Education

Education, health and war on illicit drugs among priorities for new Tonga PM

In his speech before his election as PM yesterday, Sovaleni said people had to learn to know how to live together.

Kaniva News reports Sovaleni said education, health, economic developments, e-government, climate change, war on illicit drugs, natural disasters, youths and women initiatives and good governance were some of his priorities.

In his vote of thanks after he was declared the winner, Sovaleni was emotional and congratulated his supporters and all MPs.

Save The Children partners with Tongan government to protect access to education

The Tonga Accelerated Resilience Program (TARP) will deliver flexible and distance learning guides for students, parents, and carers, and pre-prepared audio and video lessons.
 
The program will be supported through the technical expertise and technologies developed by Save the Children Australia’s social enterprise, Inclusiv Education, and will be funded by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), the largest global fund solely dedicated to transforming education in lower-income countries.
 

Pasifika voices needed for research project on literacy and numeracy skills

The New Zealand Work Research Institute began a 5-year-long study in October 2019 and this month have started to focus in on Pacific people.

AUT University lecturer Dr Betty Ofe-Grant is leading the Pasifika component of the project and she said Pacific people in Aotearoa are over-represented when it comes to low literacy and numeracy skills.

According to Literacy NZ, one in four adults have literacy difficulties in their everyday life.

Plans for Tongan language policy raises concerns

Currently the English language is being introduced to class three - however, the new policy is looking to re-introduce English from class one to three, which was the case in the past.

According to Dr 'Ana Taufe'ulungaki, in a largely oral society, it is important to teach children the foundational skills of literacy in the Tongan language.

She said it would be more meaningful to them in the Tongan language rather than in a language which is imposed on them.

There is a big concern that the focus on the English language could see the demise of the Tongan language.

Study: Caesarean births linked to developmental delays in primary school children

Using NAPLAN test results of 5,000 year 3 students, researchers from the University of Melbourne found the delays were equivalent to a child missing about 35 days of a school year.

Melbourne University's Cain Polidano described the findings are relatively small but significant.

"There is already a bit of evidence that shows that caesarean birth is related to a number of negative childhood health outcomes, including risks of ADHD, autism and also asthma", Dr Polidano said.

Zombie crime scene helping kids learn about science

The amateur detective program was designed by teachers at Penrith Valley School, a facility for children with behavioural problems or complex emotional needs who have struggled with mainstream learning.

"A lot of them have had a lot of poor experiences in the classroom so they've got an expectation of failure that they're bringing in," principal Nic Danta said.

"And so the first stage is just to re-build that trust and connect them with education."

Ten tips for raising tech-savvy and tech-safe kids

But fast-forward to 2017 and you're now responsible for raising a child whose life will revolve around digital technology, and who will have to be tech-smart, tech-savvy, and tech-safe to survive out there in the wild.

So what are some tips to help you along the way?

We asked for your experiences, and expert Joanne Orlando — an analyst and researcher in technology and learning who has worked as an advisor for the Government, for Apple, and for the children's television show Play School — for her best pieces of advice.

The lifelong implications of telling children they can’t sing

Telling a child they can’t sing has life-long implications. But there are ways to reverse it.

Singing is a natural human interaction that transcends cultures, socio-economic groups, ability, gender and education level, but many people are so scarred from their childhood experiences of singing that they won’t sing as adults.

Northwestern University choral music expert Steven Demorest says this comes from a focus on talent rather than skill. “It creates a huge stigma for kids and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy,” he says.

Harvard student submits a hip-hop album as his final dissertation

Twenty-year-old Obasi Shaw called the 10-track album Liminal Minds and says it combines "elements of Middle English poetry with issues of racial identity in America".

He says it was inspired by Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales and his own hobby of writing rap music and spoken word poetry.

It took him a year to write.

Last year Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly and Nas' Illmatic were both added to the Harvard Library to signify their cultural significance.

California lawmakers want to mandate internet for kids in juvy

But youth in the criminal justice and foster care systems often don't have access to it. That's why some lawmakers in California want to make it their right.

Earlier this year, Democrat Assemblymember Mike Gipson introduced legislation that would mandate "reasonable access to computer technology and the internet" for kids in juvenile detention programs and foster care.