“Social studies to get a boost in schools (AsiaOne)” plus 2 more |
- Social studies to get a boost in schools (AsiaOne)
- Survey: More Chinese students considering studies abroad (People's Daily)
- Control Of Herpes Symptoms Does Not Reduce HIV Transmission, International Study Found (Medical News Today)
| Social studies to get a boost in schools (AsiaOne) Posted: 26 Jan 2010 04:58 PM PST | By Leow Si Wan SOCIAL studies, which is taught in secondary schools here, is being reviewed with a view to making it a full, as well as compulsory, subject for those in the upper secondary levels. The Education Ministry confirmed the review, which followed recommendations by a 2007 report of the Committee on National Education (NE) to look at its structure and content. Its spokesman declined to give details, except that a key consideration would be how to 'best equip our students with the skills and competencies for living and working in the future'.The aim of social studies, the spokesman added, is to mould students into 'well-informed, thinking and concerned citizens'. It is understood that social studies, now coupled with subjects such as history, geography or literature, may stand on its own as an independent subject, with a curriculum more closely-aligned with national education objectives such as developing national cohesion and fostering a sense of belonging to Singapore. Educators expect finalised details to be made public over the next two to three years. A school principal privy to discussions said: 'The new syllabus will be tailor-made to meet the nation's needs. 'Rather than studying a bit of history or geography, more time may be devoted to exploring issues relevant to the country in greater depth.' For instance, he added, students could learn about the economic growth of Singapore and why group representation constituencies were introduced. Although he did not refer to social studies, a similar point was made last month by Law Minister K. Shanmugam, who suggested that political education be introduced in schools. He said that students should be taught, among other things, how political systems work in different cultures, the impact of geographical and social factors on societies and why city states rise and fall. Upper secondary students currently take a compulsory combined humanities subject which includes social studies with either a history, geography or literature component. They can also opt for an additional pure humanities subject, which they have not taken as part of the social studies component. The 2007 NE committee had found that students had differing experiences with this approach towards social studies. Students who did not like it had said the preoccupation with scoring good grades detracted from the objectives of NE. Kimberley Leow, 16, who offered social studies with a geography elective for the O levels last year, said: 'It was difficult coping with two subject areas. I found social studies interesting and easier, but I couldn't focus because I had to handle geography too.' The current social studies syllabus covers areas such as social cohesion and harmony, nationhood and its challenges and international relations. Students, for instance, look at case studies of ethnic conflict in places such as Sri Lanka and Northern Ireland, and look at the role of regional and international organisations such as Asean and the United Nations. Some social studies teachers interviewed, however, felt that the current approach was sufficient. A history teacher who has been informed by his head of department to be prepared to teach social studies as an additional full subject, said: 'I feel that social studies as it is now is quite sufficient because when I interact with my upper secondary students, I do find that they know about the country. 'But I will be prepared to take on an extra subject.' What this change would mean to the three humanities subjects, educators said, remains to be seen. Said a social studies teacher: 'There are concerns because many students offer just one humanities subject. If social studies becomes a full subject, there could be limited exposure to the other humanities.' He said: 'Still, the expanded social studies syllabus could include elements of history and geography. The final product is still a long way from now, so we will have to wait and see.' A principal said the history, geography and literature components are not taught in much depth now. Students keen on learning more can still take an additional pure history or geography subject, he added. This article was first published in The Straits Times.  Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. | ||
| Survey: More Chinese students considering studies abroad (People's Daily) Posted: 26 Jan 2010 11:37 PM PST According to a recent report by the Information Times, China's well-known educational group, Beijing International Education Institute (BIEI) released China's first 2010 survey report on Chinese students' intentions to study abroad. The survey covered nearly 6,000 university and middle school students and their parents in 13 major cities - Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Wuhan, Changsha, Jinan, Qingdao, Dalian, Shenyang and Chongqing. It aims at researching the Chinese students' target countries for their overseas studies, their current educational background, their goals for overseas studies and comprehensive considerations on overseas studies. Target countries: 31 percent of students in Guangzhou select the U.S. According to the report, the favorite countries of Chinese university and middle school students who are seeking overseas studies are the U.S., the U.K., Australia, Canada, France, Singapore and Gemany. The first 3 countries remain the major traditional target countries – the U.S. (favored by 43 percent of the respondents), the U.K. (19 percent) and Australia (12 percent). The main body of overseas Chinese students: junior middle school students become the third largest source of overseas Chinese students Among the Chinese Students who intend to study abroad, those with a bachelor's degree account for 60 percent while senior middle school students and those with a master's degree account for 22.6 percent and 10 percent respectively. On the other hand, 37.56, 24.67 and 12.29 percent of these Chinese students plan to go abroad in 1 year, 2 years and 6 months respectively. Therefore, studying abroad will become a strong trend in China for 2010. More than 50 percent of the above-mentioned Chinese students plan to obtain a master's degree at a foreign university. According to analysis by Li Zhu, a senior expert, 25.09 percent of the students are senior middle school students who intend to study at foreign universities. In addition, statistics show that nearly 12.96 percent of the above-mentioned Chinese students are junior middle school students. They intend to enter senior middle schools in foreign countries, becoming the third largest source of Chinese overseas students. Business sciences remain popular among Chinese students However, as for the "favorite majors," nearly 30 percent of the Chinese students chose business sciences including finance and accounting, marketing and business administration. Business sciences are even more popular among the students bound for Britain, the U.S. and Australia. It is said that about 70 percent of Britain-bound Chinese students plans to study business sciences. By People's Daily Online Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. | |||
| Posted: 26 Jan 2010 12:31 PM PST  Main Category: HIV / AIDS Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs Article Date: 26 Jan 2010 - 9:00 PST
Research from a five-year international clinical study shows that acyclovir, a commonly prescribed drug used to suppress symptoms of the herpes virus, does not affect HIV transmission by people with both viruses. The study, conducted by the Partners in Prevention HSV/HIV Transmission Study, was released by the New England Journal of Medicine in its online edition Jan. 20 and will follow in the print edition Feb. 4. The largest risk group worldwide, but particularly in Africa and Asia, for contracting HIV is stable, heterosexual couples where only one partner is infected. Among those infected, about 90 percent also have a herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2), the most common cause of genital herpes, said study co-author Kenneth H. Fife, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Indiana University School of Medicine. "Logic indicated that outbreaks of HSV-2 sores could enhance the transmission of HIV," said Dr. Fife. "This is the first comprehensive study to look at the potential for reducing the transmission of HIV through treatment of the herpes virus." Multiple studies have shown that frequent genital herpes recurrences increase the amount of HIV in the blood and genital tract. It is known that HIV virus is shed through genital herpes ulcers and people with those ulcers transmit HIV to other more efficiently. Five preliminary studies showed that it is possible to decrease the amount of HIV in the blood and genital tract through treatment to suppress HSV-2. However, those studies did not measure whether there also was a reduction in HIV transmission. The study found that acyclovir reduced the occurrence of HSV-2 genital ulcers by 73 percent and thus the amount of HIV present in the blood and genital tract decreased twofold. In spite of the reduction of HIV present in blood levels, the researchers found there was no significant difference in the transmission of HIV. Laboratory testing showed there were 41 infections in the group taking acyclovir and 43 in the placebo group. This Partners in Prevention study was conducted at 14 sites in seven sub-Saharan counties: Botswana, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Recruitment began in November 2004 and concluded in October 2008. Initial results were presented at the International AIDS Society meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, on July 22, 2009. The study, led by the University of Washington in Seattle, was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The IU School of Medicine is located on the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus. Source
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