Tag: education

South Koreans sit key exam as flights halted to limit distraction

By Claire LEE SEOUL, Nov 16, 2023 (AFP) – More than half a million students in South Korea sat the crucial national university entrance exam Thursday, with authorities taking extraordinary measures, including halting flights, to minimise distractions. The nine-hour test, which was taken by 504,588 pupils this year, is crucial for securing spots in top universities. It is also considered key to elevated social status, lucrative careers, and even marriage prospects. Enormous pressure placed on […]

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Millions of Chinese students sit grueling college entrance exams

BEIJING, China, June 7, 2023 (AFP) — Millions of Chinese students sit for notoriously tough college entrance exams on Wednesday, the first since the country lifted zero-Covid rules that forced classes online for months on end. China’s education ministry says nearly 13 million students, a record, are registered to take the “gaokao” exams — billed by state media as the “world’s toughest” — this year. “I’ve been waking up at 4 am every day, except […]

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Self-made millionaire sits China’s university exams for 27th time

By Luna LIN Agence France-Presse BEIJING, June 7, 2023 (AFP) — Among the millions of fresh-faced high schoolers sitting China’s dreaded “gaokao” college entrance exam on Wednesday, Liang Shi sticks out like a sore thumb — a grey-haired, self-made millionaire stubbornly taking the test for the 27th time. Liang, 56, is no fool. He worked his way up from a menial job on a factory floor to establishing his own successful construction materials business. But […]

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Jack Ma takes up visiting professor post in Japan

TOKYO, May 1, 2023 (AFP) – Chinese billionaire Jack Ma on Monday took up a visiting professor position at a Japanese university, another new academic role for the founder of tech giant Alibaba. Tokyo College, part of the prestigious University of Tokyo, said Ma would “share his rich experience and pioneering knowledge on entrepreneurship, corporate management and innovation” in seminars for students and staff. The 58-year-old has kept a low profile since his fall from […]

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Jack Ma accepts university teaching post in Hong Kong

Jack Ma, founder of Chinese tech giant Alibaba, has been made an honorary professor of business at a top Hong Kong university, the school announced Friday. The appointment comes weeks after the billionaire made a rare public appearance in China following his fall from grace during a government crackdown on the tech industry over two years ago. Ma has kept a low profile since late 2020, when a speech he made attacking Chinese regulators was […]

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Florida teacher fired after having students write own obits

  Miami, United States | AFP | A high school teacher in the US state of Florida has been fired after he assigned students to write their own obituaries ahead of an active shooter drill. The Orange County School District said in a statement seen by news media that “a teacher gave an inappropriate assignment about school violence… (and) has been terminated.” It provided no further detail. Jeffrey Keene, a veteran teacher who was hired […]

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China’s students leap ‘Great Firewall’ to get homework help from ChatGPT

by Poornima WEERASEKARA Agence France-Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese schoolchildren are turning to AI bot ChatGPT to slash their homework time — vaulting the country’s “Great Firewall” to write book reports and bone up on their language skills. With its ability to produce A-grade essays, poems and programming code within seconds, ChatGPT has sparked a global gold rush in artificial intelligence tech. But it has also prompted concern from teachers, worried over the possibilities […]

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Afghan universities reopen but women still barred

by Estelle Emonet and Qubad Wali Agence France-Presse KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — Male students trickled back to their classes Monday after Afghan universities reopened following a winter break but women remain barred by Taliban authorities. The university ban is one of several restrictions imposed on women since the Taliban stormed back to power in August 2021 and has sparked global outrage — including across the Muslim world. “It’s heartbreaking to see boys going to the […]

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Gunman kills three at Michigan campus

Washington, United States | AFP | Tuesday 2/14/2023 A gunman who killed at least three people and wounded five on a US university campus shot himself dead Monday after a massive police manhunt. Thousands of students at Michigan State University were ordered to shelter in place after shots were fired in a campus building in the early evening, leaving two dead. The gunman fled to the students’ union, where he killed one more person, sparking […]

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Haitian schools becoming targets of violence: UNICEF

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — Schools in Haiti, previously considered safe havens from the Caribbean nation’s turmoil, have become increasingly targeted by violent groups, UNICEF warned Thursday. The UN agency reported that since the beginning of the school year last October, 72 schools had seen acts of violence — including kidnappings, ransacking and looting — a nine-fold increase over a year ago. “This includes at least 13 schools targeted by armed groups, one school […]

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Swedish kids take the plunge in icy lake survival lessons

SOLLENTUNA, Sweden (AFP) — The frigid water under the frozen Ravalen lake north of Stockholm doesn’t intimidate Elton as the 11-year-old schoolboy takes the plunge to the applause of his classmates. Forty pupils are taking part in an “isvaksovning”, or a hole-in-the-ice exercise, part of their school’s physical education class to learn what to do if they ever fall through the ice on one of Sweden’s many lakes or out in the archipelago. Every day […]

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Schoolkids lost third of a year’s learning to pandemic: study

Paris, France | AFP | Monday 1/30/2023   School-aged students lost more than a third of a year’s worth of learning early on in the pandemic and have still not caught up, posing “a real problem for this generation,” researchers warned on Monday. The Covid-19 pandemic caused one of history’s greatest disruptions to education, with 95 percent of students worldwide affected by school closures, and online teaching becoming far more common. To find out how much […]

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