US confronts critical teacher shortage

Khara Sikhan

The United States is facing a critical teacher shortage. Every state has classrooms without teachers and face the problematic choice of eliminating subjects or increasing class sizes. Despite the well-established fact that class size is the most important factor in student achievement, classrooms are overfilled. States are lowering the professional standards for educators, inevitably reducing the quality of learning in public schools.

Nearly eight percent of teachers are leaving the profession each year. This is compounded by a 35 percent drop in college students entering teacher training programs between 2009 and 2014. The Learning Policy Institute noted that this means that 240,000 fewer teachers entered the classroom in 2014 compared to 2009.

Decades of defunding public education and the deliberate demonization of teachers by advocates of school privatization have had profound consequences for American young people. Today most US states provide less funding for elementary and secondary education than before the Great Recession of 2008; in some cases like Arizona and Alabama, funding has fallen by 20 percent.

The Education at a Glance 2017 report published last month by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows that teachers in the US are now paid less than 60 percent of the salaries of similarly educated professionals in the developed world. The study found that American teachers had “the lowest relative earnings across all OECD countries with data” and that they worked longer hours than their counterparts around the world.

As most would-be teachers are forced to take on staggering levels of student loan debt in order to finish college, the prospect of these low-wage positions is unsustainable, dissuading them from choosing the career path.

While the shortage of teachers is worst within high poverty school districts, it is a national epidemic. In the 2015–16 school year, 48 states reported shortages in mathematics, 46 reported shortages for special education teachers, and 43 states reported shortages in science.

Since the beginning of the 2017 school year, over 500 Arizona teachers have left the classroom, many citing an overwhelming workload. The state has more than 1,300 classrooms to fill with teachers, with the demand increasing as teachers leave. The state has now enacted a tuition waiver for 236 students entering the Arizona Teachers’ Academy in a feeble attempt to staunch the crisis.

In South Carolina, 6,500 teachers left the profession in 2016, a 21 percent increase from the previous year. Along with many other states, South Carolina has turned to international exchange programs for foreign teachers to fill vacancies. Nevada is recruiting heavily from the Philippines to fill special education positions.

More than 3,000 teachers are needed in Colorado where teacher education programs have graduated 24.4 percent less students over the last five years. On top of that, more than a third of the state’s teachers are 55 or older and nearing retirement.

According to a report on the crisis in the Denver Post, some teaching positions have gone unfilled for a year or more. Rural schools pay teachers an average of $22,700 annually, barely subsistence wages.

The La Veta School District was short a math teacher for more than 18 months and the Revere School District went a full year without a music teacher. “This is as pure a crisis as we have in this state,” Mark Payler, the superintendent of Custer County schools which serves 360 students, told the Post. “There is no pool of teachers anymore, the candidates for jobs just aren’t there … We advertise, we push out our job openings nationwide, and we are not seeing any apply,” he explained.

Nationally 145,000 teachers are needed, on top of the standard hiring numbers, to reduce the teacher-student ratio to pre-recession levels.

A veteran teacher from Detroit, Michigan described to the WSWS the difficult conditions created by the shortage: “In Detroit, we have a huge shortage of teachers, despite what [Superintendent Nikolai] Vitti says. We have very overcrowded classes. This means that it becomes difficult to differentiate our students and pay attention to their learning. It becomes more of a disciplinary situation. You fall behind in the lessons because of constant interruptions. It is very stressful dealing with behavior issues with that size of a classroom.

“I’ve been teaching 16 years and I don’t recall having oversized classrooms when I went to the district, but a couple of years ago it was up to 43 students. I love what I do, but the education environment has really diminished,” they explained.

“For an elementary teacher, dealing with all subjects, this is overwhelming. It’s like you don’t have a life. You don’t get paid for all those hours at home and going the extra mile. But I love teaching that much. I’ve worked for the same salary for 10 years—who does that? At first it is all about your passion and then you realize you are being taken advantage of.

“Then they claim it’s the teachers’ fault. I have a BA in business and I know these things flow from the top down. The courts recently ruled there is ‘no right’ to read. In other words, the state is not responsible for providing a quality education for our children. Yet teachers are evaluated on student behaviors.”

In the new Detroit Public School Community District (DPSCD), there are hundreds of vacancies in the classrooms. Substitutes, long-term subs and administrative personnel are filling in while class sizes continue at unteachable levels.

The embattled teachers of Detroit have been forced by the district, with the full collaboration of the Detroit Federal of Teachers (DFT), to make one round of concessions after another for nearly a decade. In 2009, the DFT agreed that teachers would “loan” the district $10,000 apiece; despite the dissolution of the Detroit Public Schools (DPS), this money was not repaid. When the failed Educational Achievement Authority experiment was folded back into the DPSCD, senior teachers earning over $60,000 were informed that they would be restarting their years served and entering at $38,000.

Approximately 90 percent of teacher vacancies are created by teachers leaving the profession, most citing dissatisfaction with working conditions. Adding insult to injury, it is often impossible for teachers to maintain their seniority-linked pay scale and transfer between districts, so they often cannot improve their wages by seeking a better teaching position.

