We can't let poorer pupils be frightened off higher education

Back in the days when higher education was mostly for the benefit of a select group of middle-class kids, I had a meeting with my school careers teacher, who asked me what I wanted to do in the future. When I told her I was thinking about furthering my studies and finding a job that involved writing, she declared that a suitable plan for me was to leave school at 16 and train to become a secretary. Apparently I didn't look like the sort of person who should attend university.

Over time I'd come to believe these attitudes belonged to the past – a bygone age of middle-class privilege now thankfully over. Now, though, it seems that thinking has become core government policy.

It seems to be more difficult than ever for young people to enter higher education. Graduates in England have the highest student debts in the developed world. They will leave institutions with nearly double the debt of their US counterparts, and three times the debt of the next highest in Europe. A commons committee this week found a wide gap in access between the most and least advantaged students, despite institutions' spending on access and widening participation schemes. It saw evidence that showed that poorer students were hit hardest by the system of student loans, and expressed concern at the drop in numbers of part-time and mature students. Thanks to the abolition of maintenance grants in 2015, the poorest students will pay on average £14,000 more in loans than better-off students. Once they emerge from their studies, on average they will have forked out a grand total of £57,000, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies.

And universities themselves are facing unprecedented criticism. Since the summer, accusations have raged about a rise in the number of unconditional offers given out. The institutions have been blamed for a "bums on seats" mentality by the higher education minister Sam Gyimah, who appears to have forgotten that just four years ago the government lifted the cap on student numbers in an effort to marketise higher education. Then there have been exaggerated and often false claims about no-platforming and safe spaces.

Daycare costs set to soar next year as new rules for baby care come into effect

The cost of regulated childcare in day care centres or creches is set to rise by some 7% because of new government rules, childcare groups say in Tuesday’s AD.
 Sector umbrella group Kinderopvang says parents will have to pay hundreds of euros more a year because of changes to rules governing the care of babies. From January 1, a baby group worker will only be allowed to look after three babies, rather than four as at present. This means creches will have to employ more staff or turn children away. Small creches are particularly hard hit by the need to take on more staff, Kinderopvang says. It estimates a low-income family with two children who go to daycare three days a week will be €800 worse off a year because of the changes. The extra cost to the same family with an average income will be €900. Child benefits are going enough but not enough to compensate for the rise, Kinderopvang says.

Child benefits A spokesman for the social affairs minister said the government does not expect such a large increase. It estimates the rule change will boost costs 4.6% and says that will be covered by the rise in child benefits. Daycare group De Kleine Wereld expects premiums to rise by 10%. ‘The ministry thinks we will cover the cost by attracting more toddlers and offering after-school care,’ director Erik Vlutters told the AD. ‘But that is not how things work. Most children start here as babies and grow into toddlers. You don’t suddenly take in toddlers. And most creches do not have facilities for after-school care,’ he said.

Go for natural, paraben free baby care products

As parents, we all are highly concerned about what goes into our baby's body, but are we that concerned about what goes "on" our baby's body? The baby products market is one of the fastest growing industries in India and baby skincare products constitute a huge market. In the era of flourishing marketing, companies producing baby care products leave no stone unturned for forming an emotional connect with parents while talking about their products.

Usually, the emotional aspect of products takes over the major part of marketing, while what goes within is kept under wraps. The main reason behind this is the number of chemicals that go within these products to give them an appealing shape. The wipes that we use on our child's skin or those lovely smelling lotions come wrapped in a lot of chemical and alcoholic content. Multiple ingredients used to control wetness, prevent bacteria and make bottoms smell more pleasant actually come with the likelihood of leaving an impact on the health of our little ones.

Researchers have found that with the lotions, shampoos, talcs and a few other personal care products, our babies are more susceptible of being exposed to one of the most harmful toxics called parabens. For those parents who are not aware of parabens, these are a type of preservatives introduced in 1950s to prolong the life of health and beauty products by preventing the growth of mould and bacteria within them.

The paraben family of preservatives have been identified to penetrate the skin and remain within the tissue and often lead to allergic reactions, rashes, an increased risk of cancer and hormonal problems, including infertility. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) claims: "Parabens mimic oestrogen and can act as potential hormone (endocrine) system disruptors."

