Education

Dispatches

January 01, 2002 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Inflammatory Fashion: Outraged officials fired a public school teacher in the Salcedo province in October after he wore a T-shirt with Osama bin Laden’s picture on it to class, but the Dominican Teachers Association is defending his choice of attire. Jose Cruz argued that his dismissal for wearing the shirt, which proclaims, “I support bin Laden,” made him a “victim of political persecution,” and the union agreed, according to the Spanish EFE News Service. To protest the firing, the union called a strike at schools in the province.

TAIWAN
Racy Essay: Government officials gave a teacher’s recent attempt to spice up her students’ storytelling skills an “E”—for embarrassing. Seeking an essay topic that would inspire the uninterested writers in her classes at the all- boys Chien Kuo High School, Chen Yeh decided to ask students to write about a sexual experience. When the students protested, claiming they didn’t know what to write, the veteran teacher said they were either lying or strangely lacking in experience. While the education minister, Tseng Chih-lang, did not immediately discipline Yeh, he openly rebuked her. “I found it disgusting,” he tells the Deutsche Presse-Agentur. “It is good to think up new ideas, but her ingenuity should be within the limits of social acceptance. Sex is one’s privacy.”

INDIA
Cheat Sheet:
It’s official—the Gujarat Secondary Education Board has determined that there are 30 ways for teachers to help their students cheat on state exams. And, after dispatching a five-member committee to study the matter, the board recommends different punishments for each of them, reports the Times of India. Ways teachers aid cheaters include tampering with answer books, providing advance copies of the exam, marking unfairly, and accepting bribes from students, according to the education board. Suggested punishments range from suspensions and withholding raises to humiliating the teachers by circulating their names to schools across the state.

AUSTRALIA
Choosy Children: Fourteen elementary school students in Blacktown, near Sydney, went on strike in late September in an attempt to get their substitute teacher a permanent contract, and more than a month later, they were still out of school. The children and their parents were distressed when Malcolm McCrae, a sub filling in for a teacher on maternity leave, was told he couldn’t stay when his term ended. Then the position he left became vacant, and McCrae applied but didn’t get the job. Instead, the Blacktown Advocate charges, the education department “targeted” a woman applicant. Officials offered McCrae a position outside the classroom, but he turned it down. Students gathered more than 500 signatures on a petition to no avail. In the meantime, parents of the striking kids have resorted to homeschooling.

—Katharine Dunn

Events

Artificial Intelligence Live Online Discussion A Seat at the Table: Math & Technology: Finding the Recipe for Student Success
How should we balance AI & math instruction? Join our discussion on preparing future-ready students.
Teaching Profession K-12 Essentials Forum New Insights Into the Teaching Profession
Join this free virtual event to get exclusive insights from Education Week's State of Teaching project.
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and K-12 education jubs at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Briefly Stated: June 11, 2025
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
5 min read
Education Quiz What Is the #1 Factor Boosting Students' STEM Motivation? Take This Weekly Quiz
Test your knowledge on the latest news and trends in education.
1 min read
Education Briefly Stated: June 4, 2025
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Quiz Why Did A Court Dismiss the Lawsuit Against Lucy Calkins? Take This Weekly Quiz
Test your knowledge on the latest news and trends in education.
1 min read