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Funding cuts take toll on support for visually impaired pupils

Sally Weale

By: Sally Weale.

 

Less than half (44%) of councils in England have either cut or frozen funding for educational support for VI children, putting specialist provision under significant pressure, according to the RNIB report.

A similar proportion (43%) have already had reductions in specialist staff and increasing workloads for those who remain, and almost a quarter (24%) are planning further reviews that could result in more cuts.

Meanwhile there has been a 7% increase in the numbers of young people requiring specialist support, the RNIB says.

The charity’s research, based on a freedom of information survey of local authorities in England, estimates that 11,000 children and young people have been affected by cuts, out of a total of about 30,000 with VI.

The report says young people with VI require a high level of specialist support in order to learn on equal terms with their sighted peers.

It says: “Having the right support in place can remove the barriers to learning and enable them to develop the specialist skills they need to succeed, not just at school but as adults with full lives,. However, whilst this research has identified pockets of good practice, overall the findings show a system of specialist provision under significant pressure.”

Almost three in 10 local authorities (28%) said specialist teachers had caseloads of more than 100 students, potentially affecting the quality of support they can provide, and in some local authorities young people above 16 are not getting the support to which they are entitled.

There is broad acknowledgment that provision and funding of special educational needs and disabilities (Send) in England is in crisis, with children unable to access vital support and parents trying to secure suitable provision from local authorities.

The government has announced additional funding of £700m for Send and areview of special needs education.

Keith Valentine, the director of development at RNIB, said: “Our research has revealed a shocking lack of resource for local authorities to deliver this crucial provision. With more than £14bn being promised for primary and secondary education between now and 2023, we are urging the government to act now and correct this funding gap to ensure every child with VI is able to fulfil their potential.”

Phoebe Clifton, 14, from Petersfield in Hampshire, has progressive cone dystrophy and is registered as severely visually impaired. She attends a mainstream school where she is currently well supported.

She said: “I’ve been very fortunate with the support I’ve had so far. My teacher adviser for the visually impaired makes sure I can do the same things as all the other kids in my class and has also helped me learn braille.

“My mobility officer has taught me how to get around using a cane. But I’m worried about what I will have in the future because I’m right in the middle of my GCSEs and the council might get rid of my support. I’m also worried for the kids coming up after me. If they don’t get the same support as I had, GCSEs will be so much harder for them.”

Judith Blake, the chair of the Local Government Association’s children and young people board, said councils were reaching the point where there was not enough money to keep up with demand, pushing support for children with Send to a tipping point.

She said: “While it was good the government announced extra money to support children and young people with Send for next year, it must provide long-term funding certainty in the upcoming spending review and budget.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We want all schools to have a workforce fully equipped to teach children with Send, and are working with various organisations – including the National Sensory Impairment Partnership – to make sure that’s the reality.

“We have also recently announced a £780m increase to local authorities’ high needs funding, boosting the budget by 12% and bringing the total spent on supporting those with the most complex needs to over £7 billion for 2020-21.”

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UN chief calls for ending child poverty

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United Nations/20-10-2019/Author: Mu Xuequan/Source: www.xinhuanet.com

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday urged the international community to empower children to end poverty.

In his message for the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, which falls on Thursday, the UN chief said children are more than twice as likely to live in extreme poverty than adults, and poverty condemns many children to lifelong disadvantage and perpetuates an intergenerational transfer of deprivation.

He highlighted that girls are at particular risk, but they are also a force for change. «For every additional year a girl remains in school, her average income over a lifetime increases, her chances of being married early decrease, and there are clear health and education benefits for her children, making it a key factor in breaking the cycle of poverty,» he said.

One of the keys to ending child poverty is addressing poverty in the household, from which it often stems, said Guterres, adding that access to quality social services must be a priority, yet today, almost two-thirds of children lack social protection coverage.

He added family-oriented policies are also indispensable, including flexible working arrangements, parental leave and childcare support.

The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is observed on Oct. 17 each year since 1993. This year’s theme is «acting together to empower children, their families and communities to end poverty.»

Source: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-10/18/c_138480403.htm

Image: billy cedeno en Pixabay

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Asylum seekers have a right to higher education and academics can be powerful advocates

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Oceania/ Australia/ 15.10.2019/ Source: theconversation.com.

 

Australia’s refugee policy has led to a two-track education system. Those processed offshore, and deemed refugees by the time they have arrived in Australia, are entitled to fee support for university. But the almost 30,000 boat arrivals, considered illegal entrants, can only access temporary visas. This means a degree has to be paid in full, making it the impossible dream for most.

