the announcement here on Monday. “We will open the first school in Dammam on the model of the American education system,” he said. The school will focus on intellectual creativity and innovation that is different from traditional methods of teaching, he added.
Shabanah said the objective of opening this type of school was to prepare and develop students’ abilities and talents to a level not provided by traditional schools. He said that the Rowad Al-Khaleej International School in Dammam would open its doors to students at the beginning of the 2010-2011 academic year. The school in Dammam will initially enroll only 200 students including Saudis, Arabs and expatriates, he said.
He pointed out that the second school will be opened in Riyadh in 2012, adding that Al-Khaleej Training and Education had mapped out a growth strategy to open a number of schools on a staggered schedule.
He also said that the Dammam school would cover an area of 15,000 sq. meters. Al-Khaleej already has a network of 82 training centers across the Kingdom.
© Arab News 2010
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By CLIFTON ADCOCK & ANDREA EGER World Staff Writers
Published: 7/1/2010 2:25 AM
Last Modified: 7/1/2010 4:04 AM
Union Public Schools will cut more than 90 jobs and curtail some programs because of a projected $3.5 million reduction in state funding for 2010-11, officials announced Wednesday.
Of the 93 positions that have been eliminated, 53 are teachers, 34.5 are in support and 5.5 are in administration, Superintendent Cathy Burden said. The one-half positions essentially turn a full-time position into a part-time one, and most of the cuts have been made through attrition, she said.
Besides curtailing programs such as the district’s Parents as Teachers Program, other measures include halting overtime pay; adding teaching responsibilities for curriculum specialists; reducing spending on professional development, postage, field trips and employee travel; and cutting 10 percent from all department and school budgets.
Coupled with an expected increase in enrollment, the cuts almost certainly mean the class sizes at Union will increase, Burden said.
“Those kinds of losses will make teachers’ jobs harder and won’t allow us to be as personal as we would like,” she said. “Classroom sizes will be going up and individual programs won’t be there next year.”
Debbie Jacoby, Union’s chief financial officer, said the school board passed a temporary budget that reflected what state officials said was a 2.9 percent cut in state funds, but after officials began to examine the budget passed by the Legislature, it became apparent that the cuts were closer to 8 percent or 9 percent from what education had been allocated the previous year. The new cuts reflect that change.
After facing midyear budget cuts because of state revenue shortfalls, district officials aren’t entirely confident that the cuts of nearly 9 percent will be all they see.
“We’re not sure they’ll be able to generate that kind of revenue,” Burden said. “Our confidence in depending on those (revenue projections) has been shaken.”
The outlook is expected to worsen for K-12 schools in Oklahoma when federal stimulus funding expires in fall 2011, she said. Union is using that money to pay the salaries of about 150 people.
“We have been through denial, anger, acceptance, and now we are dealing with where we are,” Burden said.
Although most of the positions cut have been reduced through attrition, about five teachers who were employed last year have yet to be placed in a job, and four support employees face a similar situation, she said.
Many other districts, including Tulsa, Jenks and Sand Springs, have had to cut positions to stay afloat.
Broken Arrow’s chief financial officer, Ann Wade, said the school board would receive a budget reduction plan July 12.
If approved, that plan will cut 10 percent, or $5.8 million, from this year’s school budget, Wade said, adding that she took a conservative approach because of the recent volatility of the House Bill 1017 fund, which relies on state tax collections to pay for school improvement mandates.
Although state law mandates that the Legislature have information about an education budget by April 1, Burden said it is rarely followed, meaning schools often have to scramble to prepare for the next school year.
“There is a major flaw in the way schools are funded in Oklahoma and the timing leaves us in a very precarious position every year,” she said.
“In Oklahoma, we know about 30 days before school starts what our (state) allocations will be.”
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By ANDREA EGER World Staff Writer
Published: 7/2/2010 2:22 AM
Tulsa teachers who received contract nonrenewal notices will have to wait a while longer to learn whether they will be recalled.
Tulsa Public Schools administrators said Thursday that they wouldn’t be ready to recall any of the 286 affected teachers until July 19.
