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Internet has freaked over Harry Styles hair cut

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

Harry and his hair

Harry Styles’ hairy style is no more.

He’s posted a picture on Instagram of (what’s thought to be) his hand holding a clump of (what’s thought to be) his famous long locks.

And the internet has gone into meltdown with fans as excited as they are traumatised.

The singer has donated his lopped off ponytail to charity.

The Little Princess Trust, which provides wigs to young cancer sufferers in the UK, described it as “what a day!”

The wigs are made from real hair which means someone somewhere could have a superstar mop very soon.

The internet is still holding its breath while it waits to see what a new short-haired-harry looks like.

Of course some people have taken the news pretty hard and #RIPHarrysHair has been trending for hours.

Of course it’s also made lots of people love Harry that little bit more… if that was possible.

 

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Education

Fantasy books such as Game of Thrones can damage children’s brains, head teacher says

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

Fantasy titles 'encourage difficult behaviour in children', according to the teacher 

Aprivate school head teacher has urged pupils not to read Game of Thrones books, claiming they can damage their “sensitive subconscious brains”.

Graeme Whiting also said fantasy titles – such as Lord of the Rings, The Hunger Games and Harry Potter – “encourage difficult behaviour in children”.

He told parents to steer clear of the “mystical and frightening texts” and they should instead read classics such as those by Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley and Shakespeare.

Writing on his blog, Mr Whiting – head of the independent Acorn School in Nailsworth, Gloucester – said fantasy books can be bought without a “special licence”, despite damaging the “sensitive subconscious brains of young children”.

He wrote: “I want children to read literature that is conducive to their age and leave those mystical and frightening texts for when they can discern reality, and when they have first learned to love beauty.

“Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, The Hunger Games, and Terry Pratchett, to mention only a few of the modern world’s ‘must-haves’, contain deeply insensitive and addictive material which I am certain encourages difficult behaviour in children; yet they can be bought without a special licence, and can damage the sensitive subconscious brains of young children, many of whom may be added to the current statistics of mentally ill young children.

“For young adults, this literature, when it can be understood for what it is, is the choice of many!

“Buying sensational books is like feeding your child with spoons of added sugar, heaps of it, and when the child becomes addicted it will seek more and more, which if related to books, fills the bank vaults of those who write un-sensitive books for young children!”

He added: “Children are innocent and pure at the same time, and don’t need to be mistreated by cramming their imagination that lies deep within them, with inappropriate things.”

Mr Whiting says he stands for the ‘old-fashioned values of traditional literature’ rather than the modern ‘dark, demonic literature’ which could warp children’s subconscious minds.

Ironically, one of Keats’ most famous poems, ‘Lamia’, is about a seductive serpent woman and Shakespeare’s plays are full of ghosts, demons and bloody violence.

He ends by telling parents: “It is the duty of parents to spend time to study such matters and form their own conclusions, not to think that because the world is filled with such sensational literature they have to have it for their children, because everyone else does!

“Beware the devil in the text! Choose beauty for your young children!”

Mr Whiting refused to comment further on his blog, but Nikki Ellis, parent and former teacher at the school, agreed with his views – even though she had only read one Harry Potter book.

She said: “I absolutely agree with Graeme Whiting’s views. For me, having read the first book of Harry Potter and watched one of the movies I feel that the darkness of the books is so palpable that it wasn’t the sort of thing that we would want to expose young children to in their formative years.

“I thinks there’s an element that’s so detailed and about occultism that it can desensitise children to the dark things in the world at a time when we want to build them up in a positive way.

“They are being exposed to things that can drag them into the dark world and the occult.

“And particularly in Harry Potter it suggests that ordinary people are boring or wrong and only the people who have magic powers are interesting. And right from the beginning the child is orphaned. These things are portrayed in a graphic way.”

She suggested that children should not read Harry Potter books before the age of 12 and warned parents off children’s favourite Roald Dahl.

“I love the humour of Roald Dahl but there’s a degrading element to his books. There are better books out there for children.”

Mr Whiting founded the Acorn School, where children do not wear uniforms or take state exams, in 1991.

It has been assessed as “outstanding” by Ofsted and its ethos is to “educate students as threefold human beings, nurturing the will, feeling, and thinking elements which are related to the head, heart, and hands”.

The last Ofsted report said “the school aims to provide young people with the finest education possible, using the principles of Rudolf Steiner, as well as those developed by the proprietor and his wife”.

