Families

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United Kingdom: Holy Trinity Gravesend school to fine late parents

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Europe/United Kingdom/19-01-2020/Author(a) and Source: www.bbc.com

A primary school is to fine parents who are late to pick up their children.

Holy Trinity in Gravesend, Kent, will issue a £1 charge per pupil every five minutes after 15:40.

Social services will be contacted if a child remains uncollected at 16:00, according to a policy that was introduced earlier this month.

The National Education Union fears «punitive» fines and «threats» of social services would «undermine positive relationships with parents».

The school said paying staff overtime to care for uncollected children had become unsustainable and would impact other aspects of school funding.

Head teacher Denise Gibbs-Naguar said it was increasingly common for a «significant number» of pupils to remain uncollected 30 minutes after the school finished at 15:30.

She said pupils who are collected late often «exhibit signs of anxiety and distress» and «worry that something may have happened» to their parents, adding: «Clearly this is not something anyone wants a child to experience.»

Parents at the school gate had mixed views of the fines, with one mother-of-four saying she understood the school’s move when it came to persistent offenders.

A father said he did not understand why people would be that late to pick up their children but another parent she said thought the move was «a bit petty».

‘Unnecessary threat’

The school’s new policy says fines will not be issued when there are «reasonable circumstances» for lateness, such as car accidents, illness and flooding.

Parents will be given three warnings, but thereafter will be charged £1 every five minutes per child.

Jerry Glazier, of the NEU, said the union did not think «fining parents is the right way to engage in the issue».

He said it was important «parents understand why particular actions are detrimental to the school, but the best way of doing that is through proper meaningful engagement, not by punitive actions like fining».

He added: «I don’t think there’s any legal power that enables a school to fine parents and that’s probably the end of it.»

Mr Glazier said the «unnecessary threat» of contacting social services would potentially antagonise people.

The school said a letter would be sent to parents requesting the amount due, which will be followed up with a phone call.

It is not clear what action the school would take if a parent refuses to pay.

Source and Image: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-51126559

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Parents urged to install controls for sites accessed by children

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Africa/Kenya/01-12-2019/Author(a): Fiona Churu/Source: www.kbc.co.ke

The Communications Authority of Kenya is urging parents and guardians to be on the look-out on the content their children consumer online, especially during these long holidays.

Acting Director General Mercy Wanjau says the national cyber-security centre had observed a sharp increase in the number of cyber-threats and incidents in the country.

Kenya has been witnessing a sharp increase in cyber attacks which has prompted the Communications Authority of Kenya to advice parents and guardians to guide and install controls on sites their children can access content from.

This is in addition to a number of online and physical Children Online Protection materials that exist which could assist parents and guardians guarantee the safety of children online.

Embu residents have at least 88 percent coverage of 2G and 3G mobile connectivity, which officials say could be harnessed to boost food productivity.

Wambora urged CA to facilitate basic connectivity to underserved areas in Embu to ensure residents enjoy the transformative power of ICT.

Source and Image: https://www.kbc.co.ke/parents-content-children/

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United States: Another Voice: Opt-out movement offers a vision for public education

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United States/March 31, 2018/By: Chris Cerrone/Buffalonews

Resumen: Otra voz: el movimiento de exclusión ofrece una visión para la educación pública.

Six years ago, my family began a journey to take a stand for our children’s education. We were among handful of parents across New York State to publicly announce that our children would “opt-out” of (boycott) the grade 3-8 state assessments. Since then, thousands more families have joined us in defending public education, with over 225,000 students opting out of New York State exams in 2017.

While motivations vary in the testing boycott, the majority of families were driven to action because they witnessed their children’s classrooms becoming focused on test preparation and a system that forced teachers to concentrate on a limited set of ELA and math skills, instead of a well-rounded education.

So, what has the opt-out movement achieved? The opt-out movement influenced changes, resulting in shorter assessments in both the number of questions and the days spent testing. Opt-out families also motivated the Board of Regents to offer more pathways to high  school graduation.