“We are getting close to where we can start bringing teachers back,” Superintendent Keith Ballard said. “Our Human Capital Department is working diligently to get the process of recalling as many teachers as possible done.”
District administrators had said state law prohibited them from offering new contracts or “recalling” any of the nonrenewed teachers until July 1.
Teachers union officials said that left many teachers with the impression that they should be told something by Thursday.
Patti Ferguson, vice president of the Tulsa Classroom Teachers Association, said, “Every day I get phone calls and they say, ‘Have you heard anything?’ ‘Do you know anything?’ ‘Do I have a job?’ ”
Tulsa Public Schools issued the nonrenewal notices to teachers who had temporary contracts because the district’s staffing plan for 2010-11 was reduced by 225 teaching positions in an effort to save $9.7 million.
Roberta Ellis, the district’s chief human capital officer, said the economic crisis has provided a benefit for the district — a higher-quality applicant pool from which to fill vacancies.
Principals have already had the opportunity to request which teachers they want recalled, but we want to ensure they are only recalling the most effective teachers,” she said.
“It may take me a little time. You only have a chance to get this right once.
“I want to meet with all of the principals and make sure we’re all on the same page and they understand this,” Ellis said.
Original Print Headline: TPS teacher recalls not yet ready
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By MCT Regional News
Published: 7/2/2010 6:18 AM
Wagoner High School Principal Jerry Adams is seeking a due process hearing after being reassigned to a teaching position.
Meanwhile, the Wagoner Board of Education agreed Wednesday to name assistant high school principal Mike Christy as interim principal. Wagoner School Superintendent Sonny Bates said the district is advertising for a new principal.
Bates said he would not comment on the due process request because it is a personnel matter. Adams said he presented it to school board clerk Ben McFarland on Wednesday.
Adams, who had been WHS principal for nine years, said he was notified of his reassignment “a week ago Friday.”
”The last word I got was that I was reassigned to the classroom,” he said from his home. “I had received a poor evaluation and put on a plan for improvement.”
He said it was the first poor evaluation he had ever received. He said he has been with Wagoner Public Schools for 33 years and was assistant high school principal for seven years and principal for nine years. He said he taught special education.
Adams said the high school has maintained good test scores and has managed to reduce its dropout rate.
A 2009 report issued by the Education Oversight Board/Office of Accountability showed the high school had four-year dropout rate of 17.4 percent in 2009, compared to the state average of 12.4 percent. The graduation rate for the class of 2009 was 97.5 percent, three-tenths of a percent below the state average.
The report showed 2009 End of Instruction test results to be barely below state average in U.S. history, biology 1, Algebra II, geometry and English III, and barely above state average in English II.
Posted by redrose64 at
By CLIFTON ADCOCK World Staff Writer
Published: 6/29/2010 2:22 AM
Last Modified: 6/29/2010 8:16 AM
The Oklahoma State Board of Education will hold a special meeting Tuesday in Oklahoma City to discuss and possibly act on the proposed budget for the next fiscal year, which begins Thursday.
The meeting comes nearly a month after the Legislature and Gov. Brad Henry reached an agreement on a state budget plan.
Lawmakers, faced with staggering state revenue shortfalls, said the budget cuts common education by about 2.9 percent.
But education officials say that’s misleading and that the cuts are closer to 9 percent when combined with monthly state reductions begun last year.
Shortly after the beginning of the last school year, districts began receiving less money from the state than allocated because of revenue shortfalls. That prompted districts to make cuts such as not renewing employee contracts, increasing class sizes and not filling open positions.
A supplemental funding bill drawing from federal stimulus money and state “rainy day” funds was used as a stopgap, but those revenue sources were not enough.
In addition, the board on Tuesday will consider a request for an investigative audit of Bell Public Schools in Adair County by the state Auditor and Inspector’s Office.
Bell Public Schools lost its accreditation and state funding in May amid allegations that some district officials violated state laws regarding curriculum and financial accountability.
The district was found not to have a gifted and talented program, as mandated by the
state, and had a deficit of about $200,000. The district had about 110 students.
