El Ministro para la Educación Universitaria, Ciencia y Tecnología, Hugbel Roa sostuvo un encuentro con la delegación de Rusia en la XIII reunión de la Comisión Intergubernamental de Alto Nivel en Sochi, para fortalecer la relación bilateral en cuanto a Educación se trata.
En la comisión diplomática también participan los ministros Vladimir Padrino López y Wilmar Castro Soteldo, titulares de la cartera de Defensa y Agricultura Productiva respectivamente, busca consolidar alianzas estratégicas de desarrollo integral en las áreas de agricultura, industria, ciencia, tecnología, minería defensa y salud, informó la Cancillería venezolana a través de su cuenta oficial en Twitter.
En ese sentido, Castro Soteldo informó que fueron presentados productos que son considerados para la exportación en el marco del encuentro de la Comisión Intergubernamental de Alto Nivel (CIAN) Rusia-Venezuela.
Resumen: El estudio terciario gratuito y un nuevo aumento de la asignación estudiantil podrían crear un «incentivo perverso» para que las personas se inscriban sin intención de estudiar, advierte National.
Eso se debió a que con un aumento de $ 50 por semana anunciado recientemente a la asignación de estudiantes, la asignación ya no estaba vinculada al beneficio de búsqueda de empleo, superando en un 23 por ciento.
Pero el Gobierno dice que ha llevado a cabo el trabajo y confía en que cualquier riesgo de que eso suceda «estará en los márgenes» y desaparecerá rápidamente, con consecuencias para cualquiera que lo haya probado.
Free tertiary study and a new increase to the student allowance could create a «perverse incentive» for people to enrol with no intention of studying, warns National.
That was because with a recently-announced $50 per week increase to the student allowance, the allowance was no longer pegged to the jobseeker benefit – outstripping it by 23 per cent.
But the Government says it’s carried out the work and is confident that any risk of that occurring would «be at the margins» and weeded out quickly, with consequences for anyone who tried it.
GETTY IMAGES
National’s tertiary education spokesman Paul Goldsmith says the Government has left it’s free tertiary study policy open for exploitation if it’s not careful. It needs to justify how it will protect public funds from being rorted.
From January 1, 2018, student allowance base rates and the maximum amount students can borrow for living costs will rise by a net $50 a week.
Where the allowance rate reflected the living costs of two adults, the increase would be $100 net a week. The Accommodation Benefit was also scheduled to rise by $20 a week in 2018, to a maximum of $60 a week.
National says Labour’s planned boost to the student allowance makes it vulnerable to exploitation by people on the jobseeker’s benefit. They’re warning that decoupling the allowance from benefit levels creates an incentive for beneficiaries to sign-up for tertiary education, even if they have no intention to study. But the New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations says this is incorrect, because comparing the student allowance to the jobseeker’s benefit doesn’t show the whole picture. National’s Tertiary Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith joins me in the Auckland studio.
The moves were part of the Government’s 100-Day Plan.
National tertiary education spokesman Paul Goldsmith said the increase, combined with free tertiary study, could leave the door open for the policy to be exploited by some who would see easy cash.
«While all Kiwis would like to see unemployed New Zealanders engaging in genuine study, decoupling student allowances from benefit levels opens the system to abuse.
SIMON EDWARDS/FAIRFAX NZ
Education Minister Chris Hipkins says students will not be to exploit the Government’s free tertiary policy. If students don’t pass, they will be required to pay.
«With all tertiary courses free from next year, what’s to stop any sensible beneficiary taking advantage and enrolling in study in order to pocket an extra $50 a week,» he said.
The student allowance entitlement for a single person 24 years and over without children was $212.45 per week, matching the jobseeker support entitlement for single people 25 years and over without children.
The $50 increase to the allowance, however, meant a person in this category would soon receive $262.45 – 23.5 per cent more than if they remained on the jobseeker benefit.
«Student allowances have previously been pegged to the jobseeker benefit so there wouldn’t be any perverse incentives for people to enrol in tertiary study even if they had no intention of studying,» said Goldsmith.