Likewise, Benzyl alcohol often used in baby care products is a neaurotoxicant which is allergic to lungs and skin, leading to itching, burning, blistering and much more. The list of chemicals that are used in baby care products is again, endless. Ethylhexylglycerin, a chemical that is widely used as a deodorant agent and to condition the skin, has been found as a skin irritant, causing dermatitis and eye irritation.

Sign Language Isn’t Just for Babies

Baby sign language borrows some signs — like "milk," "more," "all done," "mommy" and "daddy" — from American Sign Language in order to enable hearing parents to achieve some basic sign- and gesture-based communication with their infants before they are capable of speech. In my view, the more people who sign in this world, the better. And I defy you to suppress a smile when a baby signs "more" by bouncing her chubby little fingertips together.

But part of me also objects when baby signs are marketed in a vacuum, isolated from their origins in the full, rich American Sign Language that I know. The increasingly mainstream trend — driven by parenting books and how-to videos — is largely being pushed by hearing people, for the benefit of hearing children. It seems like a major missed opportunity to take advantage of the contributions that deaf people — the primary users (and originators) of signed languages — can offer to the world.

Leading proponents of baby signing say that it's a way for parents to develop stronger bonds with their babies, and that it has benefits for language development and cognition, though the evidence for this among hearing children is weak. Signing is also clearly valuable for children whose brains might be better suited to visual rather than verbal communication: not only deaf children, but also those with autism and other forms of cognitive difference.

The baby sign language phenomenon connects to what culturally deaf people celebrate as "Deaf Gain:" the notion that all of humanity can gain significant benefits and insights from Deaf visual-spatial contributions to the world, including A.S.L. and all its rich linguistic possibilities. Deaf friends I talk with applaud hearing parents for learning some signs with their children, and express hope that, someday, more people will use a signed language on an everyday basis, making communication easier for all of us.

But the developers and users of baby sign language don't necessarily see A.S.L. fluency as a goal. Many of the books and websites actually assure parents that they don't need to learn full A.S.L., and also that using baby signs won't impede a child's spoken language acquisition.

Most striking for me, when I browsed top-hitting baby sign videos on YouTube, I found several that featured stretches of verbal speaking and singalong, without any captions. I was watching visual fragments of my own language, framed by spoken English, which excludes me. I felt disjointed, oddly erased.

Finally, there is one more reason I feel ambivalent when my hearing acquaintances tell me they are using baby signs with their children. Often, I notice that these acquaintances are people who have never attempted to use any sign language with me — even though I am deaf, even though I am the one person they know who could most benefit from visual communication. This omission strikes me as a huge loss, even a huge injustice.

Horrific catalogue of early education care complaints detailed in Ministry report

 Cases of rough handling, inadequate supervision and children going unfed have surfaced in a horrific catalogue of complaints against early childhood education services.

The Ministry of Education released a report this morning featuring all the complaints about early childhood education (ECE) received in 2017.

They received 339 complaints about early learning services and investigated 297 of them - the further 42 did not require an investigation.

Of those investigated, 166 were upheld, which means that standards were either not met or the investigation found there were areas which needed improvement.

 Here are some of the cases that were investigated:

• Service informed the Ministry after a teacher roughly handled a child, resulting in a dislocated shoulder.

• NZ Police notified Ministry of an infant who was shaken while at service. Educator was charged and sentenced.

• Children were force-fed and concerns about the teaching practice by the head teacher were raised. Two staff members suspended and subsequently resigned.

• A staff member was stood down after arriving at the service under the influence of alcohol.

• A teacher was dismissed after pulling the chair out from under a child.

The Ministry suspended the licences of six services, cancelled nine services and changed 31 services' licences to provisional after a number of complaints.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry said it would not be releasing the names of the centres.

Eight more complaints were received last year than in 2016, but the number of upheld complaints remained largely the same, the Ministry said.

"Every complaint we receive is treated seriously," Deputy Secretary Sector Enablement and Support Katrina Casey said.

"We assess each complaint, and if a service falls short of the standards we impose conditions for improvement or shut the service down."

Complaints stemmed from children suffering broken bones, service work conditions, how they are managed by staff, and the use of inappropriate language.