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By CLIFTON ADCOCK World Staff Writer
Published: 6/29/2010 3:25 PM
Last Modified: 6/29/2010 4:02 PM
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma State Board of Education voted unanimously on Tuesday to pass a budget that pulled funding from several educational programs.
The budget represents an 8.5 percent, or nearly $39 million, cut to the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s Programs and Activities fund.
The job of appropriating $419 million in funds for the separate programs fell to the board because the Legislature took the unusual step of not including any line-item funding measures for specific education programs when it passed the budget for next fiscal year, said State Superintendent Sandy Garrett.
“In 22 years, in this office or in the governor’s office, I’ve never seen anything like this,” Garrett said.
Among those programs not receiving any money from the programs and activities fund next fiscal year are:
# Mentor teacher stipends
# Driver education
# Academic achievement awards
# AG in the classroom
# Oklahoma ambassador of teaching
# Rural Infant stimulation environment
# Recreation therapy grants
# Teacher retirement credit
Other programs are taking cuts as well, such as:
# Staff development — cut $7.8 million and funded $8.5 million.
# Alternative and High Challenge Education — cut $2.5 million and funded $17.2 million.
# Instructional Co-op Technical Education — cut $185,017, funded $300,000.
# Early Intervention/Sooner Start — cut $2.6 million, funded $13.8 million.
The cuts
mean that many of the programs will not be offered or will be curtailed this year, officials said.
Though driver education will lose its $442,547 from the program and activities fund, it also has a second state funding source that it did not spend all of last year, State Department of Education officials said, so the program will not be cut.
However, other programs that rely exclusively on money from the programs and activities fund will not be around next year, such as the Academic Achievement Awards, the Arts Component of Alternative Education, arts grants, Ambassador of Teaching (which funds a full time teacher to fill in for State Teacher of the Year), Recreation Therapy and the Math Improvement Program.
Other programs are expected to continue operating, but will no longer receive money from the fund, such as AG in the Classroom –which is expected to be instead funded by Oklahoma State University.
While the programs that won’t be funded through the Department of Education’s program and activities fund might not get money this year, they won’t necessarily be done away with for good, Garrett said.
She said the programs will hopefully be funded again within two years when the economy improves.
The budget passed Tuesday does not affect state aid given to individual school districts for their general funds.
Under the budget, however, teacher and support staff health benefits, would receive more funding. In January, insurance premiums rose by 8 percent, while funding for those benefits dropped by more than 7 percent, Garrett said, meaning that individual school districts had to pick up the tab to pay for the benefits.
Under the proposed budget, which has yet to be written into final draft form, the Oklahoma Department of Education would fund 100 percent of certified teacher benefits and 93.5 percent of support staff benefits, including an expected 3.33 percent rise in premiums this year.
The budget reflects the most responsible approach to program funding under the current circumstances, Garrett said, by not jeopardizing federal matching funds on school lunch and other programs and by affecting student learning and teachers as little as possible.
Both Garrett and board members voiced frustration at the Legislature for not writing instructions for the appropriation and for legislation that allows schools to be more lax in maintaining accreditation standards.
The “unique” budget with no line items “delivers it to our doorstep to do the dirty work of telling all of these worthy programs, worthy professionals and school children of Oklahoma what our elected leadership would not do, which is our priority is not education,” said board member Tim Gilpin of Tulsa. “What they’re saying is that our priority is to pass a faux budget and pass the responsibility on to you … to deliver the bad news.”
The program funding cuts and loosened standards will cause more teachers to look for work out of state and harm education in the state, Gilpin said.
“Then we’ll wonder one day why our Legislature spent their time talking about a variety of other issues except for education and why our kids can’t read, can’t compete, can’t add or subtract,” he said.
Challenge to colleges
State Superintendent Sandy Garrett called for colleges of education around the state to help pay for some of the teacher development programs that are experiencing funding cuts.
“I think it’s a darn shame that colleges of education don’t help with these programs,” Garrett said. “I’m challenging them to help. If you’re going to take the credit and write about them, put your money where your mouth is. These are for teachers.”
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