Five-year jail term for lecturers who sexually molest students

Almost every other day, reports of lecturers sexually harassing their female students, come out of our ivory towers. In Nigeria’s extant penal code, consent or the lack of it is a critical factor in proving a rape case. This perhaps explains why philandering lecturers always escape the noose in court and their victims sentenced to life-long trauma. A bill before the National Assembly is seeking to make the ability to prove the act of rape enough to send a culpable lecturer to jail.

Lecturers that engage in sexual relationship with students would henceforth bag a five-year jail term if a bill in the Senate, seeking to completely prohibit any form of sexual relationship between them and their students is passed and assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege (Labour-Delta Central) and co-sponsored by 46 other senators, seeks to completely prohibit any form of sexual relationship between lecturers and their students, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

It will be recalled that mid last year, a part-time lecturer at the University of Lagos, Afeez Baruwa, allegedly raped an 18-year-old girl seeking admission into the University of Lagos.

But Baruwa, who carried out the act inside a study room in the institution, told the police that he did not rape the lady, insisting that the sexual intercourse between them was with mutual consent.

It was said that the father of the victim allowed his daughter to accompany Baruwa to the school on July 23, 2015 to follow up on her admission processes. Baruwa and the victim’s father belong to the same landlords’ association in the Abesan, Ipaja area of the state.

The benefit of the bill is that it imposes stiff penalties on offenders in its overall objective of providing tighter statutory protection for students against sexual hostility and all forms of sexual harassment in tertiary schools.

The bill provides a compulsory five-year jail term for lecturers who sexually harass students. When passed into law, vice chancellors of universities, rectors of polytechnics and other chief executives of institutions of higher learning will go to jail for two years if they fail to act within a week on complaints of sexual harassment made by students.

The bill expressly allows sexually harassed students, their parents or guardians to seek civil remedies in damages against sexual predator lecturers before or after their successful criminal prosecution by the state. What is your view about the bill?

Fantastically Correct Homework and beyond

Research shows that children do better at school if their parents are involved in their education. High levels of parental interest are associated with better exam results at External exams.

Although your child might be working more independently at secondary school than at primary school but your interest and support are still important. Encourage your child to share with you what they’ve been learning – they may not always want to, but there will be particular topics that spark their interest and they may be keen to talk about them. You can help with homework by providing a quiet environment for study – this may be at the kitchen table or in their room depending on how much input they want or need from you.

A rough guide to how long your child should be spending on homework at secondary school:

• Years 7 and 8 – 45 to 90 minutes a day
• Year 9 – 60 to 120 minutes a day
• Years 10 and 11 – 90 to 150 minutes a day

Maths

Maths can fill parents with dread. Even if you struggled at school or have bad memories of learning it, you can still support your child! Try to avoid passing on any concerns you had about maths to your child. Difficulties in maths 
can become a self-fulfilling prophecy! Ask your child to explain to what they’re learning – this can often help with their understanding as well as yours!

Reading

Even though you’re probably no longer reading with your child, you can still support their reading habits. Talk to your child about the books you’re both reading. Encourage them to use the school library to try out new authors and ask which books they’d like to be given as presents. Your child will find that keeping up to date with the news can help with school and homework. If you have newspapers at home, encourage them to use them for research or explore news websites like bbc.co.uk.

Writing and spelling

Have a dictionary and thesaurus at home or show your child a reliable website to check the meaning and spellings. Look at your child’s work and talk about it. The ‘look/cover/write/check’ method is still useful to learn new spellings. Websites like BBC Bitesize can be useful for checking work against and reinforcing what’s been covered at school.

Family days

It’s always helpful to visit a museum or gallery with links to whatever your child is studying in art, English, history, geography or science -- this can be a great way to add depth and interest to your child’s learning.

Adopted from Sophie Linington's work.

Top tips for tackling bullying for Parents

South African Boarding School.

1. Find a quiet time when you won’t be interrupted to talk to your child about bullying. Be patient, calm and understanding, and do not make assumptions or interrupt. Put your feelings aside and really listen to what your child is telling you so you can fully understand the situation.
2. Give reassurance. Make it clear that the bullying is not their fault and praise them for being brave enough to confide in you. Assure them that now you know what is happening, the issues can be resolved. 
   
3. Report to the school. Schedule a meeting with the school immediately. For primary schools this is likely to be with your child's classroom teacher, and for secondary schools, the head of year. Give specific examples of bullying incidents and how your child has been affected. Keep a log of incidents to facilitate this. Ensure a course of action is agreed upon regarding how the school will work to resolve the situation.
   
4. Stay informed.  Continue having open conversations with your child about their experiences with bullying, and report each incident to the school. If you are unhappy with how your child’s bullying is being dealt with, schedule a meeting with the school’s head teacher. If appropriate action is still not taken, it is within your rights to make a complaint to the school governors.
5. Build confidence. Bullies often 'test' potential targets to see how they respond, and while the target is never to blame, those who appear the most vulnerable usually continue to be bullied. It is for this reason that alongside reporting incidents to the school, building your child’s confidence and self-esteem can be one of the most effective ways to help them.

Ghana's educational system lacks substance – Rawlings

Former President Jerry John Rawlings

Former President Jerry John Rawlings has described the educational system in Ghana as lacking substance and essence.

He said at a time when the country was inundated with so many universities the quality of education has dwindled churning out superficial graduates every year.

Mr Rawlings said although the educational system in the country had transformed over the years the standard had fallen with graduates becoming a liability to the economy.

