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Australia: Why does the Carmichael coal mine need to use so much water?

Noticias

Australia/ Abril del 2017/Noticias/https://theconversation.com/

 

From accidental water spills into coastal wetlands, to proposed taxpayer-funded loans, Adani’s planned Carmichael coal mine and the associated Abbot Point coal terminal can’t keep out of the news at the moment.

Last week, the granting of an unlimited 60-year water licence to the Carmichael mine, in Queensland’s Galilee Basin, rattled environmentalists, farmers and community groups alike.

In a region experiencing prolonged drought conditions, the provision of unlimited water for one of the largest mining operations in the Southern Hemisphere seems like a commitment at odds with current climate predictions. The decision has also prompted a raft of wider questions about the industry’s water use.

Why do coal mines need so much water?

Underground coal mines rely on water to reduce the hazard of fires or explosion, by using it to cool the cutting surfaces of mining equipment and prevent coal dust from catching fire.

Water also helps to manage dust produced during the processing stage, when coal is crushed and ground. Coal is then transported through pipelines as a water-based slurry for further processing.

Mines also need water for things like equipment maintenance, and for consumption by the mining communities themselves.

In total, about 250 litres of freshwater are required per tonne of coal produced. This freshwater makes up around a quarter of the total water demand during coal production, the rest being “worked” (recycled) water.

What other industries use lots of water?

The Great Artesian Basin is one of the largest underground water reservoirs in the world. It underlies 22% of Australia’s land area, beneath the arid and semi-arid parts of Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Its aquifers supply water to around 200 towns or settlements, most of which are allowed to draw between 100 and 500 million litres (ML) per year.

The Great Artesian Basin covers almost a quarter of Australia. Tentotwo/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

The Great Artesian Basin underpins A$12.8 billion of economic activity annually, according to a 2016 report commissioned by the federal government. Almost all of this is from mining and coal seam gas (A$8 billion) and livestock farming (A$4.7 billion).

In Queensland, mining and industry hold just over 1% (by number) of the water licences linked to the Great Artesian Basin but account for 10% of the water extracted. Coal seam gas accounts for a further 22% of water, with no licensing required. In contrast, livestock production accounts for 88% of water licences but just 46% of the extracted water.

The Carmichael mine’s 12,000ML forecasted use (equivalent to 4% of the water extracted from the Great Artesian Basin in Queensland last year) would put it alongside the biggest annual users of Great Artesian Basin water, such as the Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine in South Australia, which currently draws 10,000ML each year.

Why does Adani need unlimited water anyway?

According to the company’s own modelling, the Carmichael mine’s annual freshwater use is projected to peak at just over 12,000ML – or roughly 13 Olympic swimming pools per day.

Despite these estimates, the water licence granted to Adani puts no limit on the water it can take from the Great Artesian Basin. However, it calls for regular monitoring of water levels, quality and flow in each aquifer that is tapped.

Unlike other controversial Queensland mining projects, such as the New Acland coal mine, Adani’s water licence application was exempted from public scrutiny, courtesy of a November 2016 amendment to the existing laws.

Water licences usually specify the total amount, and/or the daily rate, of groundwater that can be taken. Changes to a water licence to increase the amount of water must be assessed like a new application and pass public scrutiny. But with an unlimited licence, there is no need for Adani to apply for a new licence if they need more water than originally predicted.

What are the environmental effects of industrial-scale water usage on the basin?

Despite a net yearly decrease of 286,000ML in the water stored within the Great Artesian Basin, it is in no danger of running dry. The past 120 years of exploitation have used up less than 0.1% of the water stored.

The real issue is water pressure. Flows from artesian bores are now roughly half what they were in 1915. Since then, the water level in some bores has fallen by as much as 80 metres, and a third of bores have stopped flowing altogether. This directly affects the human, plant and animal communities that rely on artesian water.

Because of their isolation, the natural springs of the Great Artesian Basin are home to many unique plant and animal species. Desert springs are particularly vulnerable to declining water pressure, and many spring habitats have been irreversibly damaged by invasive species, excavation, livestock, industrial activity and even tourists.

An oasis in South Australia’s arid interior. Tandrew/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA

Can mining industries be more water-wise?

Recycled water is an integral part of coal mining, but it contains salt, added in the dust-management stage, which can leave the water unusable for certain processes. Nevertheless, a recent study suggests that Queensland coal mines could cut their freshwater use by 62% simply by using recycled water for processes that are not sensitive to salt levels. Diluting salty recycled water could also reduce freshwater use by 50%, and cut water costs by 40%.

Untreated seawater is perhaps the most sustainable water of all, although transporting it from coast to mine costs energy and therefore money. Its saltiness also creates chemical challenges during coal and uranium processing.

Another option to address climate-induced water challenges might be for mines to share water allocations.

Where do we go from here?

Understandably, there is significant concern that Adani’s unlimited licence will allow the mine to draw more water than predicted. Should the mine go ahead, it is important that the research community continues to scrutinise the regular water quality and usage reports that Adani is required to provide. Water licences can, after all, be revoked.

We should also be concerned about industries like coal seam gas that currently do not require water licensing, but nevertheless use huge amounts of artesian water.

Although water is an important issue, it is vital not to lose sight of the numerous other environmental impacts of the Carmichael mine. For example, an estimated 4.7 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions will result from the mining and burning of Carmichael coal. Climate warming will impact Australia on multiple fronts, including bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef, increasing the intensity of tropical cyclones, causing more heat-related deaths, diseases and droughts.

Fuente:

https://theconversation.com/why-does-the-carmichael-coal-mine-need-to-use-so-much-water-75923

Fuente Imagen:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/bHJ9MzzLyQDwxqG0ah68oBR3aKBNmCJPxnlDsYlo7zKkwinoAb5unuISuo-95aPzt9DNfw=s85

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Australia: Why do schools want all students to look the same?

Noticias

Oceanía/Australia/Abril del 2017/Noticias/https://theconversation.com/

¿Por qué las escuelas quieren que todos los estudiantes se vean iguales?

Reseña:

¿Por qué las escuelas están tan obsesionadas con que todos los niños tengan la misma apariencia? Al final del siglo 20 , las escuelas en Australia han optado por estrictas políticas de uniformes, donde los estudiantes usan un conjunto idéntico de ropa. Señalan que al proporcionar un enfoque general de las políticas de uniforme escolar, las escuelas corren el riesgo de reprimir la identidad cultural y la diversidad. Se establece un debate: ¿Están las pólizas de uniformes escolares por encima? Tradicionalmente, los uniformes en las escuelas han servido para homogeneizar el cuerpo estudiantil y crear un sentido de pertenencia a la escuela. Comparan conductas de estudiantes en diversos países. En fin se centran el la personalidad del niño y la incidencia en su forma de expresión  e identidad al  portar el uniforme escolar. Concluyen en que las escuelas deben trabajar con su cuerpo estudiantil para enmendar y actualizar sus políticas uniformes, y buscar retroalimentación de la comunidad en general.

Fuente:

https://theconversation.com/why-do-schools-want-all-students-to-look-the-same-75611

Fuente Imagen:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/X54QrTd3eZu3L4N7k4yEn2PT3z8hL26eIpMDU8m7-vz7NcwgpDPKdxy5cSJndI_HZk_g=s85

Why are schools so obsessed with all children looking the same? Since the later part of the 20th century, schools in Australia have opted for strict uniform policies, where students will wear an identical set of clothes. Often that extends to the style of hair that’s allowed; what backpack, shoes, and even, in some instances, what underwear to wear.

But by providing a blanket approach to school uniform policies, schools risk repressing cultural identity and diversity.

A school in Victoria recently made the news after banning two South Sudanese girls from wearing their hair in cornrows because it didn’t comply with the school’s uniform policy.

The hairstyle is commonly worn by the girls’ cultural group and appropriately suited to the care and maintenance of their hair.

It was reported that the school tried to justify its position by saying that all students have to comply with the rules around school uniform, and that it had asked white students returning from holidays to Bali to remove their braids.

Following a huge backlash over the decision, the school has since backed down. But the decision has since sparked debates around whether school uniform policies are discriminatory, and around the need for schools to embrace their students’ identity and diversity.

Each state has anti-discriminatory law in place that prevents schools from enforcing uniform options that disadvantage students due to sex and culture, among other factors.

Within this law however, there is usually a clause that allows schools to enforce “reasonable” uniform requirements. But what is reasonable can be tricky to define.

Are school uniform policies over the top?

Traditionally, uniforms in schools have served to homogenise the student body and create a sense of school membership.

Most schools argue that requiring everyone to look “uniform” leads to advantageous outcomes including improved academic performance and attendance, and enhanced student discipline.

A recent study, using data from 39 countries, found that wearing uniforms in schools did help students to be better behaved.

Another study in America, however, found that students who were not wearing school uniform performed better academically than those who did wear uniforms. For these students, the research showed that behaviour and attendance were not affected by whether students wore school uniform or not.

Repressing children’s desire to express personality and identity?

In the 1960s and 1970s in Australia, resistance grew to many aspects of the authoritarian practices of school life, including the wearing of a uniform.

The uniform came to be seen as a symbol of student oppression that suppressed the right to self-expression. How one wore one’s hair became a particular source of conflict as students wanted to follow the style of pop stars, and leaders in schools felt this was the slippery slope to anarchy.

Queensland University of Technology professor Jennifer Craik argues that school uniforms are used to

not only control the body and its behaviour but also actively produce the particular attributes of the self that are deemed desirable by the school.

As such, the “desired” options more often that not reflect the dominant cultural and gender group, increasing the likelihood that those in the minority will be further marginalised.

Australia is now so diverse, that to apply a blanket approach following traditional dress requirements is thoughtless at best, and discriminatory at worst. Such restrictive uniform requirements also create tension between students and schools.

Self-expression

Children and young people yearn for the right to self-expression through hair, dress and facial decoration. Outside the school grounds, we see this in hair of varying colour, jeans ripped and tight, facial hair of varying styles, and make-up applied liberally.

We know that as children develop into adolescents they begin to make independent choices and assessments about who they are, who they will be, and how they will act in the world. As such, they often desire increased independence.

Despite this – or perhaps because of it – schools have rigidly detailed uniform policies in place that police all aspects of how students present themselves.

It is not unusual for uniform policies to state that shorts are for boys and skirts are for girls; that hair length for boys must be above the collar; that skirt length must be just below the knee; that jewellery is to be no more than one watch and one pair of studs; that boys are to be clean shaven; and that socks for boys are white, and socks for girls are brown.

Some schools are starting to be more flexible, updating their uniforms and introducing gender neutral options. Carey Grammar in Melbourne for example introduced pants for girls this year. And Mable Park State High School in Brisbane has had a gender-neutral uniform for two years.

However, in schools with such strict policies, it is no surprise that students rebel against these expectations – especially when they do not see this way of dressing reflected in the adults around them in workplaces (in the majority of cases).

Too arbitrary?

Young people may be more prepared to accept the limiting of their choices if the limits applied are not arbitrary, out-dated and in some cases, directly discriminatory.

While some restrictions of choice in school uniforms may be justifiable (for safety reasons, such as leather shoes in home economics), inequity and discrimination have no place in Australian schools.

If schools wish to retain school uniforms, they must ensure that uniform policies do not unfairly impact on one group of students.

Schools should work with their student body to amend and update their uniform policies, and seek feedback from the broader community.

