Immigrants and refugees, especially those from developing nations, are often portrayed by segments of the media and policy makers as an economic burden, a threat to our social cohesion and “our way of life.” However, immigrants and immigrant youth can help build nations like Canada. They are a great source of economic potential, while also contributing to a rich cultural mosaic. But immigrants must be supported with appropriate education and training policies....
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is taking place in Davos, Switzerland, and the issues being discussed include education, gender and work. A world away, the work of PhD Fellow Brenda Yamba considers child carers and high school attendance in Southern Africa — particularly how they manage, despite the great adversities they face. … With kids, mainly girls, dropping out of school to care for ill or old family members, we lose talent and fail to educate these children. How big is the prob...
PhD fellow Gloria Bernal, from our GPAC2 cohort 2017, has won a scholarship from the Netherlands Fellowship Programme (NFP). One of only two beneficiaries from Maastricht University in the 2016 round, she currently works as a teacher at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia. … Gloria, what made you apply to the GPAC2 programme? I think the GPAC2 programme provides a great combination of academic rigour and time flexibility. It allows me to conduct high quality research w...
On the education front, the MDGs were no paradigm-shifters -- but from a policy perspective their sheer scope did help drive the global development agenda for education. Some 15 years after the Millennium Declaration, how much progress has there been across the development indicators for education? The results are inconclusive....
The GPAC² PhD programme, designed for working professionals, brings us not only interesting PhD fellows but also increases our academic network thanks to external supervisors. One of our associated researchers, Prof. Louis Volante, initially came in as supervisor to Dr. Derek Copp, but is now contributing to the GPAC² programme as a teacher and supervisor. How did you get involved in the GPAC² programme? Derek initially contacted me in 2013 and inquired about my willingness to serve on his super...
Sometimes our fellows make the news — either for their research or for personal prestige. After a governmental promotion, our ‘Dual Career’ GPAC² fellow Camilo Carrillo Purin was interviewed on Peruvian national TV and radio. We caught up with Camilo and asked him about his work-life balance. You were recently promoted to Director General of Educational Infrastructure at the Ministry of Education in Peru. What does your daily job look like and what are your responsibilities? CC...
This article is part of UNU’s “17 Days, 17 Goals” series, featuring research and commentary in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit, 25-27 September 2015 in New York City. Goal #4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all Fifteen years ago, the UN General Assembly adopted the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which sought to eradicate or alleviate the world’s most pressing challenges. The eight objectives show...
How can young people help themselves, both practically and professionally? How can developing countries cut youth unemployment and realise their full potential? How can the United Nations University make a difference? We asked Ibrahima Kaba, a PhD fellow from Guinea in West Africa, and Diego Salama, a research assistant from Bolivia in South America, for their views ahead of the first ever World Youth Skills Day. In November 2014, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 69/145, de...
Researcher Martin Rehm and co-authors Wim Gijselaers and Mien Segers have received the outstanding paper award of the EdMedia 2014 Conference. Their paper ‘Unified Yet Separated – Empirical Study on the Impact of Hierarchical Positions within Communities of Learning,’ was presented at the annual EdMedia World Conference on Educational Media and Technology at the University of Tampere (Finland) 23-26 June, 2014. The EdMedia World Conference on Educational Media and Technology is...