Egypt's Hosni Mubarak in hospital after 'heart attack'

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is in intensive care after suffering a heart attack, say state media.

He was taken ill while meeting prosecutors investigating the killing of hundreds of protesters and allegations of corruption, reports say.

The manager of the hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh said Mr Mubarak's condition was "almost stable".

Mr Mubarak, 82, stood down on 11 February following an 18-day popular uprising against his rule.

State TV quotes medical sources as saying that Mr Mubarak, had refused to eat or drink since being summoned by the public prosecutor on Sunday.

Mr Mubarak's two sons, Alaa and Gamal, are also under investigation and are being questioned at the prosecutor's office in al-Tor in South Sinai governorate, where the former president is said to have been when he suffered the reported medical emergency.Scuffles

"There is a state of confusion inside the hospital and only patients are allowed in," Ashraf Swaylam, a news reporter for the state-run station Nile TV, said earlier.

The hospital was accepting no patients except for emergency cases, another local media report said.

Protesters picketed the hospital, denouncing the president and carrying a sign reading "Here is the butcher", AP news agency reported. They scuffled with supporters of Mr Mubarak.

Mr Mubarak underwent gall bladder surgery in the German city of Heidelberg last year and there were reports that he had remained in poor health, although his aides had denied this.

A BBC correspondent says it is understood that the former president's doctors had asked Egypt's ruling military council for permission to send him back to Germany for treatment, but that this was refused.

Mr Mubarak has been banned from leaving the country, along with his sons and their wives, and the family's assets have been frozen.

In a pre-recorded audio message on Sunday, he broke his silence of the last two months to say his reputation and that of his sons had been damaged and he would work to clear their names.Square cleared

Correspondents say he has been keeping a low profile in Sharm el-Sheikh, a Red Sea resort, after fleeing to his holiday villa there when he was overthrown.

In a separate development, soldiers and police are said to have ended a five-day occupation of Cairo's Tahrir Square by hundreds of protesters.

They had been demanding civilian rule and swifter prosecution of disgraced former officials, principally Mr Mubarak.

There were clashes on the first night of the occupation and tensions had remained high.

source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13053376

Mobile phone exam cheat shocks Japanese meritocracy

If found guilty, student who used phone in university entrance exams will be first in Japan to earn criminal record for cheating.

The 19-year-old student is driven away from a police station in Sendai, where he was arrested on suspicion of cheating on an entrance exam at Kyoto University by posting test questions online with his mobile phone. 

For a few brief days he was the most wanted person in Japan.

Police launched a manhunt, while newspaper editorials decried an age of lost innocence. Warnings were issued that the perpetrator might not have acted alone.

The crime: using mobile technology to cheat during entrance examinations to some of Japan's most prestigious seats of learning.

On Thursday night police arrested a 19-year-old preparatory school student after tracing the mobile phone he used to its subscriber, his mother. The student, whose name is being withheld because he is a minor, has admitted soliciting help online during entrance exams for four universities.

Using the name "aicezuki", he posted mathematics and English questions on Yahoo! Japan's chiebukuro (pearls of wisdom) bulletin board during exams at Kyoto and three other universities last month, reports said.

Answers appeared within minutes from more than 20 of the estimated 27 million people who use the site in Japan every month. Police found several answers on the site that closely matched those written on the student's exam papers.

Given the speed with which he posted a complex maths problem, investigators believe he photographed the questions using a model of mobile phone that enables users to disable the shutter sound.

Yahoo! Japan, an affiliate of the US internet company, said it would co-operate fully with the police investigation.

Police closed in on the suspect days after tracing the user to Sendai in northern Japan. He was arrested near the city's main railway station after his parents told police he had failed to return home the previous evening.

As well as being disqualified from the exam process, he now faces charges of fraudulent obstruction of business, a crime punishable by up to three years in prison or a maximum fine of 500,000 yen (£3,700).

If found guilty the teenager would be the first person in Japan to earn a criminal record for cheating.

Japanese media quoted him as saying he had acted alone. "I just wanted to pass the exam," he said.

While some said the case highlighted the pressures of the "exam hell" Japanese students must endure to enter higher education, the student, for all his resourcefulness and reported contrition, is unlikely to gain much sympathy.

The education minister, Yoshiaki Takaki, said his behaviour was unforgivable. "This deed has greatly damaged the credibility of university entrance exams, which should be fair and just. It is truly regrettable," he said.

The episode has dominated TV news since the allegations came to light last weekend. Newspaper editorials bristled at the thought that the meritocratic values – whether real or imagined – on which Japan's top universities pride themselves had been compromised.

"This is a heinous act that undermines the fairness that should be the basis of the university entrance exam system," the Yomiuri Shimbun said.