«But now that’s all changed, and the zero-fees policy will make it worse. It’s like having a new super jobseeker benefit with no strings attached.»
The Government had to explain the measures it would take to prevent that from happening.
Education Minister Chris Hipkins said it was an issue the Government had been careful to do its homework on.
«We looked at all of the different mitigations in place to ensure that people don’t switch and we’re pretty confident we’ve got enough safeguards in place that any kind of behaviour like that would be at the absolute margins.
«And it would frankly be a very foolish person who did that, because they would lose any eligibility for future support if they did that, and those were under the rules introduced by the National Government actually.»
Hipkins said they were «reasonably sensible» rules, ensuring students passed enough of their courses to retain their study benefits. A pass rate of 50 per cent was required.
«So if someone sets out to basically rort the system, they’ll be clamped down on pretty quick and then they’ll lose their ability to access the system any further.»
Another rule that applied – also introduced by the National Government – was that tertiary providers could lose funding for «non-completions».
«And I think that they would be very mindful of enrolling people who are not taking their education seriously,» said Hipkins.
«Because they’re not going to want to have that impacted upon their performance statistics.»
But if a «modest increase» in student support was what tipped people into furthering their education and coming off a jobseeker benefit, «that’s a good thing», said Hipkins.
Labour’s pre-election costings, which were verified by BERL, put the cost of the policy at $340m per year, along with $270m per year for the boosts to student support.
It plans to release the up-to-date costing of the plan this coming week. Student debt has surpassed $15 billion in New Zealand.
Panamá/Noviembre de 2017/Autor: Adiel Bonilla/Fuente: Panamá América
El Gobierno Central y el Ministerio de Educación (Meduca) mantienen una «deuda millonaria con los docentes», incumpliendo abiertamente acuerdos pactados.
Así lo denunció a Panamá América, Diógenes Sánchez, vocero de la Asociación de Profesores de la República de Panamá (Asoprof).
Según el dirigente gremial, solamente a los docentes de premedia multigrado y de telebásica, se les adeuda más de 2 millones de dólares.
A esto habría que sumarle las deudas de viáticos a educadores de áreas de difícil acceso, el atraso en el pago de ascensos de categoría y de vigencias expiradas.
«Yo calculo que la deuda total debe estar por encima de los 5 millones de dólares», estimó el profesor Sánchez.
En medio de este panorama, el dirigente afirmó que existe indignación entre las bases de docentes, frente al discurso de las autoridades de Educación, que redundan en excusas para justificar el pago de la deuda.
«El Gobierno insiste en tratar de limpiar su imagen, pero en la práctica hay una gran inconformidad y descontento entre los docentes, que sienten que el Meduca ha incumplido con los compromisos», señaló.
«El asunto no es negociar y buscar acuerdos… porque eso ya lo hemos hecho. El punto es que el Gobierno y las autoridades educativas nos mienten y no cumplen la palabra empeñada», lamentó Sánchez.
Poca inversión
Otra promesa incumplida es el incremento del porcentaje del producto interno bruto (PIB) que se dedica a la educación en Panamá.
El año pasado, diversos gremios docentes exigieron al Gobierno que se cumpliera con el 6% del PIB en educación, como lo establece la legislatura vigente.
Pero, Asoprof denunció que un informe reciente del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo revela que actualmente el Estado panameño solo invierte 3.3% del PIB en educación.
«Hay una tarea pendiente», reaccionó Héctor Cotes, presidente de la Asociación Panameña de Ejecutivos de Empresa (Apede), quien recordó que países de la región están invirtiendo arriba del 5%.
Y aunque el estudio señala que el Estado panameño está incrementando sus recursos para educación, agrega que es necesario garantizar que este esfuerzo se traduzca en mayor calidad y cobertura.
En este sentido, la organización Unidos por la Educación calificó como «inaceptable» la tasa de egreso de secundaria que hay en Panamá.
Según la agrupación, el país no va a progresar como debería, mientras tengamos solamente 9.5 años de escolaridad, en promedio.