States and school districts are now watering down the requirements for teacher certifications in order to fill classrooms. When the DPS was dissolved last year and repackaged as a “Community District”, new language allowed non-certified teachers into the classrooms.

In 2016, Las Vegas recruited teachers from other states and issued provisional certifications without testing, filling almost 400 vacancies by lowering requirements.

Arizona introduced a bill this August actually dispensing entirely with teacher training. Any person with five years in a respective field can enter the classroom. There are now almost 2,500 classrooms led by people who are not trained or certified to teach.

In Illinois the state board of education cut back the required coursework and requirements for teachers in an effort to address between 1,000 and 2,000 missing teachers.

The Detroit teacher described to the WSWS how this process of dramatically lowering standards has evolved in Michigan, “A lot of this started in 2009-10 when the Emergency Managers walked in the door. They had no clue about education. These men came in and became richer than anyone in the district. Robert Bobb made over $400,000. They changed the state laws to allow noncertified teachers into the district. They have already removed the cap on charter schools in the state; there is no limit.”

“I can see them using technology and moving to online schools,” they noted. “I can see them trying to privatize education, having us teachers working remotely and being paid less. Already Google, Microsoft, etc. are into the market including certificates to become a Microsoft Innovative Educator.”

The defunding of public education has been accompanied by the rise of “edu-business.” Charter schools, which are hailed as offering freedom of choice for teachers and students by Democrats and Republicans alike, are a move towards “subsistence education” for the working class that comes with a shoestring budget for teacher pay, supplies, and support staff. The wealthy elite, meanwhile, will have an entirely different education system based on well-funded private schools and small islands of “public” schools in well-off districts.

The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation has paid to expand charters and lobby for the use of Common Core standards in all 50 states. Real estate and insurance mogul Eli Broad now leads a group of corporate funders pushing a plan to move half of all K-12 students in Los Angeles into charter schools. The Walton family of Walmart created a $1 billion campaign to promote charter schools across the nation and financier Carl Icahn has established a chain of charters in New York City.

The ruling elite is aiming at nothing less than the elimination of public education. Education is to be run for profit at the mercy of hedge funds and financiers, eliminating all the gains associated with hard-won democratic rights over more than 200 years.

Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded for discoveries on the circadian rhythm

Benjamin Mateus

Life on Earth has adapted itself to the rotation of the planet. Through the study of living organisms, including human physiology, scientists have understood that organisms have developed internal biologic clocks that allow them to anticipate and adapt to daily variations. What had not been known till recently is how this process worked.

On Monday, the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to three scientists from the United States, Dr. Jeffrey C. Hall, Dr. Michael Rosbash and Dr. Michael W. Young, for their work on the molecular mechanisms that control the body’s circadian rhythm. Their findings help explain how plants, animals, and humans can adapt their biological rhythm to synchronize it with the Earth's rotation.

Dr. Hall received his doctorate in 1971 from the University of Washington and is currently professor emeritus of biology at Brandeis University. Dr. Rosbash received his doctorate from MIT and continued on to the faculty at Brandeis University. Dr. Young received his doctorate from the University of Texas, Austin in 1975 and is a professor of genetics at Rockefeller University in New York.

Their work on fruit flies was able to locate a gene that encodes a protein that accumulates in the cell during the night only to be degraded during the day. When this gene was mutated (or “knocked out”) the fruit flies lost their rhythm. This protein is linked to other cellular processes that produce the “self-sustaining clockwork inside the cell.” These biological clocks function under the same principle in all multicellular organisms, allowing the precise adaptation of the physiology to the various phases of the day. These include our metabolism, behavior, hormonal levels, body temperature and sleep patterns. That is why our well-being is affected if our external environment is not in synch with our inner biological clocks.

Schematically, genes within our DNA are “turned on” by molecular signals. A template of the gene in the form of Messenger RNA (mRNA) is created. The mRNA moves out of the nucleus into the cell’s cytoplasm where the protein for that gene is produced.

At night PER (period protein) accumulates in the nucleus blocking the period gene from synthesizing mRNA for the manufacturing of PER. During the daytime, PER is degraded allowing the process to start again. TIM (timeless protein) is another protein that couples with PER allowing it move into the nucleus where it can inhibit the period gene. DBT (double-time protein) delays the accumulation of the PER protein allowing for adjustments to more closely match a 24-hour cycle. Other proteins have been discovered that allow light to influence and synchronize the clock.

The mechanisms described above for the fruit fly have been further elucidated in mammals and found to be more complex and intricate although basically similar. The circadian rhythm established by the molecular components of the mammalian circadian clock at an organism level sees a high cortisol release in the early morning. From this follows a rapid rise in blood pressure and heightened alertness. By early afternoon best coordination and fastest reaction times are evident. Our body temperature reaches its maximum by sunset. Our blood pressure is highest in the early evening. Later, melatonin is secreted and need for sleep ensues. After midnight we are in a deep sleep, and our body temperature reaches its lowest point.

From these, our sleep patterns are regulated, our feeding behaviors are developed. The core molecular clock components are composed of a dizzying number of genes controlled by transcription/translation feedback loops that oscillate with 24-hour rhythmicity that regulates these seemingly instinctive human activities.