Other cases of interest featured a service temporarily being placed on a provisional licence after a child died shortly after being picked up from care.

A service also reported a "near-miss" after a child climbed into a storage container and was accidentally locked inside it for a short time.

The child was soon discovered and was distressed but had no physical injuries and recovered quickly after some care from staff.

Another service's licence was cancelled after a complaint alleged a staff member hurt a child through rough handling.

The same complaint alleged that children had left the premises unattended, children went unfed and there was inadequate supervision.

Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood New Zealand praised the Ministry for listing and taking every complaint seriously.

"It goes without saying that any practice having a negative impact on tamariki is totally unacceptable," Kathy Wolfe, the chief executive of the early childhood lobby group and teacher training provider, said.

However, she said the report also showed parents can have confidence the majority of Kiwi youngsters were in good hands, given 97 per cent of licensed ECE services meet or exceed Ministry of Education standards.

NZ Educational Institute Te Riu Roa president Lynda Stuart also welcomed the report, saying any case of substandard care of our youngest children was distressing.

"We're continuing to lobby for increased funding for centres with 100 per cent qualified teaching staff, better teacher-to-child ratios, smaller group sizes and increased operational funding, which all contribute to the quality of ECE services."

Early Childhood Council chief executive Peter Reynolds said there should be no tolerance for services that put children at risk so it was good to see the Ministry of Education being responsive to complaints.

"It is important parents, whanau and caregivers can have confidence in the systems and the ECE services they choose," he said.

By law, ECE services are required to have processes in place so that parents can complain or ask questions if they're not happy with their child's education and care.

"Most complaints can be managed at the service level but parents, whānau and caregivers are encouraged to come to us if they are not satisfied with the response from a service or if the complaint is potentially serious.

"We continue to look at ways to improve our management of complaints and to use the insights from our investigations to improve our services.

"Nothing is more important than the safety and wellbeing of our children," Casey said.

Dubai couple helps Filipina nanny by sponsoring child's education

The story of this Filipina nanny certainly strikes a chord with all the mothers and their frantic search for a perfect care-taker for their kids. When Rowena and Tarek Karaman were looking for a nanny to look after their daughter Abla, they were elated to find Ana Fernandez.

"I think you get a good gut-feeling as a mother when someone is right for your family. You seem connected on multiple levels," Rowena was quoted as saying in The Filipino Times. But what led Rowena connect with Ana right away? Motherhood is what Rowena believes set the ball rolling for both the women as Ana has a daughter she has left back home, who is the same age as Abla.

Noting that their nanny misses her child back in the Philippines, Rowena said, "She once told me that she wants to spend time with a family whose child is similar age to her own daughter so she knows how to relate with her when she talks to her over the phone, and how to spend time with her when she returns to the Philippines."

Adding how Ana does not consider taking care Abla merely as a job, Rowena said, "I am thankful for all heartwarming things she does for Abla and I am sure that is a trait that comes exactly from the Philippines. She is not just doing it because it is her job."

Talking about Ana's dedication, Rowena added, "She rarely has her phone out when she is with Abla. If she does, she connects with other nannies so Abla could play with other kids. She always makes new arts and crafts and invents new games."

But Ana goes beyond her work duties to help give Abla a normal life. She does not keep Abla indoors all the time and makes an effort to let the little girl see the outside world and meet people. From taking a ride in the Metro, roaming around the city, visiting malls and Philippine Consul Office in Dubai, Anna tries to take along Abla everywhere.

This connection between Abla and Ana is the main reason that the couple treats the Filipina as a friend and a part of their family. So when Ana was in need of Php10,000 (Dh687 approx) for her daughter's school tuition fees, the couple stood by her in her difficult time. They decided to give Ana Php20,000 (Dh1374 approx) instead so that she could use the extra cash to buy her daughter's requirements at school. 

Besides this, the couple tries to make Ana feel wanted by being a part of her ups and downs. In September 2016, Rowena and Tarek took Ana out to celebrate her birthday and also bought her a roundtrip ticket to visit her daughter back home. "We don't think we're doing something special. We would do this to someone we care about. We care a lot about Ana. She has a life outside of this family that we also want her to be able to develop," Rowena said.