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Education

Academy chief accuses Government of ‘bottling’ forced academisation

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

Nicky Morgan

The Government is facing a backlash after abandoning plans to force all schools in England to become academies.

Chancellor George Osborne used his budget in March to announce thatall schools would either have to convert by 2020 or be committed to doing so by 2022.

But yesterday Nicky Morgan, the Education Secretary, announced a climb-down after Conservative MPs threatened to defeat the policy.

Ministers now say the plan to make every school an academy is an ‘aspiration’, not a compulsory policy.

Paul Luxmoore, Executive Headteacher of the Coastal Academies Trust, told the Today Programme on BBC Radio 4 the Government had ‘bottled it’.

“I’m dismayed,” he said.

“The Government’s policy has been for a long time to develop a school-led self-sustaining education system by devolving decision making and money directly to schools.

“That’s been done by the academisation programme and developing multi-academy trusts.”

Mr Luxmoore, whose multi academy trust oversees five academies in Kent, said the Government’s u-turn was motivated by political reasons and had little to do with education.

“Across the UK we’ve reached a tipping point where local authorities, who have been delivering school improvement until now, no longer have the money or capacity to do that effectively,” he said.

“The Government’s policy to make all schools academies over the next few years was entirely predictable and entirely sensible, but they’ve lost their courage to go ahead with it.”

Despite abandoning the main policy of forcing all schools to become academies, the new legislation will give the Government the power to force schools to convert when local authorities show consistently poor results.

Mr Luxmoore said this provision lacked necessary clarity.

“Does this mean the point at which the Government will step in is when schools are in special measures,” he asked.

“By that stage it will be too late.”

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Education

Migration pressure on schools revealed

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

Nicky Morgan, the Education Secretary.

Schools are under “huge and unsustainable pressure” from a dramatic rise in the number of children from

European migrants’ families, official figures show.

For the first time, a government report reveals the full impact of years of immigration from Europe on the state education system, at a time of growing strain on classroom places.

Almost 700,000 school-aged children – one in 15 pupils nationally – have a parent who is a citizen of another European country. The number has more than doubled since 2007.

“These figures show how the EU’s open borders policies, and the uncontrolled immigration that stems from that, is leading to huge and unsustainable pressures on our schools.”Employment minister Priti Patel

That figure includes children who moved to Britain with their parents and those who were born here after one or both parents migrated to the UK from their home countries.

The number of school-aged children arriving in the UK from Europe reached a record 25,000 in a single year, the research also showed.An influx of this size would require the equivalent of about 27 new average-sized secondary schools – or 100 primary schools – to be built to cope with the rise in demand for places.

Of those school-aged children arriving in Britain, the highest number came from Poland, followed by Germany and Lithuania, while other eastern European countries such as Slovakia and Latvia also accounted for large numbers of pupils.

Politicians campaigning for the UK to leave the European Union in the referendum next month warned that the increase in the number of children was making it harder for parents to find school places and pushing up the size of classes.

Priti Patel, the employment minister and a member of the Leave campaign, warned it would get worse, with  countries including Turkey “in the pipeline” to join the EU.

“These figures show how the EU’s open borders policies, and the uncontrolled immigration that stems from that, is leading to huge and unsustainable pressures on our schools,” Ms Patel said.

“This is undermining efforts by local councils to ensure they keep class sizes down, and provide school places for all children in their communities.”

The official estimates emerged at a critical time in the battle over Britain’s future in Europe, with the referendum campaign about to enter an intense final six weeks.

David Cameron and George Osborne are expected to step up their warnings about the impact of Brexit on jobs, mortgages and the wider economy, while Leave campaigners will highlight the dangers of uncontrolled migration for schools and hospitals.

The latest government figures, released by the Government’s chief statistician, John Pullinger, were published without fanfare last week on Parliament’s website, on a page listing papers deposited in the House of Commons library. It follows a row last month when ministers were attacked for refusing to publish an investigation into the impact of migration on state schools until after the referendum.

More than a year ago, Nicky Morgan, the Education Secretary, launched a major government review into the issue, and promised before the election to provide extra help for teachers who have to cope with new pupils who do not speak English.

However, the Telegraph disclosed in April that Mrs Morgan would not publish the findings of the report until after the referendum on June 23 at the soonest, and may not publish them at all.Analysts at the Department for Education have been working with government statisticians to map the impact of migration on schools – and the latest figures are likely to have been examined by Mrs Morgan’s officials.

No figures were released showing which areas in the UK were under greatest pressure to accommodate these migrants.