But what happens when we throw a wrench into this elegant evolutionary achievement? In a review published in Circulation Research in 2010 titled “Circadian rhythms and metabolic syndrome,” the authors note that the incidence of Metabolic Syndrome continues to increase in the industrialized world. Though genetic and environmental factors have been known to implicate this spectrum of disorders, evidence suggests that alterations in the circadian rhythm are linked to the pathogenesis of these disease processes as well as many others.

The Metabolic Syndrome is a clustering of medical condition—abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol or triglycerides, and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels—that increase a person’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The syndrome is a global epidemic affecting 25-40 percent of individuals in the prime of their life.

The Metabolic Syndrome has been connected to the lack of exercise and poor diet which then leads to obesity and the development of the syndrome. There is growing evidence that the introduction of artificial light and lack of sleep leads to behaviors associated with circadian disorders such as the increased sensation of hunger, suppression of our metabolism, and changes in the hormonal signals that tell us when we are full. Epidemiologic studies have implicated “short sleep” in contributing to the risk of acquiring diabetes. Workers with alternating shifts have an independent risk for an increase in their body-mass-index. Prolonged sleep restriction has been shown to impair insulin sensitivity.

A better understanding of the molecular aberrations that lead to metabolic disorders in states of disrupted sleep awaits further investigation and, given its broader implication to human illness, is necessary and urgent in light of the importance of a properly functioning physiology synchronized with its circadian rhythm. For instance, genetic variations in our circadian cellular mechanisms are associated with psychiatric diseases like depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Research in this area could afford novel strategies for the understanding and treatment of these illnesses.

Myocardial infarction, sudden cardiac death, pulmonary embolisms and aortic aneurysm rupture occur most frequently in the morning. Shift work increases the risk of heart attacks by as much as three-fold in men and women between ages 45-55. The risk of a fatal heart attack increases by 45 percent for people who chronically sleep less than five hours each night. Even transitioning to daylight saving time in the spring carries an increased incidence of a heart attack for the first three days after.

Instead of focusing on the social implications of the disruption in circadian rhythms in human life, the New York Times reports on these Nobel Prize research as novel discoveries for explaining the lethargy and irritability termed “jet lag” from air travel—an area much more interesting to high-income editors and readers than the condition of the working class in America in 2017. More compelling would be in exposing the connection between health and epidemic reports of obesity, diabetes and heart disease with the organization of work and production.

The CDC has estimated that about 84 million (35 percent) US adults get an insufficient quantity of sleep. Approximately 23 percent get less than six hours, and 12 percent get less than five hours. Lack of sleep, like many health issues, has a significant class dimension, as a recent report in the Huffington Postfound, disproportionately affecting the poor and underprivileged. Those unable to work reported the lowest rates of healthy sleep. The southeastern US and the Appalachian region were characterized by a lower duration of healthy sleep, and also have higher rates of obesity, serious health conditions, and death.

There has also been a rise in Americans working multiple jobs under pressure of the persistent economic decline in past decades, felt most sharply working people who live paycheck to paycheck. American families work on average 11 more hours per week than they did 30 years ago. Wages for lower-income families have decreased 29 percent and for middle-income families 13 percent in the same period. These economic forces contribute significantly to worsening health conditions.

Spanish king demands new crackdown in Catalonia

Alex Lantier

In an ominous address last night branding Catalonia an outlaw region of Spain, King Felipe VI denounced Sunday’s Catalan independence referendum and demanded that the Spanish state seize control of the region.

An open intervention by the Spanish king into public affairs is without precedent since the February 23, 1981 military coup, shortly after Spain’s 1978 Transition to parliamentary democracy. Coming amid a vicious press campaign demonizing Catalonia after police repression failed to halt the referendum, the king’s speech is a signal that plans for an even broader military-police intervention against Catalonia are being actively prepared.

Attacking the Catalan authorities for “threatening the social and economic stability of Catalonia and of Spain,” Felipe VI said they had “systematically undermined legally and legitimately approved norms, showing an intolerable disloyalty to the powers of the state. … These authorities, in a clear and unmistakable way, have placed themselves outside the framework of law and of democracy.”

In this situation, he continued, “it is the responsibility of the legitimate powers within the state to ensure the constitutional order and the normal functioning of the institutions.”

The king’s brief for a renewed onslaught against Catalonia is based on a tissue of lies. In fact, it is not the population of Catalonia, but the Spanish ruling elite that trampled democratic rights underfoot, sending in 16,000 Guardia Civil who brutalized firefighters, Catalan police, and even elderly women trying to vote, in a failed attempt to halt the referendum through physical terror.

Videos showing the brazen repression of peaceful voters have spread across the Internet and shocked millions of people around the world. Turning reality on its head, Felipe VI blames the victims of this repression for the violence, in order to argue for a new attack on democratic rights.

As for law and democracy, the Spanish monarchy is not in a position to lecture anyone on these subjects. It is a matter of historical record that the monarchy owes its power to a 1936 fascist coup led by Francisco Franco that drowned Spain’s Second Republic in blood, in a Civil War in which Franco’s main enemy was the working class. After establishing a fascist dictatorship in 1939 over all of Spain, Franco formally reinstalled the monarchy in 1947 and handpicked Felipe VI’s father, Juan Carlos I, as his successor.

