title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: It was only in 1845 that Britain followed in the United States' footsteps and signed a land-deal to allow Britons to rent land in Shanghai in perpetuity. The American consular presence did not create a problem for the British because it was never intended to have a post in person. Since American traders in China were prohibited from engaging in the opium trade, their business transactions were conducted under the auspices of British firms. The only serious incident of political complaint against the Americans was in 1845, when the Stars and Stripes was raised by the acting US Consul, Henry G. Wolcott, who had just arrived in the city. Neither the British nor the Chinese governor approved of the display. In 1848, the French established its own French concession under French consular jurisdiction, squeezed between the British settlement to the north and the Chinese walled city to the south.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: Towards the end of the 19th century, Shanghai Russians also arrived, with Russia's construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway and acquisition of Harbin and Port Arthur.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: On 11July 1854 a committee of Western businessmen met and held the first annual meeting of the Shanghai Municipal Council (SMC, formally the Council for the Foreign Settlement North of the Yang-king-pang), ignoring protests of consular officials, and laid down the Land Regulations which established the principles of self-government. The aims of this first Council were simply to assist in the formation of roads, refuse collection, and taxation across the disparate Concessions.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: In 1863 the American concession—land fronting the Huangpu River to the north-east of Soochow Creek (Suzhou Creek)—officially joined the British Settlement (stretching from Yang-ching-pang Creek to Suzhou Creek) to become the Shanghai International Settlement. The French concession remained independent and the Chinese retained control over the original walled city and the area surrounding the foreign enclaves. This would later result in sometimes absurd administrative outcomes, such as needing three drivers' licenses to travel through the complete city.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: By the late-1860s Shanghai's official governing body had been practically transferred from the individual concessions to the Shanghai Municipal Council (工部局, literally "Works Department", from the standard English local government title of 'Board of works'). The British Consul was the "de jure" authority in the Settlement, but he had no actual power unless the ratepayers (who voted for the council) agreed. Instead, he and the other consulates deferred to the council.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: The council had become a practical monopoly over the city's businesses by the mid-1880s. It bought up all the local gas-suppliers, electricity producers and water-companies, then — during the 20th-century — took control over all non-private rickshaws and the Settlement tramways. It also regulated opium sales and prostitution until their banning in 1918 and 1920 respectively.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: Until the late-1920s, therefore, the SMC and its subsidiaries, including the police, power station, and public works, were British dominated (though not controlled, since Britain itself had no authority over the council). Some of the Settlement's actions during this period, such as the May 30th Movement, in which Chinese demonstrators were shot by members of the Shanghai Municipal Police (leading to anti-Western protests), did embarrass and threaten the British Empire's position in China.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: No Chinese residing in the International Settlement were permitted to join the council until 1928. Amongst the many members who served on the council, its chairman during the 1920s, Stirling Fessenden, is possibly the most notable. An American, he served as the settlement's main administrator during Shanghai's most turbulent era, and was considered more "British" than the council's British members. He oversaw many of the major incidents of the decade, including the May 30th Movement and the White Terror that came with the Shanghai massacre of 1927.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: By the early 1930s, the British and the Chinese each had five members on the council, the Japanese two and the Americans and others two. At the 1936 Council election, because of their increasing interests in the Settlement, the Japanese nominated three candidates. Only two were elected, which led to a Japanese protest after 323 uncounted votes were discovered. As a result, the election was declared invalid and a new poll held on April20-21, 1936, at which the Japanese nominated only two candidates. In the case of the Chinese members, in 1926 the Ratepayers' Meeting adopted a resolution approving the addition of three Chinese members to the council and they took their seats for the first time in April, 1928; while in May, 1930, their number was increased to five.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: The International Settlement was wholly foreign-controlled, with staff of all nationalities, including British, Americans, Danes, Italians and Germans. In reality, the British held the largest number of seats on the council and headed all the Municipal departments (British included Australians, New Zealanders, Canadians, Newfoundlanders, and South Africans whose extraterritorial rights were established by the United Kingdom treaty).


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: The only department not chaired by a Briton was the Municipal Orchestra, which was controlled by an Italian.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: The Settlement maintained its own fire-service, police force (the Shanghai Municipal Police), and even possessed its own military reserve in the Shanghai Volunteer Corps (). Following some disturbances at the British concession in Hankow in 1927, the defences at Shanghai were augmented by a permanent battalion of the British Army, which was referred to as the Shanghai Defence Force (SDF or SHAF), and a contingent of US Marines. Other armed forces would arrive in Shanghai; the French Concession had a defensive force of Troupes de marine and Annamite suppletive troops from French Indochina, the Italians also introduced their own marines, as did the Japanese (whose troops eventually outnumbered the other countries' many times over).


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: From the 1860s, the Municipal Council began building roads beyond the concession boundaries, ostensibly to connect the concession with other properties or facilities which required the protection of Britain and other treaty powers during the unrest of the Taiping Rebellion. The Municipal Council obtained limited administrative powers over the areas adjacent to these "extra-settlement roads", making the area a "quasi-concession". The expansion of the International Settlement in 1899 took in most of the extra-settlement roads area, but from 1901 the Municipal Council began building further roads beyond the new boundary with a view to expanding the concession to cover those areas as well. However, a request to further expand the concession (inspired by a similar expansion of the French concession in 1914) was turned down by the Chinese government due to anti-imperialist sentiments. Britain, pre-occupied with World War I, did not press the issue and the extra-settlement roads area retained the "quasi-concession" status until the demise of the concession. Parts of the northern extra-settlement roads area was allocated to Japan for defence purposes in 1927, which the Japanese used as a base for military operations during the 1932 January 28th Incident and the 1937 Battle of Shanghai. After that battle, Japan took full control over the northern extra-settlement roads area and expelled International Settlement police. The neutrality of the western extra-settlement roads area survived in some form until the withdrawal of British troops in 1940.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: Article 28 of the International Settlement's "Land Regulations" stated unequivocally that "the land encompassed in the territory remains Chinese territory, subject to China's sovereign rights." As expressed by legal experts, "the self-governing International Settlement possesses no more power than the mere delegation of purely local and municipal powers and functions. Control of police, sanitation, roads, and other problems of local administration are granted to the Municipal Council simply because that body happens to be the one best equipped to deal with these matters in an area where the large majority of foreigners dwell. But the Municipal Council is in no sense a political body. Its powers, being delegated and hence limited, are subject to strict construction. What foreigners acquire is simply the delegated power of municipal administration, while the reserve powers remain in the sovereign grantor, the Chinese Government. Although under the control of the Consular Council, the area is still Chinese territory, over which China's sovereignty remains unsurrendered".


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: In the 19th century, Europeans possessed treaty ports in Japan in the same way they held those in China. However, Japan rapidly developed into a modern nation, and by the turn of the 20th century the Japanese had successfully negotiated with all powers to abrogate all unequal treaties with it. Japan stood alongside the European powers as part of the Eight-Nation Alliance during the infamous fifty-five-day siege of the foreign embassy compound in Peking. Japan entered the 20th century as a rising world power, and with its unequal treaties with the European powers now abrogated, it actually joined in, obtaining an unequal treaty with China granting extraterritorial rights under the Treaty of Shimonoseki signed in 1895.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: In 1915, during the First World War, Japan overtook Britain as the country with the largest number of foreign residents in Shanghai. In 1914, Japan sided with Britain and France in the war and conquered all German possessions in China. By the beginning of the 1930s, Japan was swiftly becoming the most powerful national group in Shanghai and accounted for some 80% of all extraterritorial foreigners in China. Much of Hongkew, which had become an unofficial Japanese settlement, was known as "Little Tokyo".