The figures showed that at a time when the UK’s school-age population shrank slightly from 10.5 million in 2007 to 10.4 million, the number of children aged between five and 18 with at least one European parent more than doubled.

The latest figures, for 2015, suggest that there are now at least two pupils in a typical state school class who have parents who are European migrants.

Last year saw the biggest rise in the number of school-aged children from European migrants’ families, when the number increased from 565,000 in 2014 to 699,000 in 2015.

Separate government figures  in the research showed that 123,000 European children migrated into the UK in the past 10 years.

The highest number was again in the most recent year – with 25,000 school-aged children arriving in 2014, when restrictions were lifted on the numbers of Romanians and Bulgarians who could move to Britain.

A government spokesman said: “Damaging our economy by leaving the EU is not the way to control immigration – a damaged and weaker economy would mean less money to spend on our schools.

“This leap into the dark would lead to fewer school places and bigger class sizes with our children paying the price. By building a stronger economy, we will deliver 600,000 more school places over the next five years.”

On Monday the Prime Minister and Boris Johnson will both make speeches setting out their rival cases in the EU referendum. Mr Cameron will seek to make the “patriotic” case for staying in the EU, arguing that Britain must still be “a friend and protector” to weaker European countries.

Mr Johnson will use his speech to attack the idea that the EU single market has been a force for good, in his biggest intervention in the referendum debate so far.

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Education

Parents’ smartphones harming children’s ability to hold conversation, say teachers

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

Children in the playground at primary school

Parents’ immersion in smartphones has left some neglected children starting primary school unable to hold conversations, new research  warns.

Almost a third of children starting school are not ready for the classroom, with many lacking social skills, having speech problems or not toilet trained, the survey of senior primary school staff has found.

Teachers warned of children suffering from a lack of attention and interaction from parents obsessed with their smartphones.

One head teacher said: “There is limited parent/child interaction. Four year-olds know how to swipe a phone but haven’t a clue about conversations”.

Another primary school leader warned: “We are having more and more children entering our early years stage with delayed speech and a lack of school readiness.

“I feel much of this is down to challenging family circumstances alongside the rise of mobile phones and other mobile technology, which means parents are more often to be seen on the phone than talking to their children.”

Four year-olds know how to swipe a phone but haven’t a clue about conversations”Head teacher

The survey of more than 1,100 senior primary staff carried out by The Key, an information and advice service for head teachers, estimates at least 194,000 children could be ill-prepared to start school in September.

The State of Education report found four-fifths of teachers were worried about poor social skills or children having speech problems. More than two-thirds had seen children lacking “self-help skills”.

Teachers also reported levels of reading, writing and numeracy were lower than they should be.

Fergal Roche, The Key chief executive, said: “School leaders are already struggling to retain staff and manage their teachers’ workload, so add thousands more pupils arriving ill-prepared for the classroom to the equation, and the burden placed on our schools will be huge.

“An agreed definition of what ‘school-readiness’ means, could be the first step to helping schools, parents and early years practitioners identify what national or localised support is required to meet this growing issue.”

Gareth Jenkins director of poverty policy at Save The Children said the report “provides yet further evidence that too many children are not getting the support they need to thrive in their early years”.

He said: “Research for Save The Children has shown that falling behind in their early years can drastically limit a child’s chances of success later on, affecting results throughout school, and even earnings as adults.”

Last year, a leading child psychiatrist suggested parents enforce a “talk not tap” rule at the dinner table to stop smartphones and tablets taking over children’s lives.

Dr Hayley Van Zwanenberg, of the Priory clinics, warned that children “transfixed” by social media and messaging risk growing up emotionally stunted and unable to cope properly with the real world.

Today’s research comes after the Department for Education halted its controversial attempts to measure the abilities of four- and five year-olds as soon as they start school.

Teachers and unions had said children starting school were too young for the baseline tests designed to see how pupils developed through primary school.

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Education

Primary pupils ‘feel test pressure’ – survey

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

Child writing

Nearly 90% of 10- and 11-year old pupils in England feel pressure to do well in tests, a survey suggests.

ComRes researchers for BBC Newsround interviewed 750 10- and 11-year-olds who will be taking Key Stage Two Sats tests this week.

More than half (59%) said they felt some pressure to do well while (28%) felt “a lot of pressure”.

The government says the tests need not be stressful and rigorous testing helps raise standards in schools.

In the survey carried out last month, children were asked to pick a variety of words describing their mood in the run-up to the tests:

  • 59% said they were nervous
  • 39%, worried
  • 27%, stressed
  • 17%, sad and moody
  • and 16% said it affected their sleep.