Juan Carlos oversaw the transition to parliamentary democracy in 1978 and publicly condemned fascist loyalists who launched a failed coup attempt in 1981. His son’s speech, however, comes after the post-transition regime and the entire European Union (EU) has been discredited by decades of austerity and war, and particularly by the mass unemployment that has devastated Spain since the 2008 Wall Street crash. The Spanish regime is teetering on the verge of dictatorship and civil war.

Felipe VI all but declared the millions of people who voted in the Catalan independence referendum to have placed themselves outside the protection of the Spanish state.

Asserting the “unity and permanence of Spain,” he claimed that in Catalonia, there are “many concerns and deep worry over the conduct of the regional authorities. For those who feel this way, I say you are not alone and will not be; that you have the full solidarity of the rest of the Spanish people and the absolute guarantee of our rule of law to defend your liberties and rights.” He said nothing, however, about the supporters of the Catalan regional authorities.

The Spanish press promptly reacted to Felipe VI’s comments with a coordinated campaign demanding that Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s right-wing Popular Party (PP) government invoke Article 155 of the Spanish constitution. This provision would allow Madrid to send forces into Catalonia to suspend its regional government and seize its administration and finances, paving the way for a military-police occupation of the region.

In an article titled “If you can’t decide on 155, get out,” El Español demanded that Rajoy invoke the measure or leave office. It wrote that “Only Alberto Rivera,” the leader of the right-wing Citizens party, “is willing to take the bull by the horns and proposes to apply Article 155 of the Constitution to end Catalan autonomy and call elections… If Rajoy is not up to this task, the best he can do is get out and give someone else his place.”

Similarly, in its editorial today, El Mundo writes, “The person who cannot fail, by his position and his oath to protect the rights violated in Catalonia, is Rajoy. Yesterday we asked him to apply Article 155 to end the unpunished rebellion of Puigdemont and his partners. This urgency becomes more urgent today. The King’s message calls him to it.”

El País, the main daily close to the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE), carries a column by professor Javier García Fernández endorsing Article 155. Fernández criticized those who allow the article to be “demonized, when it is a legitimate instrument to deal with territorial crises.”

The main danger at present is that the working class in Spain and internationally is not being warned of the repression being prepared by Madrid. There is broad opposition in the working class of Spain and all of Europe, rooted in the experience of fascism and world war in the 20th century, to a turn to police-state forms of rule. This opposition can only be mobilized on a politically independent, revolutionary and socialist perspective in opposition to the entire ruling establishment.

The reaction of Spain’s main political parties made clear that no effective opposition to a new crackdown in Catalonia would come from the political establishment in Madrid.

Rajoy’s PP, Rivera’s Citizens party, and the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) all hailed the king’s speech, signaling they would support a renewed crackdown. Rivera praised the king for offering “hope and leadership” that Spain needs at present, while PP Deputy Press Secretary Pablo Casado applauded Felipe VI for guaranteeing the “harmony, coexistence, legality and of course the historical continuity of Spain.”

Through its secretary for institutional relations, Alfonso Rodríguez Gómez de Celis, the PSOE hailed the king’s remarks as a “call for harmony and understanding.” Other PSOE officials remarked to El Diario that, while the remarks of de Celis are the PSOE’s official line, it was clear that the king was calling for an end to dialog with Catalan regional officials, which the PSOE claims to advocate. “If we support the king, we are clearly no longer seeking dialog,” they noted.

The Podemos party, which has provided political cover to the PSOE, appealing to join it in backing a dialog with the Catalan nationalists, issued impotent and complacent complaints in response to the king’s threat of a new police onslaught against Catalonia. Podemos number two Íñigo Errejón wrote, “The king lost the opportunity to be part of the solution. There was neither a call for dialog nor a proposition. It leaves me worried.”

The politics of Catalonian separatism, a form of bourgeois nationalism, offers no way forward for working people in the defense of their social and democratic rights. This is only possible on the basis of a fight to unify the world working class around a socialist perspective.

Such a struggle must, however, proceed with unwavering opposition to the military/police crackdown being carried out by the Spanish state and sanctioned by the European Union and the imperialist powers.

Kabul Security: The NUG's Achilles Heel?

Bismellah Alizada

On 29 September, terrorists attacked a Shia mosque in Kabul's district 10, when civilians were mourning Muharram, killing seven and wounding over 20. On 27 September, even as US Secretary of Defense James Mattis and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg were visiting Afghanistan, the Taliban attacked the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. This is the ninth major attack in the city this year. A closer look at the security situation in the city suggests that the present state-of-affairs has the potential to pose bigger problems for Afghanistan's ruling National Unity Government (NUG).

