September/October 1999 Volume 12, Issue 5 CONTENTS REGIONAL NEWS Africa (cover page) The Americas Asia-Pacific E. Europe & NIS Middle East W. Europe PRACTICAL INFORMATION Book Review: Guide to Higher Education in Africa RESEARCH Recent Developments in Egyptian Education eWENR & WES INFO eWENR Index: Contains links to all eWENR issues that are currently available for viewing. Masthead: Learn more about eWENR and its editorial staff. Subscriptions: Don't miss future issues of eWENR. World Education Services: Learn more about the organization that brings you eWENR. Comments: eWENR's editor welcomes your comments. If you have story ideas, suggestions or feedback regarding eWENR, e-mail us with the details. WENR Archives: You can read WENR back issues from Summer 1995 through Fall 1996. WENR Article Index Through 1996: Features an index of all WENR articles through Fall 1996.

Regional News  E. Europe & NIS  CZECH REPUBLIC In April 1998, the Czech parliament passed a new higher education act. The law, which went into effect on Jan. 1, aims to: 1) Establish more non-university type education offering vocational programs lasting for three years. 2) Make it possible to establish private institutions of higher education. 3) Change the status of colleges and universities. 4) Evaluate the quality of higher education institutions and the quality of accrediting activities conducted by the Accreditation Commission. 5) Prepare and publish an annual report on the activities and financing of all institutions. 6) Guarantee that higher education remains free of charge except for registration fees. — Le Magazine Number 11, 1999 POLAND A new reform package embracing educational administration, structural organization of the education system and new core curricula went into effect Sept. 1, 1999. Administrative changes include the following: Nursery, primary and secondary schooling have been placed under the authority of local communes (gminy) or districts (powiaty). The new reform law has also separated administrative and pedagogical supervision, with the latter being carried out by regional education authorities. In addition, four types of schooling have been introduced: the six-year primary school; three-year lower secondary school (gimnazjum); three-year specialized upper-secondary school (liceum); and two-year vocational school. Education is now compulsory for all children ages seven to 18. Students will be evaluated after each level of schooling through external standardized tests. When they finish their three years of specialized upper-secondary school, students are required to take a special examination (matura) to enter institutions of higher education. Students who complete two years of vocational school are permitted to take the matura exam so long as they successfully fulfill the requirements for the two-year supplementary liceum. New core curricula have been introduced into all four types of schools. Students must devote 80 percent of their studies to the national core curricula and 20 percent can be chosen from electives. — Le Magazine Number 11, 1999 RUSSIA Local authorities in St. Petersburg recently built six new schools and granted a pay raise for all teachers. But some education analysts and legislators say that, despite these efforts, there is still much work to be done to alleviate the chronic problem of classroom overcrowding. In addition, schools are in desperate need of repair and require more assistance from the federal government. In September, salaries increased by 25 to 36 percent for the city’s 76,200 teachers who average 922 rubles a month. St. Petersburg’s Education Commission considers classroom overcrowding to be the most serious problem currently facing the city’s school system. About 4 percent — or 22,000 out of 555,000 pupils — have to take classes outside normal school hours this year due to overcrowding, down from 10 percent last year. On average, 35 students are crammed into classrooms that were built to hold a maximum of only 25 students. The Education Commission has proposed a number of ways to alleviate classroom overcrowding, including the following: Transform the extra space in kindergartens, which are let out earlier, into classrooms for elementary and high school students. Use the technical-professional colleges, which the federal government ceded to the city last year, to accommodate these pupils. Besides the overcrowding problem, many school buildings around the city have poor heating systems, unsanitary bathrooms and are laden with fungus and asbestos. Officials from the Education Committee have proposed a four-year plan to renovate school buildings and modernize facilities and equipment, while creating better health conditions for teachers and students. The plan also aims at lengthening the 11-year school system to 12 years. At present, 25 local schools are experimenting with the 12-year format. — The St. Petersburg Times Sept. 3, 1999  RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS