Nueva Zelanda

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Nueva Zelanda despenaliza el aborto

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Oceanía/Nueva Zelanda/22-03-2020/Autor y Fuente: www.dw.com

Con esta nueva ley, las mujeres podrán obtener «más rápidamente consejo y tratamiento», según el gobierno.

El parlamento de Nueva Zelanda aprobó este miércoles (18.03.2020) una ley que despenaliza el aborto, que hasta ahora se podía castigar, en este país de reputación progresista, con una pena de hasta 14 años de cárcel.

Una ley aprobada en 1961 estableció que la interrupción voluntaria de un embarazo era un delito que podía llevar a la cárcel.

Aunque esa ley nunca se aplicó, el ministro de Justicia, Andrew Little, consideró que era necesario cambiarla.

«De ahora en adelante, los abortos serán considerados como una cuestión médica», explicó el ministro en un comunicado.

«Con la ley precedente, las mujeres que deseaban abortar debían superar numerosos obstáculos», recordó el ministro.

Con esta nueva ley, las mujeres podrán obtener «más rápidamente consejo y tratamiento», agregó. La nueva ley fue aprobada por 68 votos contra 51.

ct (afp, ap)

Fuente e Imagen: https://www.dw.com/es/nueva-zelanda-despenaliza-el-aborto/a-52822972

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Coronavirus: Schools told to keep staff and students recently in China away from classroom

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Oceania/ New Zealand/ 28.01.2020/ Source: www.stuff.co.nz.

 

School principals are being urged to delay the start of the school year for staff or students who have recently been to China over fears of coronavirus.

Education Secretary for the Ministry of Education, Iona Holsted said the ministry had warned school principals to «err on the side of caution» with the .

On Monday Ministry of Health officials said there was a «high likelihood» of coronavirus reaching New Zealand, with a moderate chance that it would spread when it arrives.

The new virus originated in the Chinese province of Wuhan in December and has rapidly spread to other countries, including Australia.

Cabinet is expected to make the virus a notifiable disease on Tuesday, giving public health officials the power to quarantine people suspected of infection.

Children and young people were currently returning to classrooms and the health of students and staff was a priority, Holsted said.

Official advice for principals included a list of steps to take that advised keeping students away from school if they had been in China.

«For any staff member or student who may be at high risk of exposure because they have recently been to China or have been in close contact with someone confirmed with the virus, I encourage you to ask that the staff member or parent/caregiver of the student delay the start of their school year for 14 days and voluntarily stay away.»

The advice states that anyone who was unwell should not be at school or at their early learning service and provided a number for Healthline.

If a student still attends school while showing symptoms, the principal of a state school could preclude them if they believed on reasonable grounds they may have a communicable disease, her advice said.

«The student has to stay away for the infectious period of the specific disease.»

This did not apply for private schools but principals could request that a student with an infectious disease or is suspected of having an infectious disease, did not attend.

Principals can also request that a staff member with an infectious disease or was suspected of having an infectious disease, did not attend.

Meanwhile, National Party education spokeswoman Nikki Kaye has written to the Education Minister asking about what support was in place for schools, early learning centres and tertiary institutions.

She sought the sought urgent advice on Sunday but was yet to get a response.

«Tens of thousands of international students will be arriving in New Zealand to study over the coming weeks, some of them from places which have been affected by the outbreak.

«There needs to be clear advice for host families, parents, schools and teachers about what they should do if an outbreak were to occur.»

Some schools started back on Monday and more will be starting on Tuesday and later this week.

The University of Canterbury (UC) expected «several hundred» new Chinese students to enrol in person from February 11 to 13. It was exploring late enrolments for students whose travel from China was disrupted.

The university had urged staff and students to reassess whether planned trips to China were essential and had «contingency plans» in case the situation changed, a spokeswoman said.

Kaye said: «It’s time the Government gave clear advice about will happen if this virus reaches New Zealand.»

«The Government is missing in action while the rest of the world is taking this seriously. It’s time for action.»

