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RFE/RL Goes Back To School


Schoolgirls study in an open air school in the outskirts of Jalalabad, Afghanistan, 11Sep2012
Reading, writing and 'rithmatic. The new school year is well underway in classrooms throughout the world and we're taking a peek into the lives of a few students in our coverage area.

# ARMENIA - In the tiny Armenian village of Pokrashen, one six-year-old, Lernik, is getting adjusted to attending first grade as his school's only student. Video by Radio Azatutyun.

# AFGHANISTAN - The Kabul Blind School, dubbed the only one of its kind in Afghanistan, has given more than 100 sightless children a rare chance to receive a basic education. And by teaching many students new skills, the school aims to prepare them to support themselves upon graduation. Correspondent Frud Bezhan reports.

# PAKISTAN - The fight against militancy moves on, but the children are left behind in Pakistan's restive northwest. Nowhere is that more evident than in the semiautonomous Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA) region, where schools are being destroyed faster than they can be rebuilt. Radio Mashaal correspondent Israr Alam Mohmand reports.

# RUSSIA - Who, exactly, is getting "schooled" by this video of a Russian schoolgirl taking it to a bullying teacher?

# TAJIKISTAN - Just days after protests took place over allegations of nepotism, coverage by Radio Ozodi helped students regain their places at Kazakh universities.

# For decades, cursive writing has been a standard -- if not always beloved -- classroom subject for children across the world. But as the use of computers spreads, some countries are dropping cursive from their standard curriculum, saying children -- and future generations -- can live without it. Correspondent Daisy Sindelar talks to orthography experts about the slow death of the written word, and the accompanying video explores the history of handwriting in Russia, Afghanistan, and Georgia.

(Extra credit: Tweet us or email a picture of your cursive handwriting to petersonz@rferl.org and we'll share it in an upcoming penmanship gallery. We make no judgment on your legibility!)

# The first day of school -- a time of butterflies in the stomach and big bows in the hair. RFE/RL photographers accompanied students in some of our broadcast countries on their first day back after the summer holidays.

# Pop quiz! How well did you follow the news last week?

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