Policies limiting education follow a political narrative that labels boat arrivals “illegal”. This narrative is difficult to change without widespread community support.

Groups like the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre are training members of the public in how to talk about people who escape harm, rather than debating the legalities of seeking asylum (“It’s not illegal to seek asylum”). These efforts require a range of community leaders, not just stereotypical activists, to rewrite the narrative.

My PhD research on advocacy communications indicated many academics are unsure of how to support people seeking asylum. Advocacy is often seen as an activity for seasoned activists. But like the campaign to get kids off Nauru, led by Australian doctors, academics can play an important role as thought leaders who can influence the hearts and minds of a younger generation.

The right to education

Education is often interrupted for children in conflict situations and when escaping harm such as war or ethnic persecution.

Children who have arrived by boat and sought asylum in Australia will have experienced even longer periods of education disruption in detention centres. In terms of education, these are suitable only as transitory environments, as they lack adequate teaching staff or resources for longer-term schooling.

Children’s education is interrupted when they flee conflict and spend long periods in detention. Eoin Blackwell/AAP

Australia has no law specifying how long children may be kept in detention. One report estimated this was an average of eight months in 2014, though it can be as long as two to three years.

The Research Council of Australia commissioned research in 2015 to capture the human cost of disrupted and limited education for these children. One Iraqi teen said:

I lost my dad, I lost my brother and I couldn’t stay anymore. I came to be safe here. I came here in 2012. I’m not allowed to work, there are no funds for me to study. When I arrived I was 17. Imagine if you are 17 and you are not allowed to go to school. There are not funds for you to go to school. Now I’m almost 20 […] When can I go to school? When can I go to college? When can I have an education?

An estimated 4,000 children recognised as asylum seekers were in Australian schools in 2015. Under current legislation, they would be denied fee support for university.

Asylum seekers are only entitled to temporary three-to-five-year visas, which require them to pay A$30,000 on average for a degree. This is because Commonwealth-supported degrees are given to citizens or permanent visa holders only.

Improving access to higher education can improve social inclusion and resilience, and help people seeking asylum make a positive contribution to society.

Working migrants are thought to balance an ageing Australian population and shrinking tax base. This is particularly true for recent arrivals from Africa and the Middle East with a high number of children, or second-generation refugees, who will be schooled in Australia.

One study found 80% of these children would be employed in white-collar professions if they earned a bachelor degree or higher. They would also be twice as likely to be employed than if they had only a diploma.

Academics can be activists

Several Australian universities clearly support people seeking asylum. For example, there are 21 full-fee-paying scholarships available to asylum seekers to offset the otherwise impossible costs of a university education.

Other initiatives include Academics for Refugees, with representatives from a number of universities, who want to add their voice to campaign issues. Many academics are using research and teaching to question assumptions and influence students as well as decision-makers.

Academics may not feel confident being advocates, but the potential of a professional voice is clear. #KidsOffNauru was initiated by a group of doctors with access to children in detention. They called on the government to release children on the grounds that long periods of detention were detrimental to their health.

The campaign to get kids off Nauru started with an open letter written by over 5,000 Australian doctors. Lukas Coch/AAP

Medics may be unlikely lobbyists, but they added a credible voice on childrens’ physical and mental safety. Advocacy groups credited the campaign with the release of more than 100 children from detention in 2018, though the Australian government claimed it had already been reducing these numbers.

 

Universities have championed significant improvements for migrants in the past through narratives that challenged dominant political discourse. For example, the 1960s DREAMers movement led to the tabling of the DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act. This would have granted legal status to certain undocumented immigrants who were brought to the US as children and went to school there.

These teens had grown up in the US without permanency. They told stories about their American dream and initiated sit-ins and pray-ins across college campuses. The DREAMers campaign transformed the immigration debate in the US, keeping the plight of undocumented migrant youth on the radar.

There are clear parallels between the Australian and US debates around who deserves a permanent visa, with the education rights that come with it. However, an Australian narrative around the ethics of education access is yet to emerge.

Australian academics can help write this narrative through coordinated advocacy and existing research networks, or creative campus initiatives that give a voice to students impacted by immigration policy.

Academics are well placed to shine a spotlight on the human and economic costs of limiting higher education pathways for people seeking asylum.

Source of the notice: http://theconversation.com/asylum-seekers-have-a-right-to-higher-education-and-academics-can-be-powerful-advocates-121753

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Young Africans face poor job prospects as education deteriorates: report

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Africa/ 15.10.2019/ Source: www.reuters.com.

