NewsTrust - Global Literacy - Most Recent Stories: News (Mainstream)

Why Are Americans So Ill-Informed on Climate Change?

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Scientific American - By Robin Lloyd - Feb. 23 (Special Report) - As glaciers melt and island populations migrate from shores to escape rising seas, many scientists remain baffled as to why the research consensus on human-induced climate change remains contentious in the U.S.

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Bias led to 'gutting' of New Black Panthers case, Justice official says

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Jerry Markon, Krissah Thompson - Sep. 25 (News) - A veteran Justice Department lawyer accused his agency Friday of being unwilling to pursue racial discrimination cases on behalf of white voters, turning what had been a lower-level controversy into an escalating political headache for the Obama administration. A veteran Justice Department lawyer accused his agency Friday of being unwilling to pursue racial discrimination cases on behalf of white voters, turning what had been a lower-level controversy into an escalating political headache for the Obama administration. A veteran Justice Department lawyer accused his agency Friday of being unwilling to pursue racial discrimination cases on behalf of white voters, turning what had been a lower-level controversy into an escalating political headache for the Obama administration. Christopher Coates's testimony before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights was the latest fallout from the department's handling of a 2008 voter-intimidation case involving the New Black Panther Party. Conservatives and some congressional Republicans accuse Justice officials of improperly narrowing the charges, allegations that they strongly dispute.

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Education now a fundamental right, cheers to India

Sat, 29 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

United Press International - By Abhirup Bhunia for UPI - May. 29 (News) - Throughout India, in thousands of villages, this legislation is expected to herald a new beginning for children who have thus far been forced to live without education, primarily because of poverty.

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Former Microsoft exec grows global literacy effort

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

KING5.com - By Charlotte Starck - Feb. 06 (News Report) - This morning, 250 million children around the world didn't go to school. And that's something that must change says the one time director of Microsoft's Business Development for Greater China, John Wood. Room To Read brings philanthropists, business and even students attending a "Students Helping Students" breakfast event together to put a dent in illiteracy in seven different countries, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Zambia.

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Father matters

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The Hindu - Feb. 05 (News Report) - “I want my daughter to attend school but her father has to agree’, is a common reaction in most mothers that we come across,” Sudha Parthasarathy, Executive Director, Deepalaya, relates her first-hand experience of working in the field of girl child education. Like Sudha, many involved with the campaign would agree that a large number of young girls in this country do not go to school because their fathers think it is not worth it. In a patriarchal set-up like ours, men are still the decision-makers of their families. This, unfortunately, has been a roadblock in the emancipation of many women on different fronts. And one typical example is in imparting basic education in young girls, mostly from poor families.

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India to launch credit crunch £7 laptop, world's cheapest computer

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The Guardian - By Randeep Ramesh - Feb. 03 (News Report) - The credit crunch computer is set to arrive tomorrow in India when officials unveil the 500 rupee (£7.25) laptop. In an attempt to bridge the "digital divide" in the country between rich and poor, the government will show off the prototype, low-cost laptop as the centrepiece of an ambitious e-learning programme to link 18,000 colleges and 400 universities across the country.

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Tackling illiteracy in Phila.

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Philadelphia Inquirer - By Melissa Dribben - Feb. 02 (Special Report) - Rebecca Wagner can't forget the most recent student she lost to humiliation. He was about 50 and had been brave enough to make his way to the Community Learning Center in Kensington. That alone was huge, says Wagner, director of the nonprofit literacy school for adults. For those crippled by the inability to complete a job application or read a text message, asking for help requires courage. The man was given 12 reading comprehension questions to help place him in an appropriate class. He tried to work on them, but then stopped. "He watched everyone else filling out their forms," Wagner says. "Then he walked out and never came back." Wagner's heart sank, knowing he would be swallowed back into the flood of struggling Americans who lack the rudimentary skills to survive.

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In School for the First Time, Teenage Immigrants Struggle

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Jennifer Medina - Jan. 25 (Special Report) - Fanta Konneh is the first girl in her family to go to school. Not the first to go to college, or to graduate from high school. Fanta, 18, who grew up in Guinea after her family fled Liberia, became the first to walk into a classroom of any kind last year. “Just the boys go to school, so I always knew I was left out,” said Fanta, a student at Ellis Preparatory Academy in the South Bronx. “But here, I am trying. I can say many things I did not know before. I can learn things more.” New York City classrooms have long been filled with children from all over the world, and the education challenges they bring with them. But hidden among the nearly 150,000 students across the city still struggling to learn English are an estimated 15,100 who, like Fanta, have had little or no formal schooling and are often illiterate in their native languages.

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1 in 7 U.S. adults are unable to read this story

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

USA Today - By Greg Toppo - Jan. 09 (News Report) - A long-awaited federal study finds that an estimated 32 million adults in the USA — about one in seven — are saddled with such low literacy skills that it would be tough for them to read anything more challenging than a children's picture book or to understand a medication's side effects listed on a pill bottle.

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