Japanese gov't OKs cash handout to struggling students amid pandemic

TOKYO - The Cabinet approved Tuesday a program to provide up to 200,000 yen ($1,900) in cash handout to each of around 430,000 university and other students in Japan struggling financially to pay for their tuition or livelihoods amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The support measure comes as the pandemic has led to business closures in many regions and forced students to suspend or cut back on their part-time jobs. Students from overseas are also subject to the program.

Students from low-income households exempt from residence tax will receive 200,000 yen each and others 100,000 yen.

The government has set aside 53 billion yen to finance the program, which covers students at universities, graduate schools, junior colleges, technical schools and Japanese language schools.

"It's most important for students not to abandon continuing and advancing their education. We'd like to quickly provide assistance to all," education minister Koichi Hagiuda told reporters.

The government will depend on the schools to determine which of their students should receive the assistance and will disburse the payment through the Japan Student Services Organization, an independent body that provides financial aid to students.

-Kyodo-

More than 850 million students worldwide not at school because of COVID-19 pandemic: UNESCO

PARIS - More than 850 million young people, or about half the world's student population, are barred from their school and university grounds because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, UNESCO said Wednesday.

Calling it an "unprecedented challenge," UNESCO said schools had been closed in 102 countries, with partial closures in 11 more -- with more closures to come.

"Over 850 million children and youth -- roughly half of the world's student population -- had to stay away from schools and universities," the UN educational organization said in a statement.

"This represents more than a doubling in four days in the number of learners prohibited from going to educational institutions," it added, citing figures from late Tuesday.

"The scale and speed of the school and university closures represents an unprecedented challenge for the education sector," it said.

UNESCO said countries worldwide were rushing to fill the void by offering real-time video classes and other high-tech solutions.

Some countries were offering classes over television or radio.

The organization said it was holding regular virtual meetings with education ministers around the world to find the best solutions and determine priorities.

"The current situation imposes immense challenges for countries to be able to provide uninterrupted learning for all children and youth in an equitable manner," it said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

France shuts dozens of schools in bid to contain coronavirus

PARIS - French officials have closed down about 120 schools in areas that have reported the largest numbers of coronavirus infections, and more could be shuttered in the coming days, Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said Tuesday.

Both primary and secondary schools have been shut in the Oise department north of Paris, where the main cluster of French cases has emerged, and where 2 people who have died of the virus lived. 

Officials have reported 191 coronavirus cases in France so far, and 3 deaths.

The Oise closures are affecting about 35,000 pupils, Blanquer told LCI television, while an additional 9,000 have been told to stay home in the Morbihan department of Brittany on the Atlantic coast.

One class of some 20 students has been suspended in Montreuil, a suburb just east of Paris, after a pupil tested positive for the virus, Blanquer said.

The Oise schools will remain closed until further notice, while Morbihan authorities have ordered doors shut until at least March 14.

"These figures are evolving quickly," Blanquer said, adding: "There could be similar measures taken in the coming days" at other schools.

Authorities have already halted all class trips outside the country, and prohibited any gatherings of more than 5,000 people in enclosed spaces.

Schools are increasing stocks of soap for washing hands, but Blanquer said there were no plans to order a nationwide school shutdown, for now.

"It wouldn't make sense to confine everyone, to paralyze the country, it would be counter-productive," he said.

President Emmanuel Macron, who is scheduled to visit the health ministry's crisis management center on Tuesday, has called off several events this week as France scrambles to contain the outbreak.

Contagion fears have led to shortages of sanitizing hand gels and face masks, with suppliers racing to replenish stocks even though much of the production is in China, where authorities have closed thousands of factories after the coronavirus emerged there in December.

Demand for thermometers has also soared, with one French producer, STIL, relaunching production at its factory south of Paris for the first time in 15 years after having moved manufacturing to Chinese partners.

"We can't do without China completely, but with this coronavirus the balance could shift for French companies to not be completely reliant" on Chinese producers, STIL's president Gerard Lux told AFP.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Coronavirus could cost Australian universities 'billions'

SYDNEY - The coronavirus outbreak could deliver a painful multi-billion-dollar hit to Australian universities, as high-paying Chinese students are forced to defer their studies, economists warned Thursday.