Source of the notice: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/119085941/coronavirus-schools-told-to-keep-staff-and-students-recently-in-china-away-from-classroom

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Nueva Zelanda multará a universidades por mal cuidado de estudiantes

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Oceanía/Nueva zelanda/17 Octubre 2019/Prensa Latina

Las universidades y politécnicos neozelandeses enfrentarán condenas, a partir de enero, si bajo su cuidado algún estudiante muere o sufre daño grave, informó hoy el Ministerio de Educación.
Bajo este nuevo Código obligatorio, que entrará en vigencia en enero de 2021, los centros de estudio deberán pagar multas de hasta 100 mil dólares.

Los cambios son en respuesta a la muerte del joven Mason Pendrous, de 19 años, cuyo cadáver permaneció sin descubrir en su habitación del albergue en la Universidad de Canterbury, durante al menos un mes.

‘La muerte reciente en una residencia de estudiantes en Christchurch expuso las limitaciones de nuestro sistema actual y se demostró que el Código de Conducta voluntario no es suficiente’, expresó el ministro de Educación, Chris Hipkins, en un comunicado difundido por Radio Nueva Zelanda.

Agregó que el gobierno trabajará para desarrollar un código más completo, pero mientras tanto se establecerá un nuevo código provisional que establezca las expectativas para el comienzo del próximo año académico.

Indicó que si bien hubo altos estándares de cuidado pastoral para estudiantes internacionales, como se establece en el Código para el Cuidado Pastoral de Estudiantes Internacionales, no se puede decir lo mismo de los estudiantes locales.

Además hizo énfasis en que las instituciones tienen el deber del cuidado pastoral y si están utilizando proveedores externos para proporcionar alojamiento a los estudiantes, aún deben asegurarse de que haya un cuidado adecuado en el lugar.

La deceso de Pendrous, que estudiaba el primer año de la licenciatura en Comercio electrónico, causó preocupación en Nueva Zelanda en torno al bienestar de los estudiantes en las residencias de las universidades.

Hasta el momento, la policía de Nueva Zelanda investiga lo que sucedió realmente con el joven, cuya causa de muerte aun no ha sido determinada.

Fuente: https://www.prensa-latina.cu/index.php?o=rn&id=312714&SEO=nueva-zelanda-multara-a-universidades-por-mal-cuidado-de-estudiantes
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New NZ digital curriculum set for 2020, are schools ready?

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Oceania/ New Zealand/ 06.07.2019/ Source: www.rnz.co.nz.

The Education Review Office last year slammed the way schools and the Education Ministry were preparing for the introduction of the new digital technologies curriculum in 2020, a just-published report shows.

It shows the office warned the ministry in December that many schools would fail to meet their obligation to start teaching the curriculum in January next year when it becomes mandatory for children in Years 1-10.

The Education Ministry told RNZ things had improved since the review office surveyed schools last year and all schools would be ready to start teaching the subject.

But the Principals’ Federation and the Auckland Primary Principals’ Association said many schools were poorly prepared.

The new curriculum includes teaching children as young as five the basic principles of computer coding.

The review office report said schools had made slower-than-expected progress toward introducing the curriculum and school leaders had indicated they needed more time and resources.

It said some schools and principals were not taking seriously their obligation to introduce the curriculum and indicated boards of trustees needed to get tough on their principals.

«The lack of commitment by some school leaders to this compulsory curriculum content is of concern. Boards of trustees should consider including a component in their principal’s appraisal focusing on meeting the obligation to implement the DT [digital technologies] curriculum content from January 2020,» the report said

It said delays in setting up a coherent support programme were to blame for much of the problem.

«Too many schools did not know about the DT curriculum content, where to find the best information, or what PLD [professional learning and development] options were available to them. Too many schools have not started to look at the DT curriculum content, and, of those that have, too few have sufficient understanding, knowledge and skills to start to implement the Digital Technology curriculum content,» the report said.

The report said only 35 percent of schools reported that both senior leaders and teachers knew about the new curriculum and their obligation to start teaching it from January 2020.

