World Environment Day
ROCKHAMPTON — The Central Queensland University's Environment Society organised a full day of events to mark World Environment Day on June 5. The day attracted more than 300 participants and featured speakers from various campaigns, music, information stalls and a screening of David Bradbury's Jabiluka. Speakers discussed the way forward for current campaigns such as against the dams on the Fitzroy River and the Jabiluka uranium mine, and John McCabe presented a summary of the rich history of campaigning in central Queensland region.
Resistance member elected
CANBERRA — Amanda Lawrence, a candidate for the socialist group Resistance, was elected to a general committee position on the University of Canberra Student's Association at a by-election on June 1-3. The other general committee position was won by Labor's Karl Maftoum. Resistance won 35% of the vote compared to Labor's 36%.
Resistance ran a campaign for a students' association which participates in political campaigns on a broad range of issues, and highlighted the fight to defend public education, the need for solidarity with the Indonesian democracy movement, the struggle against the Jabiluka uranium mine and the defence of women's rights.
Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly fundraiser
MELBOURNE — A dinner to raise funds for Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly on May 30 attracted 130 people who packed the top floor of the Resistance Centre. Over $1000 was raised on the night, with hundreds more pledged to the Â鶹´«Ã½ fighting fund.
Guest speakers at the dinner were Joaquim Santos from Fretilin and Vannessa Hearman from ASIET. They praised Â鶹´«Ã½ for its unflinching support for the democracy movement in Indonesia and the independence struggle in East Timor.
Education in Cuba
BRISBANE — Professor Boris Trista Perez, deputy director of the University of Havana's Centre of Studies for Improvement of Higher Education, attended a forum here on June 2, organised by the Australia-Cuba Friendship Society.
Perez described the poor state of education in Cuba before the 1959 revolution: 1 million people were illiterate and 600,000 children were without schooling. Within a few years of the revolution, illiteracy was reduced from 23.6% to 3.9% and Child-care centres were open across the country, allowing women to work and attend university.
During the last 20 years, Perez explained, more than 1 million children have attended boarding schools. The education budget in 1989 was as 6.2% of GDP. Due to the high quality of education in Cuba, the Cuban government has exported medical and computer technology.