New Yorka Somalia
Somalia, which has one of the lowest primary school enrollment rates in the world, has started a three-year, $117 million, basic education program with financial support from Unicef, Unesco, the U.N. World Food Program and a consortium of international aid agencies.
After two decades of civil war, Somalia has 4.4 million children out of school, according to Unicef. The program, which began this month, aims to bring education to a million children aged 6 to 13. — GRACE TSOI
Ranking puts M.I.T. at top of list of world’s universities
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been rated the best university in the world for two years in a row by Quacquarelli Symonds, which released its 2013 World University Rankings report on Tuesday.
Harvard University took second place and Cambridge University came in third. Rankings from U.S. News and World Report, also released last week, named Princeton as the top U.S university, followed by Harvard and Yale. — GRACE TSOI
Only Islamic high school in Netherlands will be closed
The Ibn Ghaldoun school in Rotterdam, the only Islamic high school in The Netherlands, will be closed following a scathing report by school inspectors, the Dutch government said last week.
The deputy education minister, Sander Dekker, said public financing of the school would end on Nov. 1.
The report said courses were being taught by underqualified teachers, many of whom lacked proficiency in Dutch, and criticized the school’s financial management. — PETER TEFFER
Fewer post-teenage students apply to English universities
The number of students aged 20 or older applying to English universities for full-time courses has fallen by 14 percent since 2010, when the cap on tuition was raised to £9,000, a report said Thursday.
In contrast, applications to Scottish and Northern Irish universities, which were not affected by the fee increase, have risen, according to the report by Britain’s Independent Commission on Fees. — BRIAN CHILDS