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: In 1931, supposed "protection of Japanese colonists from Chinese aggression" in Hongkew was used as a pretext for the Shanghai Incident, when Japanese troops invaded Shanghai. From then until the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) Hongkew was almost entirely outside of the SMC's hands, with law and protection enforced to varying degrees by the Japanese Consular Police and Japanese members of the Shanghai Municipal Police.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: In 1932 there were 1,040,780 Chinese living within the International Settlement, with another 400,000 fleeing into the area after the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937. For the next five years, the International Settlement and the French Concession were surrounded by Japanese occupiers and Chinese revolutionaries, with conflict often spilling into the Settlement's borders. In 1941, the Japanese launched an abortive political bid to take over the SMC: during a mass meeting of ratepayers at the Settlement Race Grounds, a Japanese official leaped up and shot William Keswick, then chairman of the council. While Keswick was only wounded, a near riot broke out.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: Anglo-American influence effectively ended after 8 December 1941, when the Imperial Japanese Army entered and occupied the British and American controlled parts of the city in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The British and American troops, taken by surprise, surrendered without a shot, with the exception of the only British riverboat in Shanghai, HMS "Peterel", which refused to surrender; six of the 18 British crew on board at the time were killed when the ship was sunk after the Japanese opened fire at almost point-blank range. The French troops did not move from the preserved French Concession, as the French Vichy government considered itself neutral.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: European residents of the International Settlement were forced to wear armbands to differentiate them, were evicted from their homes, and — just like Chinese citizens — were liable to maltreatment. All were liable for punitive punishments, torture and even death during the period of Japanese occupation. The Japanese sent European and American citizens to be interned at the Lunghua Civilian Assembly Center, a work camp on what was then the outskirts of Shanghai. Survivors of Lunghua were released in August 1945.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: Shanghai was notable for a long period as the only place in the world that unconditionally offered refuge for Jews escaping from the Nazis. These refugees often lived in squalid conditions in an area known as the Shanghai Ghetto in Hongkew. On 21 August 1941 the Japanese government closed Hongkew to Jewish immigration.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: In February 1943, the International Settlement was "de jure" returned to the Chinese as part of the British–Chinese Treaty for the Relinquishment of Extra-Territorial Rights in China and American–Chinese Treaty for Relinquishment of Extraterritorial Rights in China with the Nationalist Government of the Republic of China under Chiang Kai-shek. However, because Shanghai was under Japanese control, this was unenforceable. In reply, in July 1943, the Japanese retroceded the SMC to the City Government of Shanghai, which was then in the hands of the pro-Japanese Wang Jingwei Government.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: After the war and the liberation of the city from the Japanese, a Liquidation Commission fitfully met to discuss the remaining details of the handover. By the end of 1945, most Westerners not actively involved in the Chinese Civil War (such as intelligence agents, soldiers, journalists, etc.) or in Shanghai's remaining foreign businesses, had left the city. With the defeat of the Kuomintang in 1949, the city was occupied by Communist People's Liberation Army and came under the control of the Mayor of Shanghai.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: The foreign architecture of the International Settlement era can still be seen today along the Bund and in many locations around the city.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: The International Settlement did not have a unified legal system. The Municipal Council issued Land Regulations and regulations under this, that were binding on all people in the settlement. Other than this, citizens and subjects of powers that had treaties with China that provided for extraterritorial rights were subject to the laws of their own countries and civil and criminal complaints against them were required to be brought against them to their consular courts (courts overseen by consular officials) under the laws of their own countries.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: The number of treaty powers had climbed to a high of 19 by 1918 but was down to 14 by the 1930s: the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, France, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Peru, Mexico, and Switzerland. Germany and Austria-Hungary lost their treaty rights after WWI, and Russia gave up her rights as a matter of political expediency. Belgium was declared by China to have lost her rights in 1927. Furthermore, the Chinese government adamantly refused to grant treaty power status to any of the new nations born in the wake of WWI, such as Austria and Hungary (formerly Austria-Hungary), Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, the Baltic states, or Finland.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: Chinese citizens and citizens of non-treaty powers were subject to Chinese law. Inside the Settlement, cases against them would be brought to the Mixed Court, a court established in the Settlement in the 1864 which existed until 1926. In cases involving foreigners, a foreign assessor, usually a consular officer, would sit with the Chinese magistrate and in many cases acted like a judge. In 1927, a Provisional Court was established with a sole Chinese judge presiding. In 1930, Chinese Special Courts were established which had jurisdiction over all non-treaty power individuals and companies in the Settlement.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: Two countries, Britain and the United States established formal court systems in China to try cases. The British Supreme Court for China and Japan was established in 1865 and located in its own building in the British Consulate compound, and the United States Court for China was established in the US Consulate in 1906. Both courts were occupied by the Japanese on 8 December 1941 and effectively ceased to function from that date.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: The currency situation in China was very complicated in the 19th century, as there was no unified monetary system. Different parts of China operated different systems, and the Spanish pieces of eight that had been coming from Mexico for a few hundred years on Manila Galleons were current along the China coast. Until the 1840s these silver dollar coins were Spanish coins minted mainly in Mexico City, but from the 1840s these gave way to Mexican republican dollars.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: In Shanghai, this complexity represented a microcosm of the complicated economy existing elsewhere along the China coast. The Chinese reckoned in weights of silver, which did not necessarily correspond to circulating coins. One important unit was a tael, a measurement of weight with several different definitions. These included: Customs Taels (for foreign trade), Cotton Taels (for cotton trade), etc. Shanghai had its own tael, which was very similar in weight to the Customs Tael and therefore popular for international business. China also had a mixture of coins, including Chinese Copper Cash coins and Mexican dollars. Paper money was first issued by European and North American colonial banks (one British colonial bank known as the Chartered Bank of India, Australia, and China at one time issued banknotes in Shanghai that were denominated in Mexican dollars).


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: European and North American currencies did not officially circulate in the International Settlement, except Yen in the Japanese district of "Little Tokyo". Until the year 1873, however, US dollar coins would have reasonably corresponded in size, shape and value to Mexican dollars. Between 1873 and 1900, all silver standard dollars had depreciated to about 50% of the value of the gold standard dollars of the United States and Canada, leading to a rising economic depression.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: The Chinese themselves officially adopted the dollar unit as their national currency in 1889, and the first Chinese dollar coins, known as yuan, contained an inscription which related their value to an already existing Chinese system of accounts. On the earliest Chinese dollar (yuan) coins it states the words 7 mace and 2 candareens. The mace and candareen were sub-divisions of the tael unit of weight. Banknotes tended to be issued in dollars, either worded as such or as yuan.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: Despite the complications arising from a mixture of Chinese and Spanish coinages, there was one overwhelming unifying factor binding all the systems in use: silver. The Chinese reckoned purely in terms of silver, and value was always compared against a weight of silver (hence, the reason large prices were given in tael). It was the strict adherence of the Chinese to silver that caused China and even the British colonies of Hong Kong and Weihaiwei to remain on the silver standard after the rest of the world had changed over to the gold standard. When China began producing official Republican yuan coins in 1934, they were minted in Shanghai and shipped to Nanking for distribution.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: Shanghai had developed a postal service as early as the Ming Dynasty, but during the treaty port era foreign postal services were organised through their respective consulates. For example, the United States Post Office Department maintained a United States Postal Agency at the Shanghai consulate through which Americans could use the US Post Office to send mail to and from the US mainland and US territories. Starting in 1919 the 16 current regular US stamps were overprinted for use in Shanghai with the city's name, "China", and amounts double their printed face values. In 1922 texts for two of the overprints were changed, thereby completing the Scott catalogue set of K1-18, "Offices in China".


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: The British originally used British postage stamps overprinted with the local currency amount, but from 1868, the British changed to Hong Kong postage stamps already denominated in dollars. However, in the special case of Shanghai, in the year 1865 the International settlement began to issue its own postage stamps, denominated in the local Shanghai tael unit.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: The Shanghai Post Office controlled all post within the Settlement, but post entering or leaving the treaty port was required to go through the Chinese Imperial Post Office. In 1922 the various foreign postal services, the Shanghai Post Office, and the Chinese Post Office were all brought together into a single Chinese Post Office, thus extending the 1914 membership of the Chinese Post Office to the Universal Postal Union to the Shanghai Post Office. Some other foreign countries refused to fall under this new postal service's remit, however; for many years, Japan notably sent almost all its mail to Shanghai in diplomatic bags, which could not be opened by postal staff.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: The General Shanghai Post Office was first located on Beijing Road and moved to the location on Sichuan North Road of the General Post Office Building, Shanghai that is today the Shanghai Post Museum.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: International merchants brought with them amateur musical talent that manifested in the creation of the Shanghai Philharmonic Society in 1868. From here, the Shanghai Municipal Orchestra was officially formed in 1879.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: In 1938, the Shanghai Municipal Orchestra faced disbandment as the ratepayers in the annual Municipal Council meeting considered reallocating budgets away from the orchestra, since it was "western and unnecessary." However, after much discussion, they decided to keep the orchestra, acknowledging that its educational value was much greater than the cost of keeping it up. The Shanghai Municipal Orchestra had the financial and verbal backing of many other larger countries, including Italy, who donated 50,000 lire to the orchestra, the France Council, who acted as a defending argument for the maintenance of the orchestra, and Japan, whose Viscount Konoye encouraged the Japanese people to support the orchestra and the culture that it brought to the East.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: In addition to the string orchestra, opera and choral music were favored forms of entertainment. Often, the orchestra would accompany singers as a part of orchestra concerts, in addition to the symphonies and other pieces that they played, or just in choral or opera concerts.


title: Shanghai International Settlement

text: The French Concession was governed by a separate municipal council, under the direction of the Consul General. The French Concession was not part of the International Settlement, but had economical interests in it as evidenced by the presence of the French flag on the seal and the flag of the Municipal Council.


title: Academic year

text: An academic year or school year is a period of time which schools, colleges and universities use to measure a quantity of study.


title: Academic year

text: School holidays (also referred to as vacations, breaks, and recess) are the periods during which schools are closed or no classes or other mandatory activities are held. The dates and periods of school holidays vary considerably throughout the world, and there is usually some variation even within the same jurisdiction. Governments often legislate on the total number of school days for state schools. The holidays given below apply to primary and secondary education. Teaching sessions (terms or semesters) in tertiary education are usually longer.


title: Academic year

text: In countries with a Christian religious tradition, the Easter holiday, which in the United States is sometimes known as spring break, is a holiday that takes place in the northern spring. The date varies mainly because Easter is a movable feast, but also by country and level of schooling.


title: Academic year

text: In the northern hemisphere, the longest break in the educational calendar is in the middle of the year, during the northern summer, and lasts up to 14 weeks. In Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, and Russia, summer holidays are normally three months, compared to six to eight weeks in Britain, the Netherlands, and Germany. In the southern hemisphere, the longest break in the educational calendar is in the end-beginning of the year, during the southern summer, and lasts up to 14 weeks, from December 21 to March 20.


title: Academic year

text: Summer holidays for most children are a time to relax, enjoy themselves, catch up on studies, or spend time with family or relatives. Many families travel together on school holidays.


title: Academic year

text: School holidays have many effects on a country, ranging from the price of travel and holiday accommodation, which increase as demand increases while children are off school, to a change in crime rate: Example UK crime rate monthly figures. Traffic congestion and heavy passenger loads on public transport on school run routes may be worse on school days during term time. The number of families taking holidays away from urban areas can reduce traffic and use of public transport in cities while loading long-distance highways and means of transport.


title: Academic year

text: In some countries, i.e. Netherlands, where many families travel to their holiday destinations, the start and end dates of school holidays in different regions are staggered to reduce the heavy traffic and pressure on means of transport that would otherwise occur on these dates.


title: Academic year

text: In Nigeria, the longest holiday is from mid-July to second week of September for secondary schools and a longer duration within same period for tertiary institutions. Holidays are basically determined by schools and they start from June to early days in September.


title: Academic year

text: In South Africa, the main holiday usually lasts from early December to early or mid-January (4 or 6 weeks). There is an autumn break of up to 2 weeks in late March or early April, a longer winter break in late June and early July, and a spring break in late September or early October.


title: Academic year

text: South African schools and universities are all closed on all South African public holidays. In terms of Public Holidays Act if the holiday fall on a Sunday then the schools are closed the next Monday.


title: Academic year

text: In Brazil, summer holidays start in early December and end in late January or early February. Winter holidays are generally the entire month of July. Some schools in the tropical north follow a different school year. The Brazilian Carnival is 40 days before Easter Sunday and those dates are not school holidays.


title: Academic year

text: Brazilian schools must have at least 200 school days. Some national and Catholic holidays are usually celebrated in 3 or 4 days, like Easter, Corpus Christi and Carnival.


title: Academic year

text: In Canada, the school year typically lasts between 185 and 190 days. The summer holiday includes the months of July and August, with students returning to school in late August or early September, most commonly on the day after Labour Day. The winter break lasts for two weeks (sometimes a day or two longer), beginning on Saturday and encompassing Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The spring break is one to two weeks long depending on the city or province. Good Friday and Easter may or may not fall within spring break. The Thanksgiving break is a 3-day break that falls in mid-October.


title: Academic year

text: The school year is divided into semesters. The first semester runs from late February or early March to July. Following a two-week or three-week winter break, school resumes and lasts until early or mid-December, followed by 10–12 weeks of summer vacations. In addition, schools have a one-week-long break for National Holidays in mid-September. Being located in the Southern Hemisphere, spring begins approximately at the end of this holiday week so it acts similarly to the American spring break. There is also a brief Easter break in March or April.


title: Academic year

text: In Mexico, school usually ends in the second week of July and resumes the third week of August depending on what scheduling system a school uses, and whether it is high school or college. Christmas holiday is two weeks. Also there is the Easter recess which lasts for two weeks.


title: Academic year

text: In the United States, there are typically 160-180 school days in a year; the exact number mainly depends on the state. (although school years at colleges and universities are often shorter). Private schools tend to have classes for 170 days each year.


title: Academic year

text: It is often believed that when the United States was a primarily agrarian society, children were needed during the Northern Hemisphere summer months for farm labor.


title: Academic year

text: However, there is little evidence supporting this, with 19th-century rural schools more typically favoring a summer academic term and more vacation time during spring and autumn.


title: Academic year

text: Summer is still a popular time for family vacations, and most have a two or three-month summer vacation. The academic year typically runs from August or early September until the end of May or early June, depending on the length of the year and number of the holiday, vacation, and snow days occurring during the year. The year is divided into two semesters, three trimesters or four quarters, typically with a report card issued to students' parents at the end of each.


title: Academic year

text: An academic year typically includes a fall and spring semester, with a shorter optional summer session. Many also have a short optional winter session. Some operate on a trimester calendar.


title: Academic year

text: Continuing education classes (often available at community colleges and private "boot camp" style schools) are often shorter and start throughout the year with no particular seasonality.


title: Academic year

text: "Note:" Often in charter schools breaks are shorter due to the extended number of days students spend in school (200 days vs. 180 days for standard public schools).


title: Academic year

text: Colleges and universities vary widely. Some closely follow the K-12 break schedule, others have the same but longer breaks to accommodate students who live farther away and wish to return home for holidays. Most colleges and universities have the following breaks:


title: Academic year

text: The first starting from the beginning of the year (August/September) until mid-December, and the second lasting from January until early May. Winter and summer classes could be taken in between the breaks.


title: Academic year

text: Public elementary and secondary schools averaged (at the state level) between 170 and 180 school days in the 2007–08 academic year. Different states have different legal minimum requirements for instructional days and hours per year.


title: Academic year

text: Summer holidays usually last from early July to end of August. The winter holiday usually lasts 1 month, and its time varies depending on the date of the Chinese New Year.


title: Academic year

text: In Hong Kong summer holidays last from mid-July to the end of August. Christmas, Lunar New Year and Easter holidays last usually for one and a half weeks.


title: Academic year

text: In South India, summer vacations last from the end of March or early April to the beginning or middle of June.


title: Academic year

text: The Diwali break begins in either October or November, depending on the month Diwali occurs in that year. It lasts for about one week or two days. Christmas break starts on the last week of December (22nd or 23rd) and ends on the first week of January (5th) or might last for only two days and a one-day break for the New Year. The festivals Dusherra and Sankranti are also given holidays for half a month or four days.


title: Academic year

text: In Tamil Nadu, one day leave is given for Deepavali. Tamil Nadu celebrates Pongal festival(Thai Pongal): It is a four-day festival which, according to the Tamil calendar, is usually celebrated from January 14 to January 17.


title: Academic year

text: In north India, the typical summer vacation runs from mid-May to the end of June, school starting from July 1 usually.


title: Academic year

text: Christmas holidays are not usually given, however, some schools combine the Christmas holidays with the winter break. Schools in Uttar Pradesh give a holiday on Charan Singh's birth anniversary, and that's when the winter break starts for some. For some other schools the winter break starts on 28 December, and usually ends on the second weekend of the new year.


title: Academic year

text: There are many public holidays in India, depending on the region. Certain holidays are mandated across the nation.


title: Academic year

text: The following are breaks usually seen in Dubai schools but other emirates also sometimes follow the Dubai holidays:


title: Academic year

text: Summer Break: Summer holiday is usually from the end of June/first of July to the end of August/first week of September.


title: Academic year

text: Diwali Break: Indian festivals like Diwali (October/November) are also given a holiday or two, which becomes the Autumn break in the UAE.


title: Academic year

text: Winter Break: The winter break usually lasts for three weeks from the beginning/middle of December to the beginning of January which also includes the new year’s holiday.


title: Academic year

text: New semester: This break is given according to the board of the school like as in schools with an ICSE Board have a holiday in the first or the first two week(s) of April while in CBSE it happens in another time of the year, likely after the summer break.


title: Academic year

text: Besides the main holidays, there are many small holidays which take place for 1–2 days, such as Independence Day, religious breaks, and Teacher's Day.


title: Academic year

text: In Israel, the academic year is divided into two semesters. The first one begins in October (depending on the Hebrew calendar. Mostly a week or two after Simchat Torah), and it ends 13 weeks after in January. Then the next six weeks of January and February are dedicated to the first semester exams. Afterwards, in late February or early March, begins the second semester until mid- or late June. When the months of June and July are dedicated to the second semester exams while late testing can be by middle of August.


title: Academic year

text: In Japan, the new academic year starts on the second week of April. In most schools in Japan, there are four main breaks: two weeks from late March to early April (Spring), about a month from late July to the end of August (Summer), the Health & Sports Day weekend (Fall), and two weeks over the year-end and New Year period from late December to early January (Winter). There are some exceptions in northern Japan, where schools set a longer winter break, while cutting the summer one shorter. Additionally, there are 4 national holidays falling between 29 April and 5 May, sometimes called "Golden Week."


title: Academic year

text: In Korea, the school year starts at the beginning of March. Until 2015, schools followed a three-term system with a break at the end of each term, similar to the Japanese:


title: Academic year

text: From 2015 onwards, the calendar was changed to a more quasi-Western styled one, having the year to end on January rather than February.


title: Academic year

text: In Malaysia, there are 2 main semester holiday and an additional of mid-term break and year end holiday. The mid-year holidays last for two weeks, from late May until mid-June, in between the two school terms. The year-end holidays last for six weeks, from mid-November until early January, in between two school years. Each school term has a mid-term break; one week in March for the first semester and one week in the months of August or September (variable) for the second semester.


title: Academic year

text: Schools are closed on national and state public holidays. Schools are allowed to have a few special holidays without replacement for events such as school anniversary and sports day. For festivities such as Hari Raya Puasa, Chinese New Year and Deepavali, schools usually apply for additional holidays to allow longer breaks for students to visit relatives in their hometowns. However, every day missed exceeding the special holiday allowance would be replaced by having classes on weekends.


