Belize

On August 1, 2000, the Ministry of Education opened the University of Belize (UB). The new school is the product of a merger of five institutions: University College of Belize, Belmopan Junior College, Belize School of Nursing, Belize School of Education and Belize College of Agriculture.

New buildings are being constructed and most of the new university’s programs will be offered in the capital city of Belmopan. UB had a budget of about US$5 million for its first year and slightly more for the current fiscal year.

— International Higher Education
Summer 2001

Haiti

Although schools opened in September as scheduled, most classrooms remained empty and teachers and staff stood idle because many parents can’t afford to send their children to school.

Between 80 percent and 90 percent of Haiti’s schools require monthly fees. Parents must pay up to US$200 as an entry fee plus US$10 to US$60 a month to send their children to class. In a country where the per capita annual income is around $400, this is an astronomical sum of money for most Haitians.

Parents often have to pay placement fees as high as US$200, paid in June in order to guarantee that their child has a place for the next school year. Given the high levels of poverty and corruption, admission to a school is often based on connections rather than financial need or aptitude.
The dictatorial regimes that have run Haiti for decades have never prioritized education. According to one source, deposed dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier spent US$3.70 per person annually on education.

There have been some improvements, however. In the early 1990s for instance, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti’s first freely elected leader, created a deputy ministry for literacy. His successor, Rene Preval, built 158 schools, the government said.

The average minimum wage is under US$2 a day. Haiti’s trade deficit amounted to nearly $1 billion last year. Adult literacy is 45 percent, according to the CIA World Factbook. Only 45 percent of children attend primary school, and just 15 percent enroll in secondary school.

— CNN.Com
Sept. 9, 2001

Peru

In August 2000, Peru passed a new child labor law setting the legal minimum age for child workers at 12 years. It is estimated that there are more than 500,000 children younger than that working in Peru, and almost 2 million who are under 18 years old.

Some of these child workers manage to fit school into their daily schedule, while others fall behind. The gulf in the literacy rate between men and women is large in Peru, particularly among the work force, where the literacy rate is 66 percent for men but only 24 percent for women.

Girls suffer disproportionately, as they are burdened with housework in addition to working long hours, for poor pay outside the home. It is difficult for most girls to find time to study when they are expected to work so many hours.

— BBC World Service
May 18, 2001

United States

Unaccredited Institutions Attempt to Appear Legitimate

In recent years, dozens of unaccredited institutions in the United States have set up phony accrediting bodies to make them appear legitimate. Here are three accrediting agencies not recognized by the U.S. Department of Education to be wary of:

• American Council of Private Colleges and Universities:
  • Accredits Hamilton University
• Association for Online Academic Excellence:
  • Accredits Trinity College and University
• World Association of Universities and Colleges:
  • Accredits Cambridge State University, Columbus University and other unaccredited institutions.

According to “Bears’ Guide to Earning Degrees by Distance Learning,”all these agencies are set up by the institutions they accredit and are not legitimate accrediting bodies.

— The Chronicle of Higher Education
March 23, 2001

Arab-Americans, Muslims and Southeast Asians attending universities across the country have experienced verbal and physical harassment as a result of the Sep 11 terrorist attacks against the United States.

The Muslim Students Association of the United States and Canada reported that female students have been spat at and had their headscarves (hijab) pulled off. Male students have had turbans ripped from their heads or been harassed because of their beards.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee compiled a list of more than 250 violent incidents that occurred on college campuses in the week after the attacks. These incidents ranged from direct threats of specific violence to actual beatings and assault and battery.

— CNN.Com
Sept. 21, 2001

Government efforts to develop a database of the nearly 600,000 international students at U.S. colleges and universities have gained unprecedented support since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The project was started in 1993, following the bombing of the World Trade Center, but was soon stymied amid political opposition. However, opponents who argued that the initiative was too burdensome on schools were silenced when it was discovered that some of the suspects in the September attack had entered the country on student visas.

As it stands now, the Immigration and Naturalization Service does not know what happens to foreign students once they start school — whether they drop out or leave the country when their visas expire. The creation of a database would allow the agency to track foreign nationals studying in the United States.

According to the American Council on Education, there are currently about 570,000 international students in the United States. The country sending the most students is China (55,000), followed by Japan and India. There are also 20 students from Afghanistan and 50 from Iraq. New York University has 4,900 international students, more than any other U.S. institution.
The proposed database program would require schools to report any change in an international student’s status, such as enrollment, change of major or a move to a new address.

— CNN.com
Sept. 21, 2001

Soka University of America was launched in August. Situated in the hills between Los Angeles and San Diego, this is the first new private liberal arts college to be built in California in 25 years. So far, the school has enrolled 125 students from 17 states and 19 foreign countries. It hopes to eventually enroll 1,200 students.

Soka is a Buddhist-inspired institution financed by Soka Gakkai International, the world’s largest Buddhist organization.

Soka will offer a bachelor’s degree in humanities, international studies and social and behavioral sciences. All students will be required to study one of three languages — Japanese, Chinese or Spanish —and will spend their junior year abroad working or studying. The university plans to eventually offer master’s and doctoral degrees, and will compete with other schools in at least 10 team sports.

— New York Times
July 25, 2001