Funds for BITS-Pilani Hyderabad

BITS Pilani Hyderabad campus added a feather to its cap receiving support from the Support Programme for Scientific and Technological Cooperation between trilateral India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA), funded by Department of Science & Technology (DST), India for their work in the area of an anti-HIV drug.

It is one among the four top-of-the-line universities globally to receive this support and the credit should go to the research team in BITS Pilani Hyderabad campus working in the drug discovery area. According to the BITS officials, the project is aimed at coordinating the three research groups of their expertise in drug design, synthesis, natural product-based design, biochemists and medical professionals to come up with a novel anti-HIV drug.

source:http://www.hindu.com/edu/2011/03/08/stories/2011030850060100.htm

EI celebrates International Women' Day

Women around the world continue to face systemic discrimination and inequality in education opportunities and access to decent work.

On International Women’s Day, educators worldwide are demanding greater investments in girls’ education and training opportunities leading to full employment and decent work for women.

The year 2011 marks the centenary of International Women’s Day celebrations. Since 1911, this day has been a global event, celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women in the past, present and future, and mobilising to address the challenges. Around the globe, EI member unions organise rallies, marches, fairs and debates, and reflect on the progress made to advance women’s equality, assess the challenges facing girls and women, look at ways to improve the quality of life and to actualize rights, and to empower girls and women in all spheres of human endeavour.

A strong delegation of trade unionists participated in the 55th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in February 2011. For the first time, gender, education and decent work were included together as priority themes in the UN CSW working agenda.

EI President Susan Hopgood said: “We know that investment in all quality public services is a key driver of development. As such, trade unions have serious concerns with the reduction to budgets that support public services which governments have undertaken in response to the current economic crisis. If Millennium Development (MDG) and Education for All (EFA) goals are to be achieved, the investment in the public sector should be increased, not decreased.”

EI Deputy General Secretary, Jan Eastman, added: “Strategies to improve access to education have been put in place in many countries. These have resulted in increased enrolment numbers for girls, and progress towards gender parity in primary school completion. High drop-out rates are still prevalent, however, and they are higher for girls in a number of developing countries, especially in secondary education, which is key for empowering girls. Drop-out rates are clearly associated with poverty, and also the related phenomenon of child labour. Girls face additional challenges because of the HIV epidemic, work in the home, and also of vulnerable, at risk employment in the entertainment industry or as domestic workers. When education is of sufficient quality, when girls are safe, fed, and pay no fees, parents will send them to school, not to work. Gender inclusive policies aimed at achieving quality primary and secondary education and ensuring universal access are the key to overcoming these development challenges and structural discriminations.”

At EI’s First World Women’s Conference in January 2011 – On the Move for Equality, nearly 400 teacher trade unionists from all corners of the world came together to discuss strategies for advancing and empowering women and girls in today’s world. “Our energies are focused on improving girls’ access to education, eliminating gender stereotypes in education, and fighting for decent work and good working conditions, including pay equity, for women. We are united to make our voice heard – the voice of teachers worldwide for equality and human rights,” said Eastman.

source:http://www.ei-ie.org/en/news/show.php?id=1544&theme=gender&country=global

International Women’s Day: Invest in education of girls!

There is no tool more effective for development and poverty reduction than the education of girls. Today, on International Women’s Day, EI demands greater investment in and political commitment to achieving this goal.

In many countries around the world, basic education is not accessible to millions of people. Of the 796 million illiterate people, women make up two thirds. Girls and women face particular obstacles that keep them out of education: Violence on the way to school, in and around schools; early pregnancy and early marriage; vulnerability to the HIV epidemic, as well as discrimination based on gender stereotypes in the wider community and at schools; school fees, which may mean that parents send their boys and not their girls to school; and lack of gender sensitive quality education especially in rural areas.