title: Academic year

text: In the Philippines, until 2020 there were three breaks: summer break started from the late March or early April and usually ended in June, semestral break started from late October ending in early November, and Christmas break lasted from mid-December to early January. Since 2020, the summer or mid-year break begins from early June till late August and is also known as the Independence Day break as Independence Day, June 12, now falls during the mid year vacation. With the move of the calendar for most schools, an additional break, Easter break was added, corresponding to Holy Week up to Easter Sunday. The other vacation breaks remain as usual. However, the school year has begun shifting back to its original June-March model as the pandemic has gradually calmed down at least for many public schools.


title: Academic year

text: For universities and colleges, the four breaks in their collegiate calendar closely match those of the national basic education calendar until 2022. Since 2016-17, most of these higher learning institutions begin their year in August or September, matching the Western calendar.


title: Academic year

text: Event-based holidays are declared by the President (for national holidays) and the provincial governor or city mayor for local holidays through the Department of Education (DepEd) for Basic Education and Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for colleges and universities.


title: Academic year

text: In Singapore, there are four school terms. Terms 1 and 2 are referred to as "Semester 1", as terms 3 and 4 are referred to as "Semester 2". Each term consists of ten school weeks. Term 1 starts the day immediately after New Year's Day. If the first school day is a Thursday or a Friday, it is not counted as a school week. After term 1, there is a break of a week, called the March Holidays. Thereafter, term 2 commences and is followed by a break of four weeks, the June Holidays. It is followed by term 3, after which there will be another break of one week, the September Holidays. Then, term 4 would start, and after it there is the December holidays, which would be either five or six weeks long, depending on whether the first week of the year was counted as a school week. Students are also given days off on public holidays, as well as Children's Day, Youth's Day, Teacher's Day and the day after National Day.


title: Academic year

text: There are Ramadan Feast (3 days) and Sacrifice Feast (4 days) holidays, but exact dates of these holidays change every year because Ramadan & Sacrifice Feasts are calculated according to Muslim calendar, resulting these feasts to be celebrated earlier by 10 or 11 days each year. If these feasts are at the middle of the week, then the break becomes a full week break with the Arafah (the day before the feast) day also included in the break.


title: Academic year

text: Starting from 2019, the Summer Break has been cut to 11 weeks and the following two breaks have been introduced:


title: Academic year

text: In Australia and New Zealand, academic years for primary and secondary institutions are divided into two semesters, with each semester being further divided into two terms (thus totaling four terms per year). Although historically the year was divided into three terms with an extended Easter break interrupting the first term, the Australian academic year has been divided into four terms since the late 1980s (with the exception of Tasmania which did not change until 2013); New Zealand adopted a four-term year in 1996.


title: Academic year

text: Following southern hemisphere seasons, the main summer holiday between academic years encompasses most of December, all of January and sometimes a few days at the beginning of February, and always encompasses Christmas and New Year as well as usually Australia Day on 26 January. The exact start and finish date of the academic year varies between jurisdictions; in 2023 Queensland will start earliest on 23 January (the only jurisdiction to begin the academic year before Australia Day) and finish earliest on 8 December, while Tasmania will start latest on 8 February and finish latest on 21 December. In year 12, the term ends in November; for those who go on to university, the term usually starts in late February or early March. New Zealand celebrates Waitangi Day on 6 February; the summer holidays in New Zealand may or may not extend as far as that day, depending on the year. There is typically a break of two weeks mid-semester (i.e. after Term 1 and after Term 3) and a break of three weeks in the middle of the year, although this can vary between jurisdictions. In the year 2000, due to the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the state of New South Wales extended the break after Term 3 to three weeks, compensating by reducing the break in the middle of the year to two weeks.


title: Academic year

text: Historically, the Term 1 holiday have been scheduled around Easter, reflecting the three-term system's notion of an extended Easter break within Term 1; although since the mid-1990s this has gradually changed, and now only Queensland and Victoria tie the school holidays closely to Easter; the remainder of Australia and all of New Zealand now have a fixed length to Term 1 which leads to the Easter period falling within Term 1 in some years with an early Easter, such as 2016.


title: Academic year

text: Typically, the Term 1 holidays will run for two weeks within April; the mid-year holidays encompass the last week of June and the first two weeks of July; and the Term 3 holidays encompass the last week of September and the first week of October. This varies between jurisdictions, and exact dates depend on what day of the week these respective months begin, as (with the exception of the beginning and end of the academic year), terms tend to begin and end with full weeks.


title: Academic year

text: In Austria, the summer holidays are usually between early July and early September. There is, with the exception of Vorarlberg and Salzburg, no Autumn break but there is a Christmas break (from December 24 until January 6) and an Easter break (lasts for 10 days). The mid-term break in February lasts for a week and the Whitsun break lasts for 4 days including the weekend. There are also days off during religious holidays (Assumption, Ascension, Corpus Christi etc.).


title: Academic year

text: For primary schools, the academic year in Belgium begins on the first weekday in September and ends on the last weekday in June, with the summer holiday comprising the entire months of July and August.


title: Academic year

text: Secondary schools and universities often close about a week earlier, as soon as school results have been processed and published. A week of autumn break is usually scheduled during the week of All Saints’ Day (November 1). The winter- or Christmas holiday lasts two weeks and encompasses both Christmas and New Year's Day. The dates for both the one-week spring break and the two-week Easter holiday vary. In catholic regions where carnival is celebrated, spring break usually takes place during the carnival week. To get al balance in school days between spring break and summer holiday, the two weeks of Easter holiday can take place with Easter both at the beginning, the middle or the end of the holiday period. In some cases, when Easter is at the complete end of the holiday, Easter Monday serves as an additional day off. However, in 2008 Belgium did not have the Easter Weekend inside its break due to the fact that Easter Sunday was on 23 March and schools broke up on the first weekend in April 2008 and had the two weeks then.


title: Academic year

text: In Croatia, there can be anywhere from three to five major breaks throughout the school year at public schools, depending on the region. Regardless of the number of holidays a school decides to have, a school year must have a minimum of 175 working days, or 160 for students undertaking the final exam at the end of high school.


title: Academic year

text: Some schools have opted to shorten the winter holidays in exchange for an Autumn break, which typically lasts for one week around All Saints' Day (November 1).


title: Academic year

text: Other free days include public holidays and local patron saint days. If these land on a Tuesday or Thursday, the day before (Monday, if the holiday is on Tuesday) of after (Friday, if it's on Thursday), is usually also considered a free day, to "merge" the holiday with the weekend.


title: Academic year

text: In the Czech Republic, the summer holidays begin at the end of the school year around 30 June and end at the start of the school year on 1 September or soon thereafter. Then there are autumn holidays: two days plus 28 October (the date of the proclamation of Czechoslovakia). The winter (Christmas) holidays last usually from 22 December to 3 January. There is also a one-day half term holiday on 31 January. The spring holidays are a week long and may occur in February or March, depending on the region, sometimes they continue with Easter holidays (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Monday). There are also free days such as 1 May (International Workers' Day), 8 May (end of World war two) and 28 September (The assassination of St. Wenceslas - the duke and the patron saint of the Czech lands). The school director is authorised to add up to three more free days during the school year. The school holidays are determined by the Ministry of Schools for each school year and are valid for every basic and high school.


title: Academic year

text: In Denmark the summer holiday lasts 6–7 weeks. Most schools also have one week of winter holiday and one week of autumn holiday, usually in February and October respectively. Finally, the schools are closed from just before Christmas until just after New Year.


title: Academic year

text: In Estonia, summer holidays last for three months from June to August. Christmas holidays last for two weeks, autumn and spring holidays are each one week. In 2016, the Estonian Ministry of Education decided to add a new holiday, starting from 2017, to balance the learning weeks. There are going to be 5 holidays: Autumn holiday (21- 29 October), Winter Holiday (23 December- 7 January), a new holiday (24 February- 4 March), Spring holiday (21 April- 1 May) and Summer holiday (12 June- 31 August). Summer break starts 1 week later.


title: Academic year

text: French school holidays are scheduled each year by the Ministry of Education. This can lead to overcrowding in tourist resorts such as the Mediterranean coast and the ski resorts.


title: Academic year

text: To alleviate this problem, the holiday schedules are staggered by dividing the country into three zones. Despite these measures, the synchronized school holiday schedules still cause some crowding effects, as families head to popular holiday locations all at the same time. This can result in price increases and availability problems in some locations during the school holiday periods.


title: Academic year

text: Holidays are divided into three separate zones except for the first two holidays: All Saints and the Christmas / New Year.


title: Academic year

text: In Germany, ~75 week days of the year are school-free days. The exact dates are chosen by each of the 16 states, often in consultation with each other for reasons of planning and traffic management. The usual holiday blocks are: Christmas (~2 weeks), Easter (~2 weeks), Summer (6 weeks), Autumn (~2 weeks). Depending on the state, further holidays can be around Pentecost or in winter between the first and the second half of the school year.


title: Academic year

text: The dates for the start and the end of the school year at both primary and post-primary level are not fixed, but mid-year breaks are standardised. Due to the start of certificate exams, post-primary schools are usually not open for tuition after the Friday before the June public holiday (the first Monday in June) in any year. Primary schools must be open for a minimum of 182 days of tuition a year and for secondary schools that number is 166.


title: Academic year

text: First Day of School: The school year generally starts during the last few days of August or first few days of September. Return dates for Secondary schools are usually staggered depending on what year you are in.