«More schools must start to engage seriously with what is required of them if they are to meet their curriculum obligations,» the report said.

The curriculum was introduced by the previous government which committed $40 million to resources and training to support it.

The ministry’s deputy secretary for early learning and student achievement, Ellen MacGregor-Reid, said the ministry improved its support for schools in light of the report and over the past 12 months momentum had grown.

«We think that all schools will be ready to start teaching the digital curriculum and that that teaching will develop over time,» Ms MacGregor-Reid said.

She said teachers were motivated to start teaching the curriculum.

«We know there’s been a growing momentum in them engaging in the supports we’re offering, 12-and-a-half-thousand teachers alone have engaged with the digital readiness programme which is just one of the supports and it’s on that basis that we’re confident that schools will be teaching the digital curriculum from next year.»

The president of the Principals’ Federation, Whetu Cormick, said some schools were not ready to start teaching aspects of the curriculum such as the skills behind computer programming.

«In some schools that won’t be happening because we won’t be ready for it. Schools will do their very, very best to put this in place and I’m sure they will be planning for that next year but we have to question will teachers actually have the skills to do it themselves in every single classroom throughout every single school,» he said.

Mr Cormick said he had doubts about the number of schools that had received training in the new curriculum.

«I know my own school hasn’t and I’ve spoken to lots of school leaders who haven’t participated in any professional development. We’ve even heard reports that they found the application process difficult and they were declined.»

Auckland Primary Principals’ Association president Heath McNeil said he was not aware of any schools that would not introduce the curriculum next year as required.

However, he said schools would have varying degrees of familiarity with the curriculum, which he said should be included in daily teaching rather than taught once-a-week as a discrete subject.

Mr McNeil said the teacher shortage and high degree of churn among staff in Auckland schools had hampered their preparations for the curriculum.

In addition, training for teachers had been under-resourced.

«A compounding factor was that the professional learning and development were contestable rather than if-you-want-it-you-get-it. So if we want two-and-a-half thousand schools to implement something, we need to resource two-and-a-half thousand schools,» he said.

Mr McNeil said the current industrial action being taken by primary and intermediate school principals who belonged to the Educational Institute (NZEI) was also affecting schools’ preparations. The principals were refusing to participate in any ministry initiatives, including training for the digital technologies curriculum.

Souce of the notice: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/395986/new-nz-digital-curriculum-set-for-2020-are-schools-ready

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David Cohen: The fall of ‘higher’ education?

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By: David Cohen.

 We live in memorable academic times. Higher education in New Zealand is on a definite downward roll

Ministry of Education figures just released show the number of domestic students has taken a significant dip, with just 8.6 percent of adult New Zealanders enrolled in tertiary education last year compared with 12.5 percent 10 years ago and around 11 percent at the turn of the century.

The biggest demographic decline has been among men, whose numbers in tertiary education have gone down from 11.3 percent in 2009 to 7 percent last year.

It wasn’t supposed to pan out like this. For the better part of 20 years now successive governments have aggressively promoted higher education as a way of improving the country’s intellectual capital and seizing the international momentum for discovering and applying new technologies.

‘It’s the knowledge economy, stupid’ or so one academic leader quipped at the time of the much-ballyhooed Knowledge Wave conference in 2001.

The trend was also not seen as being exclusively about students. Institutions of higher learning in New Zealand – especially the eight universities – have long struggled to keep their best scholars from decamping to loftier campuses in Australia, Britain and the United States. The new policy emphasis would put paid to that, too.

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University of Otago Photo: 123rf

Alas, the signs that all has not quite proceeded to plan have been in evidence for some time. Much of the new activity of recent years was about hauling in more and more new, foreign, fee-paying students rather than young locals who in any event would appear to have more of an eye these days for pursuing a trade than a degree.

And why not? A report commissioned last year by the Industry Training Federation showed apprentices earn more, buy houses and contribute to KiwiSaver earlier than their peers with bachelor’s degrees.

What’s more, according to the research from Business and Economic Research Limited, or BERL, those who enter the trades are, on average, in a better financial position for most of their lives.

Another survey conducted seven years ago suggested New Zealand degrees were among the most valueless in the OECD – a reckoning that would particularly apply, one assumes, to qualifications in many of the social sciences and media-related courses.

Embarrassing international comparisons may only be part of the story behind the latest figures. Higher education itself isn’t all it once was for employers, either.

In the United States an increasing number of companies – including IBM, Apple and Google – are now offering well-paying jobs to those with non-traditional education, which is to say, people without degrees.

Partly the move has to do with skyrocketing tuition fees but organisations are also making a point about the need for having different voices and minds rather than just those who have a conventionally dependable educational experience.

«When you look at people who don’t go to school and make their way in the world, those are exceptional human beings,» Google’s former SVP of People Operations, Laszlo Bock, told The New York Times a few years ago.

«And we should do everything we can to find those people.»

In Britain, one of the country’s biggest graduate recruiters, accountancy firm Ernst and Young, has entirely eliminated a degree classification from its hiring programmes. The firm says it has found «no evidence» of a correlation between university success and acing it as an accountant.

Will New Zealand employers follow suit? And how will academic institutions respond to the broader trend? Where will the intellectual culture be in another few years?

It sounds like something somebody should be doing a thesis on.

Source of the article: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/394522/david-cohen-the-fall-of-higher-education

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Reap: delivering more than rural education

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Oceania/ New Zealand/ 29.07.2019/ Source: www.odt.co.nz.

 

Education is needed to create a sustainable world, write Roger Browne and Mary Ann Baxter.

In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly accepted a set of 17 goals to be achieved globally by 2030.

These are referred to as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and encompass the physical and social world we inhabit.

The full details are available at sustainabledevelopment.un.org.

Among these goals are many which will be familiar to New Zealanders.

Goal number 12, responsible consumption and production, envisages a world where repurposing and recycling will replace our «throw-away» habits. Avoiding food waste will not just avoid food going to landfills but, through appropriate adjustments to production and distribution, will assist in alleviating hunger.

Energy-efficient appliances will, on a global scale, assist in limiting carbon emissions. Planting trees will support the restoration of native habitats and biodiversity.

Avoiding plastic bags will help protect life in the oceans.

Goal number 13, climate action, states: «Educate young people in climate change to put them in a sustainable path early on.»

What will drive the achievement of the SDGs at the local level?

One key element is education. In rural New Zealand one of the most effective vehicles to deliver that education is the Reap (Rural Education Activities Programme).

There are 13 Reaps in New Zealand, including one in Central Otago. Our local Reap, based in Alexandra, services an area stretching from Makarora in the west to the outskirts of Dunedin, and up into the Maniototo. The Central Otago Reap was formed 40 years ago.

So much has changed in that time. The world population has grown by 75% and the global inflation-adjusted GDP has grown by a factor of almost three. With economic growth comes the growth of waste and the production of carbon emissions.

Globally, waste production is forecast to triple by the end of the century in the absence of any measures to counter this trend.

The United Nations’ SDGs seek to ensure economic growth is channelled towards wellbeing and away from waste.

Achieving this will require buy-in from all sectors of society.

If economic activities continue to be linked to the production of waste then society faces a bleak future.

Understanding the need for change involves education on a broad scale.

Some of this can be driven by central government (for instance, through changes in school curricula) and by local government (for instance, through supporting community-based recycling facilities).

Alongside this, partnerships with education providers at the local level have proven very effective.

Such partnerships have enabled and supported the Central Otago Reap’s well-established track record in initiating and embedding educational programmes on sustainable living across our local community.

The 17 SDGs are central to the way in which the Reap delivers all of its programmes.

Activities such as Plastic Free July are indicative of how Reap’s skilled communicators can be seen to have endorsed and implemented the SDGs ever since our partnership was initiated in 2006.

Skilled communicators in subjects supporting the sustainable development goals are to be valued.

Their message is vital to our future wellbeing.

We live in a part of the country where our regional identity is «A World of Difference».

Our belief that we can and are making a difference together at the local level is vital to our future wellbeing.

Source of the notice: https://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/reap-delivering-more-rural-education

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New Zealand: Education Minister Chris Hipkins refuses ‘crisis’ meeting with ECE groups

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Oceania/ New Zealand/ 09.07.2019/ Source: www.rnz.co.nz.

Four groups representing early childhood centres and kindergartens are seeking an urgent meeting with Education Minister Chris Hipkins.

The Early Childhood Council, Te Rito Maioha, New Zealand Kindergartens and Montessori Aotearoa New Zealand said services were struggling to survive because of chronic underfunding and a shortage of qualified teachers.

The chief executive of the Early Childhood Council, Peter Reynolds, said early childhood centres were in a financial crisis and the 1.8 percent increase to subsidies included in the most recent government Budget was nowhere near enough.

«We’ve had over a decade of cuts, 1.8 percent just really doesn’t do it though we’re grateful for anything we can get, but you’ve got services going to the wall,» Mr Reynolds said.

«I’ve got centres where the owner-operator of the business hasn’t taken any drawings out of their business for the last several years at least. I’ve got centres where one person’s telling me as the centre manager that she’s earning less than the maintenance person.»

Mr Reynolds said his organisation and three others, Te Rito Maioha, New Zealand Kindergartens and the Montessori Association had asked the Education Minister, Chris Hipkins, for an urgent meeting without Ministry of Education staff present.

«We want to talk to the minister directly, we want to have an off-the-record conversation and we want to get a very clear idea about what the minister has proposed to do and by when.»

Mr Reynolds said early childhood services needed to see a light at the end of the tunnel and it needed to be realistic.

Services could not simply make more money by increasing their fees because many parents could not afford to pay more for early childhood education, he said.

Mr Reynolds said the minister had turned down the request for a meeting and asked for further information, which was highly disappointing.

Mr Hipkins said he had asked for a detailed breakdown of key issues «as a means of facilitating further talks».

He said the government had increased early childhood subsidies by 1.6 percent this year and 1.8 percent next year, which was significantly more than the sector had received since 2009.

Mr Hipkins said the ministry did not hold figures on the early learning workforce but there was «a clear tightening of teacher supply».

But the chief executive of Te Rito Maioha, which represents several hundred services, Kathy Wolfe, said government had not done enough to deliver on pre-election promises such as raising the minimum number of teachers required to work with children under the age of two, and re-introducing a higher rate of funding for services where all teachers were qualified, registered teachers.

Ms Wolfe said early childhood services felt the government had put them in a holding pattern and many were struggling while they waited for things to improve.

«We have had members closing their centres over the last few years due to the financial crisis,» she said.

Ms Wolfe said many centres had used their financial reserves and the government needed to significantly improve subsidies for the sector.

«Just to meet the shortfall of funding from the last seven years we need the government to inject 7 percent into the sector just to catch up, that’s about $130 million.»

The owner of six early childhood centres, Maria Johnson, said the entire sector was struggling and one of the biggest problems was a shortage of qualified teachers.

«We are really struggling at the moment with a number of things, particularly the massive, massive shortage of teachers in the sector, not just the qualified teachers but teachers with a real understanding of our early childhood curriculum,» she said.

«Our staff just aren’t paid what they should be getting paid.»

Ms Johnson said the sector was badly under-funded and some centres had been forced to close while her own centres had increased their fees.

The government needed to increase subsidies in a way that ensured the money went to teachers’ pay and to improving the quality of education, she said.

Many people in early childhood had hoped a Labour-led government would make significant changes but that had not happened yet, she said.

Education Ministry figures showed 83 early childhood services closed last year and 82 closed in 2017, an increase in the roughly 50 a year that closed in most of the preceding years.

Meanwhile, the number of new services last year reached its lowest point since 2007 at 146.

Source of the notice: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/393873/education-minister-chris-hipkins-refuses-crisis-meeting-with-ece-groups

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