Las cifras y las comparaciones son evidentes: el 30% más pobre cuenta solo con 5 años de escolaridad, mientras que el 10% más rico tiene 14 años.
Asoprof advirtió que de mantenerse este panorama, el inicio del próximo año escolar estará marcado por protestas y hasta una posible paralización de labores.
Visión País 2025
Informe
La Asociación Panameña de Ejecutivos de Empresa (Apede) publicó su segundo informe Visión País 2025, en el que destaca que el pilar educativo en Panamá sigue mostrando deficiencias.
Tiempo de clases
En el ramo educativo, en el último quinquenio los “días clases” han aumentado a 42. Pero, para Apede esta cifra todavía sigue corta, si se toma en cuenta que el objetivo propuesto es llegar a 48 días.
Competitividad
La Visión País 2025 también se refiere al Índice de Competitividad Global del Foro Económico Mundial de 2016, en el que se muestra un retroceso en el “ranking” de Panamá, descendiendo 14 posiciones, con malas calificaciones para Matemáticas y Ciencia.
Miércoles, 29 noviembre 2017 – 8:00am – Viernes, 1 diciembre 2017 – 6:00pm
Dónde:
Argentina, Cordoba
Tipo de evento:
Meeting by Member States or Institutions
Contacto:
Andrés Morales, a.morales@unesco.org
Los miembros de la Coalición latinoamericana y caribeña de Ciudades contra el Racismo, la Discriminación y la Xenofobia se reunirán en Córdoba, Argentina, en el marco de la reunión de Mercociudades, del 29 de noviembre al 1º de diciembre de 2017.
La reunión será coorganizada por la UNESCO, la Intendencia de Montevideo (IMM) y el Centro Internacional para el Avance de los Derechos Humanos (ICAHR) de Argentina.
En el marco de la iniciativa de la UNESCO para crear una Coalición Internacional de Ciudades Inclusivas y Sostenibles, la coalición regional latinoamericana y caribeña se creó del 25 al 27 de octubre de 2006 en Montevideo, Uruguay, con motivo del Foro de Alcaldes Iberoamericanos Montevideo, celebrada justo antes de la Cumbre de Jefes de Estado y de Gobierno.
Montevideo ha asumido el papel de “ciudad líder” para la región y desde el inicio de esta iniciativa ha participado activamente en su coordinación y organización.
Resumen: Tanto los críticos de la tecnología como los defensores argumentan que los empleos humanos se están eliminando mediante la automatización del lugar de trabajo, lo que minimiza la necesidad de interacción humana.
Otra forma de verlo es que la tecnología emergente está aumentando nuestra capacidad para enfocar nuestras energías colectivas en las demandas sociales, culturales, éticas y emocionales de nuestro mundo en rápida transformación.
Todo, desde los teléfonos inteligentes hasta las ciudades inteligentes, nos está liberando para preocuparnos más por los demás y comprometer más recursos para transformar las partes de nuestras sociedades y economías donde persisten las necesidades y las desigualdades.
La automatización crea nuevas oportunidades para privilegiar, valorar y desarrollar la interacción humana, las habilidades interpersonales y nuestra comprensión mutua y apreciación por las personas.
Technology critics and defenders alike argue that human jobs are being eliminated by workplace automation, minimizing the need for human interaction.
Another way to see it is that emerging tech is increasing our capacity to focus our collective energies — on the social, cultural, ethical and emotional demands of our rapidly changing world.
Everything from smart phones to smart cities are freeing us up to care more for others and to commit more resources to transforming the parts of our societies and economies where need and inequities persist.
Automation creates new opportunities to privilege, value and grow human interaction, soft skills and our mutual understanding of and appreciation for people.
Supporting the well-being of Canadians
Canada is well positioned here. The country began long ago to shift away from manufacturing in favour of a service-based economy.
Today, as more and more baby boomers reach retirement age, health care is one of the fastest growing industries. Economic powerhouses like education, public administration, retail, finance, real estate and communications continue to grow. Service industries represent more than 70 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) and this share will only increase over time.
