Education

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China: Education and testing may rein in HIV rates

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Asia/ China/ 02.08.2019/ Source: www.china.org.cn.

 

China reported some 145,000 new cases of HIV/AIDS last year, with about 2 percent among those aged 15 to 24, a health official said.

«There has been a slight uptick in HIV/AIDS among male youths in recent years, but the total number of newly diagnosed teenagers and young adults hovers around 3,000 each year and makes up only a small proportion of all cases,» Liu Zhongfu, an official with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a news conference in Beijing on Wednesday.

Liu denied recent news that there had been a spike in the number of HIV infections among Chinese teenagers.

He said China has recorded over 100,000 new cases of HIV/AIDS a year for five consecutive years.

«Proper sex education and readily accessible testing services are two pillars to slow the spread of the disease,» he said.

«The health and education authorities have jointly staged trial education campaigns on campuses and established a reporting system to tackle the issue,» Liu said.

There are about 1.25 million people living with HIV in China, with the infection rate lower than 0.1 percent at the end of last year, according to the National Health Commission.

A health promotion plan released by the State Council in July said the number of people infected with HIV is likely to keep rising, but the prevalence will remain low.

The country aims to contain the infection rate to under 0.15 percent by 2022 and 0.2 percent by 2030, according to the plan.

Wu Zunyou, chief epidemiological expert at the CDC, said during a news conference in November that the increasing number of cases are largely due to more tests being conducted each year, revealing previously unknown cases.

Lei Zhenglong, deputy director of the National Health Commission’s disease control and prevention department, said that in addition to awareness campaigns, efforts will also be devoted to maintaining full coverage of HIV testing for blood donations and implementing measures to prevent transmission of the virus between mothers and babies.

At the same news conference, Xiao Ning, an official with the China CDC, also drew attention to parasitic diseases, another major category of infectious conditions that impact the health of Chinese.

«There have been about 3,000 cases of imported malaria in recent years, and different types of snail fever that are indigenous to Africa or South America have entered the country,» Xiao said.

China is working toward eliminating malaria by 2022 and effectively containing snail fever infections in the same time frame, with the goal of wiping out the disease by 2030, according to the nationwide plan.

Xiao said the goals are attainable thanks to the upgrading of the country’s disease monitoring and reporting system.

Source of the notice: http://www.china.org.cn/china/2019-08/02/content_75058969.htm
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Poe wants social media awareness included in primary, secondary education in PH

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Asia/ Phillipine/ 30.07.2019/ Source: news.mb.com.ph.

Poe on Tuesday, July 2, filed Senate Bill No. 129, which seeks the inclusion of social media and its importance in the curriculum of primary and secondary levels of education in the country.

This was one of the first 10 measures she filed to begin her second term in Senate.

“Social media is upon us and should be put to good use by teaching the youth the value of responsible, fair and truthful usage,” Poe said in a statement.

“Magandang lugar ang mga paaralan para maimulat ang mga kabataan sa responsable, mapanuri at produktibong paggamit ng social media. Kailangang mabigyan din sila ng sapat na impormasyon kung ano ang maaaring i-post, ano ang mga dapat iwasang paniwalaan agad, at kung paano mag-beripika ng mga datos. Para na rin ito sa kanilang kaligtasan,” she added.

(Schools are an ideal place to teach the youth on the responsible, critical and productive use of social media. They should also be given enough information about what they can or cannot post, what should not be believed easily, and how to verify data. This is also for their safety.)

In her bill, the Department of Education (DepEd), in consultation with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), will formulate the necessary steps and measures to achieve these objectives.

Aside from elementary and high school, Poe also sought to include social media education in the National Service Training Program (NSTP), particularly in the service components pertaining to the Literacy Training Service and the Civic Welfare Training Service.

The bill tasks the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), in consultation with DICT, to lead its implementation.

The “Digital 2019, a report from Hootsuite and We are Social showing people’s online behavior around the world, found that Filipinos spend an average of 10 hours a day on the internet.

Digital 2019 also revealed that social media use in the Philippines was at 71 percent, above the worldwide average of 45 percent. It said Filipinos spent the most time on social media at four hours and 12 minutes on average per day.
It also showed that 79 million Filipinos aged 13 and older were on social media.