title: Academic year

text: Halloween Break: Schools close for one week at the end of October for the midterm break. This break usually encompasses Halloween (October 31)


title: Academic year

text: Christmas Break: Schools close for two weeks at Christmas time. Those two weeks always encompass Christmas and New Year. Schools will close no later than December 23rd and reopen no earlier than January 4th.


title: Academic year

text: Easter Break: Schools close for two weeks for Easter. Schools generally close for Easter break on the Friday one week before Good Friday, and reopen on the Monday one week after Easter Monday.


title: Academic year

text: May/June Break: Some primary schools may take another week off in May or June, if they have not taken a full week off in February.


title: Academic year

text: Summer Holidays: Secondary schools generally finish for summer on the first Friday of June or the last Friday of May. Exam years will sit 1-3 weeks of State Exams during June.


title: Academic year

text: In Italy, most school holidays are determined by the Ministry of Education, and are valid for all public schools of every order and grade. There are Summer holidays from mid-June up to the second week of September, except for students taking final exams in Middle and Superior schools, as those exams can go on until mid-July. Christmas (Winter) holidays start on December 23 and end on the first or second working day after January 6; the summer holidays in Italy about 12 weeks, other holidays include one week around Easter (Spring) as well as one day on December 8 (Feast of the Immaculate Conception), one day for November 1 (All Saints (Autumn)), the national holidays of April 25 (Liberation day) and June 2 (Republic Day), as well as the Workers' Day (May 1). Locally, school authorities have freedom upon the establishment of the lessons calendar to grant further vacation days on important local festivals (e.g. the local patron saint day).


title: Academic year

text: In Latvia, summer holidays last for three months from June to August. Christmas holidays last for two weeks, autumn and spring holidays are each one week.


title: Academic year

text: In Lithuania summer holiday for 9th and 11th grade begins a few days later than 10th and 12th grade students. This is due to exams for those grades. In the past, upper level Lithuanian students had around 70 days of holiday. However, now the holiday lasts almost three months.


title: Academic year

text: In the Netherlands, summer holidays last for six weeks for all Schools, but often unofficially 7 for secondary schools. The country is divided into three regions which start their summer holidays one week after another. Summer holidays usually start in mid-July and end in late August. Dutch elementary and high school students also have a one-week autumn holiday in mid-October, two weeks of Christmas holidays, usually the last two weeks of December, as well as one week "crocus/spring holidays" in February (for the south during Carnaval), and "May holidays", which last one or two week(s) for high schools and for elementary schools (This may differ from school to school). May holidays span a period of national holidays such as King's Day (former Queen's Day) (April 27), Remembrance of the Dead (May 4) and Liberation Day (May 5) and sometimes include Ascension Day and Pentecost.


title: Academic year

text: In Norway, school holidays vary by region. Generally, the school year starts around the third week of August. Most regions have a week off at the beginning of October (weeks 40 or 41). Christmas holidays start some days before Christmas Eve and end in the first week of January. There is one week of winter vacation in late February (weeks 8 or 9). Easter holiday is from Palm Sunday to Easter Monday or a day or two later, and Summer holidays begin some days before midsummer.


title: Academic year

text: Summer breaks run from late May-mid-June to early-mid-September and are around 13–15 weeks long. Pupils/students in the 8th and 12th grades usually enter summer break a week or two earlier than everyone else from other grades.


title: Academic year

text: Spring breaks are usually one to two weeks long, between late March and early May depending on the dates of both Orthodox and Catholic Easter. There can be two spring breaks if the Catholic and Orthodox Easter dates are very different.


title: Academic year

text: Winter break is three weeks long (it usually starts in the third or fourth week of December and it ends on the second or third Monday of January).


title: Academic year

text: There is also a one-week long fall break, which is usually between late October and early November; however, it was limited to pupils in


title: Academic year

text: preschool and primary education; everyone else had a full learning period between the summer and winter breaks. Starting from 2022, though, the fall break has been applied to middle and high schools, too.


title: Academic year

text: All academic years in Romania prior to the 2019–2020 school year used to have a second Winter break, which was often referred to as the "break between semesters" ("vacanță intersemestrială"), which would usually be in early February and have a duration of one-week, between the first and second semesters. From the 2019–2020 school year onwards (with the exception of the 2020–2021 school year), the start of the winter break marks the end of the first semester, with the beginning of the second semester immediately after the winter break. From 2022-2023, there is a break in February (however, this isn't between semesters), and the counties can decide each which week of February.


title: Academic year

text: In Slovakia, summer holidays begin at the end of the school year on June 30 and end at the start of the school year in early September. The autumn holidays are at the end of October. The winter (Christmas) holidays usually last from December 23 to January 7. There is also a one-day half term holiday on January 31. The spring holidays are a week long and may be in February or March, depending on the region. Next are the Easter holidays (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Monday and Easter Tuesday). There are also free days such as May 1, May 8, September 1, September 15, and November 17. The school director is authorized to add up to three more free days during the school year. The school holidays are determined by the Ministry of Schools and are valid for every basic and high school.


title: Academic year

text: In Slovenia, summer holidays begin on June 24 (June 25 is National day, which is also a public holiday) and end on September 1. Other holidays are usually one week long, they expand if national holidays fall on the work days. The autumn holidays ("Krompirjeve počitnice" – "Potato holidays") begin around October 31, which is Reformation day and November 1 which is called "All Saints' Day". The New Year holidays usually start around Christmas and last until January 2. In the middle of February there are winter holidays, which are divided into two parts. In each part there are other Slovenian students who have holidays. The second part of the winter holiday usually ends at the end of February. The shortest holidays are First May holidays, and as their name suggests they begin on around May 1 (usually on April 27, which is Uprising Against the Occupation Day, which is also a national holiday) and last until May 2, which is also a national holiday. There are also free days such as February 8 (Slovenian cultural festival – Prešeren Day) and Easter Monday, and other national holidays like August 15 (Feast of the Assumption) fall on school holidays and are more important to adults. Students from the last year of primary and secondary schools usually start summer holidays one week earlier due to the final exams. These holidays are valid for primary and secondary schools only and are determined by the Ministry of Schools. University students, however, have summer holidays until October 1, however the exams from spring examination period can be after 25 June and the summer examination period starts in September. Usually students have only one other holiday and that is the New Year holiday but it depends on every single college which days will be free for students. For example, in 2015, most university students also had First May holidays. Short holidays usually begin after exams and depend on how good students are at their exams or how many exams they have taken for each term. Most of the time, university students have holidays on national holidays.


title: Academic year

text: In Sweden, the school year starts around mid- or late August (September 1 at the universities). The week before All Saint's Day (taken as a Saturday around November 2) primary and secondary school students have an autumn holiday. Christmas holiday starts around December 19–20, depending on the day of the week on which Christmas Eve occurs. It usually ends some days after January 6, which is also a public holiday. In March, primary and secondary school students have one week of winter vacation; the exact week varies by location. Easter public holidays last four days from Friday to Monday. Easter school holidays are either the week preceding Easter or the week immediately following, depending on location. Primary and secondary school summer holidays last about ten weeks, starting in the second week of June.


title: Academic year

text: School holidays in the United Kingdom follow a standard pattern, with a school year of 190 days of teaching, beginning with the Autumn Term, but the exact timing varies between countries and counties. Local authorities set term dates which apply to all Community, Voluntary Controlled, Community Special Schools and Maintained Nursery Schools. Academies, Free schools, Voluntary Aided schools and Foundation schools are able to choose their own dates but many follow the same dates as the Local Authority. Although these schools can set their own term dates, they are still required to open for the same length of time. Independent private schools tend to set longer holidays than state schools.


title: Academic year

text: In England and Wales, the academic year usually runs from the first week of September of one year through to the third week of July of the following year, with the time split up into three terms. Each of these is usually divided into halves with a week-long "half-term" break between. Primary (4-11) and secondary (11–16) schools usually follow a 39-week academic year, while further (16+) and higher (18+) educational establishments often have 33 or even 36-week terms, generally with no half-term break. Oxford and Cambridge universities have shorter terms still, usually eight weeks each term.


title: Academic year

text: For English state schools, the year commences the first week of September with a half-term break (one week) at the end of October, and the first term ending the third week of December. After a two-week holiday, encompassing Christmas and New Year, the second term runs from early January to Easter and is of variable length to allow for the movable feast. There is a half-term break around mid-February and two weeks of the Easter holidays, before the third and final term starts, lasting until the third week of July. The half-term break is at the end of May and students with exams will often finish their studies at that break and take exams during June and July.


title: Academic year

text: The summer holidays last for approximately six weeks, which was for a long time thought to be in order to allow children to help with the harvest. However, as the harvest usually takes place in late September this makes little sense. The six week break was to allow the middle-classes to take longer holidays. In Scotland, the summer break is earlier because of the different day lengths and agricultural practices there.


title: Academic year

text: Private schools may follow different terms, and some self-governing academies follow different termly structures.


