Latest news with #InternationalBaccalaureate
Axios
5 hours ago
- Business
- Axios
Miami-Dade Public Schools predicted a $50 million deficit. It wasn't far off
Earlier this year, Miami-Dade County Public School officials braced for a potential shortfall of about $50 million. Ahead of Wednesday evening's first budget hearing for the district's 2025-26 school year, officials told Axios that the prediction wasn't far off. Why it matters: They previously had warned that budget shortfalls could lead to major shifts in the district, including job cuts or hindering the growth of programs, like International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement classes. Yes, but: This year's sharp decline was expected and can be mainly attributed to the sunsetting of federal stimulus funds. "We've been planning for this year for a long time," district chief financial officer Ron Steiger told Axios. "Our budget is shrinking, but it is expected." Friction point: Ahead of the school board's 6pm meeting, public education advocates are rallying to demand more transparency and public oversight of charter schools, primarily around finances and curriculum access. Miami-Dade and districts statewide have seen a decrease in funding because of declining enrollment driven by the state's growing voucher program. The intrigue: District officials were bracing for an even greater shortfall after the Trump administration halted more than $5 billion in public school funding, including more than $45 million slated for Miami's public schools.
BBC News
9 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Suffolk school shuts over 'mounting' costs and 'unpaid fees'
An independent school has permanently closed and declared a state of insolvency after facing "mounting financial pressures" and "unpaid fees", it UK School, based in Risby, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, announced the closure on its website on to the most recent government data, there were 68 pupils enrolled at the school, which has capacity for 160 children aged of two to 18.A spokesperson for Suffolk County Council said it would support parents in finding their children a place in state-funded schools. According to inspection documents, the Brooks Education Group acquired the site in 2015."This school has always been more than just a place of learning," said David Rose, the group's director."It has been a community of committed educators, supportive families, and talented young people. We are devastated to see it close."The school said it had made "tireless efforts" to address the issues, but would now enter voluntary liquidation, a decision which had "not been taken lightly"."The school has faced mounting financial pressures, including rising operational costs, reduced enrolment, unpaid fees, and the cumulative impact of wider economic challenges," its statement said. "After exploring every viable option to secure funding and support, the board concluded that closure was the only responsible course of action."The county council added that it would share appropriate sign posting and supporting guidance documents with affected parents. In February the school announced it was moving away from the national curriculum with pupils instead taking International Baccalaureate qualifications. In 2023 inspectors of the school raised several concerns over the school's leaders and managers in fulfilling their responsibilities as well as behaviour management and safeguarding arrangements. A progress inspection the following year found the school had addressed the concerns, Education Group has other schools in Canada and India. 'Devastated' Georgia McGhee lives near Bury St Edmunds and had recently enrolled her 13 year-old daughter at the says she was "devastated" when she heard the news of the closure. Ms McGhee said the family had taken "a lot of careful consideration" when choosing the school and that her daughter had been due to start in said she had paid term fees ahead of the new school year but had been told by the insolvency company that her family were "probably at the bottom of a very long line of people that need paying before us".She said there had been no indication from anyone at the school that a closure was likely and it had come as a "shock". Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Smriti Irani writes: In a world where AI can code, but not create, how India can fill the gap
In my journey across the television screen, the political trail, transformative classrooms, the rattling loom, among other evolving contexts, I've seen one truth hold steady — our power lies in our imagination, curiosity, creativity and innovation. India's creative economy is projected to reach $80 billion by 2026, according to a report published recently. 