In her bill, Poe noted the role of social media in information dissemination and shaping of public discourse and opinion.

She said she hoped that the youth will learn the virtues of discernment and critical thinking amid the prevalence of so-called “fake news”.

“This bill seeks to insulate the citizenry from attempts to unscrupulously utilize Social Media for various kinds of black propaganda and misinformation which are detrimental to transparency, accountability and truthfulness which could frustrate a meaningful, fruitful and intelligent discourse towards nation-building,” Poe added.

Source of the notice: https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/07/03/poe-wants-social-media-awareness-included-in-primary-secondary-education-in-ph/

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Education for people in fragile communities

Gerard Tousand Robinson

By: Gerard Tousand Robinson.

 

Education serves as a principal driver of economic growth and mobility in the United States. This is why many scholars, lawmakers, nonprofit organizations and entrepreneurs focus on this area. As research on the topic indicates, completion of high school, postsecondary education or both has significant potential to positively impact individual and societal prosperity. Yet before a student completes high school — and at least 85% did in 2017 — we must consider the other factors at play for her along the way: money and how it is invested in education, the parenting gap, educator recruitment and retentionprograms, public and private choice offerings, and the use of litigation to achieve equal educational opportunity.

Teacher Elizabeth Moguel poses for a photograph with her seventh grade Latin class at Boston Latin School in Boston, Massachusetts September 17, 2015. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Embedded in any discussion about education and opportunity is student learning. One tool to gauge student progress over time is the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), referred to as the Nation’s Report Card. Since 1969, NAEP has administered the largest national assessment of subject-matter achievement for a representative sample of students in grades 4, 8, and 12 in the United States. NAEP uses the same tests across states and districts, which includes public (traditional, charter, and magnet) and private school students. Given the reach of NAEP and its recognition as a measure of our children’s academic vitality, we should analyze the results to identify our strengths and areas for improvement.

The percentage of students who scored at or above proficient on the most recentassessment of NAEP subjects is not impressive. This quantifiable deficiency is evidence of the necessity for research and reform surrounding educational systems geared towards the needs of individual communities.

Public School Students Only

Subject Grade 4 Grade 8 Grade 12
Civics 26 23 23
Economics – – 41
Math 39 32 23
Reading 35 33 36
Science 37 33 21
Technology & Engineering Literacy – 45 –
US History 19 14 11
Writing 27 26 25

Private School Students Only

Subject Grade 4 Grade 8 Grade 12
Civics 35 38 38
Economics 62
Math – – –
Reading – – 54
Science 48 43
Technology & Engineering Literacy – 60 –
US History 31 31 17
Writing 39 41 –

Creating meaningful change to the current state of affairs in K-12 education initially requires a thorough understanding of the factors underlying the exclusions and limitations that families confront in search of quality education for their children and themselves, particularly in fragile communities. The Center for Advancing Opportunities (CAO) defines these as places characterized by high proportions of residents struggling in their daily lives and possessing limited opportunities for social mobility. Following awareness of these deep-seated and enduring conditions, the next step must be to study the practices and systems through which we can close the opportunity gap.

In April 2019, the CAO released its State of Opportunity in America Report in partnership with Gallup, the Charles Koch Foundation, and Koch Industries. The report contains information about education (among other topics) gathered from 5,784 people living in some of the most challenging socioeconomic zip codes in 47 states, including residents in the northern and central regions of Appalachia.

A sample of those living in fragile communities includes the following: 71% are people of color and 29% are white; 53% have a household income of $34,999 or less, with the majority earning under $24,000 a year; 51% rent their place of residence; and 13% do not have a high school diploma — though 12% have earned a bachelor’s degree or more. Despite economic challenges, many people in fragile communities want their children and themselves to have access to a quality education.

One intention of the CAO report is to present a more nuanced understanding of the barriers to opportunity burdening those living in fragile communities as they relate to education. We accomplished this goal by asking the people living closest to the issue what they think.

We asked individuals in fragile communities several questions about K-12 and higher education. We also gathered data from 1,683 people in Birmingham, Alabama; Fresno, California; Chicago, Illinois; and the northern and central Appalachian region to learn how residents in low-income urban and rural areas view their own circumstances and the options available to them. These communities were selected in part because they represent unique geographic regions in the US, each with its own social, economic and historical influences, as well as different racial and ethnic compositions.