Top universities stand to lose around US$2 billion (Aus$3 billion) in fees alone, according to preliminary estimates from analysts at Standard & Poor's.

Under open-ended travel restrictions imposed by the government in a bid to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, non-Australian citizens or permanent residents who have been in China since Feb. 1 are not allowed into Australia.

The virus's outbreak came in between Australia's academic years -- which begin in February -- and as many of the country's roughly 165,000 Chinese university students had returned home for the Lunar New Year.

"Our calculation is one of higher-education fee revenues only, and excludes the broader economic contribution from students to accommodation, tourism, and domestic consumption of goods and services," S&P said in a report.

Foreign students are a vital income stream for Australian universities and one that has grown exponentially in recent years.

Australia is now 1 of the top 3 destinations for foreign students worldwide.

Student representatives told AFP that many of those students have not been able to return in time to start this semester and fear missing the whole year because of the way courses are constructed.

Universities have offered to defer placements and reimburse tuition fees, but many are also trying to buy time.

The University of Sydney has extended the last date students have to be on campus to March 30 -- more than a month after classes were due to begin -- and is trying to arrange for remote teaching.

Australia's top universities are expected to be disproportionately hit, but they should be able to absorb the blow, at least temporarily.

"We believe they have some buffer in free cash, leverage, and operating margin ratios to absorb a temporary shock to revenues," S&P said. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Attack at elite India university injures dozens

NEW DELHI — Dozens were hurt at a prestigious Indian university on Sunday in what police said were clashes between rival student groups but which an opposition politician blamed on a student organisation linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Unverified videos on social media appeared to show a group of several masked attackers roaming the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in New Delhi wielding batons as students screamed. 

"Today evening, 2 groups clashed with each other and some students are injured," a senior Delhi police officer told journalists.

"The university administration has requested the police to enter (the campus)," the officer said, adding, "Things are under control right now." 

Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the Communist Party of India, called the attack a "collusion" between the JNU administration and "goons" of a student group linked to Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"It is a planned attack by those in power, which is afraid of the resistance provided by JNU," Yechury said.

The BJP distanced itself from the incident and Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student organisation blamed for the violence by the opposition, said that 25 of its members were injured during the campus attack. 

"This is a desperate attempt by forces of anarchy, who are determined to use students as cannon fodder, (to) create unrest to shore up their shrinking political footprint. Universities should remain places of learning and education," the BJP said on Twitter.

An official at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi said that most of the injured at the hospital were undergoing treatment for "lacerations, cuts and bruises." 

"The brutal attack on JNU students & teachers by masked thugs, that has left many seriously injured, is shocking," tweeted Rahul Gandhi, a leading politician of the main opposition Congress party.

PROTESTS OVER FEES 

The incident is the latest in a series of violent clashes that have killed at least 2 dozen people amid protests over a controversial new citizenship law Modi's government passed in December. 

The law allows New Delhi to grant expedited citizenship to minorities from 3 neighboring Islamic countries who entered India by Dec. 31, 2014, but critics say it marginalizes Muslims in the country as part of Modi's larger Hindu nationalist agenda.

The Delhi police last fought street battles with JNU students in November after protests broke out over fee increases at the top university.

JNU student organizations dominated by leftists have since staged demonstrations demanding a rollback of the fee increase while facing accusations of obstructing administration officials.

Many linked the Sunday clash to simmering tensions since the fee hike, while others criticized police and the university administration for failing to protect students from masked attackers on campus.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal called on police to "immediately stop violence and restore peace."

"How will the country progress if our students will not be safe inside (the university) campus?" he asked in a tweet.

FEARS OF EVICTION 

The prestigious university counts top Indian politicians including Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and this year's Nobel economics prize winner Abhijit Banerjee among its alumni.

Jaishankar took to Twitter to condemn the violence, saying, "This is completely against the tradition and culture of the university."

The security presence was increased throughout the campus as India's home minister, Amit Shah, called on Delhi police to investigate. 

Elsewhere in the city, simmering tensions peaked outside Jamia Millia Islamia University, where hundreds of mostly young people have been protesting over the last few days against the citizenship law.

Messages circulating on social media and messaging apps called for more protesters to gather at the site overnight, as they feared police could evict them forcefully.

