Latest news with #Desc
BBC News
12-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Public asked for views about Isle of Man education act proposals
Giving schools the power to restrict admissions, adding protections for looked-after children, and making changes to religious education are just three areas in which the Isle of Man's education department is asking the public about.A six-week consultation by the Department of Education, Sport and Culture (Desc) wants to hear residents' views on the updated draft Education Act. It also asks about plans for specialist education centres and emergency school closures, as well as grants and Daphne Caine said: "I encourage all stakeholders - educators, parents and members of the public - to participate" in the consultation, which closes on 15 June. The Education Act forms part of government's longer term Island Plan to give "every child" the "opportunity to thrive and succeed", she published in 2022, the Island Plan has since been updated consultation exercise builds upon a similar survey conducted last year. 'Increasing strain' One area of the consultation asks about establishing education facilities "outside of traditional school premises under certain conditions".These would be to cater for children "who may not be able to access a conventional school environment" or who are "at risk of significant harm", it alternative provision centre could offer "a multi-agency approach" to provide "comprehensive support".Proposed changes to education for looked-after children include the creation of a virtual would "allow the department to promote the educational achievement of children aged five to 19" who are subject to various care would also give the department the "legal mandate to continue to support these children" after compulsory school age until they are 19 if they remain in education". 'Restrict admissions' The questionnaire also addresses issues in highly populated areas of the said there was "increasing strain in certain schools... due to the increasing number of children living in the catchment areas".There are proposals are to give institutions the powers to restrict admissions if they have reached change could modernise the religious education curriculum, to include faiths outside of proposals include:The department could be given the power to make emergency school closuresOfficial terminology would be updated from "special education" to "additional education"Bursaries would be introduced for training in fields "critical to national interests" such as nursing and teaching Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
BBC News
09-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Isle of man school meals report branded 'meaningless' by MHK
A report on school meals on the Isle of Man that saw redactions on more than 80% of its pages has been branded "completely meaningless" by an MHK The document, published in March, looks at areas such as the operating model and costs saw large sections of the text and in some cases full pages blacked Faragher MHK said the review had a "significant level of both political and public interest" but "no one can get any information" out of what has been Minister Daphne Caine said while the report had not been produced "in a way that could made public", the details were "informing policy" on the issue. The 2023 School Meals Review, originally drafted for internal use by the Department of Education, Sport and Culture (Desc), confirmed £2,522,000 was spent on the service in the academic year 2022-2023. But the publicly available version of the document has removed a list of 24 recommended improvements to the service, considerations of a new model and the details of potential alternatives, and a suggested five-year on more than 120 pages of the 147-page report can not be viewed. 'In development' In Tuesday's sitting of the House of Keys, Lawrie Hooper MHK said: "The fact the department has decided to redact everything related to the development and formulation of policy is somewhat absurd."He asked how Tynwald members were expected to engage with the review all politicians could see was "pages upon pages of blacked out text".Tim Glover MHK said the "excessive redactions" undermined public scrutiny and called for the minister to explain what steps were being taken "by the secret squirrel department" to improve transparency on the publication of official told members the report had originally been produced to "inform department policy" and as such "prior to its publication it was treated as a Freedom of Information (FOI) request".In line with FOI exemptions on formulation of policy, conduct of public business, personal information and commercial interests, aspects of the report has been removed, she minister told members school meals policy was "very much in development" and therefore it would be "inappropriate and a bit irresponsible to put that in the public domain" before the details had been she said key areas of focus for Desc would be a reduction in the use of ultra-processed food, using more local produce, reducing food waste and conducting parental and student surveys on meal choices, which had been outlined in the annual departmental plan. Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
BBC News
20-03-2025
- BBC News
Ballakermeen teacher used AI to make indecent images of pupils
A former teacher who used artificial intelligence to make pictures of two 15-year-old school girls into indecent images has been jailed for 19 Taylor altered stills from videos he had taken of students when he was teaching at Ballakermeen High School in Courthouse heard the 26-year-old, from Darwen in Lancashire, took images of the students in a classroom and the library without their him, Deemster Graeme Cook said he had abused his position of trust "greatly" and immediate custody was the only appropriate sentence. The court heard the images came to light after police went to Taylor's house about another matter and seized his electronic devices in June 2024.A total of 43 images were found, and while those on his mobile phone were "innocent" pictures of the students, a number of indecent images - including 31 that had been altered to show the girls in a state of undress - were found on his court was told he answered "no comment" to all questions to police in interviews in August last year and again in later pleaded guilty to six charges of making and possessing pseudo images of children on 27 May defence advocate told the court he had lost his career in teaching as a result of his offending and would struggle to find any work in future as a result of the conviction. 'Protect our school communities' Deemster Cook said: "Any child, male or female, should be able to go to school to be educated and not have what you did to them done to them."He had to send a "message" to others that they would face jail for committing similar offences, the deemster was also made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years, which restricting his access to devices that can access the internet, and will be banned from returning to the island for five years after his Isle of Man Constabulary previously confirmed it was "satisfied that no contact offences have been committed by the defendant on any of the students affected by his actions".In a statement, the Department of Education, Sport and Culture (Desc) said Taylor's actions were a "grave breach of the trust placed in educators"."We remain committed to upholding the highest standards of conduct within our schools and will continue working diligently to protect our school communities," it said."Desc will continue collaborating with law enforcement and other relevant agencies to ensure the safety and integrity of our educational environments."The safety and well-being of our students remain of utmost importance.""We extend our gratitude to the Isle of Man Constabulary for their thorough investigation and to the school community for their resilience during this challenging time." Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