Demographic Characteristics of Fragile Community Residents

Education Total (N=5,784) Birmingham(N=696) Chicago(N=569) Fresno(N=751) Appalachia(N=455)
Less than high school 13% 11% 12% 12% 12%
High school graduate 33% 35% 35% 30% 35%
Technical/Vocational school 12% 10% 10% 13% 14%
Some college but no degree 20% 21% 16% 20% 19%
Associate degree 9% 14% 7% 6% 12%
Bachelor’s or more 12% 9% 21% 19% 9%

Note: 2017 data used for income results. Education and race/ethnicity data from Gallup general population survey, December 2018.

Overall, an analysis of the survey results found the following about the quality of local K-12 public schools, higher education, and confidence about career goals.

How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with the quality of public K-12 schools in your area?

Chicago

35% responded as extremely satisfied or satisfied and 42% were dissatisfied or extremely dissatisfied.

Appalachia

65% responded as extremely satisfied or satisfied and 20% were dissatisfied or extremely dissatisfied.

Birmingham

32% responded as extremely satisfied or satisfied and 37% were dissatisfied or extremely dissatisfied.

Fresno

44% responded as extremely satisfied or satisfied and 33% were dissatisfied or extremely dissatisfied.

What these findings show are significant discrepancies in levels of public satisfaction with the quality of public K-12 schools that vary from one community to the next. Strikingly, individuals in historically disadvantaged communities indicated satisfaction. However, the%age of those dissatisfied remains substantial.

How important is a college education today?

At least 62% of all people in fragile communities reported that college is very important. By subgroup, 45% of whites said college is very important compared to 69% of blacks and 70% of Hispanics. More women than men believe a college education is very important at 69% to 55%, respectively.

How satisfied are you with the availability of high-quality community college and job training programs?

Overall, 42% of people in fragile communities are extremely satisfied or satisfied with the availability of high-quality community college programs in their area, and 28% say the same for job training programs.

How confident are you in your ability to achieve career goals you set for yourself — very confident, confident, somewhat confident or not at all confident?

Each percentage represents people who responded “very confident” and “confident” by education level:

Less than high school = 54% of the people in this cat

Technical/Vocational school = 64%

Some college but no degree = 67%

Associate degree = 73%

Bachelor’s or more = 80%

For individuals residing in fragile communities, education not only allows for increased opportunity — entrepreneurial and otherwise — but has also been correlated with elevated well-being and optimism scores.

Altogether, these figures supply fresh evidence that reflects the major obstacles standing in the way of many families in search of high-quality public schools, higher education and job training. A heightened focus on access to education and fluctuations in the caliber of education across communities has yielded important insights about the sources of particular educational disparities. In order to produce effective amendments within this arena, research-based solutions are necessary. Professors such as Kathaleena Monds, director of the Center for Educational Opportunity at Albany State University, are playing a role in creating a foundation base for an informed understanding of community and individual needs that must be applied and consistently reassessed to incorporate into impactful reforms.

By asking people in fragile communities and scholars alike “what works, why, why not and for whom?” we improve our understanding about the delivery of teaching and learning opportunities, and provide research that can strengthen our country’s commitment to advancing opportunity for all people.

Source of the article: https://www.aei.org/publication/education-for-people-in-fragile-communities/

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Philippines: Recasting higher education

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Asia/ Philippines/ 30.07.2019/ Source: www.philstar.com.

In 1994, the Philippine government signed into law Republic Act (RA) 7722, a law that resolved to “protect, foster and promote the right of all citizens to affordable quality education at all levels and shall take appropriate steps to ensure that education shall be accessible to all.”

Back then, only 22 percent of all Filipino youth had a shot at getting a college degree.

Twenty-five years after, this aspiration remains true for many Filipinos. In AmBisyon 2040, the government’s midterm development blueprint, about 73 percent of Filipino families answered that they want their children to be college-educated. Indeed, a college degree remains centerpiece in any family’s aspiration, seen as the key to a better life.