Overview

2017 has been the deadliest year for the residents of Kabul due to incessant suicide attacks. Since March 2017, nine major suicide attacks have taken place in the capital. One of these attacks was so severe that it triggered protests by the residents in which they demanded security and called for resignation of heads of the security institutions and the national security advisor. In response, the police opened fire at the protestors, killing seven protestors and injuring several others, leaving them with the resentment that they are targeted by the government as well as by terrorists. On 3 June, a triple suicide attack took place at the funeral of those killed during the protest, a ceremony at which Afghanistan's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah, former Chief of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) Amrullah Saleh, Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani and several MPs and Senators were present. This attack left 20 killed and over 87 wounded - merely days after the truck explosion in the 'green zone'. More recently, a Shia mosque was attacked where several men and women were offering their Friday prayers. The attack claimed over 100 lives, mostly women. This attack highlights yet another aspect of the ongoing war in Afghanistan: targeting religious minorities to fuel religious divide. Moreover, kidnapping of foreigners is another major security threat in the city. 

The NUG's Response 

Following a series of deadly attacks, the NUG decided to fortify Kabul's so called green zone to provide security for the presidential palace, the diplomatic quarters, and several ministry buildings. However, this knee-jerk reaction has done little to reduce violence and might in fact prove to be counter-productive for the NUG.

The fortification of the green zone was carried out by installing 'security gates' — metal frame-gates that accommodate the height of small cars and SUVs — at the main intersections and entrances leading to the green zone. This is a highly naïve response and extremely counterproductive in that it narrows down the government’s focus on the overall security situation in the country and gives the impression that the government is obsessed with providing for its own security rather than that of the citizenry. Recently, when a fire broke out, fire trucks could not get through the security gates to extinguish the fire in time. Not only have these metal gates failed to provide any security, it has caused massive traffic jams and added to the erosion of local morale, because it suggests that the government is unable to prevent attacks and instead redirects them. At least four suicide attacks have taken place outside the metal-gate protected zone since they were set up. According to an April 2017 editorial by Daily Outlook Afghanistan, the Afghan security forces are unprepared to face the increasing insecurity and the NUG remains divided as far as devising a comprehensive security strategy is concerned. 

Moreover, the fortification of the green zone implicitly sends the message to the Afghan public that the government is only concerned about ensuring the security of a small enclave that houses local and international elites while ignoring the rapidly deteriorating security situation experienced by residents living and working outside these metal-frame gates.

In February 2017, the Afghan government presented a four-year security plan to the Resolute Support (RS) mission headquarters, outlining how the combat capacity of the Afghan security forces should be enhanced, flagging changes like elevating commando units to a corps and incorporating the Afghan Public Protection Forces of the Ministry of Interior to the Ministry of Defense. Seemingly, the rise in insecurity in Kabul, and across the country, witnessed a rise after the introduction of the plan. 

Looking Ahead

Across the country, the situation is only worsening, with fewer districts under government control and more falling to the Taliban. The situation requisites a thorough and serious rethink of the security policies in place and the general leadership of the security ministries. To complement that, the NUG also needs to swiftly and effectively address corruption in the security sector. 

The NUG has a ready ground now. The US 'Strategy in Afghanistan and South Asia', announced in August 2017 by US President Donald Trump, clearly addresses where the safe havens of terrorists are located and which state is providing them support. Since the announcement of the strategy, the US officials have been loud and clear against Pakistan. Moreover, the US has also pledged US$ 7 billion in aid to strengthen Afghanistan’s air force. Therefore, building on the efforts made since 2011 for peace talks, the NUG needs to continue its efforts on the diplomatic front to find a political solution for the war on the one hand, and step up its efforts to strengthen its defence capacities, (including of its air force) on the other. 

Merely focusing on the security of the green zone and the Presidential Palace, and according less importance to the general public has but tightened the noose around the NUG's neck, because the government will not be able to sustain itself if it loses public confidence beyond a certain point.

220 Fully-funded ARES Masters and Training Scholarships in Belgium for Developing Countries 2018/2019

Application Deadlines: 8th February 2018

11th January 2018 for the following courses:

• Internship in secondary resource development for sustainable construction
• Internship in quality control and quality assurance of medicines and health products

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Students from African and  developing countries

To be taken in: Belgium

About the Award: Each year, the Academy of Research and Higher Education (ARES) grants an average of 150 fellowships in the framework of the Masters and 70 fellowships in the framework of the internships to the nationals of the countries of the South.

Eligible Countries: Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cuba, Ecuador, Ethiopia (only for courses in English ), Haiti, Indonesia, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Peru, Philippines, DR Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Vietnam.

Accepted Subject Areas (Masters): 

• Master of Specialization in Development, Environment and Societies
• Specialization Master in Human Rights
• Master of Specialization in Aquatic Resource Management and Aquaculture
• Master of Specialization in Risk and Disaster Management
• Specialized Master in Integrated Management of Health Risks in the Global South (IManHR)
• Specialized Master in International Development
• Master of Specialization in Transfusion Medicine
• Specialized Master in Microfinance
• Master of specialization in integrated production and preservation of natural resources in urban and peri-urban areas
• Specialized Master in Public Health Methodology
• Master of Science in Public Health – Methods of Research Applied to Global Health
• Master of Science and Environmental Management in Developing Countries
• Specialized Master in Transport and Logistics

Accepted Subject Areas (Training): 

• Internship in control and quality assurance of medicines and health products
• Research Initiation to Strengthen Health Systems
• Internship in Geographic Information System
• Internship in secondary resource development for sustainable construction
• Methodological internship in support of innovation in family farming

Type: Masters, Training

About the Award: Within the framework of the Belgian policy for development cooperation, the Minister for Development Cooperation and the Directorate-General for Development Cooperation entrust the Belgian Higher Education Institutions with the preparation of Postgraduate Programmes (Advanced Masters) and Training Programmes that are specifically oriented towards young professionals from developing countries.

