Canada’s Foreign Students Look Warily for Return to Normal

Canadian universities are nervously eyeing an uptick in COVID-19 cases driven by the delta variant, hoping it will not upend plans for a return to in-person classes for international students, many of whom spent the past year studying remotely from their home countries. With more than 72% of the population at least partly vaccinated and new…

Afghan Students in India Fear Returning under Taliban Rule

Undergraduate Afghan student Saeeda Dilyabi, in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh, is deeply worried about the future that her country holds for her after the Taliban captured power.“Our lives will be in danger, our families’ life will be in danger, so I don’t think we can go back to Afghanistan,” Dilyabi said, sitting in…

Afghan Students in India Fear Returning After Taliban Takeover

Afghan students enrolled in Indian colleges and universities worry about the future that their country holds for them following the Taliban takeover there. India has a large Afghan student community, with most having come on scholarships offered by the Indian government as a goodwill gesture to promote education in the country. Anjana Pasricha spoke to…

Half of Nigerians Willing to Emigrate for Better Opportunities, Survey Finds

About half of Nigerians, especially youth, would be willing to leave the country for a better life, according to a July World Bank survey, an increase of nearly 20% since 2014. The report blames poor job opportunities and economic hardships, made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. But as Timothy Obiezu reports from Abuja, some Nigerians…

What is Critical Race Theory?

Critical race theory (CRT) has become a controversial topic in the United States, as the country wrestles with race, immigration, civil rights and civil conflict. Some states have banned its teaching in classrooms.CRT maintains that racism is deeply embedded in U.S. policy, law and society, rather than purely individual and personal, as its opponents contend.FILE…

Students Across US Take On COVID Disinformation

A student organization is trying to combat misinformation about COVID-19 and pandemic on American campuses through social media.    COVID Campus Coalition’s mission is to dispel “misconceptions surrounding COVID vaccines by providing students with weekly digestible scientific summaries through a plethora of virtual and in-person platforms,” FILE – Masked students walk to a COVID-19 vaccination site…

Pause on US Student Loan Payments Extended Through January

The Biden administration on Friday announced that federal student loan payments will remain suspended through January 2022, extending a pause that began at the start of the pandemic and was scheduled to expire next month.The Education Department said this will be the final extension.Borrowers will not have to make payments on federal student loans during…

Students Criticize Online Learning as Inadequate

Online learning has been grossly inadequate during the 2020-’21 COVID-19 shutdown, according to college and university students interviewed by VOA Student Union.Domestic and international students at U.S. colleges and universities said the pandemic that shut down many schools in March 2020 disrupted their lives and impacted their academic performance. And online learning, despite being touted…

Afghan Fear Complete Taliban Takeover

Young people who have spoken against Taliban rule in Afghanistan or who adopted lifestyles that don’t fit the fundamentalist regime say they fear for their livelihoods and lives as the insurgent group gains more territory. “We live in very critical and dangerous circumstances right now,” said Murtaza Ahmadi, a writer, part-time teacher and government employee. “The Afghan…

Afghan Biker Climbs Mountain for Education’s Uphill Battle

Farid Noori was teaching online from the United States to high school students in Kabul, Afghanistan, when a bomb attack started.“At that very moment,” Noori said, “I had an online, remote class on Afghanistan’s environment with some of the school’s students. One of my students got injured. As days went by, the death toll climbed…

Largest US Employer to Pay Workers’ Tuition

The largest private employer in the U.S. — Walmart — said Wednesday it will pay 100% of tuition and books for its U.S.-based employees to attend its Live Better U Education Program.  Walmart, a worldwide retailer that typically offers low prices because of the volume of goods it trades, operates 5,342 retail outlets in the…

Malawi Begins Classes in World’s First 3D-Printed School

Adifu Maulana quit school in 2014 to escape punishment she often received for arriving late.She had to walk 7 kilometers to attend classes held under a tree because of Malawi’s shortage of classrooms.But thanks to what is being called the world’s first 3D-printed school, constructed by joint-venture group 14Trees, Maulana has resumed learning. The Swiss-British…