With another round of university entrance exams later this month, education authorities are considering a ban on mobile phones at exam sites, a measure South Korea introduced in 2004 in response to widespread cheating.

source:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/04/japan-mobile-phone-exam-cheat

21st Century Tools for Iraqi School Children: UNESCO Launches Distance Learning

Satellite TV and an online educational resource are two new tools supporting education in Iraq. UNESCO, with the support of the European Union and in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, announced the formal opening of The Iraqi educational Television (Iraqi Edu at Nile Sat) and The Iraqi Curricula Website (www.iraqicurricula.org) at a ceremony in Baghdad on Wednesday the 23rd of February, 2011.

“What make our present era remarkable are the number, variety and importance of means of communication and information in presenting information and ideas, in such easiness and high speed, in addition to the elements of suspense it carries in order to break the routine and benefit from previous experiences that contributed to the process development of the transfer of audiovisuals to the recipient” Minister of Education Dr. Mohammad Ali Tamim said in his speech.
 

Within The Educational TV programming, UNESCO established two TV production / broadcasting studios with a satellite transmission unit, produced 624 TV lessons, provided a total of 725 hours of externally produced TV programs for Iraqi students and produced 24 episodes of Abu Salam Family, an animated series of 24 episodes focusing attention on civic values, gender equality and human rights. In addition, UNESCO established a TV library and trained all the TV station staff each in his own specialty.

The Iraqi Curricula Website is an online resource with links to all relevant educational materials covering learning from primary to secondary schooling. Among the features of the website are resources for literacy, accelerated learning for students who have missed school and need to catch-up, along with teacher guidebooks and all of the Educational TV programs, including The Abu Salam Family series.

“Combined, the website and Educational TV, give school age children, no matter where they are in the world, an opportunity to learn. This is a commitment to learning for the children of Iraq and an investment in Iraq’s future,” said Mohamad Djelid, director of the UNESCO Iraq Office.

Since 2003, Iraq has struggled to resuscitate the education sector after years of neglect. “This commitment to education is about making a down payment on tomorrow,” said Mr. Jerzy Skuratowicz, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations, adding, “the progression is simple: education leads to opportunity, opportunity leads to progress, and progress leads to a brighter future for Iraq and the region.”
 

UNESCO, along with UNICEF, UN-Habitat, The World Bank and our Iraqi counterparts, has worked tirelessly to restore the reputation of the educational system that was once the most respected in the Arab world. These two resources immediately address the needs of students who have been unable to regularly attend class due to war or insecurity. The satellite TV programs have a regional footprint and by the nature of the internet, all Iraqis no matter where they live can access educational material and programs from a computer.
 

“The new educational TV will make the official curriculum available to everybody who has access to television. And here we are talking about almost 90 % of the population in Iraq and even more in the Diaspora.” Said Mr. Jobst von Kirchmann, EU - Head of Cooperation.
 

Source:

http://www.unesco.org/en/iraq-office/dynamic-content-single-view/news/21st_century_tools_for_iraqi_school_children_unesco_launches_distance_learning/back/9623/cHash/b0cdb12149/

Education unions prepare for life after Mubarak

Hosni Mubarak has decided to step down as the President of Egypt. In an announcement on state TV, Vice-President Omar Suleiman said Mr Mubarak has handed power to the military.

It came as thousands massed in Cairo and other Egyptian cities for an 18th day of protest to demand Mr Mubarak's resignation.

Protesters responded by cheering, waving flags, embracing and sounding car horns. "The people have brought down the regime," they chanted.

Mr Suleiman said Mr Mubarak had handed power to the high command of the armed forces.

As the political situation unfolds in Egypt, EI expresses its support to the independent trade union movement in their demands for democracy, social justice and trade union rights.

EI has been in daily contact with representatives of the independent union under the umbrella of the Egyptian Federation of Independent Unions. This group was formed on 30 January 2011 by the Teachers’ Independent Union, the Retired Workers’ Union, the Health Professionals’ Union and the Tax Collectors’ Union.

During the pro-democracy actions that led to President Mubarak’s departure, Egyptian public sector institutions, such as education and the postal services, had come to near standstill in protest against his regime.

On Tuesday 8 February, the day of global solidarity with Egypt, EI joined the ITUC’s international trade union delegation to the Egyptian Embassy in Brussels.

ITUC General Secretary, Sharan Burrow, was joined by EI Deputy General Secretary, Jan Eastman, and representatives of the three Belgian trade union centres.

EI will continue to support the independent union movement in their effort to be effective players in the transformation of Egypt, and intends to lead an EI delegation to Cairo in the week ahead to identify the support and solidarity its member organisations can bring to teachers across the country.

 

source:http://www.ei-ie.org/en/news/show.php?id=1515&theme=rights&country=egypt