Latest news with #EducationReform
The Herald
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald
'Your voice matters': Bela Act public comment participation commences
Basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube has gazetted two sets of draft regulations under the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Act for public comment. The regulations on school admissions and school capacity were published in Government Gazette Nos 53119 and 53120 on August 6, marking a major step in implementing the act, which came into effect on December 24. 'These regulations are instruments that will affect how schools are governed and managed, how children are admitted and how our values as a society are reflected in our education system,' said Gwarube. 'I call on South Africans, including parents, teachers, school governing bodies, civil society, education experts, and community members to participate in this public comment process. Your voice matters.' The draft admission of pupils to public schools regulations aim to ensure fair, inclusive and transparent admission processes in all provinces. According to the gazette, these regulations apply uniformly to all departments and all state schools.
New York Times
22-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
In Virginia, the Attack on University Presidents Widens
The leader of Virginia Military Institute, Cedric T. Wins, lost his contract in February after an alumni group, the Spirit of VMI, attacked his administration for its 'woke assault' on the state-supported military college. The president of the University of Virginia, James E. Ryan, resigned in June, chased out by the Trump administration and a conservative alumni group known as the Jefferson Council, which has board connections. Now the president of George Mason University, Gregory N. Washington, is facing an attack from the Trump administration and the university's highly partisan board, appointed by the Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin. Like General Wins, Dr. Washington is Black. And like the other university presidents, Dr. Washington had promoted diversity, including what he called an 'antiracism' agenda. 'We have every reason to believe that George Mason is the next target,' the campus's chapter of the American Association of University Professors wrote in an email to its members. The ouster of a third public university president to support D.E.I. would help fulfill the mission of Governor Youngkin, who is limited to one term. Elected in 2021, Mr. Youngkin has pushed for education reform, declaring that diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives had 'gone off the rails.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Times
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Times
Pupils to be taught strangulation is illegal to tackle ‘incel culture'
Strangulation will be taught as a criminal offence under new Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) guidance published on Tuesday, as part of an overhaul of the curriculum in England. For the first time, pupils will be explicitly taught that strangulation — applying pressure to someone's neck or covering their mouth and nose — is illegal, even if it doesn't cause visible injury. The revised guidance, the first significant update since 2020, will push secondary schools to tackle the growing influence of the 'manosphere' and incel culture, as well as emerging harms linked to pornography. However, critics said the government had watered down a previous draft, which sought to counter 'trans activist' positions. Schools will also be told not to use oversimplified diagrams or cartoons to teach about gender identity, such as the 'Genderbread Person', which had been used in some lessons provided by external providers. These can risk misleading pupils or encouraging them to question their gender unnecessarily, the guidance said. The new guidance said schools should be careful not to endorse any particular view or teach it as fact, including that all people have a gender identity. It added: 'Schools should be mindful to avoid any suggestion that social transition is a simple solution to feelings of distress or discomfort.' • Abuse claims and rape culture identified at 1,600 primary schools Pupils will be taught how online content, including AI-manipulated images and deepfakes, can distort perceptions of women, sex, and consent, which the Department for Education guidance said can 'portray misogynistic behaviours and attitudes', influencing those who watch it. Boys will also be encouraged to identify positive male role models and to challenge online misogyny. Sexual harassment, including unwanted touching, sexual language, upskirting, revenge porn and sharing intimate images without consent, will also be covered in detail. The overhaul of RSHE comes after a government consultation raised alarm over inconsistent teaching and controversial materials used by third-party providers. The Labour government scrapped earlier Conservative plans to ban sex education for children under the age of nine. Instead, the guidance advises that it should not begin before Year 5, while giving schools the flexibility to teach it earlier. The revised mandatory curriculum will be introduced in all mainstream schools from September. Mental health education will start in primary school, focusing on emotions, loneliness, bullying and seeking help. In secondary schools, suicide prevention will be taught with guidance from mental health professionals, avoiding graphic or emotive content. Other newly added topics include suicide prevention, loneliness, gambling, virginity testing, bereavement, parenting, menstrual and gynaecological health, and antimicrobial resistance. Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, warned that the expanded content risks overwhelming schools. 'The new guidance asks schools to teach more content with only the same amount of time available,' he said. 'Government cannot continue to impose additions to the curriculum without proposing how the additional teaching time needed is to be found.' Whiteman also criticised the lack of support for suicide prevention teaching: 'NAHT has particular concerns that the inclusion of suicide prevention content has not been accompanied by a commitment from the government to provide funded training for all teachers to give them both the knowledge and the confidence they need to discuss suicide prevention and self-harm with young people.' The guidance for schools has been overhauled by the government GETTY IMAGES The government said the changes were designed to reflect modern challenges facing children and equip them with the knowledge to stay safe and make informed choices. The guidance will be reviewed again before it becomes statutory in 2026. Helen Joyce, the director of Sex Matters, which campaigns for clarity on single-sex services, said: 'It's welcome that Bridget Phillipson is warning schools not to use simplistic graphics that perpetuate stereotypes or encourage children to question their gender. Far too much harm has already been done by sexist and frankly stupid teaching materials that lie to children by telling them it's your personality and interests that determine whether you're a boy or a girl.' She added: 'It's a big shame that the Department for Education has watered down sections of the draft guidance it inherited from the previous government, which sought to counter the trans activist positions adopted by many schools over the past decade. Instead of warning schools not to teach about the broader concept of gender identity, it now says pupils should not be taught that everyone has a gender identity. 'We're concerned that the DfE still doesn't seem to have grasped the harm caused by so-called social transition in schools.' • A spokeswoman for Bayswater Support Group of parents of children with transgender identities said: 'The new RSHE guidance fails to address the serious safeguarding issues around teaching gender identity to children, including the implicit message that children could have an inner identity that means their body needs fixing. 'As well as significantly weakening the clarity offered by the earlier draft guidance, this version introduces topics which are likely to be harmful to vulnerable children. For example, direct teaching about suicide may actually undermine suicide prevention strategies.'