Agence France-Presse 

Sit-down strike for climate

Red Rebels from Extinction Rebellion are seen during a School Strike for Climate Australia (SS4C) 'Solidarity Sit-down' outside of the office of the Liberal Party of Australia in Sydney, Australia on Friday. The event is part of a series of strikes in cities across Australia to protest outside the offices of politicians and fossil fuel companies.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

US students called suicide hotline but instead got sex line

LOS ANGELES, United States—Officials from a California school district were left red-faced after students who dialed a suicide prevention hotline listed on their ID badges instead stumbled on a sex line.

"I was just kind of flabbergasted. I was very surprised," parent Janene Lavelle told the local ABC station after her daughter, who attends middle school, alerted her to the mix-up.

Lavelle said the teen had dialed the number for kicks and was in disbelief when she got a sex hotline.

"Someone who genuinely needs help like that, they shouldn't hear that kind of thing from what they thought was going to help them," the student was quoted as telling a local CBS affiliate.

"They should fact-check that kind of thing."

The suicide prevention number was in a directory of emergency lines and other resources on the back of badges for students at New Vista Middle School in Lancaster, a 90-minute drive north of downtown Los Angeles.

However, because of a mistake with just a digit, a sex hotline number instead of the correct suicide prevention number was given to students.

"Late yesterday we were made aware that the middle school student ID cards have the wrong phone number listed for the suicide hotline," the Lancaster Unified School district said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The phone numbers have 2 digits transposed and this is a mistake. The number listed on the card is actually a sex line."

School officials said they have collected all the old badges and planned to issue new ones—this time with the correct number.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Schoolchildren throng streets in vast global climate strike

NEW YORK, United States—Huge numbers of children skipped school Friday to join a global strike against climate change that teen activist Greta Thunberg hopes will mark a turning point in persuading leaders to act against environmental disaster.

Chanting slogans and waving placards, youngsters and adults filled the streets of cities across the world in what was expected to be the biggest ever protest against the threat posed to the planet by warming temperatures.

Demonstrations across Asia and the Pacific kicked off the day of action, which spread to Africa and Europe, with crowds turning out in Paris, London and Berlin, before nearing their completion in the United States where Thunberg rallied.

"I hope this will be another social tipping point that we show how many people are engaged, how many people are putting pressure on leaders," the 16-year-old told AFP in New York.

Organizers forecast protests in more than 5,000 locations across 137 countries. In Australia alone, they said more than 300,000 children, parents and supporters rallied.

Although there was no official turnout, Thunberg said "millions" had participated.

"It can't go on any longer. We are at the end of our planet," said Bernie Waldman, 14, one of thousands to protest in New York, where 1.1 million students were permitted to skip school for the event.

In Slovakia, 5-year-old Teo asked a crowd of 500 "not to cut down forests, and reduce garbage production and not to use so many petrol-fuelled cars."

"Stop climate change now" and "There is no planet B" read some of the signs brandished by demonstrators in a trendy central shopping district of Tokyo.

"We adults caused this planet emergency. We should take our responsibilities for the next generation," said Chika Maruta, 32.

'WE DESERVE BETTER'

Swedish schoolgirl Thunberg called on leaders to act now to curb gas emissions.

"Now we have proven what we can do, now they have to prove what they can (do). They need to take their responsibility," she said. 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel used Friday to pledge at least 100 billion euros by 2030 to tackle emissions in the energy and industrial sectors, boost zero tailpipe emission electric vehicles and get passengers out of planes and onto trains.

About 200 marched in Ghana's capital Accra, where some 44 percent of the country's population has not heard of climate change, according to a study by Afrobarometer.

"Developing countries like Ghana are the most affected. We don't have the resources to adapt to climate change," said 26-year-old protest organizer Ellen Lindsey Awuku.

Hundreds also took to the streets in Kenya and Uganda.

Events began in the deluge-threatened Pacific Islands of Vanuatu, the Solomons and Kiribati, where children chanted: "We are not sinking, we are fighting."

The defiance message was heard across Asia.

"We are the future and we deserve better," 12-year-old Lilly Satidtanasarn, known as "Thailand's Greta" for her campaign against plastic bags in malls, told AFP in Bangkok.

'YOU'RE BEING LIED TO'

In Australia, some local authorities, schools and businesses encouraged people to participate in the strikes.

