Past Programs
Education - 2008
2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004
Turban
24/08/2008
The headscarf has cut a swathe through Turkish society, like a sharp edged knife. The debate about whether women should be allowed to wear 'turban' to university has threatened the very core of the Turkish secular state.
When Kemal Ataturk founded modern Turkey he discouraged women from wearing this symbol of Muslim belief. Today it is illegal for teachers, public servants and university students to wear it. For years some students have got around this ban by wearing wigs to uni.
Since the 1970s students have been agitating to lift the ban and earlier this year the ruling AK Party, a religious party, did just that. However in June the Constitutional Court upheld the ban, saying that the Turkish Consitution is secular and so Turkish society should remain secular.
In this program we hear from women who choose or choose not to cover their heads about this decision and their lives in contemporary Turkey.
Speech Is Silver, Silence Is Gold
13/04/2008
Young people in Iraq are living through a dangerous war, resiliently maintaining a sense of humour and optimism. On their blogs they talk of the profound and the mundane; dodging bombs on their way to school and trying to study without any electricity.
March 20, 2008 marked the fifth anniversary of the allied military invasion of Iraq.
May 1, 2008 will mark the fifth anniversary of US President Bush's declaration that the war was over, yet fighting has continued and approximately a million people have been killed. Before the invasion Iraq was a country with high regard for education and moderate views towards women's role in society. Now between 30% and 70% of schools across the country have been closed because of insecurity. Teachers and students have become targets for bombings and kidnappings.
Large percentages of students have chosen to discontinue their studies, or have left Iraq, yet there are those who have chosen to stay and continue. Their commitment to a strong, educated Iraq is what keeps them focused.
Rather than the standard tales of military operations this program is about living through the war and attempting to maintain normality in the face of adversity. Iraqi bloggers HNK and Sunshine and Bassam Sebti, a postgraduate student and former Iraqi correspondent for the Washington Post share their stories with us.
We're watching you ....
20/01/2008
Bullying in school populations has long presented a challenge to parents, teachers and, of course, to long-suffering victims. These days, as a reflection of the availability of information technology, and young people's expertise in using it, bullying is more likely to be conducted through text messages or via the internet.
Cyber bullying has taken off in a big way, with a recent survey revealing that 42% of girls between the ages of 12 and 15 have been on the receiving end of destructive mail. It's particularly insidious because often tormentors can disguise or hide their identity - allowing them extra licence to wreak emotional havoc on their victim. And girls apparently are more likely to be involved in cyber bullying than boys.
In 'We're watching you' we hear from three 15-year-old girls (a victim and two girls who were caught red-handed), a mother, a high school teacher, and author Kate McCaffrey, whose recently published book Destroying Avalon traces one girl's chilling experience with cyber bullying.