Sky News
05-07-2025
- Health
- Sky News
Exclusive: Watchdog upholds nearly 100% of complaints about special educational needs in England
Why you can trust Sky News A watchdog is upholding 96% of the complaints it investigates about the provision of special educational needs in England, according to figures shared exclusively with Sky News. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman is the last port of call for families who have exhausted the complaints process at their local council when they cannot get the right support for their children. Amerdeep Somal, who heads the organisation, told Sky News the number of complaints they are receiving about Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) has also risen almost 250% in the last five years. She said: "Some of those children will never reach their full potential. Often children lose years of their education and their development - sometimes at pivotal stages. "We're seeing complaints about not doing assessments for Education Health and Care Plans, not doing reviews in good time, support specified in the plan not being put into place in schools - and also poor communication so parents don't know what is happening. "There's been a huge surge in demand for plans. That means more complaints. That means more resources. More children need to be assessed, and that means more specialist input in schools. And that hasn't been keeping pace with the demands. "The situation can't continue as it is at the moment - we need radical and urgent reform." In Sefton, 15-year-old Jacob is one of the children who has fallen through the cracks. He has needs, including autism and ADHD, and has not had a consistent school place for four years. His mum, Geraldine Pollock, says schools keep saying they cannot meet his needs, sometimes even after enrolling him. Currently, he has been out of school for over nine months, and Geraldine spends her days trying to teach him at home to the best of her ability. "Absolutely horrific - that is the only word that I can use to describe it. I never, ever envisaged that, as a family, we would be put in this situation," she said. Geraldine says she almost lost her job because she had no option but to care for Jacob herself, and is still only able to work part-time. As soon as Jacob started at his latest school, she asked them to tell her upfront if they would not be able to meet his needs. "I thought, we cannot go back to the dark place that we've been in," she said. "They reassured me they had put everything in place - and they actually hadn't." "When I think of it now, I think 'How I could I be so naive?' I never once thought you would literally be left on your own," she added. David Moorhead is another special needs parent in Sefton, Merseyside, who helps run a group called Voice of the Families, which has come together to push for more help for their children. What started as an informal group for local parents to support each other has now ballooned to more than 500 families. David says he was "gobsmacked" by the number of parents just in his area who all feel their children have been failed. "Parents have left jobs, left careers just to be with their child. One mother had to cancel her own operation because there was no one to look after her child. "Going out for a family meal, going on holiday - these aren't realities because your child needs a lot of attention, a lot support in order for them to flourish. "They just push you off a cliff and you fall - and when you ask for help, it just doesn't come." Sefton Council said in a statement: "We are working with the Voice of the Families group - we have listened to them and understand their concerns and will continue to feed their experiences into our improvements as a service so we can better support families on this journey. "The demand for SEND support and the challenges in the system are seen across the country and we are working hard to meet the growing need for SEND support in Sefton. We have, and will continue to, pursue every avenue to expand our specialist SEND provision to meet the demand in our borough." The Department for Education said it accepts the SEND system needs to be reformed, and is currently consulting on what shape that will take. The government plans to publish a White Paper in the autumn setting out the reforms, and says it recognises the 'immense need' in the sector.
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bronzeville restaurant serves up politics as Pritzker, Mitchell make first campaign stop
CHICAGO (WGN) — Politics was again on the menu for Wednesday's lunch at Peaches in Bronzeville, with Gov. JB Pritzker and his new running mate, Christian Mitchell, making their first campaign stop together. With current Lt. Gov. Julianna Stratton vying for a US Senate seat to be vacated by Sen. Dick Durbin, Mitchell has stepped in for her on the ballot. Pritzker and Mitchell both stress the transition would be smooth; they worked well together during Mitchell's tenure as deputy governor. 'Everywhere in the state of Illinois we have worked hard to lift people up, we're going to continue to do that as a team,' Mitchell said. Gov. Pritzker announces Christian Mitchell as pick for Lieutenant Governor Various Chicago politicos happened to be at Peaches when the pair stopped by, including former Rep. Bobby Rush and Sean Harden, the president of the Chicago Board of Education. 'At the heart of it, I think they appreciate the importance of education,' Harden said. 'There's no doubt about that and we just have to rebuild the relationship.' Peaches, near East 47th Street and South Martin Luther King Drive, sits in the statehouse district Mitchell represented for six years. In selecting Mitchell, the governor said he wanted someone who could take over for him if necessary. While both men are from Chicago and made their first campaign stop here, they'll soon be taking their message downstate. 'When you're a state rep. you don't just represent, you also are voting on things that are good for people all across the state,' Pritzker said. 'My first hearing when I was chair of the committee on Economic Opportunity was in Carbondale to talk about the impacts of higher education cuts in the previous administration on those towns. I plan to go everywhere, be everywhere, meet people where they are,' Mitchell added. The path to securing statewide victory for a Democrat usually includes running up the vote totals among African Americans, making Bronzeville an obvious first campaign stop. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