Today, college participation is at 28 percent and with many cards stacked in our favor for the years ahead: there are now more Filipinos completing high school than ever before, and the recently passed RA 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act provides unprecedented support to Filipino youth intending to pursue higher education.

Not everyone, however, has an equal shot at making it to college.

In our project, YouthWorks PH — co-implemented by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) — we engage youth who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) and have learned much from them. In the past year, we have seen firsthand how many of our youth are not in college because of three factors: family obligations, either to take care of a parent or a sibling; the need to work; or their lack of interest in what is being taught in school.

This means rethinking how classes are organized and taught, from the rigid 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. class schedules, to more inclusive modes such as online learning and work-based training. This is the promise of the Philippine Qualifications Framework, passed into law in January 2018.

Today, the Philippines finds itself in a demographic window: a phase when the country’s working-age population will be proportionately larger than its dependents or those who are either too young or too old to work.

However, reaping this demographic dividend requires that we enable our youth to reach their highest potential through education, and that in parallel, we create quality jobs and provide routes for entrepreneurship. This comes hand in hand.

Looking ahead, the future holds much promise, but to get there, we must abandon traditional notions of how “college” looks like, and innovate on how and where learning can happen. This way, we can make higher education more inclusive for our youth.

Source of the notice: https://www.philstar.com/other-sections/education-and-home/2019/07/28/1938563/recasting-higher-education

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Special needs funding gap in London schools «unsustainable»

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Europe/ United Kindow/ 29.07.2019/ By Jessie Mathewson/ Source: www.times-series.co.uk.

 

Special needs and disability support in London schools is facing “unsustainable financial risk” according to a report from London Councils.

A “dramatic and sustained rise” in demand for special educational needs and disability services (SEND) has led to a £77 million funding gap in the capital, research found.

There are more than 200,000 young people in London with special educational needs or a disability, and almost a quarter have high needs.

Children with high needs often require more support, which may include an education health and care plan. This is a record of the support that a child needs, helping them to access specialist services from their local council.

Demand for health and care plans in the capital has increased rapidly, rising by 31 per cent between 2014/15 and 2017/18. All but one London council now has a deficit in its budget for children with high special educational or disability needs.

Councillor Nickie Aiken, leader of Westminster Council and London Councils’ executive member for schools and children’s services, said the current pressure on council budgets was “unsustainable”.

She said: “When children and families aren’t getting the right support at the right time, the effects can be disastrous.”

She added: “The Government needs to boost investment in children’s services in line with councils’ rising costs. That’s the only way to ensure the sustainability of the high-value, high-impact local services that make such a difference to children’s lives.”

Responding to the report, the London Assembly’s education panel chair, Jennette Arnold, said the Mayor must continue to put pressure on the Government to increase funding in line with demand.

She said: “SEND pupils are more than capable of having a bright future and a good life in adulthood if the resource is made available to ensure the work to make that happens starts as early as possible.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said SEND funding for schools had increased from £5 billion in 2013 to £6 billion this year, with an extra £42 million earmarked for London in December.

He said: “Our ambition for children with special education needs and disabilities is the same as for every other child – to achieve well in education, find employment and go on to live happy and fulfilled lives.

He added: “We are looking carefully at how much funding for education will be needed in future years, as we approach the next spending review.”

London Councils could not publish borough-specific budget data, or confirm which boroughs had a deficit.

Source of the notice: https://www.times-series.co.uk/news/17792286.special-needs-funding-gap-london-schools-quot-unsustainable-quot/

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How climate change is taught in Canadian high schools — and how it can improve

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North America/ Canada/ 29.07.2019/Source: www.cbc.ca.

Curricula lack emphasis on impacts, solutions and scientific consensus, study finds

Most provinces and territories are failing to teach at least some of the basic tenets of climate change, a new study has found.

The study, published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Plos One last week, found that in some cases, climate change education is not even consistent with scientific understanding.

«[It’s] a good start, but [there’s] room for improvement,» said lead author Seth Wynes, a PhD candidate in the geography department at the University of British Columbia.

Wynes and co-author Kimberly Nicholas of Sweden’s Lund University, studied science curricula and textbooks across the country to figure out what was being taught and how.

