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Education Ministry Names 32 Moroccan Private Schools Suspected of Grade Inflation

Morocco/October 17, 2017/By Morocco World News

The Ministry of National Education has published a list of private schools suspected of inflating students’ grades during the 2016-2017 school year exams.

The ministry issued a press release on October 10 revealing the names of the private schools. The list, published October 10, follows the ministry’s initial statement on October 6, explaining that 32 private schools would be subjected to strict disciplinary measures for inflating baccalaureate students’ continuous assessment grades.

The ministry indicated that it will no longer allow the private schools in question to count the continuous assessment grades in the “Massar” until the ministry’s inspectors verify the veracity of the students’ grades.

The ministry’s investigations showcased that there were huge disparities between the students’ continuous grades and their baccalaureate results and regional grades. The ministry of education stated that it would not tolerate such practices, which it said were contradictory to the principle of equal opportunities between students. Education Ministry Names 32 Moroccan Private Schools Suspected of Grade Inflation

325,191 Moroccan students took the 2017 baccalaureate examination, which took place from June 6 to 8. 30,446 exam-takers came from private schools.

More than 729 fraud cases were recorded on the first day of the 2017 national baccalaureate examination. However, the number represents a 62 percent decrease of fraud cases since last year, when 1,898 fraud cases were recorded on the first day of the national exams.

Source:
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2017/10/230842/education-moroccan-schools-grade-inflation/

 

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EEUU: Illinois Plans to Use Tax Credits to Send Thousands of Students to Private Schools

América del Norte/EEUU/blogs.edweek.org

Resumen:  Los legisladores de Illinois han aprobado el primer programa de elección de escuelas privadas del estado, uniéndose a casi otros 30 estados que usan dinero público o incentivos del gobierno para ayudar a los estudiantes a pagar la matrícula de la escuela privada. Tales programas se han convertido en algo de la política educativa du jour del presidente Donald Trump y su secretaria de educación, Betsy DeVos.  El programa utilizará créditos fiscales para alentar a la gente a donar dinero para que los estudiantes de bajos y medianos ingresos asistan a escuelas privadas. Las becas de crédito tributario, como suelen llamarse estos programas, también han sido vistas por la administración Trump como un posible modelo para un programa nacional de elección de escuelas privadas.


Illinois lawmakers have passed the state’s first private school choice program, joining nearly 30 other states that either use public money or government incentives to help students pay for private school tuition.

Such programs have become something of the education policy du jour under President Donald Trump and his education secretary, Betsy DeVos.

Folded into the larger overhaul of Illinois’ education funding formula, the program will use tax credits to encourage people to donate money for low- and middle-income students to attend private schools.

Tax-credit scholarships, as such programs are generally called, have also been eyed by the Trump administration as a possible model for a nationwide private school choice program.

Illinois’ program was one of the more controversial elements in the debates over the funding formula, as my colleague Daarel Burnette II wrote on the State EdWatch blog:

«After years of political wrangling that divided the state both politically and regionally, Illinois’ Senate Tuesday gave the green light to a new school funding formula, that provides poor and rural districts with more money and expands tax credit scholarships. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner said he will soon sign it into law.

«… Over the last several weeks, the House, Senate, and governor have been at a standoff over two key portions of the funding formula: how much money the state would provide Chicago Public Schools to pay down its ballooning teacher pension costs, and whether the funding formula would allow for tax-credit scholarships. The compromise provides for both.»

The tax-credit scholarship program will expire after five years if lawmakers do not renew it.

Fuente: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/charterschoice/2017/08/illinois_plans_to_use_tax_credits_to_send_thousands_of_students_to_private_schools.html

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Nigerians divided over sex education in schools

Nigeria/August 22, 2017/Source: https://stluciatimes.com

Nigerians are divided on the introduction of the comprehensive sex education (CSE) curriculum in schools to give students an understanding of their sexuality.

The West African country is among the most religious countries in the world with 186 million people made up of predominantly Christians and Muslims. With its over 300 tribes, Nigeria is seen as a conservative country.

These characteristics influence the divisions on the teaching of sex education in schools.

Nigeria has been praised by UNESCO for scaling up and sustaining the comprehensive sex education (CSE) programme in basic schools among a few developing countries in the world.

Nigeria’s CSE curriculum is known as family life HIV education and is designed to prevent students from contracting sexually transmitted infections including HIV, reduce teenage pregnancy and lower rates of sexual violence.

The CSE brought forth text books for the government and private primary and secondary school students with lessons on abstinence and other sexuality topics. The children are between the ages of eight and 15.

One of such books is the Junior Secondary School (JSS 1) Social Studies textbook written by S. O. Omotuyole.

This book has been condemned for its content on Page 50 that spells out “ways to give and receive sexual pleasure and develop closeness without sexual intercourse”.

Among the answers for the topic on abstinence in the book are: kissing, hugging and the undesirable “mutual masturbation”.

One parent, Bello Abdullahi, expressed concern on Facebook about the text book and called on other parents to protect their children and educate them according to the “scriptures”.

“We must keep a close watch on what is being taught our children at school and re-educate them in line with scriptures. Please alert other parents and let’s protect our children,” he said.

He received a diverse response from the public as some blamed the country’s educational board for the publication while others believe the time is right for sexual education.

The NGO Association of Concerned Mothers (ASCOM) has petitioned the Ministry of Education to withdraw the textbook for its “unwholesome and dangerous ideology.”

Also, the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) launched a campaign in July 2017 against the comprehensive sex education in schools to rather “impact moral values in the children”.

Meanwhile, reproductive health body IPAS has supported the introduction of CSE to reduce incidences of rape among children.

The Country Director of IPAS Nigeria Hauwa Shekarau said last week that adolescents needs to be equipped with information to prevent them from the various consequences of unprotected sex.

“Comprehensive sexuality education is not a taboo. Young people should be able to acquire sex education the appropriate way. If you don’t tell them the right things, they will get the information, whether right or wrong, elsewhere,” she said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday published a report carrying views of education stakeholders on the matter in the North West and North East states of the country.

They also expressed diverse views on the teaching of comprehensive sex education (CSE) in schools.

Some supported it while others disapproved of it citing religious reasons.

“Parents should not hide the truth from their children, but teach them what they need to know based on their level of comprehension and take them gradually as they develop. The rationale is to catch them young and prevent them from getting the wrong information from outsiders who may eventually exploit them,” Okene Oloruwagba, a mother told NAN.

“Sex education is an intuitive knowledge and in my opinion government should not introduce sexuality in school curriculum because it will corrupt the minds of teenagers,” Ustaz Abdulrahim Shuaibu, Muslim cleric said.

He was supported by a pastor, Ahmadu Samuel, who said: “Teaching children about sexual relationships apart from promoting immorality is like teaching a child to drive a car without explaining the traffic laws.”

The debate has heightened and the onus lies in the hands of the government to decide on scrapping sex education in schools, reviewing the policy or maintaining it as it is.

Source:

https://stluciatimes.com/2017/08/21/nigerians-divided-sex-education-schools

 

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