title: Academic year

text: Summer holidays in State schools are usually between five and seven weeks long, starting in mid-late July and ending in early September. Schools have Christmas and Easter holidays, each usually lasting about two weeks. The school year is split up into three sections: Autumn term (between Summer and Christmas); Spring term (between Christmas and Easter); and Summer term (between Easter and the Summer holiday). Roughly half-way through each term, pupils will get one week off school, known as half-term. In the Autumn term, half-term often falls the week of Halloween and close to Bonfire Night. In the Spring term, half-term tends to fall the week of Valentine's Day. In the Summer term, half-term tends to be at the end of May with students returning the first Monday of June.


title: Academic year

text: Independent schools often have longer holidays including up to 10 weeks for Summer, but often have longer school days and sometimes lessons on Saturday mornings.


title: Academic year

text: See School Holidays in England for the impact of school holidays on tourism and life for parents and others.


title: Academic year

text: In Scotland the academic year usually begins in the third week of August. In October, there are one or two weeks off, which is the half-way point between Summer and Christmas holidays. The Christmas holiday usually begins a few days before December 25 and ends a few days after January 5. There is up to a week off half-way through the Spring term and a two-week break for Easter. After Easter is Summer term and the 3rd half term break is the half-way point to the summer holidays. The summer holiday usually begins at the end of June for most pupils in primary 1–7 and secondary years 1–3. Years 4, 5, and 6 have a period of exam leave at the end of April until early June, but may return for the last few weeks before the summer holiday starts. It's usually 7–8 weeks.


title: Academic year

text: Schools in Northern Ireland have similar school holidays to those in the Republic of Ireland. Schools in Northern Ireland have shorter mid-term breaks than those in the rest of the UK and, to substitute, a longer summer holiday that includes the whole month of July and August.


title: Daryl Davis

text: Daryl Davis (born March 26, 1958) is an American R&B and blues musician and activist. His efforts to fight racism, in which, as an African American, he has engaged with members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), have convinced a number of Klansmen to leave and denounce the KKK. Known for his energetic style of boogie-woogie piano, Davis has played with such musicians as Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, B. B. King, and Bruce Hornsby.


title: Daryl Davis

text: Born in Chicago, Illinois, Davis was the son of a Department of State Foreign Service officer and moved around the world with his parents during most of his early childhood. Living in various foreign countries, including African nations, Davis grew accustomed to the casually integrated schools of foreign diplomats, where children of many nations, races, and cultures were schooled together. At the age of ten, he returned to the United States and joined an all-white Cub Scout pack in Belmont, Massachusetts. In one incident, he was carrying the flag and marching with his troop in a local parade, when he was struck with rocks and bottles thrown from the crowd, leading the pack leaders to form a protective ring around him. Davis did not understand the incident until he discussed it with his father. The irrationality of the incident, in his mind, led to a curiosity about the origins and basis for such racist attitudes, which would later shape much of his future activity.


title: Daryl Davis

text: Davis absorbed the style of blues musicians from the Mississippi Delta who had migrated north. In 1980, he earned a bachelor of music degree from Howard University, where he was a member of the Howard University Choir and Jazz Vocal Ensemble. Davis "was mentored by legendary pianists Pinetop Perkins and Johnnie Johnson, who both claimed him as their godson and praised his ability to master a piano style that was popular long before he was born", according to his Kennedy Center profile.


title: Daryl Davis

text: Davis has frequently played backup for Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis. He was a friend of Muddy Waters and played piano in The Legendary Blues Band. Davis has also performed with blues icon B. B. King.


title: Daryl Davis

text: The musician has played with artists such as Elvis Presley's Jordanaires, The Platters, The Drifters, The Coasters, Bo Diddley, Percy Sledge, and Sam Moore (of Sam & Dave).


title: Daryl Davis

text: He was awarded "Best Traditional Blues/R&B Instrumentalist" at the 2009 Washington Area Music Awards. For several years, Davis served as artistic director of the Centrum Acoustic Blues Festival.


title: Daryl Davis

text: "Davis' piano work impresses with his winning combination of technique and abandon, and his vocals are strong and assured", wrote a reviewer in "Living Blues Magazine".


title: Daryl Davis

text: Davis has worked to improve race relations by seeking out, engaging in dialogue with, and befriending members of the Ku Klux Klan. In 1983, he was playing country western music in a "white" bar in Frederick, Maryland, when a patron came up to him and said it was the first time he had "heard a black man play as well as Jerry Lee Lewis". Davis explained to the man that "Jerry Lee learned to play from black blues and boogie-woogie piano players and he's a friend of mine". The white patron was skeptical and over a drink admitted he was a member of the KKK. The two became friends and eventually the man gave Davis contact information on KKK leaders.


title: Daryl Davis

text: A few years later, Davis decided that he wanted to interview Klan members and write a book on the subject, to answer a "question in my head from the age of 10: 'Why do you hate me when you know nothing about me?' That question had never been answered from my youth".


title: Daryl Davis

text: In meeting with the Imperial Wizard of the KKK in Maryland, Roger Kelly, Davis concealed his race before the interview.


title: Daryl Davis

text: The meeting was tense. Kelly arrived at the motel with a bodyguard armed with a gun. Davis eventually became friends with Kelly and was later invited to be Kelly's daughter's godfather. When Kelly left the Klan, he gave his robe to Davis.


title: Daryl Davis

text: Davis eventually went on to befriend over twenty members of the KKK, and claims to have been directly responsible for between forty and sixty, and indirectly over two hundred people leaving the Klan. Over the course of his activities, Davis found that Klansmen have many misconceptions about black people, stemming mostly from intense brainwashing in their youth. When they got to know him, Davis claims, it was more difficult to maintain their prejudices. The artist has recounted his experiences in his 1998 book, "".


title: Daryl Davis

text: One Klansman told Davis that "All black people have a gene in them that makes them violent", based on the scientific finding that a 2-repeat MAOA gene increases the likelihood of violent activity, which was found to be most prevalent in African Americans.


title: Daryl Davis

text: Klan members have often invited Davis to meetings, and they have given him their robes and hoods. In 2016, Davis estimated having collected 25 or 26 robes. Among the "Knights of the Ku Klux Klan" he interviewed were Grand Klaliff Chester Doles, Grand Giant Tony LaRicci, and Grand Giant Bob White, according to "The Washington Post". One Klan member gave Davis a medallion stamped with the words "KKK—Member in good standing".


title: Daryl Davis

text: Davis claims to be responsible for helping to dismantle the KKK in Maryland because things "fell apart" after he began making inroads with its members there. However, since then, the KKK was rebuilt in Maryland under Richard Preston, leader of the Confederate White Knights, who was arrested for firing his gun at counterprotesters at the 2017 Unite the Right rally. Davis offered to post Preston's bail. He later took Preston to the National Museum of African American History. Shortly thereafter, he was asked to give away the bride at Preston's wedding.


title: Daryl Davis

text: "The lesson learned is: ignorance breeds fear", says Davis. "If you don't keep that fear in check, that fear will breed hatred. If you don't keep hatred in check, it will breed destruction".


title: Daryl Davis

text: Chester Doles, a member of the Klan, was convinced that Davis was a spy for the Anti-Defamation League or some other Klan-buster, and some of Davis's friends have found his fascination with the Klan to be odd. "He's attracted to controversy", says Adolph Wright, an old friend and fellow musician who believes Davis is a bit eccentric. "When the crowd goes right, he goes left", Wright told the "Post".


title: Daryl Davis

text: Davis's father, retired senior Foreign Service officer William B. Davis, believed that his son engaged with the Klan because he needed to make sense of their hatred, to seek common ground. He remarked to "The Washington Post" that his son "has done something that I don't know any other black American, or white American, has done".


title: Daryl Davis

text: In the 2016 documentary film "", Davis interacts with KKK members and white Aryans and provides contrasting views of his activities from members of the Southern Poverty Law Center and Black Lives Matter.


title: Daryl Davis

text: Daryl Davis is an official advisor to the decentralized social network Minds. He uses the platform to educate people on how to conduct civil discourse to find common ground and build tolerance.


title: Daryl Davis

text: In an interview with "Forbes", Davis said "…here [at Minds] you have an open forum where people are welcomed to bring their diverse ideas, even their beliefs, which people may not find popular and have civil discourse…the art of conversing with one another has been lost… This forum will allow people to come on there and be able to be transparent, to have conversation unlike some of the other platforms on the internet".


title: Daryl Davis

text: Davis believes education is the best remedy for curing hate: "[If] you fix the ignorance, there's nothing to fear. If there's nothing to fear, there's nothing to hate. If there's nothing to hate, there's nothing or no one to destroy".


title: Daryl Davis

text: In November 2019, Minds and Davis launched the Deradicalization Initiative to combat online extremism. In addition to workshops, meetups, and other live events, the initiative offers educational resources and ideas for promoting tolerance.


title: Daryl Davis

text: As part of the Deradicalization Initiative, Davis runs a podcast called "Changing Minds". The show covers a wide range of topics, including politics, music, and race. Guests are equally diverse and have included notable figures such as:


title: Daryl Davis

text: Davis has acted on stage, film, and television. He played a minor character in HBO's television series "The Wire". He appeared on stage in William Saroyan's "The Time of Your Life" with Marcia Gay Harden, Brigid Cleary, and Richard Bauer, and in "Elvis Mania" at an off-Broadway theater in New York City. He received positive reviews for his role in Zora Neal Hurston's "Polk County".