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Australia: Public school teachers pay for own classroom supplies, survey shows

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Australia/Abril de 2017/Fuente: The Guardian

RESUMEN: La mitad de los maestros australianos de las escuelas públicas están gastando más de $ 500 de su propio dinero cada año en artículos como papelería, materiales para el aula y recursos de la biblioteca mientras que uno de cada 10 está gastando más de $ 2,000. Más del 80% de las escuelas participan en la recaudación de fondos y la abrumadora mayoría dicen que es importante para sus presupuestos anuales, según la encuesta del Estado de Nuestra Escuelas de la Unión Australiana de Educación de 2017. La encuesta, que fue completada por 1.428 directores y 7.513 maestros, fue liberada el domingo mientras el sindicato aumentaba sus pedidos para que el gobierno se comprometiera a financiar la escuela Gonski antes del presupuesto de mayo. Las escuelas eran más propensas a utilizar la recaudación de fondos para hardware o software de computadora, equipo deportivo, recursos de biblioteca o libros de texto.

Teachers are dipping into their own pockets and cash-strapped public schools are leaning heavily on fundraising to pay for essential supplies, a new survey has found.

Half of Australian public school teachers are spending more than $500 of their own money each year on items including stationery, classroom supplies and library resources while one in 10 are spending more than $2,000.

More than 80% of schools are engaging in fundraising and the overwhelming majority say it is important for their annual budgets, the Australian Education Union’s State of Our Schools survey for 2017 found.

The poll, which was completed by 1,428 principals and 7,513 teachers, was released on Sunday as the union ramped up its calls for the government to commit to Gonski school funding ahead of the May budget.

Schools were most likely to use fundraising for computer hardware or software, sports equipment, library resources or textbooks.

One in four used the money for basic maintenance on school infrastructure, while others spent the funds on classroom air conditioning, camps, excursions and playground equipment.

Two-thirds of teachers said their school was under-resourced while three in four believed their workloads were increasing.

More than half of full-time teachers worked more than 50 hours per week on school-related activities, while almost 30% clocked up over 55 hours.

“Teachers and principals should be spending all their time on the education of their students, not working out how many barbeques they need to organise and run to pay for a literacy and numeracy program,” AEU federal president Correna Haythorpe said.

“Teachers are aware of the shortages of resources in their schools, and it is a major concern they feel that they need to pay for basic resources which should be available to all students as a matter of course.”

The education minister, Simon Birmingham, said the federal government was carrying the can on increasing education investment, with commonwealth funding rising 23% in four years while state funding had grown by just two per cent.

“The survey is a union push-poll that was always designed to play politics rather than focus on how we can best support hardworking teachers to drive improved education outcomes,” he said.

But opposition education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek said the survey results were alarming and she restated Labor’s commitment to needs-based schools funding.

Fuente: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/apr/02/public-school-teachers-pay-for-own-classroom-supplies-survey-shows

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Australia: Selective schools’ long and tangled history with race and class

Noticias

Australia/Marzo del 2017/Noticia/https://theconversation.com/

Reseña:

Las escuelas secundarias selectivas en Australia son populares y polémicas  esto  atrae a  muchos niños que buscan matricularse e ingresar a ellas.  El comentario público desde finales de los años 90  ha sido el acusar a estas escuelas de ser secuestradas por colegios de entrenamiento privados y racialmente inestables, señalan que  se inscriben  un número desproporcionado de estudiantes «asiáticos «. De allí que el tema de las escuelas selectivas tienen su origen en la historia de exclusión racial e inmigración.  Según las escuelas debían ofrecer a los estudiantes una «escala de oportunidades» meritocrática. Es decir, estarían abiertos a todos, independientemente de su riqueza o clase social, siempre y cuando se cumplieran los requisitos académicos de entrada. Esto, y la ausencia de criterios religiosos, los diferencian de las escuelas privadas.  En este sentido se enfatiza en la selección de raza blanca de los estudiantes , el establecimiento de la Política de Australia blanca, los niños aborígenes podrían ser legalmente excluidos, y las culturas protestantes de clase media de la época dominaron tanto las pruebas de ingreso como el currículo dentro de las escuelas.