'Creative Economy' is not just a smart phrase but holds the potential for building creative-cultural assets. It can operate as a strategic lever of inclusive growth. I want to bring together two powerful perspectives — education and entrepreneurship, and classrooms and creators. Together, they present India's development frontier with strong, inclusive opportunities. The question, therefore, arises: How quickly can our institutions prepare young minds with the skills and confidence to help them participate in the creative economy? A recent survey-backed report, 'Shaping Education to nurture the $80 billion Creative Economy', by a leading Indian management consulting firm, states that only 9 per cent of students across 22 states demonstrate strong readiness in design thinking, research and real-world problem-solving. These are 21st-century skills and core competencies of the creative economy. In a world where AI can code but not create, these gaps matter. The NEP 2020 calls for embedding 21st-century skills — critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication — into the curriculum. But we must go further. With the CBSE now mandating art-integrated learning from Grades I–X, and the Rs 400 crore Indian Institute of Creative Technologies (IICT) launching in Mumbai, the blueprint is emerging. Creativity cannot be part-time, and in that sense, it cannot be extracurricular. It is time to mainstream creative entrepreneurial mindset training — through maker spaces, startup labs, and design sprints. Let creativity be assessed not just in art rooms, but in business models, digital portfolios and social impact. Bring it midstream in the curriculum. The Report also highlights how international boards such as the International Baccalaureate (IB) are more successful in developing core competencies of the creative economy in school students compared to Indian boards. India's creative force is exploding — not just in metros, but in village courtyards, small-town lanes, and local community centres. With affordable tech and deep cultural roots, over 100 million Indians — farmers, weavers and local experts — have become digital creators. The creator economy has now surpassed the $500 million mark, powered not by polished panache but by raw authenticity! Its revolutionary power shatters barriers: In Rajasthan, women resurrect and champion vanishing oral histories through vibrant smartphone films. In Bihar, Bhojpuri creators fill the education gaps left by traditional systems. They aren't just telling stories — they are telling 'their' stories and fuelling a grassroots movement, rooted in language, identity and local pride. We saw this raw, vernacular creative surge reshaping how India speaks, learns and leads in the recent launch of India's first public streaming platform, WAVES OTT, owned by Prasar Bharati. WAVES OTT accomplishes what commercial giants may not — by elevating daily creators, it is making local content and storytelling part of the national conversations. In today's India, the most powerful public messaging isn't top-down; it's created, uploaded, and amplified from the ground up. WAVES is not a passive pipeline of content; it is a democratic bridge. It confers institutional legitimacy on creators emerging from villages and towns and provides them with an equal opportunity to stream their content. Small-time films, established content producers, influencers, and student films can all showcase their content alongside each other. In classrooms across India, teachers are turning into creators, and students into solopreneurs. Khan Sir from Patna — armed with chalk, wit, and a camera — educates millions through YouTube. Meanwhile, Bengaluru's Parikrma Foundation builds storytelling, theatre, and filmmaking into everyday learning. In Maharashtra, 17-year-old Shraddha Garad launched her own digital embroidery tutorial channel during the pandemic, is now selling patterns online and mentoring younger girls in her village — a student, a creator, and an entrepreneur rolled into one. These aren't outliers — they are early signals of a systemic shift. Our policy must now respond with speed and scale. Imagine government-backed media labs and creator incubators in every district —where students prototype campaigns, narrate local stories, and learn digital production as a life skill. But this transformation won't happen in silos. Ministries like MoE, MSDE and I&B must converge — blending skilling with storytelling, curriculum with creator capital. In a Viksit Bharat, literacy isn't just about reading and writing — it's about creating, pitching, and publishing. Yet, the true power of the creative economy will be unlocked not only from scale but in its social resonance. In communities where institutions are slow or absent, creators are stepping in — bridging information gaps, shifting norms and activating public awareness in real time. In Odisha, tribal teenagers use Odiya rap videos to teach climate-resilient farming — reaching over 5,00,000 farmers, where traditional extension systems have fallen short (UNICEF, 2024). In Kerala, ASHA workers produce short-form health content in Malayalam, doubling engagement on TB awareness compared to state-led clinic outreach. Vernacular influencers, across platforms, have driven more than 70 million views on subjects like menstrual health, child nutrition, and vaccinations — topics too often left out of mainstream media. As we journey towards Viksit Bharat 2047, our greatest strength will not be in factories or code — but in our capacity to imagine, narrate, and innovate. In a world shaped by algorithms, India's currency is creativity — and its potential is limitless. Let's build an India where every child is a creator, and every creator is a force for economic, cultural, and social transformation. That is the India we must shape. The writer is a former Union Minister