 

The quality of education and training provided by African countries has deteriorated since 2014, leaving many of the continent’s growing population of young people ill-prepared to enter the job market, an influential report said on Tuesday.

The African Governance Report 2019, which uses data from the Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG), the most comprehensive survey of its kind on the continent, found that enrolment and access to education was particularly low in the tertiary sector.

“This has resulted in the burgeoning youth population being faced with increasing struggles when entering the job market,” researchers at the Mo Ibrahim Foundation wrote ahead of a full report due to be published next year. Under 15s now made up the majority age group in Africa, the authors added.

The index rates 54 African nations on criteria such as security, human rights, economic stability, just laws, free elections, corruption, infrastructure, poverty, health and education.

Mo Ibrahim, a Sudanese telecoms tycoon who launched the foundation, said it was down to Africans to confront the issue.

“When it comes to education, really we have a problem,” Ibrahim told Reuters. “When you look at the demographics, and you look at the economic growth, you see that we’re actually falling behind.”

Demographic developments are a hot topic in Africa, which, according to United Nations data, is expected to account for more than half of the world’s population growth between 2015 and 2050. The continent’s population is projected to double by 2050, and could double again by 2100, the U.N. has said.

“If you manage to take care of your young people, that is a wealth. If you fail to do that, it is a burden, a threat,” Ibrahim added.

The report said that while African governments had made some progress in improving infrastructure since 2014, on average they were lagging well behind their ambitions.

“African governments have on average not managed to translate GDP growth into economic opportunities for citizens,” it said. “Progress since 2014 runs behind the rapidly growing working age population.”

The report noted more progress in health and nutrition, saying countries were making strong strides in combating communicable diseases and child and maternal mortality rates.

However, providing affordable quality healthcare for all was still far off and the rising spread of undernourishment was a major area of concern, it added.

Researchers also criticized the lack of key data across the continent, which impedes the ability of policymakers to monitor progress, saying vital population statistics had deteriorated significantly in recent years.

Source of the notice: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-africa-education-report/young-africans-face-poor-job-prospects-as-education-deteriorates-report-idUSKBN1WT2K1

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India’s policy on early childhood education

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Asia/ India/ 15.10.2019/ Fuente: www.brookings.edu.

 

Lessons for a gender-transformative early childhood in India

The Delhi government in India recently launched its preschool curriculum for the city’s 10,897 community-based preschool centers. The draft National Education Policy of India, made public in June 2019, dedicates its first chapter to the importance of early childhood care and education and the need to extend the right to education to every child who is three to six years old.

In this video, Samyukta Subramanian, 2019 Echidna Global Scholar, discusses how we must tackle gender inequality in India in the early years through engaging girls, boys, teachers, and parents. 

It is in this context that this paper urges the government to ensure that gender sensitivity is embedded in every initiative of early childhood education (ECE) in India from here onward. Based on interviews with mothers of preschool children in underresourced communities and with teachers as well as observations of government-supported preschool centers, this paper builds the current narrative of the preschool child’s ecosystem; notes the lack of gender-sensitive pedagogy in this space; and makes recommendations for what a gender-transformative approach in ECE in India should entail for men and boys, girls and women, so that India can strive for a more gender-equitable society in the years to come.

Source of the notice: https://www.brookings.edu/research/indias-policy-on-early-childhood-education/

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Education is abuzz with buzzwords

Maureen Downey

By: Maureen Downey.

 

Settled academic practices often get reborn with new names

Rick Diguette is a local writer and college professor. In this guest column, Diguette discusses the recycling of educational concepts.

About 30 years ago, social psychologist Carol Dweck and a team of researchers began to study how students respond to failure. Based on her research, she coined the term “growth mindset,” which speaks to the idea that academic ability and intelligence can be developed with positive reinforcement, thereby increasing student motivation and achievement.

Dweck’s book, Mindset: the New Psychology of Success, was a best seller when first published in 2006. Her findings have since convinced many educators that how students think about themselves as learners is just as important as the grades they earn, their standardized test scores, and class rankings.

The opposite of a growth mindset, according to Dr. Dweck, is a “fixed mindset.” Fixed mindset students think success is dictated by their innate abilities. They tend to give up when encountering an obstacle, having decided beforehand they will never succeed at overcoming their inadequacies. Worst of all, students laboring under this mindset typically end up in a Catch-22 situation: lest others judge them harshly, they seek to hide the academic inadequacies that define them as students.