Continua…

Fuente:

https://theconversation.com/selective-schools-long-and-tangled-history-with-race-and-class-74614

 

Selective schools’ long and tangled history with race and clas

Selective high schools in Australia are both popular and controversial. Many more children seek enrolment in them than gain entry.

Public commentary since the late 1990s has accused these schools of being both hijacked by private coaching colleges, and racially unbalanced — enrolling disproportionate numbers of “Asian” students.

To properly understand the nature of selective schools today, you have to go back to when they first opened.

Why do we have selective schools?

Selective schools have never operated in isolation from broader historical forces — including Australia’s connected histories of racial exclusion and immigration.

The selective school system in New South Wales, for example, which has the largest concentration and longest history of selective schooling, is a relic of when secondary schooling was the destination of only a minority of young people, mostly from the middle or upper classes.

Secondary schooling was not universal in Australia before the 1960s, and it was only in the 1980s that everyone had the opportunity to complete Year 12.

The NSW selective high schools system was founded between the 1880s and the 1910s.

The schools were to offer students a meritocratic “ladder of opportunity”. That is, they would be open to everyone, regardless of wealth or social class, so long as academic entry requirements were met. This, and the absence of religious criteria, set them apart from private schools.

Selecting whiteness

However, the foundations of selective schooling in Australia were always deeply raced and classed.

Despite being accessed by many working class students, their credentials were geared towards middle class occupational groups. And their essential whiteness was ensured by several factors:

  1. Their establishment period coincided with the establishment of the White Australia Policy, which restricted non-Europeans from migrating to Australia.
  2. Aboriginal children could be legally excluded from the feeder primary schools and often were.
  3. White Protestant middle class cultures of the time dominated both the entry tests and the curriculum inside the schools.

Non-British migrants arrived in Australia in larger numbers from late 1940s. As early as the 1930s, many children of European Jewish refugees attended selective high schools.

But from the 1960s to the 1980s, the children of non-English speaking migrant families were more often categorised as educationally disadvantaged, and rarely seen as “displacing” the academic opportunities of Anglo-Australians.

Falling out of favour

During the 1960s and 1970s, selective schools fell out of favour with policymakers and many parents. They were mostly replaced by comprehensive high schools, which enrolled all students within a given area, no matter their test scores.

Selective high schools were disparaged as old fashioned and elitist. It was also argued that selection at the age of 11 or 12 was too young to set children on a certain path.

The revival

The revival of selective schooling from the late 1980s accompanied a new commitment by the NSW state government to the education of the “talented” child.

Academically gifted children, it was argued, were neglected in the one-size-fits-all classroom.

During the same period many white, middle-class families moved to private secondary schooling, responding to policies of “school choice”.

Both these developments coincided with increased middle class migration from east and South East Asia.

Coded racism in media commentary

By the late 1990s, Australian print media began focusing on the dominance of Asian students in selective school entrance examinations, and on the impact of “too many Asians” on schooling cultures.

The resurgence of white nationalist politics at the time was relevant to these debates. Such politics sought to normalise the whiteness of institutions like schools.

Our analysis of media coverage in the early 2000s uncovers the coded racism that underpinned public anxieties about selective schools.

Media commentary focused on the “fairness” of the selection process itself, indicating that Asian students were using coaching services to gain an unfair advantage.

Our research into the use of academic coaching by Chinese-Australian families demonstrates that far from “gaming” the system, parents were attempting to mitigate the disadvantages produced by a competitive, marketised, and culturally biased school system.

The need for historical awareness

Since the late 1990s, public commentary about selective schooling has often failed to address historical complexity in at least two ways.