Ludwig, a two-foot-tall robot, was created by University of Toronto researchers to engage people with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Michelle Siu)
The implication, then, is that the country’s present and future depend very much on our ability to understand and meet the needs of people. This means investing in the research, education and skills training opportunities that support the well-being of Canadians.
Here again Canada is headed in the right direction. Earlier this year, Canada’s Fundamental Science Review Panel submitted its final report to Minister of Science Kirsty Duncan, on the state of basic and applied research.
The study identified gaps in the country’s research ecosystem and made recommendations to enhance Canada’s investigator-led research capacity. The panel’s remit was broad, examining research inquiry and apparatus in science, technology, engineering and math through to health sciences, social sciences and humanities.
Much of the debate that followed has focused on where and how to spend federal research dollars to improve the country’s knowledge production, innovation capacity and path to prosperity.
More of the debate needs to focus on why Canada must invest in research for end-users in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors without shortchanging teaching, learning and skills development.
The challenge of serving others
To build research capacity we need to build skills, training and knowledge translation capacity. The three go hand in hand.
The real and potential economic and social value of research carried out in Canada’s post-secondary education institutions is not well understood or communicated to the various stakeholder groups that stand to benefit.
It is not well understood, for example, that research funding distributed through our federal granting agencies is contributing to the training and skills development of undergraduate and graduate students involved in research.
Or that the toughest tasks these future workers will face won’t be technical, but interpersonal — working with, understanding and serving others.
Automation frees time and resources to invest in societal challenges such as affordable housing. Here homeless people pitch tents in Victoria’s wealthy Oak Bay in 2017 to draw attention to housing shortages for disadvantaged people across British Columbia.(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Dirk Meissner)
Canada’s research community must do more to translate and transfer the practical benefits of its work. And, alas, there’s no easy way to automate the process.
Emotional labour is key to growth
What this means for now is that we’re undermining our own potential to address complex challenges — social, scientific or otherwise — to innovate and allocate our resources. School boards, universities, polytechnics and colleges all have important roles to play. So do employers.
Studies of employers, human resources staff and job databases have shown steadily growing demand over the past 35 years for soft skills, social skills or what one writer for Aeon magazine recently called “emotional labour.”
In economic terms, these skills are the key to productivity and growth in the service industries. Which is why the time and money that technology saves us must be reinvested — in cultivating, contextualizing, communicating with and caring for people.
There will soon be an algorithm to diagnose your health problem, a driverless air taxi to take you to the hospital and a robot to perform surgery on you, while post-op or palliative care will be handled by a team of sociable machines.
If we under-invest in the research and training that support the development of social, emotional and communication skills in relentless pursuit of research commercialization or bigger and better robots, we’ll miss the crucial opportunity that new technology affords us.
Canada might up end making better things, not making things better.
Japón/Noviembre de 2017/Autor: Iwashige Yoshiharu/Fuente: Nippon
Resumen: Nada puede ser más importante para los jóvenes que el deseo de aprender. Sin embargo, hay muchos casos en que las becas destinadas a apoyar el aprendizaje pueden convertirse en una gran carga financiera después de la graduación debido a la necesidad de comenzar a reembolsar los préstamos estudiantiles. La carga de amortización puede reducir el entusiasmo por el trabajo y afectar las decisiones sobre el matrimonio y el parto. Incluso los beneficiarios de becas públicas ofrecidas por la Organización de Servicios Estudiantiles de Japón han sufrido las consecuencias negativas de los préstamos estudiantiles.
Scholarships Risk Aggressive Debt Collection
Nothing can be more important for young people than the desire to learn. There are many cases, however, when scholarships intended to support learning can become a great financial burden after graduation because of the need to start repaying student loans. The repayment burden can dampen enthusiasm for work and affect marriage and childbirth decisions. Even the recipients of public scholarships offered by the Japan Student Services Organization have been suffering from the negative consequences of student loans.
