Final Haiti Vote Results Delayed

 VOA News ?April 13, 2011

A man walks past a corrugated fence covered with election posters in Port-au-Prince (file - March 16, 2011)

Haitian officials say the final results of the country's recent runoff elections will be announced next Monday, instead of this coming Saturday as originally planned.

A government source close to the matter tells the French news agency conditions have not been fulfilled to present the results on Saturday as scheduled.? Word of the delay comes as President-elect Michel Martelly prepares to take office May 14, succeeding President Rene Preval. ?

Mr. Martelly was initially excluded from the disputed first round in November, until international observers reviewed those results and recommended he advance to the second round instead of the ruling party candidate, Jude Celestin.? The observers cited fraud and irregularities in the first round of balloting.? The second round took place March 20.

Meanwhile, the president-elect says his new government will be all-inclusive and that he plans to make his selections based on qualifications, not political affiliation.? In an interview with VOA's Creole service, Mr. Martelly also said he is deciding whom to pick as prime minister to help implement his vision for Haiti.? The president-elect says his goals include free tuition for all children nationwide, housing for people living in tent camps following last year's earthquake, and strengthening the agricultural sector so Haiti can become more self-sufficient.

The president-elect was not clear on whether he planned to renew the mandate of the Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission after its expiration this coming October.? Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive and former U.S. President Bill Clinton co-chair the commission, which is overseeing assistance to the Caribbean nation following the January 2010 earthquake.? The quake left more than 200,000 people dead. ?

The number of people still living in tent camps as a result of the quake has fallen by more than half to 680,000.? A deadly cholera epidemic that started in Haiti last October appears to have stabilized.? Millions of people, however, continue to rely on non-governmental organizations to meet their basic needs.? Haiti's justice system is dysfunctional, and the prison system is dangerously overcrowded. ?

Haiti is the Western Hemisphere's poorest country.

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Monitoring 'key to pupil results'

 11 April 2011 Last updated at 06:49 ET The author of the report went to five successful comprehensive schools across Wales Closely monitoring how pupils are performing and quickly identifying those under-achieving can improve their results, a new report says.

The study for the Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA) looked at five schools in Wales with good inspection reports.

Each was found to use school-wide computer systems giving teachers up-to-date data on how every 11-14-year-old was doing in every lesson.

The IWA is calling for funding for other schools to learn from them.

Report author Dr Stevie Upton visited five successful comprehensive schools across Wales identified from their reports from Estyn, the schools inspection body.

They were Cwmtawe Community School in the Swansea Valley, Newtown High in Powys, St Joseph's RC High in Newport, Ysgol David Hughes in Anglesey and Ysgol y Preseli in Pembrokeshire.

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It's a way of being able to identify any pupils who are under-achieving and responding very rapidly with extra support”

End Quote Dr Stevie Upton IWA research officer Dr Upton spoke to managers, teachers and pupils about the experience of youngsters in their early years in secondary school.

She said a common factor was each school closely monitored individual pupil performances through the coordinated use of school-wide computer system.

It also contained information about their attendance, homework completion, support received and behaviour.

'Highly ambitious targets'

It meant teachers could quickly identify pupils who were under-achieving and ensure they were provided with any extra help they may need.

Each school also set "highly ambitious targets" for its pupils and every youngster was mentored by a single teacher.

Dr Upton said many schools already used computers to store information about pupils but what stood out at the five she visited was that teachers had access to information about "every pupil across every subject."

"It's a way of being able to identify any pupils who are under-achieving and responding very rapidly with extra support," she said.

The report, called Making a Difference at Key Stage 3, recommends that the Welsh Assembly Government provides funding for under-performing schools to learn from better performing ones.

But Dr Upton said that it was not calling for a "one size fits all" system.

"There is no substitute for observing good practice in practice," she said.

"It's one thing to hear about what's happening elsewhere but when you see what's happening on the ground its much easier for people to identify features that are transferable."