Displaying items by tag: Education

Staff at 58 universities will strike between 1 and 3 December over two issues: pension cuts, and pay and working conditions. They are demanding a £2,500 pay increase to end ‘pay injustice’. More action is likely if demands are not met, causing further disruption for students in the run-up to Christmas. Staff pay has fallen by 20% after twelve years of below-inflation pay offers; one third of academic staff are on insecure contracts; the gender pay gap is 15%, and the most recent statistics reveal that of 22,810 UK professors, under a third were women and only 1% were Black. Staff are also experiencing a crisis of work-related stress with over half showing probable signs of depression. As well as the three-day walkout, staff at 64 other universities will take action short of striking by strictly working to contract and refusing any additional duties. This will go on indefinitely.

Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi said Oxford University should explain to Jewish students why it took a total of £12.3 million from the Mosley family, as anti-Semitism is not simply a historic debate. The Mosley charitable trust houses the fortune of Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists. The university is now facing a donor backlash. One benefactor vowed not to give St Peter’s College another penny, and four British Nobel laureates have urged the university to reconsider giving a professorship in the name of Mosley’s grandson, saying that doing so ‘dishonours’ their subject. On 9 November police were called to the London School of Economics, where activists carrying Palestinian flags demonstrated against Israel’s ambassador, who was addressing the university's debating society. They chanted that Israel is a ‘terrorist state’. Next week the debating society is hosting Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestinian mission to the UK.

Over 100 students lost their opportunity to continue their education at Jinweizi Christian School founded by Golden Lamp Stand Christian Church. The school mainly served Christian families escaping government-mandated public school. Because of its loving environment many children with autism and other special needs also attended. These children were discriminated against and rejected by public schools. Jinweizi operated for many years with a wide range of grades, from kindergarten to secondary, with comprehensive educational facilities and equipment for over 100 students. Communist party officials confiscated the school’s expensive equipment and effectively stripped the students of any opportunity to continue their education. Private schools in China do not have a traditional campus. Students meet in any available space: apartments, office spaces, or any available venues. Teachers and faculty rent properties until the government intervenes. Many Christian schools are considered ‘illegal’ because they are separate from the communist-controlled public schools.

Oxford Diocese has launched a contemplative toolkit in response to the growing mental health crisis among young people. It is a time of daily reflection founded on ancient pathways and practices of meditation and prayer that have resourced, benefited, and healed Christians for generations. The increase in the use of digital technology and social media is placing young people in danger of becoming less connected with their families and communities and leads to increased mental health issues as self-worth is measured against online profile popularity. A quarter of a million children struggle with their mental health as a result of the pandemic. When the whole of education seems to be about targets, results and pressure, this toolkit gives students the chance just to be, rather than do. It complements the Prayer Spaces in Schools programme, enabling prayer and reflection into school life for the year. It also enables pupils to run the sessions themselves and share reflections with their peers.

Data uncovered by an alliance of over fifty charities shows that black Caribbean girls were permanently excluded from school at twice the rate of white British girls during the academic year 2019-20. The rate tripled for mixed white and Caribbean girls, and was four times higher for girls from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities. While boys continue to face higher rates of exclusion overall, the report notes that the number of girls excluded has risen by 66% over the last five years, compared with a 32% increase among boys during the same time period. The report notes how females are excluded from education after experiencing unaddressed sexual harassment and abuse, poor mental health, and racism. Negative stereotypes attached to black girls and those from minority ethnic backgrounds play a critical role in their exclusion.

On 10 September Prayer Alert reported that government ministers were rejecting Scientists recommendations of Covid jabs for 12- to 15-year-olds. You prayed for the Government to change its mind and step in so that pupils got what was needed according to God’s plans for them (Jeremiah 29:11). On 14 September the Government announced that a Covid jab rollout will start in schools in England. Although they are deemed at very low risk from the disease, factors such as disruption to education tipped the balance.

There are no official data on absence due to school anxiety. Many affected pupils are labelled truants, but support groups are being flooded with calls. An education lawyer says the pandemic has made an unprecedented crisis even worse. Children with school anxiety may experience physical symptoms such as stomach pain, nausea and headaches before school or have immobilising anxiety, panic attacks or something that seems like a tantrum. They may even threaten to harm themselves if parents make them go to school, yet their parents can be threatened with fines and court action. Fran Morgan helps families with this problem and said it is not about refusal, a child that won't do something: It is about a child that physically can't. Parent groups are warning of a ‘tsunami’ of crippling school-anxiety cases leading to debilitating absence from education. The education department said it was investing £17m in school mental health.

Universities are urged to provide face-to-face teaching when students return this term. Ex-education secretary Gavin Williamson said students should expect to be taught ‘in-person and alongside other students’, although it would be right to stay online when there's a ‘genuine benefit to using technology’. But he warned university leaders, ‘I do not expect to see online learning used as a cost-cutting measure.’ He said that parents would find it odd if students could go to other social activities but were not allowed back into lecture halls. Record numbers of 18-year-olds will be starting university this autumn, and Mr Williamson, speaking via a video link, said students were craving a ‘return to normality’. Teaching students in-person allows them to benefit from the ‘conversations you have around the margins’, and from the support of other students.

Millions of pupils are returning to classrooms in England and Wales, amid fears of a spike in Covid cases. Most Scottish schools went back in mid-August and since then Scotland’s Covid cases have reached record levels. Pre-term Covid testing is being used to limit infection, but rules on social distancing and face masks have gone. Scientists have warned of a rapid rise in school cases without such measures and experts have not recommended jabs for healthy 12 to 15-year-olds. Ministers want a return to normality, but cases are more than 30 times higher among children compared with last year. Headteachers are hoping for a much smoother term but also want school safety measures to be kept under review. Modified exams have been pledged but there is little detail yet on England's plans. Teachers are asking for more information as they focus on helping pupils recover from the disruption.

The number of Religious Studies A Level exam entries has increased 6.1 percent this year. The subject outperformed other A-level subjects as a whole, with a greater increase than most other humanities subjects. This suggests that candidates are recognising the value of RS for higher education entry and graduate employment, and as an essential life skill. Professor Trevor Cooling said, ‘Religious Studies has maintained its popularity over the past two decades at A Level, where students have a greater say in their subject choice, compared with GCSE when RS may not be offered as an examination course. Young people clearly value the importance of extending their knowledge and understanding of religious and non-religious worldviews at A-level and continue to vote with their feet.’ He urges the Government to ensure it is resourced properly and taught by professionally trained teachers.