Pennsylvania State University System Merges 6 Schools Into 2

Six of Pennsylvania’s 14 state-owned universities will be consolidated into two new institutions under a unanimous vote Wednesday by the State System of Higher Education’s governing board.Bloomsburg, Mansfield and Lock Haven universities in northern Pennsylvania will form one institution; California, Clarion and Edinboro universities in western Pennsylvania the other. The change will be phased in,…

On Australian Campuses, Chinese Students Fear Beijing’s Surveillance

Chen Yun, a Chinese student at the University of Melbourne, has always been curious about different political systems. After she arrived in Australia, she started posting on social media about the push for democratic reforms in China.Then came the harassment. She started receiving emails warning that she should be “careful” because if she returns to…

New Zealand Students to Build High-Performance Skis, Skateboards Using Leaves, Plants

New Zealand students have developed sustainable materials made from cabbage tree leaves and flax that could soon be used to make high-performance skis, kayaks and skateboards. Their plan is to use them to replace traditional fiberglass and carbon fiber. Skateboards need to be tough. Two students at New Zealand’s University of Canterbury, Ben Scales and William Murrell, believe they can make them even…

Pandemic Halts Schooling for Afghan Students

Students in Afghanistan have lacked access to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, as schools have remained closed and the virus has not been controlled.”The real tragedy is that over 3,000 students in Kabul who come from poor families simply do not have the ability to pursue online education during the pandemic when schools are…

Black Teen Runs Hoops Around Spelling Bee Competitors

An African-American teenager from Louisiana has won the National Spelling Bee, only the second Black competitor to win the prestigious annual contest.Zaila Avant-garde, 14, jumped and twirled with joy upon being declared the winner after nailing the spelling of “murraya,” a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian citrus trees.“I was pretty relaxed on the subject…

Protester Faces Uphill Battle to Promote Hong Kong Awareness

Alex Lee has embarked on a cross-country bike trip — beginning in Los Angeles, California, and headed to Boston, Massachusetts — in hopes of inspiring the next generation of pro-democracy advocates in China.He is spreading his message in the U.S., Lee noted, because the free press is likely to report on his journey, and there…

US Withdraws Unpopular Student Visa Rule  

The Biden administration has withdrawn a highly unpopular proposed rule for international students that would have set student visas to shorter fixed terms.The proposal would have required international students to apply for visa extensions to complete their studies. Public comments about the proposed rule, published late last year, complained that the cost of application fees…

Chinese Social Media Giant WeChat Shuts LGBT Accounts

 China’s most popular social media service has deleted accounts on LGBT topics run by university students and nongovernment groups, prompting concern the ruling Communist Party is tightening control over gay and lesbian content.WeChat sent account holders a notice they violated rules but gave no details, according to the founder of an LGBT group, who asked…

Cambodian Cadets at American Military Academies Lose US Funding

Cambodia’s government is stepping in to pay tuition for six Cambodian cadets whose scholarships at four U.S. military academies were rescinded amid increasingly strained ties between Phnom Penh and Washington.     “Following Cambodia’s curtailment of cooperation in several areas of traditional bilateral military-military engagement, the country lost its eligibility for the U.S. military service…

Tuition Decreases, Donations Bring Students Relief

After decades of tuition increases at U.S. colleges and universities that have led to increased student debt and pushback from students and their families, some schools are reducing costs. At the University of Michigan — ranked among the top public universities in the U.S. — free tuition will be extended at its Flint and Dearborn campuses.…

NCAA Expands Income Opportunities for Student-Athletes

U.S. college athletes nationwide are now allowed to profit from the use of their name, image and likeness, the NCAA announced Wednesday.The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s board of directors voted to overturn an increasingly controversial rule that prohibited athletes from leveraging their popularity for business pursuits, marking a historic shift toward an era of increased…