From left: Claudia Ciobanu (Romania), Mirkica Popovik (Macedonia), Karine Asatryan (Armenia), Tanya Obushtarova (Bulgaria), Tamar Kikacheishvili (Georgia), Olesya Vartanyan (Georgia), Linda Christmas, Ekaterine Pirtshkhalava (Georgia), and Alexander Belyakov (Ukraine).

Eight journalists from Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine, Macedonia, Bulgaria and Romania attended a Transitions’ workshop in Prague 31 August – 5 September on covering education issues – follow-up training for the most successful participants of an online distance course held earlier in the summer. The trainer was Linda Christmas, a former journalist at The Guardian and respected journalism trainer. The workshop covered interviewing techniques, observation skills, getting and keeping contacts, and featured individual and group feedback on feature stories. The workshop was supported by the OSI’s Education Support Program (ESP).

Below, you can find the articles produced as a result of the course:

Ukraine: Unfair Advantages, by Alexander Belyakov Ukraine’s new system of externally evaluated admissions exams has led to a surge in ‘privileged applicants’ in the admissions process.

Romania: Diploma Factory, by Claudia Ciobanu Education officials question the quality of education in Romania’s largest private university, jeopardizing the diplomas of more than 100,000 students and recent graduates.

Macedonia: Ongoing Saga, by Mirkica Popovik Macedonian university students in nearby Greece say they confront a Kafkaesque bureaucracy when trying to obtain legal residence there.

Bulgaria: Under Repair, by Tanya Obushtarova Low teacher salaries and students’ distrust of teachers are two intertwined problems decreasing the quality of Bulgarian education, experts say.

Georgia: No Room for Sex Education, by Tamar Kikacheishvili Sex education remains outside the curriculum in Georgian schools.

Georgia: Pilot Program, by Ekaterine Pirtskhalava Georgia’s National Curriculum pilot program is over, but where are the results?

Georgia: Two Histories of One Homeland, by Olesya Vartanyan The Armenian population of Javakhety thinks that the Georgian government creates problems with supply of the Armenian history books in order to abolish teaching of this subject in their region.

Armenia: School Uniforms: In Good or Bad Taste? by Karine Asatryan The battle over school uniforms hasn’t gone out of style in Yerevan’s schools.

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