While these changes are positive steps, the boycott of state assessments must continue, because schools are still forced to focus on test scores over true learning, and the assessments continue to be flawed measures of student achievement. While Every Student Succeeds Act has replaced No Child Left Behind as federal education law, politicians in Washington and Albany continue to fail our children. Seventeen-plus years of test-based accountability for schools mandated by federal law have failed to close achievement gaps for vulnerable groups of young people. Why should schools continue a policy that has obviously been unsuccessful? Additionally, in New York, teacher evaluations are still legally tied to student test scores, despite ESSA removing that federal mandate. Making state assessments high-stakes for adults harms our children, as focusing on raising test scores does not necessarily equate with improved learning outcomes. It is time for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and the State Legislature to repeal the current teacher evaluation law so we can give schools local control of their employment and curriculum decisions.

The opt-out movement is not just about refusing to take a test, but, instead, offering a vision for public education that rejects a focus on assessment skills, workbooks and teacher-centered classrooms. Families who boycott yearly standardized tests instead advocate for student-centered learning and creative activities that include hands-on and real-world simulations. Imagine every classroom and school system engaging students, to promote imaginative, higher-order thinking that goes well beyond the narrow scope of a test-focused education system. These are the skills our children need to truly be ready and flexible to meet a rapidly changing world as they graduate.

Fuente: http://buffalonews.com/2018/03/28/another-voice-opt-out-movement-offers-a-vision-for-public-education/

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Is innovation in education oversold?

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15 de noviembre de 2017 / Por: Manzoor Ahmed / Fuente: http://www.thedailystar.net/

Innovation and technology are seen as the solutions to the educational deprivation of millions of children in the developing world. How does the technology-based model of innovation relate to the real world of learners, teachers, schools, families and the communities that we live in?

Focusing on scaling up quality education, BRAC hosted an international conference titled “Frugal Innovation Forum 2017,” on November 9-11, 2017 at BRAC’s conference centre in Savar. Some 200 educationists and innovators from Bangladesh, Australia, India, Nepal and South Africa presented projects based on innovative solutions for improving quality in education.

Only 25 percent of the 5th grade children could read at minimum grade level in Bangladesh, which means three quarters could not quite read, write and do their sums after completing primary education. This was the finding of a rigorous sample survey under Primary Education Directorate auspices in 2013. The same survey in 2015 showed no improvement.

Yet students have to sit for four high-stake public examinations at grades 5, 8, 10 and 12 before tertiary education. Test-taking—model tests, mock tests, private coaching, memorising test guides, guessing test items—is the total concern of pupils, teachers and parents. Test papers are being leaked in advance and sold to examinees—a sign of desperation for high scores in the exams.

Teaching is the last occupational choice for university graduates in Bangladesh and many young teachers keep looking for ways to move out of it.

Meeting a necessary teacher-to-student ratio of no more than 30 students per primary school teacher, with enough learning hours in a school day, would require doubling the number of primary teachers in Bangladesh.

At secondary level, qualified and subject-trained teachers lack in core subjects such as languages, math, science and computer. For 100 secondary schools, there are 50 Bangla, 57 English and 138 qualified teachers for all sciences and math, according to a 2015 survey. It is of course not just a matter of numbers.

There is no pre-service professional training or certification for school teaching. There is no career path for teachers; most school teachers begin their career as assistant teacher and retire as assistant teacher.

Two recent reports on the world education scene, the Global Education Monitoring Report 2017/18 of UNESCO and the 2018 World Development Report of the World Bank, focusing on education, draw attention to the realities in poor countries.

In 1,297 sample villages in rural India, 24 percent of the teachers were found to be absent in primary schools on unannounced visits.

High-stake tests on narrow measures lead to efforts to “game the system”, which punish the marginalised, according to the UNESCO report. India’s National Crime Records Bureau reported 2,672 students committing suicide in 2015 due to failing exams.

Young students who were already disadvantaged by poverty, conflict, gender or disability reach adulthood without even the most basic life skills. “This learning crisis is a moral and economic crisis,” says Jim Y Kim, President of the World Bank.