But most were not unduly distressed, with almost half (48%) saying they did not mind taking the tests and an additional 14% saying they enjoyed them.

Some of the more positive words children used to describe their feelings about tests were:

  • confident – 21%
  • excited – 13%
  • and happy – 11%

Only 10% said they hated taking exams.

But 32% said they worried more about schoolwork when they had tests coming up and 25% said they found it hard to concentrate.

Last Tuesday some parents kept their children off school in a day of protest about primary tests in England – and more than 40,000 signed a petition calling for a boycott.

The protest, organised by the Let Our Kids Be Kids campaign, complained of a damaging culture of over-testing, saying children are “over-tested, over-worked and in a school system that places more importance on test results and league tables than children’s happiness and joy of learning”.

They raised concerns about the impact of primary tests, so-called Sats tests, taken by seven-year-olds and 11-year-olds, which are being made more stretching with changes to the curriculum.

Mental strain

Natasha Devon, the government’s former mental health champion for schools, whose job was axed last week, has also emphasised the level of mental strain being put on pupils by rigorous testing.

A Department for Education spokesman said the tests should not be stressful “and we know that good schools manage them appropriately”.

The spokesman said that tests at the end of primary school “help teachers understand how pupils are doing and identify where additional support is needed, as well as helping us make sure schools are doing well.

“They are a key part of making sure young people master the skills they need to reach their potential and succeed in life.

“As a government we recently asked young people what we could do to help them support their friends better. More than 1,700 young people gave their views and we will be investing £1.5m in peer support based on what they have told us.

“We have also worked with NHS England to trial a scheme to establish single points of contact for schools to make mental health support more joined up and readily available when it’s needed.”

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Education

Students should be vigilant about loans for futile degrees, says RBI governor

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

Students should be vigilant about loans for futile degrees, says RBI governor

Over the ongoing issue of colleges/universities functioning illegally and demanding excessive fees from students, recently Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan said that all the aspiring students should be careful about selecting degrees in various colleges across the nation.

Details on Rajan’s sugegstions:

  • Higher education should be made affordable
  • Students should not take up useless degree that might not give them any job opportunity
  • Students should be careful about colleges with unknown identity demanding high fee
  • Also, banks must keep a check on student’s loans so that they are paid on time
  • Fee concessions should be given to those who have genuine reasons for not paying fee.

Moreover, while speaking at the convocation ceremony of Shiv Nadar University, Raghuram said, “We have to be careful that student loans are repaid in full by those who have the means, while they are forgiven in part for those who fall on bad times or those who take low-paying public service jobs.”

 On inequality within countries:

  • All the students coming from middle class families take huge amount of loans for completing higher education
  • Also, the well-run market economies seemed to be favoring people who still have not paid their penalties
  • To guarantee full faith in the market, all the students should get access of schooling and health care
  • He also said, “This is because skills and capabilities have become much more important in well-paid jobs, and those born in good circumstances have a much better chance at acquiring theseâ?¦ the income inequality is on the rise, with some having colossal incomes and others worrying about the next meal.”

In order to create a non-discriminating job and guarantee full faith in market, the students from all sections of the society should have a fair excess to schooling and health care facilities equal opportunities, he added.

While concluding his speech, he said,”Rather than prohibiting the use of money and wealth, let us think about increasing society’s tolerance for its use.”

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News Update

Kanhaiya pens open letter to Smriti Irani for Mother’s Day, calls her anti-rational

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

Kanhaiya writes open letter to Smriti Irani

Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar used the occasion of Mother’s Day to pen an open letter to HRD Minister Smriti Irani, calling her the self-declared mother of all university students and wondering how a mother can let her children suffer if she cared so much.

Kanhaiya addressed Irani as the “anti-rational” mother of “anti-nationals” and extended Mother’s Day wishes on behalf of students.

The letter:

Dear Madam Smriti Irani – self-declared mother of all varsity students,

I wish you a happy Mother’s Day on behalf of all university students.

We are trying hard to study in the warmth of your motherly love. Under your reign, we are learning how to study despite police canes and hunger.

Today, a friend sent me this image and asked how under Mr Modi’s regime – where besides our own mother, we also have Mother Cow, Mother India, Mother Ganges and Mother Smriti – could Rohith die? I am asking you this because I have no answer. The same anti-national friend also said that Mother Smriti’s ministry sent several letters to punish Rohith and was also responsible for withholding Rohith’s fellowship for seven months.