Firstly, it tends to use the category of “Asian” in sweeping cultural terms rather than in reference to historically differentiated people.

Asians are cast as a singular group who are then made an easy target of blame for the unfairness of the system.

Secondly, the history of selective schooling is often misunderstood, containing uncritical assumptions about the “good” of a meritocratic system. There tends to be a silence around the histories of racialised exclusions in education and in selective education in particular.

“Asians” in selective schools are positioned as interlopers or breakers of heritage, and other non-white groups including Indigenous Australians tend to be rendered invisible altogether.

We need public debate that challenges – not normalises – the conditions of white privilege in a multicultural settler-colony, not least within our education system.

Fuente Imagen:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/I-vpNWb6mcR-YMJQzE-9i6b6Y5OSFrgZwiRtoKThpbcMl7W5Doz8Cc7ZrMYH7ukDZMSR=s85

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Australia:Teaching-only roles could mark the end of your academic career

Noticias

Ocdeanía/Australia/Marzo 2017/Noticias/https://theconversation.com

Teaching academic (TA) roles in Australian universities have risen three fold over the past decade, making up around 5% of the academic workforce – and further roll outs are expected. But new research suggests that these roles can be a negative career move for academics.

TA roles feature university teaching as the primary or only focus of an academic’s work. This includes teaching, marking, supervision and administration.

Many teaching academics have no allowance for research time in their role. This is different from traditional academic roles, which include 40% research, 40% teaching and 20% service and leadership.

The rise of TA roles in Australia, Canada, the UK and US is driven by the rapid growth of student numbers in higher education, increased competition for work, and research focused university rankings.

Are there any benefits to this role?

Previous research does show there are benefits to both students and academics, which include:

  • Enhanced teaching quality and the student learning experience by providing dedicated and expert teachers.
  • The creation of diverse academic career pathways by providing an alternative to the traditional academic role.
  • More full-time positions in teaching through reducing the number of people employed on contracts.

Other studies, however, warn that TAs can be treated with less respect than their peers because prestige is traditionally associated with success in research.

How will this rise in TA roles impact on uni sector?

Four in five of Australia’s casual academics – those who are employed on a short-term basis and often paid hourly – have teaching-only contracts, and this is likely to rise. Over 20% of Australian academics are paid by the hour as casual staff.

TA staff are employed in at least 35 of Australia’s 42 universities, regardless of university rank or location.

As the most likely first position for new academics, TA roles attract many early career academics. The majority of TAs also tend to be women at lower academic levels, reflecting the wider marginalisation of women in higher education.

Can it really end your academic career?

Our research involved focus groups held at an Australian university. The research formed part of a university wide review held 12 months after TA roles were introduced. Participants included 115 academic staff employed in a range of roles.

We found that TA roles were perceived as a negative career move for academics transitioning from research roles, and a career limiting move for academics new to the sector. Research from the UK suggests that few promotions to senior positions are based on teaching excellence alone.

One head of department told the researchers that recommending a TA role to a potential early career staff member would be:

ending their career internationally … I have to be upfront and say, “if you see yourself ever moving on, you must have a research career”.

Without senior leadership support and the inclusion of TA roles in university workforce strategies, TA roles are likely to result in fewer promotions and fewer chances to transition into traditional academic roles.

The involuntary transfer of research academics into TA roles may also place teaching excellence at risk if the decision was based on poor research performance rather than on teaching expertise.

Address promotions criteria

Promotions criteria and policies need complete revision if they are to incorporate the TA role and career.

For example, the recognition of teaching excellence is paramount to career progression. As one TA commented:

How can I make a better teacher and how do I prove it?

Ironically, heavy teaching and administrative loads can limit access to professional development opportunities in research and teaching. As such, some TAs are less likely than their peers to develop teaching excellence.

TAs have little time for discipline-based research, which is often not part of their job descriptions. Many TAs disclosed that research:

… has to be conducted in your own time as a “hobby”.

