Month: October 2016

Kampot Writers and Readers Festival helps Cambodians tell their stories

With low levels of literacy in Cambodia, it comes as no surprise that storytelling makes up a strong part of the country’s cultural heritage – something that is being showcased at the second Kampot Writers and Readers Festival.

David Puttnam, producer of Hollywood films Midnight Express and The Killing Fields – the latter set during the Cambodian civil war in the 1970s – will travel from Britain to be one of the mentors on a four-day Media Lab, hosted in partnership with BBC Media Action and OnePlus Media. The sessions will see 30 applicants hone their skills in writing for film, radio, TV and social media, and media arts production techniques.

 

Read the full article here…

Expanding selection could increase racial tensions, warn peers

The reintroduction of grammar schools is a “lethal” policy that could strike a “tinderbox” under divided communities, peers have warned. 

Lord David Puttnam, a producer who once chaired the National Film and Television School, told a debate in the House of Lords that it was a “fantasy” to think that white working-class children would surge into new grammar schools.

Government data shows white boys that are eligible for free school meals are among the worst-performing ethnic groups in English schools, while Asian pupils, particularly Chinese and Bangladeshi girls, are among the highest-performing.

“The very notion that by reintroducing selection, the people that this policy is intended to attract, will suddenly find their [white working class] children surging into new and better grammar schools is a fantasy,” he said.

“What will actually happen, and I really admire and salute this, is that migrant and first-generation kids from Asia and Eastern Europe, will sweep into those schools, and God bless them, with the small problem that the disgruntled and now disconnected white working class who believed they were going to get better schools won’t get in.

“I can think of no other tinderbox that you could strike under hard-pressed and already-divided communities. This is a potentially lethal policy, ill-thought-through, ill-considered, and could do far more damage than anyone I think fully understands.”

Melvyn Bragg, also a Labour peer, said he agreed with Puttnam that “what they are seeking to put into operation could be incendiary”.

Bragg said pupils at his own grammar school had continued to be “every bit as well-taught” once it became a comprehensive.

“The evidence is all about us that some of our few grammar schools are doing well, and some are doing less well, but maintained comprehensives, and schools like them, have largely replaced them and brought multi-dimensional benefits,” he added.

Peers also heard from Lord Blunkett, who enacted the school standards and framework act in 1998 that banned the creation of new grammar schools as education secretary under Tony Blair’s government.

Blunkett warned that the green paper proposals were a “diversion away from raising standards and once again onto structures”.

But Lord Cormack, a Conservative peer who both studied and taught at a grammar school, argued that the government was not “thrusting a policy on the country” or advocating a return to the 11-plus.

“What we have is a reversion, of which I’m very proud, to the principle of green paper, white paper, and then legislation,” he said.

“This is not advocating a return to the 11-plus. I myself have always felt that 13 is a better age of transition. I don’t like the idea of a demarcation line at 11, and this is not suggesting it.”

 

 

 

 

 

Written by Freddie Whittaker

Source: Schools Week

New An Cosán programme wants to end unequal access to higher education

The community education centre An Cosán has launched a new initiative that wants to use mobile and internet technology to bridge existing social inequalities to otherwise out-of-reach higher education.

An Cosán celebrated its 30th birthday in September, with a number of successful programmes to look back on. One example is their Young Women in Technology initiative that helped 70 women set up their own businesses.

Now, with help from Ireland’s Digital Champion David Puttnam, the college has launched a new initiative that wants to remove any barriers or social inequalities in society for adults that would otherwise not get access to higher education.

Called the An Cosán Virtual Community College (VCC), the initiative uses online and mobile technology that can be offered to help participants study for a potential new career.

The VCC programme combines a virtual classroom and online live lectures with independent activities, assignments and face-to-face sessions in community partner settings.

To date, more than 150 students have engaged with An Cosán in its pilot phase and for most students it was their first experience of both higher education and blended online learning.

Earlier this month, 74 students graduated from VCC after successfully completing higher education courses.

The programme offers a range of introductory, further and higher education courses, including Learning to Learn at Third Level, Community Leadership, Citizenship and Social Action, and Transformative Community Education.

Enormous potential of virtual teaching

All of the higher education courses are accredited by IT Carlow, VCC’s third-level collaborative partner.

Speaking at today’s launch at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Puttnam said: “From tackling social isolation to improving skills and employability through offering innovative models of education – these technologies have the power to positively transform society.

“VCC is a fantastic initiative which has recognised the enormous potential of virtual teaching and learning methods for communities around Ireland, and which will offer life-changing education courses to adult learners for many years to come.”

VCC director Liz Waters added: “There are many barriers for people across Ireland in accessing further and higher education, ranging from rural isolation and lack of institutional access, to childcare considerations and financial issues.

“VCC has the power to break down these barriers and offers a unique opportunity for anyone wishing to develop their skills and achieve their full potential.”

Source: SiliconRepublic.com