I thought it was an informative glimpse into the international picture of education. It came as no surprise that many under developed nations spend less than 10 years in school total. I mean to spend 13-14 years in school doesn't necessarily mean you're in college. The statistic is a rough mathematical approximation of time spent in school. Ideally, most people who spend 13-14 years in school are in their second year in college, but with dropouts and hold-overs, that's an impractical assumption. Also, some nations don't have a middle school so they go straight to college after spending a year or two in a preparatory academy of some sort.
One thing I noticed is that in a lot of nations, the women spend more time in school than men do (with a few outstanding exceptions like Afghanistan). I suppose it demonstrates the gender bias that exists in international educational systems.
Can you imagine only going to school for 7-9 years your entire life? That's like finishing middle school as your terminal degree.
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Among my other stumbles, I came across this BBC article that talked about a Palestinian woman trying to get her PhD in theoretical chemistry at Hebrew University. She was having trouble since the Israeli army had regulations that prevent Palestinian students from entering East Jerusalem. Since Palestinian universities don't have PhD programs in chemistry, students are forced to turn to Israel or to leave the region to get a doctorate.
Granted, the article is old so things may have changed since then (probably not given the current situation). On a whim, I decided to see if Ms. Salameh had achieved her dream. I went to PubMed and looked up her name to see if she's been published or if she's been conducting any interesting research lately. Unless she changed her name and changed to become a medical doctor, she hasn't been publishing articles. There were a few other articles but they're written by a someone else with a similar last name. I guess my question is, why give her a scholarship if she's not going to be able to use it?
It's strange, we see the effects of gender on education, the effects of socio-economic status, the influence of upbringing on education, the effect of disparities in content on education, but it's interesting to see the effects of socio-political ideologies on education. I understand the rationale behind denying someone's education to look out for a greater good, but doesn't empowering students with knowledge do the same thing?
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I also stumbled upon my favorite professor's website. I didn't have Dr. Dutch as an actual teacher (since he teaches in Green Bay) but I've e-mailed him before. I lost this site for a time and only recently recovered the url. Reading his articles is a healthy habit to me since it re-aligns my perceptions. It's good stuff.
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