Few TAs believed they would achieve a professorial position. As a mid-career academic explained,

The career path for TA is a dead end … you are a teaching slave and you are basically funding, subsidising, research that can be done by others.

Previous research has shown that universities have been relying on income from teaching to cover the shortfall of funding for research.

Also, few TAs in the study thought they would progress to teaching leadership roles. This relates to the entry point to academic positions, which is a PhD based on disciplinary research. Few TAs have been exposed to educational theory or research methods. One TA explained:

being an education specialist is not something we learned.

The role of rankings

TA positions are often introduced under the guise of increasing teaching excellence in universities, but they also concern research rankings.

University rankings are important because they shape public perceptions of the quality of universities. This has implications for recruiting students, researchers and funding.

Moving less research-active staff into teaching roles reduces the teaching commitments of other academics. This enables other academics to focus on research and make a greater contribution to research rankings. As one TA commented,

Why waste money on something like that when a “real” academic could be out there?

Establishing credible TA career paths

TAs need established and consistent career paths, strong institutional leadership, and professorial TA role models.

Universities can view TA roles as a direct benefit to research at no extra cost. But the success of this strategy depends on creating meaningful work opportunities and career paths for TAs.

Human resources play a critical role in designing and implementing change. The introduction of TA roles needs a “go-slow” approach so that policies and processes can keep up.

Universities need to recognise that some TAs will seek traditional academic roles in the future. Others will seek longer term TA roles with opportunities for career advancement. Both TA cohorts need consistent promotions criteria that are credible and legitimate.

TAs need access to professional learning. All higher education teachers need to engage in research within and about their discipline.

Higher education needs balanced national and international policy that overcomes the inferior status of teaching in ranking exercises. Without these supports, TA roles present a risk to individual and professional well being and the loss of experienced academics from the sector.

Fuente:

https://theconversation.com/teaching-only-roles-could-mark-the-end-of-your-academic-career-74826

Fuente imagen:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sQSOZ4W4P-HDJUv5fwQGCdJmtQGUJnMwpPABhkRNOUtuAPv6Qyv3iqdD9aKDr8LznF26zA=s127

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Special education approaching ‘crisis point’ across New Zealand

Noticias

Nueva Zelanda/Marzo de 2017/Fuente: Newshub

RESUMEN: El presidente de la Federación de Principales de Nueva Zelanda (NZPF), Whetu Cormick, advierte que la educación especial se está acercando al «punto de crisis» en Nueva Zelanda. El Sr. Cormick dice que la federación está analizando los comentarios de su última reunión, y los presidentes regionales advierten que «los recursos son inadecuados» y el acceso a servicios especializados es «lamentable». «Muchos directores nos dicen que están constantemente al borde de romper las políticas de salud y seguridad de su escuela y no pueden garantizar la seguridad y el bienestar de sus estudiantes con necesidades especiales, estudiantes regulares o maestros todos los días», dice.

New Zealand Principals’ Federation (NZPF) president Whetu Cormick is warning that special education is approaching ‘crisis point’ across New Zealand.

Mr Cormick says the federation is analysing feedback from their latest meeting, and regional presidents are warning «resourcing is inadequate» and access to specialist services is «woeful».

«Many principals are telling us that they are constantly on the brink of breaching their school’s health and safety policies and cannot guarantee the safety and well-being of their special needs students, regular students or teachers every day,» he says.

«As the incidence of severe autism, ADHD, fetal alcohol syndrome, ‘P’ babies, poverty and trauma accelerates, schools are left to flounder.»

Pat Newman, President of Te Tai Tokerau Principals Association, agrees with this.

«The maximum we’re getting for some of these severe kids that are everything from knives to throwing desks to constantly fighting in the classroom and all the rest of it is two hours a day to try to keep them safe and to keep other children and teachers safe,» he says.

The NZPF conducted a survey in 2016 which found over 90 percent of schools were using operations grant money to support children with high level behavioural and learning needs.

