While many New Zealand and Asia Pacific children, teens and adults fortunate enough to have access to formal education are hard at work studying such subjects as science, math and the arts, the most important lessons to be seriously taught and hopefully absorbed – moral values – are being given little attention in most educational settings. Read more
Today families don’t appreciate teachers, Pope Francis told a parents’ organisation that supports education as both a scholastic and social effort. He said the relationship between education and the family is declining. “The educational pact is declining. The family no longer appreciates the work of teachers as they did at one time,” Francis says. “To Read more
Rotorua’s St Michael’s Catholic School was blessed, Sunday, by Fr Eamon Kennedy, principal Kristina Crouch posted on Facebook. “This blessing ensured that our school was prepared properly for the safe arrival of our tamariki and their whānau,” she wrote. Crouch said pupils and parents were given the opportunity to come together with staff and the board Read more
At the Pacific Islands Forum in Nauru, New Zealand announced aid packages to assist Pacific Island Nations. Prime Minster Jacinda Ardern announced a $9 million package to make it easier for Pacific students to access education. Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced $10 million over three years to enhance free-to-air Pasifika TV service. Education “This initiative will Read more
Aucklander Laura McLellan says her experience working as a teacher Ranong, South Thailand, has had an immense impact on the way she sees her world and the people in it. Laura is working with a Marist community teaching English and social studies within the Burmese migrant community. She was a volunteer in the Marist Youth Read more
A team using computer modelling, Future of Religion and Secular Transitions (forest), has found that people tend to secularise when four factors are present: They are: Existential security (you have enough money and food) Personal freedom (you’re free to choose whether to believe or not) Pluralism (you have a welcoming attitude to diversity) Education (you’ve Read more
Listen to the voices of children and young people. This is the challenge issued by the Commissioner for Children and the Schools Trustees Association. “I am a library, quiet but filled with knowledge – it’s dumb [that I’m not asked]”, was just one of the comments made in a survey of young people asking them about Read more
Religion is slipping off the agenda in Irish schools. In a meeting with the Education and Training Ireland, concerned Church representatives said some community colleges were not spending enough time teaching religion. This was despite agreements and deeds of trust which stipulate that these schools should spend up to two hours teaching pupils religion each Read more
A humanist campaign group in the United Kingdom wants four-year-olds to be taught about LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi and trans-gender) issues. It has branded religious views on sexuality “discriminatory.” Humanists UK, formerly known as the British Humanist Association, issued a statement backing government plans on new primary school relationships education. Read more
A Dunedin school principal is increasingly concerned by the social expectations imposed on schools – and says some parents need to take more responsibility for their children’s actions. During the recent King’s High School senior prizegiving, rector Dan Reddiex praised his present cohort of pupils for their outstanding achievements during the year but went on Read more