Australia has been struck in recent years by droughts, more intense bushfires, devastating floods and the blanching of the Great Barrier Reef—phenomena blamed on a changing climate.

Numerous peer-reviewed scientific studies have shown a link between human-made gas emissions and climate change.

But the protests also highlighted resistance from those who question the threat.

Australian ruling coalition parliamentarian Craig Kelly told children Thursday that "everything you're told is a lie."

"The facts are, there is no link between climate change and drought, polar bears are increasing in number."

BUSINESSES TAKING ACTION

An increasing number of businesses backed the protests.

Amazon chief Jeff Bezos pledged Thursday to make the US retail giant carbon neutral by 2040 and encouraged other firms to do likewise.

Friday's mass action set the scene for a range of high-profile climate events in New York.

A Youth Climate Summit will take place at the United Nations on Saturday.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will then host an emergency summit on Monday in which he will urge world leaders to raise their commitments made in the 2015 Paris climate accord.

The agreement saw countries pledge to limit the long-term rise in the average temperature of the Earth to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels, and if possible, to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

A landmark UN report to be unveiled next week will warn that global warming and pollution are ravaging Earth's oceans and icy regions in ways that could unleash misery on a global scale.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Groups call for climate justice, urgent action on global climate crisis

Thousands of students gather at Berlin's Brandenburg gate to protest for climate protection. Meanwhile, in Asia, the global-climate strikes began in earnest, with groups calling for more concrete action from governments and the private sector. As Bruce Rodriguez reports, more companies in the Philippines are also taking part in sustainable initiatives.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Student debt a 'life sentence' for millions of Americans

LOS ANGELES, United States—Haley Walters is 5 years away from earning her law degree. If everything goes according to plan, she will be under a mountain of $100,000 in student debt by the time she enters the workforce.

Like millions of Americans, Walters is paying a steep price for an education that will likely weigh her down financially for much of her adult life.

"I think the student debt crisis is truly a life sentence," the 19-year-old Californian told AFP.

With 45 million borrowers owing some $1.6 trillion, the debt burden of American college graduates has exploded in recent years.

It has emerged as a key issue in the 2020 presidential campaign, with candidate Bernie Sanders unveiling an ambitious plan Monday to erase all student loan debt.

"Somebody who graduates from a public university this year is expected to have over $35,000 in student loan debt on average," said Cody Hounanian, program director of Student Debt Crisis, a California non-profit that assists students and fights for reforms.

According to official statistics, 71 percent of US students are burdened by such debt, with minorities the hardest hit.

"Black women particularly are the most impacted group with the highest student debt total per graduate," Hounanian said.

Despite scholarships and financial aid available to many, the cost of higher education is such that the majority of students are unable to repay their loans on schedule.

"When borrowers leave school, they're in a program that's supposed to take 10 years... but more and more are enrolling in federal programs that are actually 20 or 25 years in length," Hounanian said.

In the long term, the loan balance for such people increases, interest accrues, and the debt burden just keeps going upwards, he added.

Hounanian spoke of his own experience as an example.

"I had $30,000 in student loan debt, I pay over $150 a month, and that's in one of these affordable repayment programs," he said. "By doing that, my loan balance is actually increasing. I'm not covering even the entire interest that's accrued." 

"I'm paying every month," he added, "just to be more in debt."

'SYSTEM ISN'T WORKING'

Several experts interviewed said it's not unusual to have 2 generations in one family burdened with student debt.

That's the case for Walters, who just graduated with a 2-year degree in political science from Pasadena City College, near Los Angeles.

While she managed to go through that school without accumulating debt, come autumn she will be entering the prestigious—and much more expensive—University of California Berkeley, with a law degree the ultimate goal. 

Despite being awarded scholarships, Walters said she will still have to take out loans to pay for nearly $20,000 in annual fees.

"That is basically going to turn into loan after loan after loan... each with individual interest rates and individual payments," Walters sighed.

She said she grew up listening to her mother, 58, bemoan the student debt that still haunts her.

"I would hear my mom talk about... how it was basically crippling our finances," she recalled. 

"You know, we couldn't go on vacation, sometimes I didn't get school supplies for the new school year, sometimes we got fewer birthday presents."