The innovations described or proposed in the conference concerned pedagogy: making teaching and learning more exciting and joyful; using digital technologies to help learners and teachers; and finding new ways of mobilising funding for education and using it better. Partnerships, decentralisation and devolution, accountability, and inspired and dedicated teachers figured in the discussion.

The promises of innovation and technology still beg the question how these are made to work in the public education system which has to serve the large majority of children ensuring equity and acceptable quality.

Some of the ideas presented were: a greater role of the private sector in education; low-cost private schools; and even public funds provided for schools managed by entrepreneurs. The argument given is that the education task is too large for the government alone to handle. Moreover, greater diversity and choices must exist in services available.

A radical suggestion advocated by Dr James Tooley, professor of education policy at the University of Newcastle in UK, was to keep the government out of education and hand over schooling to the private sector. “The market gives the choice to parents, ensures best use of the resources, and eliminates corruption and waste of the public schools,” argued the professor.

Tooley’s aggressively utilitarian worldview seems to ignore the moral and ethical dimension of rights, obligations of the state and society, and the fact that the market has not served the poor and the disadvantaged well. Nor have the public schools. But an absolute faith in “market fundamentalism” cannot be the magic bullet, however much one wishes for it.

The main conclusion of the lively exchange points to a pragmatic and practical approach, rather than a magic solution. As Mohammed Musa, executive director of BRAC, summed it up, “For education to be able to serve the future of our communities, we need to empower teachers, methodologies, practitioners and more importantly [change] mindsets… to solve real problems with simple, frugal solutions, that include the under-privileged communities of the present world.”

Horace Mann (1796–1859), a visionary US educator, said, “A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron.” Bill Gates, summing up ten years of experience with the Effective Teaching Project in large cities in the US supported by his foundation, recently said, “Over time, we realised that what made the most successful schools successful—large or small—were their teachers, their relationships with students, and their high expectations of students’ achievement.”

Turning to Bangladesh, a ten-year plan for a national initiative to bring in and keep talented young people in teaching is needed. This plan needs to have four key elements: (i) education should be a major area in the four-year general undergraduate degree; (ii) talented students should be recruited competitively with the incentive of stipends; (iii) a high-quality education course in a hundred degree colleges should be introduced and essential standards and teaching facilities ensured in these colleges; and (iv) a national teaching service corps should be established where the option of suitable position and attractive rewards for graduates of the new course is available.

Thus, in 10 years, a nucleus of talented and inspired teachers can be created in each school. And the environment for innovations to work in these schools will be built.

Fuente noticia: http://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/innovation-education-oversold-1490659

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Is education in Japan really so bad?

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Japón / 27 de septiembre de 2017 / Por: IKUKO TSUBOYA-NEWELL / Fuente: https://www.japantimes.co.jp

I founded and have run an international school for expat families and multicultural children for nearly a quarter century. There have been frequent visits from Japanese parents asking to enroll their children in our school because they were not satisfied with what the local Japanese schools offered. Although it is an honor to have such requests, I am always surprised to find so many Japanese think in such a way. In Japan, some families migrate to another country because of educational preferences. Sometimes only the mother moves overseas with the children, while the father stays in Japan to continue with his job. Malaysia is so far their most popular destination. It is indeed a radical trend.

Several years ago, I was among the guests to dine with an education minister of the Netherlands. He told us that during his visit to Japan, he was often told by Japanese people that they envied the education in his country and wished the Japanese education system could be more like it. He said he was surprised since he had come to Japan to learn about Japanese education, which in Europe enjoys the reputation of having a high academic standard and success rate. He wondered why there was so much dissatisfaction.

We all know that there is no such thing as a perfect education. Every system has its strengths and weaknesses. But is education in Japan as bad as many Japanese people seem to think? Education is a complex field, but let’s take a look at some research and OECD data first.

