World Watch

Modelled on the low-cost Cida City Campus in Johannesburg, the Tertiary School in Business Administration (Tsiba) campus, based in nearby Mowbray, will offer disadvantaged students the chance to study for a bachelor of business administration free of charge as of next year. The school, whose degree has full accreditation from the Council on Higher Education, will open its doors to 80 students at the beginning of 2005. The Shuttleworth Foundation, founded by UCT grad Mark Shuttleworth, provided seed money to the institution because of its entrepreneurial focus.

Thirteen youngsters were arrested two weeks ago after a tip-off that they were planning to write examinations on behalf of some matric pupils. Police arrested the youngsters, apparently tertiary students, in a house in Umlazi after the education department was alerted. Police found answer sheets but no question papers in the house, according to reports.

In war-ravaged Monrovia, about 4 500 demobilised ex-combatants are expected to enrol in about 80 schools as part of a Formal Education Programme of the United Nations, with more due to register for training when arrangements are concluded. The Formal Education Programme offers educational opportunities for ex-combatants who want junior or senior high school education, technical and computer training, as well as college education.

The Zumbi Dos Palmares University of Citizenship, Brazil's first university created primarily for black students, has received mixed reviews from black and white educators alike. By reserving 50% of its seats for black students, the university hopes to train entrepreneurs to compete in the white-dominated corporate world, where blacks regularly earn less than half the salaries of white Brazilians with the same educational background. While students and most of the faculty - both black and white - applaud the institution's mission, others fear that the approach may exacerbate racial divisions in the country.

Guy Lavorel, president of France's Jean Moulin University, based in Lyon, has asked the country's education minister to suspend Bruno Gollnisch, a professor of languages and Japanese culture who is also a member of the European Parliament and the deputy leader of the National Front, a far-right political party, for comments he made that questioned the existence of Nazi gas chambers. Denying that the Holocaust happened is against the law in France, but like employees at other public institutions Gollnisch is shielded by stringent worker-protection laws that make it extremely difficult to dismiss civil servants.

SOURCES: Independent Online, AllAfrica.com, Chronicle of Higher Education online.