International Courses and Training Programmes are part of the global study programmes of the Higher Education Institutions. They are open to all students who satisfy the conditions of qualification, but aim at proposing training units that distinguish themselves by their openness towards specific development issues.

Within the programme for International Courses and Training Programmes 2016-2017, ARES grants 130 scholarships for participation into the masters and 67 scholarships for participation into the training programmes.

Eligiblilty: The following will apply for the selection of holders of scholarships:

1. Originally from a developing country. To be eligible, applicants must reside and work in their own country at the time of filing;
2. Only nationals of the following countries are eligible to apply for scholarships ARES: Benin, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cuba, Ecuador, Ethiopia ( only for courses in English ), Haiti, Madagascar, Morocco, Niger, Peru, Philippines, DR Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Vietnam ;
3. Either under the age of 40 for courses and under 45 for training periods at the start of training;
4. Either holds a diploma comparable to a diploma of the second cycle of Belgian university education. However, for certain types of training, different requirements may be set out, which will be specified below;
5. Demonstrates a professional occupation in a developing country of at least two years after completing his / her second cycle or three years after the end of his / her studies when the candidate holds a post-graduate diploma a university in an industrialized country;
6. A good knowledge of written and spoken French. For courses organized in another language, it is necessary to have a good knowledge of the language of the course, written and spoken. The candidate will also be asked to commit to learning French in order to participate in everyday life in Belgium;
7. Apply for a single training

Selection Criteria: 

• The academic curriculum
• For courses, priority will be given to candidates who are already holders of a diploma third cycle, save in exceptional circumstances duly justified in the application.
• Priority will be given to candidates who have not already received a grant in Belgium.
• Professional experience
• Belonging to a partner institution: The commitment of the candidate in development activities
• Nationality requirements
• Gender equality
• The future reintegration prospects

Number of Scholarships: ARES grants 150 scholarships for participation into the masters and 70 scholarships for participation into the training programmes.

Value of Scholarship: Travel (internal and external), Monthly living allowance, Indirect mission costs, Installation costs, Tuition fees, Registration fee, Insurance costs, Housing allowance, Allowances for dependents, Return fees, In 1st session completion bonus (June).

Duration of Scholarship:  For the duration of the program

How to Apply: Download the form 2018-2019 in French (16 pages – 980 Ko) (for French specialization masters).

It is important to go through the Application requirements and procedures on the Scholarship Webpage (see Link below) before applying.

Visit the Scholarship Webpage for details

Sponsors: The University Commission for Development

Important: Applying for a ARES Masters and Training scholarship is absolutely free of charge. ARES does not charge any fee at any stage of the application or selection process. You may raise any question or concern about persons or companies claiming to be acting on behalf of ARES and requesting the payment of a fee by emailing ARES at maryvonne.aubry[at]ares-ac.be.
Any application containing cash will be automatically rejected.

Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Programme (CADFP) for African-Born Researchers 2018/2019

Application Deadline: 8th December, 2017

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: African-born academics currently living in the United States and Canada and working in higher education.

To be taken at (country): Fellows will engage in educational projects proposed and hosted by faculty of public or private higher education institutions in the following CCNY partner countries: Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.

Eligible Project Activities: 

• curriculum co-development
• research collaboration
• graduate student mentoring and training

About the Award: The Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Programme (CADFP) is a scholar fellowship programme for educational projects at African higher education institutions for African researchers in diaspora. Offered by IIE in partnership with the United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa), the programme is funded by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY). In the first two years of the programme, the CADFP supported 110 short-term faculty fellowships for African-born academics. In October 2015, additional funding was secured from CCNY to support up to 140 fellowships. The programme exemplifies CCNY’s enduring commitment to higher education in Africa. IIE manages and administers the programme, including applications, project requests and fellowships.

Type: Research, Fellowship

Eligibility: 

• One CADFP-funded project visit by a Diaspora Fellow of 14 to 90 days is proposed during program period. Project visit date parameters follow
• Diaspora Scholar was born in Africa, lives in and works at accredited higher education institution in United States or Canada and holds terminal degree. Diaspora Scholar application includes letter of reference from administrator at level of dean or higher from home institution, scholar curriculum vitae and biodata page from scholar passport.
• Project request is from an accredited public or private higher education institution in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda or Tanzania.
• Project request includes a letter of support from dean or higher from prospective host institution.
• Project request indicates either a specific Diaspora scholar or the areas of expertise sought in a Diaspora scholar collaborator. Scholar application and host institution project request are submitted and complete by applicable deadline.

