Universal Trends
Developing countries are increasing the number of college graduates they produce and rapidly closing the lead that “advanced countries” have long established in elementary school enrollment rates, literacy rates, and other education benchmarks, according to an analysis by The Conference Board.
Primary school enrollment rates for low-income countries, which include places like Haiti, Samoa, and Senegal, have risen from about 65 percent in 1970 to about 94 percent in 2001. But less than half of the students in those countries go on to get a high school education, and less than 22 percent get a college degree.
Still, if these trends persist, the Conference Board predicts that the emerging world may have almost 100 percent literacy by 2035.
Turkish Union Can Stay
A Turkish court announced late last year that the teachers’ union Egitim Sen could stay operational, after it removed from its statutes an article that advocated teaching children in their own language— even if it’s Kurdish, not Turkish. The union had been found guilty in May of constitutional violations and was subsequently supported in its battle by Education International, of which NEA is a member.
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