Walters said she hopes student debt will be a key issue in the 2020 White House race.

For some candidates, it is already front and center.

'REVOLUTIONARY' BILL

Sanders's "revolutionary" bill aims to erase all student loan debt and make public colleges tuition-free—and he wants the financial industry to help pay for it.

"The American people bailed out Wall Street," Sanders said, referring to lenders deemed "too big to fail" during the late 2000s recession.

"Now it is time for Wall Street to come to the aid of the middle class."

Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren also has a debt cancellation and free public college plan.

"My dad grew up in an extremely poor family in southern California," said Walters. "The only reason he went to university was because it was free."

Tuition, however, is not the only financial burden of students. 

In California, for example, housing and living expenses represent more than half of the $35,000 needed annually on average for public university.

Hounanian said it was crucial to address those issues to ensure students don't end up saddled with heavy debt before starting their professional lives.

"The system isn't working for students," he said. "It's working for profiteers, for big companies and for those who are making money off of students and borrowers."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

14 students with HIV expelled from school in Indonesia

Fourteen students with HIV have been expelled from a public elementary school in Indonesia following demands from parents of other students, the school's headmaster and a local group that assists HIV-infected children said Thursday.

Karwi, headmaster of the Purwotomo Public Elementary School in the town of Solo in Central Java Province, said the students have not been allowed to attend the school since last week.

"The parents of other students are worried that the students would transmit the disease to their children," said Karwi, who likes many Indonesians goes by a single name.

Explanations from the school on how HIV is transmitted failed to convince the parents, who threatened to move their own children to another school if the school did not expel them.

The students had studied there since early last month after their previous Bumi Public Elementary School was combined with the Purwotomo school.

Puger Mulyono, founder of nongovernmental organization Lentera Foundation that shelters and otherwise assists children with HIV, said that in the previous school, the students did not face any problems, even though parents of other students knew they were HIV carriers.

The Solo Education Agency are now looking for another school for the students.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Bangladesh shuts down mobile internet to tackle teen protests

DHAKA - Bangladesh authorities have shut down mobile internet across swathes of the country, officials and local media said Sunday, as the authorities try to quell massive student protests that have spiraled into violence.

For the last week students have brought parts of the capital Dhaka to a standstill with a protest against poor road safety after 2 teenagers were killed by a speeding bus.

On Saturday the protests took a violent turn in Dhaka's Jigatala neighborhood with more than 100 people injured. 

Witnesses said police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at demonstrators and that alleged pro-government activists attacked youngsters, including some of those rushing to nearby hospitals for treatment.

The country's highest circulated newspaper Prothom Alo said 3G and 4G internet services have been shut down for 24 hours since late Saturday, shortly after the violence broke out.

Social media has been filled with comments from Bangladeshis unable to access the internet via their phones, although wireless and wired networks appear to be unhindered.

Jahirul Haq, chairman of the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC), told AFP they received a "decision" from the government. But he did not clarify what was the government order was. He said he would comment further on the situation later Sunday.

A senior telecoms official who asked for anonymity said: "The BTRC has slowed down the internet at the order of the government."

The move may be an attempt to try and limit the ability of students to mobilize or spread growing online outrage over how the government has handled the protests, hours after police and unidentified men wielding sticks and stones clashed with students. 

Images and photos of the attacks on students allegedly by the ruling party activists have flooded the social media, prompting renewed outrage.

Police denied they fired rubber bullets or tear gas at the protesters. However hospital staff said dozens of people had been injured, some seriously, sporting injuries consistent with rubber bullets.

The ruling Awami League party has also denied allegations its cadres beat students up. 

Bangladesh's transport sector is widely seen as corrupt, unregulated and dangerous, and as news of the teenagers' deaths spread rapidly on social media they became a catalyst for an outpouring of anger against the government.

The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has ruled Bangladesh since 2009, but in recent months it has been shaken by mass protests demanding an end to a decades-old system of discriminatory civil service recruitment. 

Several powerful ministers have pleaded with students to return to their classes, amid worries the unprecedented teen outrage could turn into widespread anti-government protests ahead of general elections due later this year.