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: Glory is the ninth studio album by American singer Britney Spears, released on August 26, 2016, through RCA Records. After renewing her contract with RCA, Spears began work on the album in 2014. Lacking a deadline for completion, she continued work into 2015 and 2016, which, according to Spears, provided her with the opportunity to create one of her favorite albums in her catalog. Primarily a pop record, it also contains elements of R&B, EDM, and hip hop music.


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: "Glory" received critical acclaim. Music critics praised the album's production, Spears' vocal performance on the album and cited it amongst her best records. It was included on year-end lists of best albums by several publications. Though underperforming commercially compared to Spears' other albums, "Glory" debuted at number three on the "Billboard" 200, becoming Spears' ninth consecutive top five album in the United States. It topped the charts in the Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, and also peaked within the top five of charts in another 20 countries.


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: "Make Me" was released as the lead single for the record on July 15, 2016. The single debuted and peaked at number 17 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100. "Slumber Party" was released as the second single on November 16, 2016, and peaked at number 86 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100. "Glory" was further promoted with three promotional singles—"Private Show", "Clumsy", and "Do You Wanna Come Over?", which premiered in the weeks prior to the album's debut. Spears promoted the album with television appearances and televised performances, including the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards.


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: "Glory" was reissued in 2020; the standard edition was released on May 29 and the deluxe edition was released on December 4. "Mood Ring" was released as the album's third single on June 27, 2020, almost four years after the album's original release. "Swimming in the Stars" was released as the fourth single on December 2, 2020. "Matches" was released as the fifth and final single on December 18, 2020.


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: In August 2014, Spears announced she had renewed her contract with RCA Records, and that she was writing and recording new music. The recording process for the album took two and a half years and "30–40" songs were recorded for the record. Six months into the recording of the album, Spears was dissatisfied with the results. Karen Kwak was then brought onto the record as executive producer following the release of "Pretty Girls" and helped Spears find "the most fun people to write with". Kwak wanted to recall the sounds of Spears's albums "Blackout" (2007) and "In the Zone" (2003) for "Glory", and chose producers based on this. Kwak said of the album: "Britney pursued the songs she wanted to do for herself. She came up with concepts and melodies. It's her baby." In an interview with "Billboard" in March 2015, Spears said that she was working on a new album "slowly but surely."


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: In April 2015, Matthew Koma confirmed he had worked on material for the record, none of which made the final cut. In June 2015, Spears was pictured working with Sam Bruno, however, none of this material ended up on the record. In July 2015, Spears was pictured working with writers Chantal Kreviazuk and Simon Wilcox alongside producer Ian Kirkpatrick; in that same month, DJ Mustard announced that he was working on the album, later revealed to be "Mood Ring" which was recorded the previous month. Spears was also pictured working with producer Alex da Kid in July 2015, however, his contributions did not make the cut for the album. In October 2015, Spears was pictured working in the studio with Burns and Mischke. Later that month, Spears teased the title for "Just Luv Me". In November 2015, Spears was pictured working in the studio with Justin Tranter and Julia Michaels.


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: In March 2016, Spears said that she was "being more hands-on" with the album and that it is "the best thing I've done in a long time," though she noted that she did not know when the album would be finished and that she was "not rushing anything [...] so that my fans will truly appreciate it." The final track recorded for the album was "Love Me Down".


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: Since the beginning of the album's recording process, Spears insisted that she wanted to do something different with the project and take a "left turn." During a Tumblr Q&A with fans in July 2016, when asked about the style of the album, Spears responded with "I'll just say this... We really explored some new things." On August 5, she revealed in a phone-in radio interview on the segment "On Air with Ryan Seacrest" that the album "took a lot of time, but I think we brought it to a level where I was really, really happy with what I had; it's cool, it's really different [...] there are like two or three songs that go in the direction of more urban that I've wanted to do for a long time now, and I just haven't really done that."


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: On August 3, 2016, Spears unveiled the album's release date, the title and the album cover–which was a photograph taken by Randee St. Nicholas on the set of the music video for "Make Me"–and that her new song "Private Show" would be instantly made available for digital download to those who pre-ordered the album via iTunes Store. On "Most Requested Live" with Romeo, Spears revealed that it was her son who chose the title of the album. In May 2020, following a fan campaign for the album, an alternate cover—featuring Spears in a gold bathing suit in the middle of the desert—was uploaded to streaming services for the standard edition of the album. Reissued physical editions of the album also included the original album photography taken by David LaChappelle.


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: "Glory" was released on August 26, 2016. On August 3, Spears appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", pranking Jimmy Kimmel with an impromptu bedside performance of "Make Me" alongside male dancers. On August 5, Spears was interviewed for the radio program "On Air with Ryan Seacrest", where she discussed the development of the album. On August 16, Spears announced that she would be performing "Make Me" at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards. The performance was announced following the cancellation of two show dates that were initially scheduled two days prior to the awards. The performance was her first at the VMAs since her 2007 performance of "Gimme More". On August 24, Spears was interviewed on BBC's "Scott Mills". On August 25, Spears appeared on the "Carpool Karaoke" segment on "The Late Late Show with James Corden" where she sang along to "Make Me", "Oops!... I Did It Again", "Womanizer", "Toxic" and "...Baby One More Time". On August 29, the day after the VMAs, she was interviewed on the "Elvis Duran and the Morning Show" and the "Zach Sang Show". On September 1, Spears appeared for the first time in fifteen years on "Today" for an interview and to perform "Make Me" and "Do You Wanna Come Over?".


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: On September 7, 2016, Spears appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show", where she went with Ellen DeGeneres to the mall and distributed signed copies of "Glory". On September 24, Spears performed at the 2016 iHeartRadio Music Festival at the T-Mobile Arena, which aired on The CW. On September 27, Spears performed at the Apple Music Festival in London. On October 1, Spears appeared on "The Jonathan Ross Show" for an interview and to perform "Make Me", marking her first performance on British TV since 2008. On December 2, Spears performed at 102.7 KIIS FM's Jingle Ball. She received a birthday cake and performed "Slumber Party" with Tinashe. The following day, she performed at 99.7 NOW's Triple Ho Show. On December 10, Spears performed at the B96 Pepsi Jingle Bash.


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: "Glory" was reissued twice in 2020. The standard edition was reissued first on May 29, 2020. The reissue added the previously Japan-exclusive track "Mood Ring", as well as a new cover artwork. Spears announced the release on her Instagram page, acknowledging the fan demand for a new cover art. The deluxe edition was reissued on December 4 and added the new songs "Swimming in the Stars" and "Matches"—the latter being a collaboration with the Backstreet Boys—alongside remixes of "Mood Ring". This reissue also removes the Tinashe version of "Slumber Party" and uses the original album version instead.


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: "Make Me" was released as the lead single for the album on July 15, 2016. It was described as a "slinky" mid-tempo R&B song and features the vocal collaboration of American rapper G-Eazy. An accompanying music video for the single premiered on Vevo on August 5, 2016. The single debuted and peaked at number 17 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, becoming her sixth-highest debut on the chart and 34th Hot 100 entry.


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: A remix version of "Slumber Party" featuring Tinashe was released on November 18, 2016, as the second single. Its official music video also premiered the same day and has accumulated over a hundred million views on YouTube. The single debuted at number 86 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 issue dated December 10, 2016, becoming her 35th chart entry. Both "Make Me" and "Slumber Party" reached the summit of the "Billboard" Dance Club Songs chart.


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: "Mood Ring" was released to Italian radio on July 10, 2020, as the lead single from the reissue and overall third single from the album, almost four years after its release.


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: "Swimming in the Stars" was released to digital music providers as the reissue's second single and overall fourth single from the album on December 2, 2020, coinciding with Spears's 39th birthday. The release took critics by surprise, having been released amidst the #FreeBritney movement and Spears's work hiatus.


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: "Matches" was issued to contemporary hit radio in Italy on December 18, 2020, as the reissue's third single and overall fifth and final single from the album.


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: "Private Show" was released as the first promotional single along with the pre-order on August 4, 2016. The song shares the title of her then-latest fragrance. The song was written by Spears, Carla Williams, Tramaine Winfrey and Simon Smith. "Clumsy" was released as the second promotional single on August 11, 2016. The third and final promotional single "Do You Wanna Come Over?" was released on August 18, 2016.


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: "Glory" received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, the album received an average score of 71, indicating "generally positive reviews", based on 14 reviews. Sal Cinquemani from "Slant Magazine" rated the album 3.5 out of 5 stars, and called the album's sound "daring and mature", but criticized "Private Show", calling it "the album's only bona-fide misfire." In a positive review, Maura Johnston from "The Boston Globe" described the album as one with "an unbridled energy" that "operates on its own terms." Neil McCormick from "The Daily Telegraph" praised the production on the album, and noted that "every track sounds like a single". In a mixed review of the album, Jon Parales from "The New York Times" claimed that the album was "one-dimensional", but noted her as sounding like she "has emphatically returned to the foreground." Mesfin Fekadu from Associated Press noted Spears "has taken note and jumped on the bandwagon [of R&B]" but claimed that the songs were not "authentically Britney." In contrast, Nolan Feeney from "Entertainment Weekly" characterized the songs on the album as sounding "like glimpses of the real Britney—her musical tastes, her voice—imperfections and all."