Schools are unable to access specialist services, including diagnostic assessments, psychologists, speech therapists, RTLB, SENCOs, Teacher Aides and especially support for very high learning and behavioural needs students.

Mr Cormick says feedback shows this problem is getting worse.

«Some principals attending Moot made the comment that it is not about the Government not having funds, it’s about priorities,» Mr Cormick says.

«With special education in such disarray many principals feel that the $329 million set aside for future Communities of Learning, might be better spent on supporting special education now.»

Mr Cormick says the NZPF is advocating for changes at the Ministry level, and urges principals to «stay strong».

Fuente: http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/03/special-education-approaching-crisis-point-across-new-zealand.html

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UNICEF: «Los países ricos han sabido invertir en la infancia»

UNICEF

UNICEF/28 de marzo de 2017/Fuente: http://elcomercio.pe

«Invertir en la infancia no es invertir en el futuro, es invertir en el presente», afirma representante de UNICEF.

En el Perú cerca del 21,8% de la población viven en situación de pobreza,  lo que afecta a alrededor de 3 millones 410 mil niños, niñas y adolescentes, según cifras del Fondo de las Naciones Unidas para la Infancia (Unicef por sus siglas en ingles).

Juan José Almagro, vicepresidente del Comité Español de Unicef, es enfático al señalar que es necesario que los países inviertan no sólo en educación, o políticas de sanidad, sino también en erradicar la pobreza y la desigualdad.

«Fundamentalmente a nivel regional se invierte mucho en educación o políticas de sanidad, o en colaborar con estos programas. Ahora eso se ha abierto de forma tal que en América Latina los problemas que se plantean son mayores», detalla, tras destacar los avances que se han registrado en varios países de América Latina y el Caribe.

INVERTIR EN LA INFANCIA
El premio Nobel de economía, James Heckman, indicaba que invertir U$1 dólar en un niño o niña durante sus primeros cinco años tiene un retorno social de hasta U$17. Ya que es algo que permanecerá en él durante toda la vida.

Aunque esa perspectiva no es algo que atraiga a Almagro, el representante de Unicef indica que la inversión en la infancia es la clave del desarrollo de una nación.

«Los países de Europa invirtieron en la educación, la infancia, el cuidado materno, mil cosas. Invertir en la infancia no es invertir en el futuro, es invertir en el presente», dice.

Para él, los principales actores de esta inversión son el sector público y las empresas, que en su opinión tienen la responsabilidad de colaborar por la importancia que tienen.

«Cada vez más empresas están desarrollando políticas orientadas a la infancia», expresa. Se destaca por ejemplo a la Fundación Slim, que logró subir el número de registros de nacimiento en México, al financiar el desarrollo de una campaña nacional. O a Milicom, que trabaja para erradicar la pornografía infantil

«Pero también hay firmas que se aprovechan del trabajo infantil», agrega. En efecto, muchas marcas de renombre han sido denunciadas por trabajar con fabricas que usan a niños como fuerza de trabajo. Una de ellas es la cadena de ropa H&M, que en diciembre pasado fue denunciada por dos periodistas suecos.

«La irresponsabilidad puede costar todo, si se mide en términos de reputación o en términos económicos ¿Recuerda a Rana Plaza de Bangladesh? Esa es una clarísima muestra de que el hacer las cosas mal cuesta bastante», finaliza.

EL DATO
Un estudio de Unicef sostiene que si el mundo no aborda el tema de la inequidad, en el año 2030: 167 millones de niños vivirán en la extrema pobreza, 69 millones de niños menores de 5 años morirán entre 2016 y 2030, y 60 millones de niños en edad de asistir a la escuela primaria seguirán sin escolarizar.

Fuente de la Noticia:

http://elcomercio.pe/economia/mundo/unicef-paises-ricos-han-sabido-invertir-infancia-noticia-1977532

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