But their pleas have had little effect.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

"Am I next"

Students who walked out of their Montgomery County, Maryland, schools protest against gun violence in front of the White House in Washington, US on Wednesday. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

2 children killed after car crashes in to Australian classroom

SYDNEY - Two eight-year-old boys were killed and another three children badly hurt after a car crashed into a classroom in Sydney on Tuesday, Australian police said.

A sports utility vehicle smashed through the wooden wall of the school in Sydney's west, where 24 primary-age children were in class with their teacher, police said in a statement.

Five children were rushed to hospital, including the two deceased boys. Three girls, two aged eight and another aged nine, were in a serious or stable condition in hospital. Another 16 children and their teacher were treated for minor injuries.

Local TV images showed the car punched through the wall and stopped completely inside the classroom, which is adorned with children's drawings and pictures.

"Obviously it was a scene of carnage," New South Wales state Ambulance Superintendent Stephanie Radnidge told reporters outside the school.

New South Wales Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Stuart Smith said police were "not looking at this as an intentional act, it is a crash investigation."

Police said the driver was a 52-year-old woman who was not hurt but was taken to hospital for blood and urine tests as part of the crash investigation.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

White House rolls back protections for transgender students

The White House on Wednesday overturned protections for transgender students that required public schools to allow them to use bathrooms and locker rooms matching the gender with which they identify.

By lifting federal guidelines issued by the Obama administration, the Trump administration is leaving it up to states and school districts to decide whether students should have access to bathrooms that do not reflect their biological sex.

The justice and education departments said in a joint statement that they "withdrew guidance for educational institutions, issued in 2015 and 2016, that took the position that the prohibitions in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and implementing regulations against discrimination on the basis of sex require access to sex-segregated facilities on the basis of gender identity rather than biological sex."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Tennessee school bus crashes, kills at least six children

A bus carrying dozens of elementary school students crashed in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Monday, killing at least six children and sending 23 people to a local hospital with injuries, authorities said.

Five children were found dead on the bus and another died at a hospital, said Melydia Clewell, spokeswoman for the Hamilton County District Attorney's office.

Rescue teams were still going through the bus so the number of fatalities could change, she said. There are two or three children at the hospital "who could go either way," she said.

Students on the bus, which carried as many as 35 passengers, were in kindergarten through fifth grade, a spokesman for the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office said. That would make them roughly ages 5 to 10.

Asked about the crash following a budget hearing in Nashville, Governor Bill Haslam said the state would offer its assistance.

"It's a sad situation anytime there's a school bus with children involved, which there is in this case," he said.

Photographs issued by the Chattanooga Fire Department showed the bus on its side, wrapped around a tree.

The bus driver is being questioned and cooperating with investigators, the Chattanooga Police said on Twitter.

Twenty-three people were transported in ambulances to a local hospital, and the last patient was extricated from the bus, the fire department said.

Police Chief Fred Fletcher called the accident "every public safety professional's worst nightmare," the Times Free Press reported.

Two bloodied students laid on stretchers in a front yard nearly an hour after the crash receiving attention from first responders, while others not taken to the hospital appeared dazed with cuts on their faces, the newspaper said on its website. (Reporting by Frank McGurty and Daniel Trotta in New York; Editing by Howard Goller and Lisa Shumaker)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

How Much Does a Masters Degree Really Cost?

A master’s degree is a higher form of education that will distinguish you from other job candidates who are looking for the best paying jobs. Investing in this education will give you more specialized skills and allow you to enter more exciting careers. For example, you can enroll in RN to MSN programs, or you can even go the more flexible route and get your masters of science in nursing online from the University of Arizona if you want to enter the medical field. Or you can instead invest in an MBA if you wish to run your own business or become qualified to manage someone else’s company. But a master’s degree isn’t cheap, so keep reading to learn about how much it will really cost.

The Factors That Determine Cost

How much you will need to spend on your master’s degree will ultimately depend upon a few different factors. For example, some master’s degree programs are longer than others and require more credits than others, so they will be more expensive. Also, some employers are willing to provide you with tuition assistance, so that can help you lower your out-of-pocket costs for your degree. And whether you go to a school as an in-state or out-of-state student will also determine the cost of your tuition for your master’s degree.