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: In particular, Spears's vocals were generally praised. The "Los Angeles Times" described the vocals as a "vast improvement" over those on "Britney Jean", remarking that "the very performed nature of the singing [...] makes "Glory" such a good time." "The Boston Globe" remarked that Spears was "throwing herself fully into her vocal performance" on the album and "The New York Times" described Spears as sounding "more involved, more present, than she has in a decade." "Rolling Stone" positively compared Spears's vocals to those on "In the Zone", noting "she hasn't played around with her vocals so cleverly since the "Toxic" days." "Entertainment Weekly" described the album as "her most engaging vocally" in a decade and noted Spears as sounding "more present and enthusiastic than she has in years." In a similar sentiment, "Idolator" described Spears as sounding "more lucid, engaged and front-and-center than she's been in years." "Slant Magazine" credited Spears with a "willingness to stretch vocally and explore new sonic terrain", but also remarked that at times, this "highlight[s] her shortcomings".


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: an increase in sales as compared to her last studio album, "Britney Jean" (2013), which sold 107,000 copies in its first week. The record became Spears's tenth top five album in the nation. As of May 2020, the album has sold 157,000 copies in the United States. On the Canadian Albums Chart compiled by "Billboard", the record debuted at number four, becoming her ninth top five album in the country.


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: In the United Kingdom, "Glory" debuted at number two, becoming her highest-charting album in the country since "Blackout" (2007). In Germany, the album debuted at number three, becoming her highest-charting album there in 13 years, since the release of "In the Zone" (2003). In Italy, the album debuted at number one, becoming Spears's first album to reach the top of the Italian album chart. The album also debuted at number one in Ireland and Taiwan. In Japan, the album peaked at number 19 on the Japanese Albums chart (Oricon) selling 2,725 copies, and debuted on the "Billboard Japan" Hot Albums chart at number 33. In South Korea, the album debuted at number 26 on the Gaon Album Chart and at number three on the international version of the same chart.


title: Glory (Britney Spears album)

text: After Spears's tour in Korea, the album rebounded on the Gaon International Chart and reached the top of the chart, higher than its debut position. In Brazil, it had sold over 20,000 copies during its first day of release, according to Pro-Música Brasil. Additionally, the album also charted within the top ten of charts in various international countries.


title: Microfinance

text: Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings and checking accounts; microinsurance; and payment systems, among other services. Microfinance services are designed to reach excluded customers, usually poorer population segments, possibly socially marginalized, or geographically more isolated, and to help them become self-sufficient. ID Ghana is an example of a microfinance institution.


title: Microfinance

text: Microfinance initially had a limited definition: the provision of microloans to poor entrepreneurs and small businesses lacking access to credit. The two main mechanisms for the delivery of financial services to such clients were: (1) relationship-based banking for individual entrepreneurs and small businesses; and (2) group-based models, where several entrepreneurs come together to apply for loans and other services as a group. Over time, microfinance has emerged as a larger movement whose object is: "a world in which as everyone, especially the poor and socially marginalized people and households have access to a wide range of affordable, high quality financial products and services, including not just credit but also savings, insurance, payment services, and fund transfers."


title: Microfinance

text: Proponents of microfinance often claim that such access will help poor people out of poverty, including participants in the Microcredit Summit Campaign. For many, microfinance is a way to promote economic development, employment and growth through the support of micro-entrepreneurs and small businesses; for others it is a way for the poor to manage their finances more effectively and take advantage of economic opportunities while managing the risks. Critics often point to some of the ills of micro-credit that can create indebtedness. Many studies have tried to assess its impacts.


title: Microfinance

text: New research in the area of microfinance call for better understanding of the microfinance ecosystem so that the microfinance institutions and other facilitators can formulate sustainable strategies that will help create social benefits through better service delivery to the low-income population.


title: Microfinance

text: Over the past centuries, practical visionaries, from the Franciscan friars who founded the community-oriented pawnshops of the 15th century to the founders of the European credit union movement in the 19th century (such as Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen) and the founders of the microcredit movement in the 1970s (such as Muhammad Yunus and Al Whittaker), have tested practices and built institutions designed to bring the kinds of opportunities and risk-management tools that financial services can provide to the doorsteps of poor people.


title: Microfinance

text: The history of microfinancing can be traced back as far as the middle of the 1800s, when the theorist Lysander Spooner was writing about the benefits of small credits to entrepreneurs and farmers as a way of getting the people out of poverty. Independently of Spooner, Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen founded the first cooperative lending banks to support farmers in rural Germany.


title: Microfinance

text: The modern use of the expression "microfinancing" has roots in the 1970s when Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, founded by microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus, was starting and shaping the modern industry of microfinancing. The approach of microfinance was institutionalized by Yunus in 1976, with the foundation of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Another pioneer in this sector is Pakistani social scientist Akhtar Hameed Khan.


title: Microfinance

text: Since people in the developing world still largely depend on subsistence farming or basic food trade for their livelihood, significant resources have gone into supporting smallholder agriculture in developing countries.


title: Microfinance

text: In developing economies, and particularly in rural areas, many activities that would be classified in the developed world as financial are not monetized: that is, money is not used to carry them out. This is often the case when people need the services money can provide but do not have dispensable funds required for those services. This forces them to revert to other means of acquiring the funds.


title: Microfinance

text: In their book, "The Poor and Their Money", Stuart Rutherford and Sukhwinder Arora cite several types of needs:


title: Microfinance

text: People find creative and often collaborative ways to meet these needs, primarily through creating and exchanging different forms of non-cash value. Common substitutes for cash vary from country to country, but typically include livestock, grains, jewelry and precious metals.


title: Microfinance

text: As Marguerite S. Robinson describes in his book, "The Micro Finance Revolution: Sustainable Finance for the Poor", the 1980s demonstrated that "micro finance could provide large-scale outreach profitably", and in the 1990s, "micro finance began to develop as an industry".


title: Microfinance

text: In the 2000s, the microfinance industry's objective was to satisfy the unmet demand on a much larger scale, and to play a role in reducing poverty. While much progress has been made in developing a viable, commercial microfinance sector in the last few decades, several issues remain that need to be addressed before the industry will be able to satisfy massive worldwide demand.


title: Microfinance

text: Microfinance is the proper tool to reduce income inequality, allowing citizens from lower socio-economical classes to participate in the economy. Moreover, its involvement has shown to lead to a downward trend in income inequality.


title: Microfinance

text: Rutherford argues that the basic problem that poor people face as money managers is to gather a "usefully large" amount of money. Building a new home may involve saving and protecting diverse building materials for years until enough are available to proceed with construction. Children's schooling may be funded by buying chickens and raising them for sale as needed for expenses, uniforms, bribes, etc. Because all the value is accumulated before it is needed, this money management strategy is referred to as "saving up".


title: Microfinance

text: Often, people don't have enough money when they face a need, so they borrow. A poor family might borrow from relatives to buy land, from a moneylender to buy rice, or from a microfinance institution to buy a sewing machine. Since these loans must be repaid by saving after the cost is incurred, Rutherford calls this 'saving down'. Rutherford's point is that microcredit is addressing only half the problem, and arguably the less important half: poor people borrow to help them save and accumulate assets. However, Microfinance is not the magical solution to take people out of poverty; it is merely a tool that the poor can use to raise their prospects for an escape from poverty.


title: Microfinance

text: Most needs are met through a mix of saving and credit. A benchmark impact assessment of Grameen Bank and two other large microfinance institutions in Bangladesh found that for every $1 they were lending to clients to finance rural non-farm micro-enterprise, about $2.50 came from other sources, mostly their clients' savings. This parallels the experience in the West, in which family businesses are funded mostly from savings, especially during start-up.


title: Microfinance

text: Recent studies have also shown that informal methods of saving are unsafe. For example, a study by Wright and Mutesasira in Uganda concluded that "those with no option but to save in the informal sector are almost bound to lose some money—probably around one quarter of what they save there".


title: Microfinance

text: The work of Rutherford, Wright and others has caused practitioners to reconsider a key aspect of the microcredit paradigm: that poor people get out of poverty by borrowing, building microenterprises and increasing their income. The new paradigm places more attention on the efforts of poor people to reduce their many vulnerabilities by keeping more of what they earn and building up their assets.


title: Microfinance

text: The microfinance project of "saving up" is exemplified in the slums of the south-eastern city of Vijayawada, India. This microfinance project functions as an unofficial banking system where Jyothi, a "deposit collector", collects money from slum dwellers, mostly women, in order for them to accumulate savings. Jyothi does her rounds throughout the city, collecting Rs5 a day from people in the slums for 220 days, however not always 220 days in a row since these women do not always have the funds available to put them into savings. They ultimately end up with Rs1000 at the end of the process. However, there are some issues with this microfinance saving program. One of the issues is that while saving, clients are actually losing part of their savings. Jyothi takes interest from each client—about 20 out of every 220 payments, or Rs100 out of 1,100 or 9%. When these slum dwellers find someone they trust, they are willing to pay up to 30% to someone to safely collect and keep their savings. There is also the risk of entrusting their savings to unlicensed, informal, peripatetic collectors. However, the slum dwellers are willing to accept this risk because they are unable to save at home, and unable to use the remote and unfriendly banks in their country. This microfinance project also has many benefits, such as empowering women and giving parents the ability to save money for their children's education. This specific microfinance project is an example of the benefits and limitations of the "saving up" project.