Every child deserves access to a decent, affordable education

On Human Rights Day, nearly a quarter of century will have passed since South Africa adopted arguably one of the most progressive constitutions in the world. During that time the country has witnessed significant changes as it moved from an apartheid state to a multiparty democracy.
                                                 

One of the areas where there remains a great deal of concern is education. Nelson Mandela said “... [e]ducation is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. For each individual, it is one of the most important factors in determining their life chances. Without access to decent quality education, a young person is most unlikely to fulfil their potential both for themselves and to the benefit of the wider society.

However, securing quality education for all is not just a matter of societal and personal development but a question of fundamental rights. South Africa has enshrined the right to education for all in its Constitution. It has also accepted a range of international and regional obligations in respect of education, most recently with the ratification of the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Yet despite this recognition, South Africa’s education system is failing millions of its schoolchildren.

Moving towards the private sector

In this context of perceived crisis in the country’s education system it is unsurprising that many lower-income parents are turning towards the private sector and in particular so-called “low fee” schools. These institutions charge a daily or weekly fee, which is supposed to be affordable for poorer families. Often they are able to keep costs low while also generating a return for investors by using low-cost materials, paying low-qualified teachers less and operating to scale. Teaching can often involve a highly scripted model through the use of daily downloads to IT tablets. While some have praised its efficiency others have criticised the lack of pedagogical input.

Single state agency needed to coordinate California's 'patchwork' of early childhood education programs

California will continue to lag behind other states in providing enough child care slots and diverse preschool options for all its nearly 2.5 million children under the age of 5 until it develops a more unified system that provides affordable care and makes it easier for families to enroll.
                                                       

That is a key recommendation in a recent report published by the Learning Policy Institute. Researchers say California needs to have one state-level agency that will help coordinate the state’s often-confusing array of child care and preschool programs. The new agency should also examine factors that affect the quality of programs, such as low wages for preschool teachers and child care workers and a lack of ongoing professional development for those employees.

It also recommends that to ensure more coordination locally, the state “fully fund and grant decision-making authority to a single coordinating body at the county or regional level”.

The report, titled “Building an Early Learning System That Works, Next Steps for California,” examines both problem areas and promising practices in early childhood programs across 10 California counties that vary in population, child care cost and region, including large urban areas such as Los Angeles and small rural areas like Trinity County.

The report also made three other recommendations. It suggests that California make early childhood education affordable for all children from birth to age 5, build a well-qualified workforce and improve the quality of all preschool and child care programs. To meet these goals, the report suggests that the state establish universal preschool for all 4-year-olds, increase the number of full-day child care programs and ensure more on-the-job training and coaching for child care providers and preschool teachers.

Budgeting for your child’s education

The new school year is almost upon us and many parents are scrambling to ensure their children have everything they need for a successful start.
                                                 

“Besides the normal school fees, parents need to fork out extra on uniforms, stationery, extracurricular activities, excursions; to mention a few. This sometimes puts strain on parents’ pockets; especially if these unforeseen expenses are not planned for,” says Ester Ochse, FNB Product Specialist.

She believes that saving for your child’s education should be a top priority for parents.

Ochse highlights a few aspects to consider to ensure that children’s educational needs are taken care of:

Research schools
When choosing which school your child will go to, you need to consider the area it is located in, how safe it is, if you’d be able to get to the school quickly if there’s a problem and whether it is affordable.

Start saving for your child’s education
Ochse says it’s never too late to start saving, whether for crèche, nursery, primary or tertiary education. Every bit you save can make the financial burden lighter in future and help your children get the best education possible. Look into a savings account, trust or investment that offers great interest and consider setting up a debit order to ensure you save a little bit every month.

Although your budget may ultimately decide which route you take, ensure that your chosen school gives your child the support they need, the extra-curricular activities you think they’d be interested in and where they feel comfortable with the environment, teacher and fellow pupils.

Revise your budget
With a new year come price increases and a new budget. Ensure yours is up-to-date and that you don’t overspend in unnecessary places.

Calculate and include all fees
Ensure that all fees for school, extra classes and possible medical emergencies are on your list. Ensure that you have enough money saved up to cover these costs when they crop up during the year.