Selection Criteria of Project: 

• Specific activities are proposed to collaborate on research, curriculum co-development and/or graduate student teaching, training and mentoring.
• Strong project concept and rationale are provided; project demonstrates innovation.
• Project Request clearly indicates what has been done by the institution on the proposed topic(s), the resources of the host institution, the problem to address, the goals of what to change or improve, the gaps and the anticipated specific role of the Diaspora Fellow in the proposed activities.
• Clear mission of what the host institution wants to accomplish through project visit is articulated, and justification is provided on reasons to partner in the effort with a Diaspora scholar.
• The proposed scholar’s discipline, subfields, areas of expertise, experience and motivation for applying are well-suited to the success and impact of the project.
• Evidence of relevant experience by the proposed scholar in each requested project activity is demonstrated.
• The proposed project must have the potential for impact
• If potential impact of longer term project will take more time to be realized or evaluated, explanation is provided on how initial impact of project visit will be measured or how it is expected to contribute to larger goals.

Value of Fellowship:  Fellowship funding to scholars includes a daily stipend, visa costs, limited health insurance coverage, international travel, domestic travel to and from the airport in Canada or United States. The host institution is encouraged to fund housing, meals and local transportation to and from the airport in the host country.

Duration of Fellowship: Fourteen to Ninety days

How to Apply: Go here to apply

See the Review Criteria and the How to Apply for African Institutions links at the link above for further information.

Visit Fellowship Webpage for details

Award Provider: The Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Programme (CADFP)

(WVA) Veterinary Student Scholarship Program for Students from Developing Countries 2018

Application Deadline: 1st January 2018, 12:00 pm (Brussels time)

Eligible Countries: Countries in Latin America, Africa, North Africa/Middle East and Asia/Oceania.

To Be Taken At (Country): Belgium

About the Award: Based on the successful deliverance of the MSD Animal Health/WVA Veterinary Student Scholarship Program 2016, MSD Animal Health and WVA agreed to continue the good collaborations and to launch the Veterinary Student Scholarship Program 2017 to include 41 scholarships of US 5000$ (of a total of $205,000) to be delivered to selected students from countries in the regions of Latin America (16 grants), Africa (10 grants), North Africa/Middle East (10 grants) and Asia/Oceania (5 grants) by mid-2018.

Field of Study: Veterinary Medicine

Type: Masters

Eligibility: 

• Citizen of one of the countries under the grant coverage.
• Second or Third year veterinary students (accomplishment of first year exams).
• Currently enrolled and in good standing at a recognized school of veterinary medicine in their country.

The applications (in English, French and Spanish) will be reviewed by the WVA Review Committee. The announcement of the selected students will be done during the World Veterinary Association Congress in Barcelona, Spain between 5 and 8 May 2018

Number of Awards: 41

• Latin America (16 grants),
• Africa (10 grants),
• North Africa/Middle East (10 grants) and
• Asia/Oceania (5 grants).

Value of Award:  US 5000$ each

How to Apply: Completed application must be submitted by 1st January 2018, 12:00 pm (Brussels time) tosecretriat@worldvet.org or to:

Dr. Zeev Noga
Veterinary Policy Officer
World Veterinary Association (WVA)
Avenue de Tervueren 12
B-1040 Brussels , Belgium

The application can be downloaded by clicking on the following link: English, French and Spanish.

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: World Veterinary Association (WVA)

Commonwealth Digital Challenge for Young Media Professionals from Commonwealth Countries 2018

Application Deadline: 3rd November, 2017

Eligible Countries: Members of Commonwealth countries

To Be Taken At (Country): London, UK

About the Award: The Elizabeth R Broadcasting Fund was established  in 1995 to assist the development of broadcasting skills in the Commonwealth with a donation from Buckingham Palace. The donation came from royalties from “Elizabeth R”, the 1992 BBC documentary which marked the 40th anniversary of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

It is a fitting choice as the foundation has, for over 50 years, helped raise standards of journalism and communications across the world and trained journalists and media managers from every Commonwealth country.

Entrants of the Contest will be asked to submit a 400-word statement, in English, outlining a particular challenge posed to their organisation, or media sector, in their country together with a potential business case for how it could be addressed. Twenty applicants will be invited to take three online modules in digital skills and newsroom management from the Thomson Foundation’s online Journalism Now programme.

The most successful of the 20, in the opinion of the judges, will be invited to spend a week’s intensive study of UK media organisations in London, during Commonwealth Week 2018, followed by online mentoring by Thomson Foundation consultants for 12 months. The winner will lead a virtual conference of the top 20 applicants and UK media mentors focusing on how the media can react to the challenges thrown up by the topic of Commonwealth Week.

Applicants must submit their initial entry by midnight GMT on Friday, November 3rd, 2017. Shortlisted applicants must be able to take the online modules between November 15th, 2017 and January 31st, 2018. The overall winner will be expected to spend the week of April 16th, 2018 in London. If s/he is not able to do so, the prize will go to the second most successful applicant.

Type: Contest

Eligibility: 

• Applicants must be citizens of a Commonwealth member country, excluding the UK.
• The competition is open to journalists and media managers working for a media organisation in the public or private sectors.
• Entrants must be journalists or media managers, aged between 28 and 35, on April 1st, 2018.
• The competition organisers may request documentation to verify an entrant’s age and employment status.