In a great country like India, can a mother force drive her child to suicide? Can a mother accept punishments on her children based on doctored videos and a biased probe? Your children, starving for 11 days, are asking you this question. Please reply, if you find the time. The friend who sent this image calls you the “anti-rational mother of anti-nationals.” I hope you will prove this allegation false in your factual reply.

It is a mother’s duty to teach her children to call a spade a spade and raise their voice against injustice. That’s why several mothers of JNU have come out to encourage their children on hunger strike today. These even include an 80-year-old mother in a wheel chair. We are waiting for you.

 

 

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Education

Medical colleges in ‘rotten’ state, says SC: Orissa-based private college accused of playing with students’ future

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Friday, May 6 termed the state of medical colleges in the country as “rotten,” while imposing a fine of Rs 5 crore on an Odisha -based private medical college for abruptly increasing the number of seats from 100 to 150 in an academic year and accusing it of “playing with the future of students”.

SC’s verdict on the medical college:

  • “Costs of Rs 5 crores are imposed on Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) for playing with the future of its students and the mess that it has created for them. The amount will be deposited by KIMS in the Registry of this Court within six weeks from today, according to PTI.
  • “The amount of Rs 5 crores so deposited towards costs shall not be recovered in any manner from any student or adjusted against the fees or provision of facilities for students of any present or subsequent batches,” a bench comprising Justices M B Lokur and N V Ramana said.

Apex court’s order regarding students who were admitted in the year 2015-16 in the courses run by the medical college administration:

  • “The admission granted to the 50 students pursuant to the order of the High Court dated September 25, 2015 and the provisional permission granted by the central government only on September 28, 2015 shall not be disturbed.
  • “How the students will complete their course of studies without putting undue pressure on them is entirely for MCI and KIMS and other concerned authorities to decide,” it said.

KIMS has been restrained by the court from increasing the intake of students from 100 to 150 for the MBBS course for the academic year 2016-17 and 2017-2018.

The order came on an appeal filed by Medical Council of India (MCI) challenging the Orissa High Court’s verdict, which had permitted KIMS to admit additional 50 students in academic year 2015-16.

The private medical college had moved the High Court, challenging MCI’s order disallowing admission in MBBS and BDS streams citing lack of adequate infrastructure.

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Education

IFLC 2016: 17 nations join hands at ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ event

by Rajdeep
written by Rajdeep

IFLC 2016: 17 nations join hands at the 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' event

A fusion of cultures was seen at the fourteenth edition of the International Festival of Language and Culture (IFLC) that was held in India for the very first time.

India, which is known for its varied languages, witnessed dance performances by warrior dancers from Georgia, who danced on the steps of mekhla-clad Bihu performers from Assam on the rhythms of the dhol.

This year, the theme of the International Festival of Languages and Colours (IFLC), which aims to spread the message of global peace and cultural harmony is “The World is one family” or “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”.

Details of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”:

  • As many as 400 students from 17 nations participated
  • The event started up with the songs on the theme of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’
  • At the end of the event, participants sang, danced and acted to build universal harmony and brotherhood
  • The event was attended by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal , Venkaiah Naidu (Minister of Parliamentary Affairs), Sushma Swaraj  (Minister of External Affairs), Mahesh Sharma (Minister of Tourism and Culture), Najma Heptullah (Minister of Minority Affairs) and others.
  • The mega programme was organised by a non-profit and nongovernmental organisation, the Educational Endowment Trust (EET) along with the Ministry of Culture and the UN Information Centre for India and Bhutan
  • Also, students represented their culture through various music and folk dances from countries like Belarus, India and Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Germany, Bulgaria, Kyrgyzstan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Tanzania, Tunisia, Ukraine, Georgia, Russia, Hungary and USA
  • While inaugurating the event, Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptullah said, “I am amassed to see the spirit of these young studentsâ?¦ in fact, they are the real emissaries of peace, who represents not a country or state, but the entire universe.”

Meanwhile, Abdul Malik from Tanzania said, “This is for the first time I have come to India and I wish to come here again.”

Previous year events:

  • In 2003, IFLC started with students participating from 17 countries
  • Last year, 145 countries participated with around 2000 candidates
  • In 2016, IFLC will be organised in 30 countries, in over 60 venues

At the event, Educational Endowment Trust president Ersin Karaoglan said, “IFLC plants a field of harmony and understanding between the people, no matter from which culture, language, and religion you are, but we have so many commonalities to share.”

Further, he added, “We believe that these ideas will be harvested in the future as friendship.”

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