Armed conflicts rob 28 million kids of education

New Delhi, March 2 (IANS) Calling it a 'hidden crisis', a UN report has found that armed conflicts are robbing 28 million children of their right to education while subjecting them to sexual violence.

The report, The Hidden Crisis: Armed Conflict and Education, prepared by Unesco warns that the world is not on track to achieve by 2015 the goal of providing education to all that 160 countries signed in 2000.

'In conflict-affected poor countries, 28 million children of primary school age - 42 percent of the world's total - are out of school,' said the report released Tuesday.

It warns that children in conflict-affected poor countries are twice as likely to die before their fifth birthday as children in other poor countries.

'Only 79 percent of young people are literate in conflict-affected poor countries, compared with 93 percent in other poor countries,' it said.

Over 43 million people are reported to have been displaced mostly by armed conflicts though the actual number is probably far higher.

Refugees and internally displaced people face major barriers to education, according to the report.

The report calls for a determined international response to tackle the crisis. 

 

Source:http://www.sify.com/news/armed-conflicts-rob-28-million-kids-of-education-news-education-ldcu4hchicd.html?scategory=education 

Symposium on digital libraries

The Department of Library and Information Science of the University of Madras holds the distinction of being one of the oldest departments of studies in the field in India.
Over the period, the department has expanded its programmes, content, infrastructure and facilities to such an extent that it became the first in the country to be recognised and funded under the Special Assistance Programme (SAP) of the University Grants Commission (UGC) in 1997.
Under the programme, a series of seminars and workshops are conducted annually to benefit library and information science professionals, scholars and students.
A two-day UGC-SAP symposium on digital library initiatives in India was organised by the department recently.
The symposium coincided with the golden jubilee celebrations of the department.
The symposium focussed on discussions and deliberations by eminent persons on the digital library initiatives at various libraries in the country. The objective was to help the participants understand the concept, design and development of a digital library and the success stories through the presentation of case studies of some of the completed and ongoing digitisation projects in India.
Tools and formats
The symposium tried to empower the participants with the confidence and skills necessary to build a digital library at their institutions and equip them to understand the many tools and formats, preservation, intellectual property rights and so on involved in the development and management of digital libraries.

source : http://www.hindu.com/edu/2011/02/01/stories/2011020150030100.htm