Irish Times
5 days ago
- Irish Times
Mary Kate O'Flanagan: Moving home to Ireland was the best thing I ever did
I was born in Dublin and lived here until I was 13. I have an English mother. I always felt Irish, but people would go, 'Are you English?' because we spoke with her intonations. Sometimes people have a funny response to that. I went to a convent school, Muckross Park. One of the teachers was a native Irish speaker. When I was in 6th class, she approached my parents and said: 'I think Mary Kate has a gift for languages – there's a scholarship you should put her forward for." They did, and I spent the last three months of my primary school education in Indreabhán, Connemara, studying trí Gaeilge. Two years later, we moved to Copenhagen. My deal with my parents was, I would move to Denmark as long as I could keep going back to Irish college. I went to Coláiste na bhFiann, where they'd send you home if you spoke a full sentence in English. Afterwards, I kept it up. Even though I was no longer in the Irish school system, I did an Irish O-Level, and then did Irish in the International Baccalaureate. When we got to Copenhagen, it was like having gone somewhere over the rainbow. It was 1980, Ireland was a very economically deprived country and Denmark was not. Suddenly, there was a public transport system that was clean and safe and covered the entire city. Copenhagen was a cycling city in 1980, long before Dublin ever was. There was enormous freedom for a 13-year-old. Suddenly we were taking continental holidays and ski trips, which would not have been on the bingo card here. READ MORE I spent my 20s in the UK and in Italy. When I was 31, I thought: one more year and I'll have spent more time outside of Ireland than in it, so I came home. That was the best thing I ever did, but I've always had this love of Denmark and I go back all the time. The most out of place I've ever felt is in the UK . The people look the same, the landscape is the same, the weather is the same, we have a language in common, but their values are completely different. Culture in Britain is very practical. They live very much in the material world. Irish culture is more dreamy. We're poetic. We're interested in ideas and abstract things. Non-material values are very important to us. That's why we always had hedge schools. It was like: it's okay if we're poor, but can we at least learn? Can we at least share ideas? The didactic power of conversation in an Irish pub is extraordinary. You don't get that in a bar in London. In the last 20 years we've adopted values of capitalism from the UK and the US, and it's not good for us. They're not our values. During the Celtic Tiger we suddenly said: hey, can we be rich? The housing crisis was entirely manufactured by banks to profit a very few people. By selling out and taking on capitalistic values, I would say we're in danger of selling our birthright. Our birthright is to be generous, inclusive, curious, adventurous, and optimistic in the face of real adversity. Denmark is a similarly-sized country to Ireland. We could do better to emulate it than the UK or the US. I'm super proud of how Ireland is standing with Palestine . Somebody said to me recently that it could really hurt us economically, and I was reminded of a film project I worked on about the Dunnes Stores workers. They had a meeting with a Labour leader who said the same thing. That was the 1970s, when Ireland was extremely poor. Working on that film project, I said, 'Put a line in, going: are you telling us we can't afford morals?' Mary Kate O'Flanagan: 'Stories are how we give our lives meaning.' Photograph: Isibéal O'Connell For the last 20 years, I've travelled the world giving workshops, screenwriting, and working as a consultant on film and television projects. I love it. My brain was designed for story. Ten years ago, The Moth Story Slam came to Dublin. I hadn't heard of a story slam, but the best way of describing it is competitive storytelling. I went along one night. The theme was mothers, and I thought: I have a story about my mother. I put my name in the hat and won. Then I won the Grand Slam in the Abbey. A couple of months later, I entered a slam in LA and won that, too. I got to go back and compete in the Grand Slam. That story went viral. An Irish theatre maker, Will O'Connell, saw it and got in touch. I told him I wanted to make a show out of my stories, and he said he'd help. I told my sister, and she said, you should 100 per cent 'make a show out of yourself'. We had a title. [ An Irishwoman in Denmark: 'Life here is good, safe. But a bit boring if I am honest' Opens in new window ] I love to say I'm bringing seanchas (the practice of storytelling) back to Ireland, but I'm not the only one. There's this total upsurgence and desire for it. To me, the reason why stories are the most important thing in the world is that you can't endure suffering if it feels meaningless. Stories are how we give our lives meaning. In conversation with Niamh Donnelly. This interview is part of a series about well-known people's lives and relationship with Ireland, and was edited for clarity and length. Making a Show of Myself by Mary Kate O'Flanagan plays at The Mash House at the Edinburgh Fringe from July 31st-August 24th. For tickets, see .