Students seeking loan-based scholarships are rising rapidly due to the high cost of education and the difficulty many families have of paying tuition. Many students now graduate with debt of several million yen and must start their working careers with excess liabilities. With the growth of low-wage, nonregular employment, people cannot afford to pay back their loan-based scholarships. In response, JASSO is strengthening its debt collection efforts, such as by placing people on blacklists, assigning collection to external agencies, and initiating court-mediated summary procedures. Many people will consequently be driven into a corner no matter how hard they work.
Relief Measures That Do Not Provide Relief
Loan-based scholarships differ from other types of loans in that they are extended while future employment and income are unknown, meaning that there is an inherent risk of loan delinquency. Inasmuch as they are a form of scholarship, relief measures should be built into the system to address cases when delinquency occurs. Unfortunately, existing relief measures are extremely inadequate.
For example, people experiencing difficulty repaying a JASSO loan because their annual income is less than ¥3 million can have the repayment period suspended. This measure, however, only applies for 10 years. Once 10 years have passed, the measure cannot be used even if annual income remains very low. Limitations in how the relief measure is applied are another problem. When people are delinquent, they must resolve their delinquency before they can take advantage of the relief measure, such as by paying the entire amount of late charges and principal payments in arrears. These people, however, are delinquent because they are unable to repay their loan; it makes no sense to offer relief only to those who end their delinquency.
Such application of relief measures has been criticized repeatedly for some time. In April 2014, JASSO extended the suspension of repayment in cases when the borrower’s annual income was less than ¥2 million. In December of the same year, however, JASSO restricted the use of this new measure. It stated that delinquency will not be suspended for people who have gone to court or for people who claim that the statute of limitations applies to part of the repayment obligation. It is unreasonable to restrict relief for people with financial difficulties just because they have taken their case to court or claim that the statute of limitations has run out; they have every right to do so. JASSO states, moreover, that whether or not such relief measures are applied is at its discretion and is not a right of the scholarship recipients. Giving such discretionary powers to the lender will strip the relief measures of their meaning.
Expanding Grants and Interest-Free Scholarships
Clearly, JASSO loans are scholarships in name only. Many of the people suffering from the repayment burden are victims of circumstances beyond their control.
The negative consequences of such “scholarships” cannot be prevented with efforts by individuals alone. The entire system needs to be overhauled. I advocate the following reforms:
Educational expenses that are extremely high compared to other nations should be reduced.
Grants should be expanded.
Loan-based scholarships should be made interest free.
Repayment should be made flexible in line with repayment capacity.
Some Progress Achieved
While the scholarship system has many problems, the influence of public opinion has resulted in some steps toward improving the system.
First, grant scholarships without a repayment requirement were finally introduced in fiscal 2017—a first for government scholarships. Eligible students are those facing difficulties pursuing higher education, such as those raised in children’s homes and children from low-income, tax-exempt households. This scholarship, however, is extremely limited in scope. There are only about 20,000 recipients per academic grade, who will still need to take out loans since monthly stipends are between ¥20,000 and ¥40,000. They also need to maintain high grades to qualify. Children raised in difficult circumstances frequently do not have a supportive studying environment. Having such a standard will severely limit the effectiveness of the scholarship. Also, repayment may be demanded when grades are poor. This standard, however, is vague, and it is possible that people will not apply for the scholarship out of fear of the potential repayment burden. While the introduction of a grant scholarship is a step forward, its design still has many flaws.
Second, new efforts have been made for interest-free loans. JASSO scholarships can be either interest bearing or interest free. The pool of funds for interest-free scholarships is limited, however, so students who qualify may still be unable to receive them. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology has stated that, starting in the current fiscal year, all qualifying students desiring interest-free scholarships will be able to receive them. The ministry reports that so-called residual qualifiers total 24,000 students, a figure that many educators feel is too low. Income and grade standards for interest-free loans have been tightened, which has greatly reduced the number of residual qualifiers; the 24,000 figure of should be understood with this in mind.