The OECD conducts the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), a triennial international survey that aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students. In 2015, over half a million students, representing 28 million 15-year-olds in 72 countries and economies, took the internationally agreed two-hour test. Students were assessed in science, mathematics, reading, collaborative problem solving and financial literacy.

Historically, Japan has ranked high and did so as well in the 2015 test. Students here ranked second in science, eighth in reading and fifth in math among the 72 countries and economies. Other consistently high-ranked countries and economies in Asia are Singapore and Hong Kong. However, it should be taken into account that both of them have much smaller numbers of children than Japan. Even Canada, which ranked third in reading, has only 5.6 million children under the age of 14, whereas in Japan that number is nearly 16.2 million, three times as many.

Looking at the results and given the variables in numbers of children in each country, Japan’s ranking seems rather impressive and its positive reputation in Europe well-deserved. Japanese schools should feel proud of themselves.

Of course, evaluating the success of educational outcomes involves more than quantitative or statistical analysis of standardized testing. There are important qualitative outcomes to consider, which are more difficult to measure by statistics. Consider, for instance, the fact that after the Japanese team plays a match in a World Cup soccer tournament, there is no garbage left behind in the Japanese supporters’ area. Supporters make sure to clean up their garbage even when Japan has lost the game. This kind of care for surroundings and responsible civil citizenship is developed over time in Japanese schools. From teachers and coaches, Japanese students learn to clean up not only their classrooms but corridors and other communal areas. This way students learn not only to respect their surroundings, they also develop a shared sense of responsibility regardless of their home backgrounds.

Japanese school culture nurtures students’ values and sense of community in other ways that are too subtle for statistical analysis. A professional dietitian plans balanced menus for lunch, then students serve lunch by themselves and eat together in their classroom with their homeroom teacher. A close sense of community develops and it is another opportunity to show respect — this time for food as everyone says “itadakimasu” before and “gochisō-sama deshita” after the meal.

Students also learn basic life skills such as sewing, knitting, cooking, and various handicrafts in school. Traditional skills such as calligraphy are taught as well. Traditional as well as modern sports and cultural activities are offered in after-school clubs. All of these are taught by regular teachers free of charge.

Japanese teachers are in fact much more than subject teachers. As well as coaching after-school activities, they visit students’ homes to get a better understanding of particular family contexts and to reinforce a sense of a close-knit and caring community. Teachers go beyond the classroom, and greet the students at the gate. Students not only feel welcomed but learn the important habit of greeting.

In fact, teachers at junior high schools in Japan work an average of 63 hours and 18 minutes per week — the longest hours among all OECD countries — and there is little overtime compensation. Not only are the hours long, but there can be as many as 40 students per class. And out of the 40 students, on average six students are from families of relative poverty, 2.5 students have a developmental disorder, six think that classes are too difficult and five think they are too easy. And all these kinds of students are taught by one teacher — a daunting task.

It is surely the dedication of Japanese teachers as well as parental investment in education that has allowed Japan to maintain its high educational achievements.

So why do parents underestimate this success? Why are they dissatisfied? Well, it is not just parents who are showing dissatisfaction. According to research by the National Institution For Youth Education, 72.5 percent of 1,850 Japanese high school students surveyed said they consider themselves useless, compared with 35.2 percent in South Korea, 45.1 percent in the United States and 56.4 percent in China. This result might partly be explained by the fact that Japanese value modesty, but also it might be because of a lack of self-confidence. There is no need for this.

Another OECD survey, the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies — which is the adult version of PISA — ranked Japan as No. 1 out of 24 countries in science, mathematics and literacy in 2013. We owe a lot to the schools for this ranking.

Isn’t it about time that we look at the facts and say proudly that our education is not so bad? In fact it is rather good. Let’s have more confidence and say we are not doing too bad in the educational field, despite the government’s low spending in this area. There are improvements to be made, but let us understand and appreciate what is already of worth and build on that accordingly.

Fuente noticia: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2017/09/26/commentary/japan-commentary/education-japan-really-bad/#.WcrCAWj9SUk

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