GENDER IN SCHOOLS

“Action Gender in Schools” is a new pilot project initiated by the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Education Section that is working on making teaching, learning and management in schools more gender responsive. One of the objectives of the project is to question stereotypes that prevent boys and girls from achieving at school.

“Action Gender in Schools” is operational in a small number of secondary schools on a pilot basis in India, Malaysia, Seychelles, and Trinidad & Tobago. The schools are introducing school-based gender training, conducting action research and exploring new ways of developing school environments that promote positive gender relations and self-image among both boys and girls. An Action Guide is being developed based on the experiences of the pilot projects, a trial in Mozambique and feedback from other Sub-Saharan African and Pacific countries.
www.thecommonwealth.org/gender

MOBILE BANKING PROJECT

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded a US $1.7 million grant to Paris-based PlaNet Finance to support a project to provide the poor in Africa and the Middle East with access to banking services via their mobile phones. While three billion people worldwide have a mobile phone, only one billion have a bank account, according to PlaNet Finance. The Mobile Banking Project will allow rural and remote populations to use their mobile phones to save money, pay bills and apply for microloans while reducing the cost of these transactions for microfinance institutions.
www.planetfinancegroup.org/EN/communiquespresse.php

COUNSELLING DIPLOMA FOR EDUCATORS

India’s National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is offering a one-year Diploma Course for training of professionals in guidance and counselling. Combining distance/online and face-to-face modes, the International Diploma in Guidance and Counselling programme is open to teachers, teacher educators, educational administrators and untrained guidance personnel in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The Diploma Course was developed by NCERT in collaboration with COL.
www.ncert.nic.in

NOUN’S FIRST CONVOCATION

The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) held its first convocation ceremony in January 2009, awarding a post-graduate diploma in Theology to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and an honorary degree to the Director General of UNESCO, Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura. NOUN is now the largest university in Nigeria, with more than 100,000 students, more than 140 eLearning courses available to students online and Study Centres across the country. In collaboration with COL, NOUN also hosts the Regional Training and Development Institute for Distance and Open Learning (RETRIDOL), which is helping to develop capacity in open and distance learning in Africa.
www.nou.edu.ng