Average Tuition Costs for Master’s Degrees

The tuition cost for a master’s degree will vary. Typical costs range from $30,000-$120,000. Different schools charge different rates, and different master’s programs cost different amounts. Plus, there are other costs involved with going to school for a master’s, such as investments into books and software, that also need to be factored into what you will end up spending in the long run by the time you complete the program. For example, an MBA at a public college might cost around $40,000, but the same graduate degree at a school like Stanford University or Harvard University would be around $120,000 or more. In other words, the cost of your master’s degree is not only dependent upon the type of degree that you are after, but also what school you plan on attending.

Out-of-State Students Pay More

Going to a college or university that is located within your state will help you save money, especially if you are going to be attending a public university. For example, an in-state student might end up paying $11,000 for about nine credits each year, while an out-of-state student in the same program might pay around $20,000 each year.

When it comes to getting a master’s degree, costs can vary considerably based upon the type of degree that you want and the school that you hope to attend, as well as whether you will be completing the coursework in person or online. The best way to know what a master’s degree will ultimately cost you, therefore, is to actually do your research into the schools and programs that interest you, and contact the schools’ administrators for a breakdown of the tuition and fees.

source: 20smoney.com

Sexting at US high school results in criminal probe, suspensions

DENVER - Widespread circulation of hundreds of sexually explicit photos among students at a Colorado high school via text messages has triggered a criminal investigation, multiple suspensions and the forfeiture of a football game, officials said on Friday.

Authorities in Canon City, about 90 miles southwest of Denver, said at a news conference that following a tip, nude, semi-nude or sexually suggestive images were uncovered at the 1,100-student Canon City High School.

Canon City Police Chief Paul Schultz said investigators seized a phone containing "several hundred" inappropriate photographs from a student at Canon City High School.

"We will be attempting to identify the people and make our best determination if there have been any violations of the law," Schultz said.

Canon City School Superintendent George Welsh said the district has previously dealt with sexting, the exchange of inappropriate messages or pictures over social media via a smart phone.

"There isn't a school in the United States that hasn't dealt with the issue of sexting," Welsh said. "What's different about this is that it's large scale."

Welsh said the school has suspended multiple students, but citing privacy laws, declined to provide further details.

Schultz said investigators are waiting for search warrants before viewing the images, but school officials did look at them because they are allowed wider latitude to search items on school property.

Welsh said once he became aware of the issue on Monday, he gave the district's athletic director and the school's football coach 24 hours to assure him that no football players were involved, which they could not do.

"We then made the decision to forfeit the game," he said, which was the team's final game of the season.

Fremont County District Attorney Tom LeDoux said once the investigation is substantially completed in about 30 days, his office will decide whether any criminal charges are warranted.

If any of the students are over 18, they could face adult rather than juvenile charges where the penalties are stiffer, LeDoux said, adding that each instance will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

Aggravating factors that could determine whether charges are filed include whether any sexual contact was involved, whether anyone was coerced into taking photos, or whether there was any threats of retaliation for reporting the incident, he said.

"We're not aware that any of those things have happened ... It's possible no criminal charges could be filed," LeDoux said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

How Does Student Debt Impact Your Mortgage?

Let’s say you’re a recent college grad. You’ve landed your first real job (or maybe you’ve been working it for a while already) and after years of dorms and apartments, you’re realizing you might as well start building equity in a place of your own.

You wouldn’t be alone. Though you’ll see articles all over the place insisting that millennials just aren’t interested in buying homes, a closer look at the data says the opposite is true actually true.

However, there’s one small hiccup: student loan debt. In 2013, the average student borrower graduated $28,400 in debt, which will almost certainly lead to problems when they try to qualify for a mortgage. So what can you do if all this describes you?

First, let’s take a closer look at the why of this problem.

How does student debt interfere with getting a mortgage?

When lenders do all the math to figure out whether or not you’ll be able to make your monthly payment, they take special care with something called a debt-to-income, or DTI, ratio.

This is almost exactly what it sounds like—it allows banks to get a feel for how much of a borrower’s income is already accounted for by other debts. Ideally, your DTI ratio should be 43% or below, as that’s the cutoff point most banks will use.

Even if your loan is still deferred, which means you haven’t begun payments on it yet, lenders will still estimate monthly commitment from you, though it may be even higher than the standard minimum payment.

What can you do?