EI Deputy General Secretary Jan Eastman said: “This early discrimination contributes fundamentally to the disadvantages that women are faced with in so many areas of life. Conversely, investing in girls’ education not only gives women and girls the tools to stand up against discrimination and violence, it is also a precondition for democracy and development. It raises economic productivity, lowers infant and maternal mortality, and leads to considerable improvements in families’ health and nutrition.”

A report released last week by the Education For All Fast Track Initiative shows the progress that girls have made not only in enrolling in school but also in completing their education. It highlights the most effective tools to achieve this progress: The mobilisation of communities to send girls to school, targeted financial support for girls to cover for school fees and textbook costs, and the creation of school health and feeding programs. “Education to at least secondary level is crucial for the empowerment of girls,” said Eastman.

Using the slogan “It is a right! Make it right!”, women’s and girls’ right to education is the theme of this year’s Global Action Week from 2 to 8 May 2011. Under the heading “The Big Story” millions of people around the world will share stories on women’s and girls’ education. The main aim of the Global Action Week will be to urge leaders to make specific policy pledges which must be followed through and implemented. EI advocates for greater investment in the education of girls, today and every other day of the year.

source:http://www.ei-ie.org/en/news/show.php?id=1549&theme=gender&country=global

International Women’s Day (8 March) - a chance to tackle gender disparities in education

“This year’s International Women’s Day is inspired by the theme of ‘Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women.’ This goes to the heart of UNESCO’s mission.”

--(Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO)

Concerning equal access to education how do women and girls fare? There has been undoubted progress – more girls are enrolled in school than ever before, from primary to tertiary education. Gender parity in primary school enrolment has greatly improved in the countries that started the decade with the greatest gender gaps. However, two-thirds of the world’s 796 million illiterate adults are women and discrimination still continues: less than 40 percent of countries provide girls and boys with equal access to education and more than 55% of out-of-school children are girls. Special efforts – from recruiting female teachers to making schools more girl-friendly – are needed to redress the balance.

Girls’ and women’s education has a positive impact on the achievement of all the MDGs, from improved health and better prevention against HIV and AIDs to higher income. UNESCO emphasizes a gender-sensitive approach and works with Member States and partners to increase women’s literacy, develop curricula that challenge gender stereotypes and policies that promote of them participation in secondary and technical and vocational education. Learning materials about HIV and AIDS give girls and women the knowledge and skills to cope with the pandemic.

Most recently, UNESCO has promoted gender-sensitive approaches to literacy research, engaged in innovative new partnerships with the private sector and focused on the integration of girls into national technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programmes.

Source:http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/single-view/news/international_womens_day_8_march_a_chance_to_tackle_gender_disparities_in_education/

Healthy Action: An activity book for teachers and learners

EI has worked with the Education Development Center and World Health Organisation to present their latest EFAIDS resource: ‘Healthy Action: An activity book for teachers and learners’.

The publication has been designed to help teachers and learners to adopt healthy behaviour and make healthy choices for better teaching and learning. It includes activities for teachers and classroom activities for learners covering four principle topics which are all inter-connected through the theme of maintaining overall good health. These include: tobacco, alcohol and other drugs; nutrition and physical activity; hygiene and sanitation; as well as, injury and violence prevention.

All the activities proposed are designed according to the life-skills based approach and participatory learning methodology. The same angle was used in previous EFAIDS resource materials, ‘Leadership in the HIV and AIDS response’ and ‘Learning for life’ (both publications are downloadable at http://www.ei-ie.org/efaids/en/documentation_ei.php).

While EFAIDS resources are used primarily by EI affiliated teacher unions around the world, they can easily be adapted to work with other target groups.

To download ‘Healthy Action’ or to get any additional information on the book and other EFAIDS resources, please visit the EI EFAIDS website at: http://www.ei-ie.org/efaids/en/documentation_ei.php or email Delphine Sanglan at: delphine.sanglan@ei-ie.org

source:http://www.ei-ie.org/en/news/show.php?id=1529&theme=hivaids&country=global