Indian Express
6 days ago
- Science
- Indian Express
Best of Both Sides: CBSE's math levels will give students more options
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has been entrusted to come up with and apply novel and robust methods to assess and evaluate students. For students in Class XII, evaluation takes the form of board examinations. The classroom experience, no doubt, is a critical part of a young person's academic experience. But so is the examination system. Despite the introduction of CUET in recent years, the board examinations remain a cause for anxiety for a large section of students. In Mathematics especially, the fear of examinations often comes in the way of enjoying the intricacies of the subject. With a keen eye on students' welfare — as well as the requirements of the knowledge economy — the CBSE has announced the implementation of a two-tier examination system in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects at the senior secondary school level. At present, a Class XI student may choose to study Standard Mathematics or Applied Mathematics. However, both are flat, dense subjects with scarcely any room for flexibility in the syllabus. In the two-tier system, however, the scenario will be different. A student who chooses to pursue the subject may opt for either basic-level or advanced-level Mathematics. She can take the latter option if she aspires to study Maths at university later, or any other course where Mathematics is expected to play a deep auxiliary role — say, Economics or Engineering. If, however, the student wants to pursue a career in the Humanities, Theatre or Sports, but has an affinity for Mathematics, she can opt for the basic level. The CBSE aims to ensure this choice is available to students no later than the academic year 2026-27. Reportedly, NCERT has already started working on books to meet the intellectual needs of this curriculum. The idea of offering subjects at two levels is not entirely new. In several Western countries as well as Singapore and Japan, senior secondary students have been exercising these choices for at least a few decades. Since 1975, the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme has been the major example of this idea in practice. At the Diploma level (equivalent to classes XI and XII), students typically study six subjects — three at the standard level and three at a higher level. The higher-level course allows one to dive deeper into the subject. The standard level offers breadth, but not much depth. The final exams are designed to go in tandem with the student's choice. The IB is now relatively established in India, with more than 200 schools having adopted it. The CBSE's attempt to implement a two-tier curriculum is a much-needed move given the country's diversity and the different learning experiences of students. By reducing the fear of examinations, a two-tiered evaluation is likely to make the subject more amenable to a large number of students. If the purpose of a progressive education system is to draw more young people to a subject, the CBSE's latest move fits this requirement. In addition, STEM subjects are notorious for being intellectually demanding. A Science student in India who passes the Board exam without taking tuition in at least one subject is quite unusual. There is hope that the two-tier curriculum will reduce students' dependence on coaching classes. The new scheme opens up new possibilities, allowing students to explore some advanced-level subjects in greater depth while still leaving significant scope for them to learn new things in basic-level subjects; those designing the two-tier curriculum should take such possibilities into account. The CBSE is not making drastic changes in the reading materials. The significant change will be in the degree of difficulty of the examination. This is not to say there will not be challenges. It is not clear how the examination agency is going to evaluate students taking the same subject at different levels. It's also not certain that this move won't create a divide between teachers who handle advanced-level subjects and those who teach at the basic level. Will the student be permitted to change the level of a subject based on her emotional connect with it? Will the student opting for the basic level of a subject feel inferior to another who has opted for the advanced level? Making a subject more interesting for students is a work in progress and all concerns should be addressed. Even then, a step in the right direction has to be applauded. As Physics Nobel laureate Richard Feynman once said, 'I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned.' The writer has taught Mathematics in schools in the NCR for almost two decades. Views are personal