Well, there’s the obvious, solution: pay down your debt before applying for a mortgage. Of course, obvious doesn’t always mean easy. Paying off your student loans will take time and careful budgeting, especially if you’re trying to save up for a down payment at the same time. That may mean some serious cutting back on living expenses or avoiding big purchases.

Of course, the other way to improve your DTI ratio is to increase your income. Earning a raise, moving on to a better paying job, or even taking on a part time one are all ways to do just that. Make sure you do so several months before applying, though, or your lender may not count the income.

If neither of those options work for you, you can always try to consolidate your student debt, or convince a parent to co-sign with you. Whatever you do, though, make sure to keep your credit in good standing, or you’ll have to add “bad credit” to your list of problems to fix.

source: totalmortgage.com

Why some Korean students don't want to leave school

SEOUL - It's been a year since Seoul media and communications student Lee Woong-hee finished his studies, but the 26-year-old plans to skip his class graduation ceremony in February because he thinks retaining his student status will help him finally land a job.

He's not alone. Youth unemployment hit a 14-year high in South Korea in 2014, and with hiring sluggish amid a weak economy, especially for "good" jobs with permanent status, thousands of students due to graduate in early 2015 are expected to instead remain on campus.

"Job hunting gets harder every year. It was difficult this year and I fear it will get worse next year," said Lee, who should have graduated last February.

In South Korea, many universities allow students to remain enrolled and use college facilities, even if they aren't taking any classes. At others, students deliberately remain one or two credits short of a degree until they find a job.

"I heard from others that employers do not like graduates. They ask at interviews what you did after graduation," Lee said.

Two-thirds of South Koreans aged 25-34 have a college degree, the highest proportion in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a developed nations' club among whom the average is just below 40 percent.

Government efforts in recent years to encourage young people to pursue careers that don't necessarily require a university degree have had limited success in a country obsessed with education. The high rate of graduates means many ambitious young people feel overqualified for the jobs that are available to them, and figure it's better to have no job than one below their expectations.

LABOR MARKET DIVIDE

South Korea's labor market is divided between permanent jobs with a high degree of security and temporary positions that end after two years, a split that makes it harder for young people to get on a career track.

In 2012, 24 percent of workers in South Korea were temporary, double the OECD average.

In November, Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan suggested measures to make the labor market more flexible by easing rules on lay-offs and pay. While employers supported the proposals, labor groups and many students did not.

A hand-written letter to Choi by a group calling itself "the Misfits" took issue with his ideas and went viral on social networks after it was posted on walls at Korea University and Yonsei University, two of the country's top colleges.

"We are not angry because the regular workers are overly protected. We are angry because temporary workers are not ensured the benefits regular workers receive," it said.

Kim Jong-jin, a research fellow at the Korea Labor and Society Institute, said many young people in highly educated South Korea were unwilling to take temporary jobs.

"People in their mid-20s are supposed to be active in the labour market, but the market cannot exploit them as they keep on studying and preparing themselves for more stable jobs."

A government survey of 33 universities last year found the number of students delaying graduation more than doubled in three years, to more than 15,000.

SHORTER CAREERS

Corporate Korea, which makes two big rounds of hiring each year - the next is in March - has just endured its toughest year since the global financial crisis.

"As conditions are difficult for expanding investment, it won't be easy for firms to hire new people," said Lee Cheol-heng, head of the employment and labour policy team at the Federation of Korean Industries.

The unemployment rate for people aged 15-29 hit 10.9 percent in February 2014, just short of the all-time high of 11 percent recorded in January 2000, before easing to 8.0 percent in October. The figure excludes students. The unemployment rate for new graduates in March last year tied 2013's record of 32.2 percent, according to Korea Labor Institute data.

Later entry into the job market accelerates the greying of the workforce in the world's fastest-ageing country.

Last year, the number of South Korean workers in their 50s outnumbered those in their 20s for the first time, which will add pressure to the country's underfunded pension system when those older workers retire.

With young South Korean men required to serve two years in the military, more time on campus means even fewer working years in a country where the retirement age is 60. A later career start often means starting families later, exacerbating a low birth rate.

"With a retirement age, if the youth enter the labour market later, it decreases their entire economic output whereas the education investment increases," said Kim Gwang-suk of the Hyundai Research Center. "It is a serious problem."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com