The discovery that we need to think we can succeed if we stand any chance of achieving success isn’t exactly groundbreaking. Two millennia ago the Greek philosopher Epictetus noticed that the way people think about what happens is more important than what actually happens. And it was none other than Shakespeare’s Prince Hamlet who observed, circa 1602, that “there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”

Nevertheless, since 2006 growth mindset strategies have become a commonplace in elementary and secondary school curriculum.

I recently became aware that growth mindset has now made its way to the precincts of higher education via the University System of Georgia’s Gateway to Completion (G2C) initiative. And a bulletin board on the Georgia State University campus where I teach first-year composition is dedicated to growth mindset mantras like “Mistakes help me improve.” and “I’ll keep trying!”

This reminded me of the well- known children’s story involving a little engine that successfully draws a long train of cars up a steep grade, all the while chanting “I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.” Once the little engine crests the hill, the chant becomes “I thought I could. I thought I could. I thought I could.” The moral of the story is that optimism coupled with effort will lead to success, which I’m sure you will agree sounds a lot like growth mindset.

However, this in turn reminded me of Chance the gardener in Jerzy Kosinski’s ferociously black comedy “Being There,” whose every statement―no matter how certifiably unremarkable―is considered visionary in import.

Although there is no question educators should be willing to embrace innovation, a fairly unremarkable concept like growth mindset tends to be too readily accepted as almost revelatory.

What typically happens next is that it gains currency and is quickly added to an already long list of familiar buzzwords like Differentiated Instruction, Student Progress Monitoring, Flipped Classrooms, and 21st Century Skills―one and all new ways of naming settled academic practices.

Most people like me, who actually spend time in the college classroom, are aware that just because a lesson or activity worked well one semester doesn’t mean it will continue to do so in perpetuity. That’s why when it comes to the needs of our students, we must be vigilant, flexible, and open to new ideas that may lead to improved learning outcomes as well as improved retention and graduation rates.

What we don’t need is a new buzzword handed down from on high by the University System of Georgia.

Source of the article: https://www.ajc.com/blog/get-schooled/opinion-education-abuzz-with-buzzwords/X2Lmei4LP67Ne1RcT1lW5I/

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Russia creating rival to Wikipedia to protect knowledge from ‘erosion’ & fake news

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Europe/Russia/13-10-2019/Source and Author: www.rt.com

The Russian equivalent of Wikipedia will become a reliable source for “safe,” verified, data without any ideological or political agenda, and could be accessed by 15 million people a day, its creators said.

The ambitious undertaking, which is powered by the Great Russian Encyclopedia (GRE) publishing house, is going to receive 2 billion rubles ($31 million) in state funding between 2020 and 2022.

The nationwide interactive encyclopedic portal is aimed at protecting contemporary knowledge from “erosion” and sheltering online users from misleading information, GRE communications chief, Anna Sinitsyna, said.

With the avalanche-like growth of all kinds of falsifications (including those in scientific, historical, statistical and demographic data) and fake news, generated by some media and private users online, we see it as a particularly urgent task to create a database of safe information (verified by the scientific community).

All the entries on the portal will be of purely scientific and educational nature, “free of any political or ideological agenda.”

The authors of the project plan to attract an audience of at least 10 million people, which would include students, researchers, civil servants, media people and all those interested in reliable data.

But the site should be capable of handling 15 million unique users on a daily basis. For reference, the stats by Mediascope reveal that the Russian version of Wikipedia was accessed by some 2.9 million people per day this July.

At launch, the 80,000 articles from the Great Russian Encyclopedia, which was published by GRE between 2004 and 2017, will make the bulk of the portal’s content. But it will then be regularly expanded with information from other sources.

Registered users would have a chance to submit articles, but they would only be included on the website after approval by the “expert community” of GRE staff and scientists from other organizations.

With it being a national portal, the articles will be presented in the Russian language, but “the translation of the whole database into some other languages is possible on the initiative of foreign partners.”

BRICS nations (Brazil, India, China and South Africa) as well Iran and Cuba could be interested in the project due to the “English-language encyclopedia Britannica not satisfying them due to its obvious Anglocentrism, especially when it comes to history and culture.”

A tender to provide branding and marketing strategy for the Russian encyclopedic portal has just been announced.

Earlier this year, Russia started working to ensure that ‘Runet’ – the country’s segment of the internet – will remain operational despite a global malfunction or a deliberate internet disconnection by the West. There are plans to create a national DNS system to store all of the domain names and corresponding IP numbers.

Source: https://www.rt.com/russia/470648-russia-wikipedia-knowledge-erosion/

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