They analyzed the documents to look for six essential concepts in learning about climate change:

  • The basics of climate.
  • That temperatures are warming.
  • That climate change is mainly caused by humans.
  • That there is overwhelming scientific consensus about it.
  • That climate change is bad.
  • That we can mitigate it.

«We’d recommend that Canadian curriculum documents ought to cover these basic ideas, these core topics that are important for understanding climate change and also for motivating students and taking action,» said Wynes, who is also a former high school science teacher.

Seth Wynes is a PhD candidate in the geography department at the University of British Columbia. (Submitted by Seth Wynes)

While all provinces and territories teach students about the basics of climate, including topics like ocean currents and the greenhouse effect, there were many gaps across the country.

The researchers found that Saskatchewan had the most comprehensive coverage, teaching all six basic concepts. Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and Prince Edward Island taught five of the six, Alberta, Northwest Territories and Nunavut taught four of the six, British Columbia, Manitoba and Yukon taught half, and Nova Scotia and New Brunswick taught only one of the six.

The curricula were particularly weak in teaching students about the strong scientific consensus that humans are causing climate change.

«That’s important because if students don’t understand these facts, then they are less likely to be motivated to help solve the problem,» said Wynes.

Waves and debris cover the roadway near Nova Scotia’s Lawrencetown Beach after a storm in January 2018.(Submitted by Allan Zilkowsky)

Manitoba’s supplementary materials, for instance, recommend that students read publications produced by Friends of Science — an organization that believes the sun is responsible for climate change and that opposes the understanding of climate change put forth by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a Nobel Prize-winning UN organization — and tells students «there is significantly polarized debate» on whether humans cause climate change.

However, there is virtually no scientific doubt that climate change is caused by humans, Wynes’s study notes. A 2013 study of 11,944 peer-reviewed climate science abstracts found that of the papers that expressed a view on human-caused climate change, 97 per cent supported that view.

Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island encourage students to debate what’s causing climate change.

Wynes said while encouraging students to be critical, evaluate evidence and draw their own conclusions is important, that’s not appropriate for something that has already been settled by scientists.

«We don’t ask students to decide whether or not second-hand smoking causes cancer in health class. And in the same way, we would suggest that probably climate change is a subject where we need to be communicating with certainty that it is happening.»

During the summer drought of 2015, metro Vancouver reservoir levels dropped to 73 per cent below norms.(CBC)

The study found that some textbooks pointed to «positive» aspects of climate change, such as extended growing seasons and the notion that cruise ships could visit the North «so tourists can follow in the wake of Arctic explorers.»

Another area of weakness across most of the country’s curricula was in teaching students that climate change can be mitigated through action, the study noted.

Wynes said he’d like to see more jurisdictions teaching students how to take action.

«I think the health metaphor holds up,» he said. «If we’re talking about healthy eating, we tell students, ‘Look, here are some options for healthy eating.’ … We encourage providing that information to students. It makes sense that we would do the same thing for climate change.»

Firefighters make their way through a flooded street in May in Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, a suburb northwest of Montreal. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)

Wynes and Nicholas also examined the curricula in relation to political conservatism and greenhouse gas emissions in each province and territory, but they did not find a relationship between them.

However, they suggest there may be a weak correlation between when the curricula were written and how extensively climate change is covered.

Manitoba’s climate change curriculum was published in 2001, making it the oldest in Canada, with New Brunswick’s 2002 curriculum a close second.

A spokesperson for New Brunswick’s Education Department said staff are in the process of updating the science curriculum, but it may take a few years before changes are implemented. In the meantime, staff are developing resources to help teachers integrate climate change into the current curriculum.

Wynes said he wasn’t surprised by the age of some of the curricula, because developing and implementing them can take a long time. But he said he’s optimistic that climate change education will improve as the issue gains more momentum in the media and politics.

What Nova Scotia education officials are doing

Sue Taylor-Foley, Nova Scotia’s executive director of education innovation, program and services, said despite the study’s findings about the province, the Education Department has incorporated environmental stewardship, climate science and sustainability into the curriculum since at least 2000, from Primary to Grade 12.

She said the province will be renewing the curriculum for grades 9 to 12 this fall.

Source of the notice: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/climate-change-curriculum-canadian-high-schools-1.5221358

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David Cohen: The fall of ‘higher’ education?

David Cohen Cohen

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.

No caption

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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