Value of Award: 

• The overall winner will be invited to spend a week’s intensive study of UK media organisations in London, with all expenses paid, during the week of the Commonwealth Summit in London in April, 2018.
• It will be followed by 12 months’ mentoring by industry professionals overseen by the Thomson Foundation – the world’s longest-established media development organisation.

How to Apply: To enter, simply complete the competition entry form by Friday 3rd November, 2017.

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: Elizabeth R Broadcasting Fund

Bournemouth University New Media Writing Prize 2018

Application Deadlines:

• The if:book Prize, Gorkana Journalism Awards, and Dot Award: Friday 24th November 2017 12 noon GMT
• Unicorn Student Prize (FOR STUDENTS): Friday 15th December 2017 12 noon GMT.

Eligible Countries: All

To Be Taken At (Country): United Kingdom

About the Award: The New Media Writing Prize showcases exciting and inventive stories that integrate a variety of formats, platforms, and digital media. This international prize is now in its 7th year.

The prize encourages and promotes the best in new media writing and is leading the way toward the future of the ‘written’ word and storytelling. In the past six years, the NMWP has attracted entries from the very best and most innovative writers in the field. For the 2016 competition there will be four prizes: The Main Prize, the Student Prize, the Dot Award, and the Gorkana Journalism Awards.

Get the idea? The essence of new-media writing is great storytelling which uses anything and everything that digital media can offer, along with user/audience interactivity. It’s got to be something that couldn’t work in ‘old’ media.

Categories: 

• The if:book New Media Writing Prize: £1000 donated by if:book UK.
• The Unicorn Student Prize: 3 months paid internship (or £500 in cash if the winner cannot undertake the placement) at Unicorn Training, Bournemouth, UK, working with Unicorn’s writing and design team.
• The Dot Award: £500 to get develop a new project. Donated by if:book UK. Click here for more info
• The Gorkana Journalism Award, donated by Gorkana. Two awards: the UK award, and the International award, both £500 for the winner.

Type: Contest

Eligibility: Anyone can apply! Whether you’re a student, a professional, an artist, a writer, a developer, a designer or an enthusiast, the competition is open to all. It’s also an international competition, open to all outside the UK. Entries do need to be in English.

if:book Prize and Unicorn Student Prize: We are looking for good storytelling (fiction or non-fiction) written specifically for delivery and reading/viewing on a PC or Mac, the web, or a hand-held device such as an iPad or mobile phone. It could be a short story, novel, poem, documentary or transmedia work using words, images, film or animation with audience interaction. Interactivity is a key element of new-media storytelling.

We are looking for creativity, so try to be imaginative to create an engaging story i.e. combining any number of media elements, such as words on a screen combined with images and video clips. New media writing can be created using a variety of tools i.e. a word processor, DV camera, social networking tools (i.e. Twitter), mobile phone/s, a scanner, Augmented Reality software – anything goes!

The judges will be looking for the following:

1. Innovative use of new (digital) media/transmedia to create an engaging, satisfying narrative, or poem, or as-yet-unspecified form. Fiction or non-fiction.
2. Ease of accessibility for the reader/viewer.
3. Effective use of interactive elements.
4. A great example of how new media can do things traditional media can’t.
5. The potential to reach out to a wide audience (i.e. not just specialist interest groups).

The Dot Award: The prize will be awarded for a project idea which, in the judges’ opinion, shows promise and practicability. For the Dot Award we are looking for projects which aren’t necessarily technically complex but do create original and exciting literary work inspired by the affordances of the web, blogs, apps, social media etc. Chris Meade and if:book UK will liaise with the winner to support the project, which will be showcased at the 2017 New Media Writing Prize award ceremony (17th January 2018).

The Gorkana Journalism Awards: The Gorkana Journalism Awards honour innovative stories based on factual material and featuring digital media. Interactive documentaries, multimedia features and serious games are all considered. Entries must incorporate new media technologies and platforms. This is the first year that these prizes are being awarded.

Selection Criteria: 

1.     innovative use of new media to create an engaging, satisfying fact-based narrative.
2.     does not need to be topical, but must be socially relevant.
3.     must adhere to journalistic standards of accuracy and fairness.
4.     ease of accessibility for the reader/viewer.
5.     effective use of interactive elements.
6.     an example of how new media can do things that traditional media cannot do.
7.     the potential to reach out to a wide audience, i.e. not just specialist interest groups​

Value of Award:

• The if:book New Media Writing Prize: £1000 donated by if:book UK.
• 3 months paid internship (or £500 in cash if the winner cannot undertake the placement) at Unicorn Training, Bournemouth, UK, working with Unicorn’s writing and design team.
• Two awards: the UK award, and the International award, both £500 for the winner.
• The Dot Award: £500 to get develop a new project. Donated by if:book UK.

How to Apply: To submit his/her entry each entrant must do the following by Friday November 24th 2017 12 noon GMT or if a Student entry, by Friday 15th December 2017 12 noon GMT: (Late entries will not be considered.)

It is important that you read and understand the Competition Rules. Your entry will be disqualified if you do not comply with these Rules.

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: Bournemouth University