Third, a repayment plan adjusted for income has been introduced. In fiscal 2017, a new scholarship system was introduced where monthly repayments are adjusted for income. The design of this system, however, falls short of its objective since, based on the rationale of a limited budget, tax-exempt persons, including those with zero income, are still required to make monthly payments of ¥2,000. While repayment can be suspended for people with low incomes, the problems associated with relief measures discussed above have not been fully addressed. Also, the issue of smaller monthly payments lengthening the repayment period has not been addressed. Another problem is the income used to determine monthly payments, which is the sum of the income of the scholarship recipient and the income of the household breadwinner who is not a party to the scholarship agreement.
Supporting Education with the Whole of Society
Policymakers claim there are no funds available for scholarships. The real issue, then, may be the extremely limited funds that are allocated for education in Japan. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reports that the ratio of public educational expenditures to GDP, which averages 5.4% for all member nations, is just 3.6% for Japan—a figure that falls to 0.5% for higher education, the lowest figure among member nations. This reality stems from the mistaken application of the beneficiary-pays principle, where people receiving an education bear its costs. Education, however, is not just meant for the individual. It also benefits society as a whole. As things stand, students must take out large loans to pay for their education depending on their parents’ financial situation. This goes against the principle that “all people shall have the right to receive an equal education” stipulated in Japan’s Constitution and cannot be called fair.
There is an urgent need to allocate a level of funds for education similar to other OECD nations and to begin a national dialogue on the infrastructure needed to support the development and education of children and young people.
Resumen: La reciente controversia sobre la presencia o ausencia de tabaco en las películas nos ha recordado: los ciudadanos son blanco de múltiples estrategias de influencia de actores privados y públicos. Estos utilizan las palancas de las ciencias del comportamiento para crear o fomentar la búsqueda de conductas adictivas. Pero estos amenazan la salud física y mental de los usuarios y complican las políticas de salud pública, como las basadas en la prevención.
Si el conocimiento de los fundamentos de la cognición humana tiene un interés colectivo positivo pero es éticamente perturbador, también tiene un interés individual, permitiendo que el ciudadano iniciado se proteja de las influencias de las que es objetivo y controle mejor su vida.
La récente polémique sur la présence ou non du tabac dans les films l’a rappelé : les citoyens sont la cible de multiples stratégies d’influence des acteurs privés et publics. Ceux-ci utilisent les leviers des sciences du comportement pour créer ou encourager la poursuite de comportements addictifs. Or ceux-ci menacent la santé physique et mentale des usagers et compliquent les politiques de santé publique, comme celles basées sur la prévention.
Si la connaissance des fondamentaux de la cognition humaine présente un intérêt collectif positif mais inquiétant éthiquement, elle présente également un intérêt individuel, en permettant au citoyen initié de se prémunir contre les influences dont il est la cible et de mieux maîtriser sa vie.
Les sciences du comportement offrent aujourd’hui les véritables clés de l’influence
Tout le monde cherche à influencer le comportement d’autrui : un parent qui apprend la politesse à son enfant, une entreprise qui souhaite inciter à consommer son produit, un gouvernement qui veut inciter à l’épargne. Les individus disposent partout dans le monde de connaissances empiriques et partielles des stratégies d’influence du comportement, du simple magicien de rue aux plus grands stratèges. Dans L’Art de la guerre, partant du principe que « ce qui est familier n’attire pas l’attention », Sun Tzu établit que « provoquer insensiblement le changement est préférable à l’annoncer ». Il suggérait qu’il était préférable de « cacher dans la lumière », car il est plus facile de dissimuler là où on s’y attend le moins.
Mais les sciences du comportement, en théorisant ces phénomènes, offrent aujourd’hui les véritables clés de l’influence. Par exemple, les sciences cognitives ont largement étudié le phénomène de cécité attentionnelle, cette faille cognitive qui peut être exploitée lorsqu’on agence des produits en rayon ou lorsqu’on formate un choix entre plusieurs options.
OtrasVocesenEducacion.org existe gracias al esfuerzo voluntario e independiente de un pequeño grupo de docentes que decidimos soñar con un espacio abierto de intercambio y debate.
¡Ayúdanos a mantener abiertas las puertas de esta aula!
Users Today : 14
Total Users : 35474916
Views Today : 21
Total views : 3575042