Foreign

Sunak Advocates Mathematical Learning of Pupils to Age 18

By Web News 826

The prime minister is looking at plans to ensure all pupils in England study maths in some form until the age of 18.

Rishi Sunak will announce the aim in his first speech of 2023 later, which he will use to set out his priorities for the year.

It comes amid a winter of multiple strikes, huge pressures in the NHS and a cost of living crisis.

Mr Sunak is expected to say the UK must “reimagine our approach to numeracy”.

“In a world where data is everywhere and statistics underpin every job, our children’s jobs will require more analytical skills than ever before,” he will say.

“And letting our children out into the world without those skills, is letting our children down”.

During his speech, Mr Sunak is also expected to expand on his vision for the UK, and revisit comments made in December about giving people “peace of mind”.

The Daily Mail reports that Mr Sunak will take “personal charge of tackling the NHS crisis”.

The prime minister is likely to use Wednesday’s speech to acknowledge pressures facing the UK’s health system, the paper adds.

On Tuesday, a No 10 spokesman said the government was “confident” it was “providing the NHS with the funding it needs”.

Just half of 16 to 19-year-olds study maths, according to Mr Sunak – but this figure includes pupils doing science courses and those who are already doing compulsory GCSE resits in college.

It is not clear what the plans will mean for students who wish to study humanities or creative arts qualifications, including BTecs.

No new qualifications are immediately planned and there are no plans to make A-levels compulsory.

The government is instead exploring expanding existing qualifications as well as “more innovative options,” a 10 Downing Street spokesperson said.

The prime minister is expected to begin working on the plan in this parliament and finish it after the next general election.

The Autumn Statement unveiled an extra £2.3bn in core school funding for five to 16-year-olds over the next two years – reversing the real terms cuts of the last decade.

But no extra funding was given to further education colleges, which educate many of the most disadvantaged 16 to 18-year-olds, nor to sixth form colleges.

This is compounded by a predicted rise in the 16 to 18-year-old population in the next eight years.

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies the number of 16 to 18-year-olds is projected to rise by a total of 18% between 2021 and 2030, equivalent to 200,000 extra students.

BBC/Taiwo Akinola

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News

Sex tape: Chrisland Management, Parents, Pupils Meet Police Today

By Web News 3152

The Lagos State Police Command says it has extended invitations to the management of Chrisland Schools, parents and the pupils allegedly involved in sexual acts during a school trip to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, UAE.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, stated this during a telephone interview with Punch.

He said, “All the parties have been invited to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Yaba. The parties include the school authorities, parents and their children.

“Nobody has reported yet, but we are in touch with them and they have all given us a reasonable date and time that they will come. Whatever happens after their invitation will determine the next line of action.”

A source, however, revealed to our correspondent that all the parties would report at the SCIID on Wednesday.

Report says that, the pupils, including a 10-year-old girl, were among the 76 pupils that represented the school during the World School Games in Dubai which held between March 8 and 14, 2022.

During the event, the 10-year-old girl was reportedly involved in sexual acts which were recorded by another pupil.
The video clip went viral on Twitter last Monday.

The mother of the girl was heard in another recorded clip accusing the school of cover-up and taking her daughter for a pregnancy test without parental consent.

The state government then shut down all Chrisland Schools in the state, as the police commenced investigation into the matter.

Chrisland Schools, in a statement by a member of its advisory board, Akin Fadeyi, late Monday, denied the rape allegation, adding that, the school did not take the child for any pregnancy test.
Reacting to the incident, a senior lawyer, Jiti Ogunye, faulted the Lagos State Government for taking a knee-jack approach to such issues.

“It closed down the school, so what happens to the right to education of other pupils in the school? What happened to their right to learn in school? What happened to the money parents paid?

“So, it is not just about closing down the school; that is reactive; what the government should be doing is to activate the appropriate agencies/departments in the ministry of education, the supervisors to work. So, this is the time for the government to look inward.

“How many supervisors do they have that go round schools on a weekly/monthly basis to ask these children how they are fearing and what is going on in that school? I suspect that they don’t.”

Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, has ordered a review of police personnel and operational assets deployment to schools and colleges in the country.

The Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, in a statement on Tuesday, said the order was to ensure schools were safe and secure for students across the country.

Culled/Taiwo Akinola

Education

Ogún Commissioner For Education Warns Pupils Against Crime

By Web News 1058

Pupils in Ogun State culpable in criminal acts will be sent to juvenile homes to undergo character reformation.

The state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu made this known in Abeokuta when he visited the Commissioner of Police, Mr Lanre Bankole.

Professor Arigbabu tendered an apology on behalf of the Ogun State Government to the police over the unruly behaviour of some pupils of Egba High School and Asero High School in Abeokuta.

The pupils had earlier assaulted the Divisional Police Officer of Obantoko, also in Abeokuta.

The commissioner described the assault as appalling and unacceptable.

He warned students in the state to desist from criminal acts, saying the government would no longer spare pupils on account of their ages, but make them to face the full wrath of the law.

He commended the collaborative efforts of the police to arrest unruly behaviours in schools.

Professor Arigbabu assured that government would address all forms of indiscipline through surveillance and interaction with pupils by the police and government officials on good conduct.

Responding, Mr. Bankole noted that the incident was of mutual concern to the ministry and the police and said the latter had always been proactive in schools and in the state at large.

Pupils of the two schools assaulted the DPO and some other police officers on Wednesday as they were attempting to quell fight between the two schools.

Wale Oluokun