This he explained was due to the fact that students lack the political will to utilise and implement what they learn in school.

Speaking at a meeting with Cuba trained Ghanaian professionals who paid a courtesy call on him at his office in Accra on Tuesday, Mr Rawlings said Cuba was a shining example when it comes to education especially in their efforts at training medical doctors and other professionals throughout the world.

DOES DISCIPLINE MEAN PUNISHMENT?

What is your first association with the word "discipline?" Fill in the blank: When you discipline a child, you __________ them.

Indeed, common sense and common usage equate discipline with punishment. Disciplining a child means "punishing them for doing something wrong. Does this traditional definition of discipline shape the discipline code at your school? The logic of all discipline codes is timeless: "The punishment fits the crime." The greater the crime, the greater the punishment.What is your take?

7 Habits of Highly Effective 'Behaviour Management' by Akif

This week, Paul and Kevin discuss 7 habits of highly successful behaviour management. Like Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, these habits have the power to help you transform and maintain great behaviour management in your setting.

Paul’s 7 habits:

1. Meet and greet at the door – the best early intervention in behaviour management is at the door.

2. Catch students doing the right thing – nobody wants insincere praise and it can be easy to catch children doing the wrong thing so develop the ability to catch those more challenging students doing the right thing.

3. Deal with poor behaviour privately and calmly – avoid as much as possible the public humiliation or public sanctioning of students

4. Relentlessly build mutual trust – the relationship you have with students sustains you and carries on into the future.

5. Directly teach the behaviours and learning attitudes you want to see – have a plan so that you know the behaviours you are trying to teach and the students know what behaviours they are trying to learn.

6. Talk about values – never talk about behaviours in isolation – always relate them back to the culture you are trying to build and the values and truths you have as a class and as a teacher.

7. Follow up follow up follow up – teachers who follow up are the ones the children decide to behave differently for. Write it down if you have a difficult incident with a student, then you have the control back – you can decide when and how to follow up.

As usual, Paul stresses that to begin with it’s best to focus on one of these habits, then move on to the next once it’s had time to embed.

Welcome to VickyWeck An Educational Consult: Students who use digital devices in class 'perform...

Welcome to VickyWeck An Educational Consult: Students who use digital devices in class 'perform...: Allowing students to use computers and the internet in classrooms substantially harms their results, a study has found. The paper publi...

Welcome to VickyWeck An Educational Consult: Top 10 countries for university education

Welcome to VickyWeck An Educational Consult: Top 10 countries for university education: Rankings which assess the quality and accessibility of higher education in countries across the world, have been published today by QS Quac...

Lagos Teachers, Pupils Caned Out of Schools - NLC

Some yet-to-be identified labour leaders descended on some Lagos schools yesterday, chasing out teachers and pupils who defied the strike action order issued by the NLC leadership.

At Christ Assembly Primary School, Olodi Apapa, witnesses told Daily Trust that teachers and students had resumed for normal academic activities when some officials of NLC ran into the school compound and ordered the teachers to go home.

Simon Jude, a cobbler working close to the school entrance gate, also narrated how the protesting NLC officials descended on Newland Secondary School, Olodi Apapa.

As the strike entered its second day, workers who resumed for work at the Federal Secretariat and Ministry of Environment in Ibadan, Oyo State, were chased out by agitators to join the protest.

The protesters, leaving the NLC secretariat at Idi-Ape, traversing Ikolaba, Customs, Oshuntokun, Kongi, Bodija, University of Ibadan, Sango and back to the NLC secretariat with the labour leaders vowing to continue the protest. The protesters marched peacefully, distributing leaflets on why more people should join the strike.

Nigeria FG to Provide One Billion Eggs for School Feeding Programme

Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed

The federal government has said its decision to partially deregulate the downstream sector of the petroleum sector would enhance its school feeding programme.

Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, stated this yesterday, when a federal government delegation, led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, David Babachir Lawal, met with members of the National Working Committee and State Executive Committees of All Progressives Congress, APC, in Abuja.

At the meeting called to discuss the issues thrown up by deregulation, Mohammed listed several impacts the policy would have on Nigerians.

He said, "The first is the employment of 500,000 unemployed graduates, the second is the employment of 100,000 non graduates, technicians and artisans. The third is the one meal a day programme targeting 5.5 million pupils all over Nigeria. This is the most exciting of all our programmes. Even if we are going to give these children one egg a day, it means we will need 5.5 million eggs and in a calendar year of 200 days, we will need over a billion eggs. You can imagine what this will do to agriculture.

"We have the enterprise scheme which is a system of revolving loan. We are targeting one million market women and men, 460,000 artisans and technicians and 200,000 agricultural workers to be given loans through their cooperatives to start their own businesses. We have the N5,000 conditional cash transfers to one million most vulnerable Nigerians as a first phase. Then finally, we have bursaries, scholarships for all students in Nigeria studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics."

Married geography teacher 'screamed as she is jailed' for having sex with 16-year-old pupil

A teacher has been jailed for a year for having sex with a 16-year-old pupil she had groomed at school.

Lauren Cox, 27, pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual activity with a child under 18 at Croydon Crown Court last month.

She reportedly screamed in court on Thursday as she was jailed.

She had first met the boy at a school in Bromley, south east London in 2012, when he was aged just 13, before starting a sexual relationship with him in January 2015.

Cox also sent the boy explicit photos and videos during the course of their eight-month relationship and they would meet after school and during school holidays.

By September 2015 the student's parents had become suspicious and he told them what had taken place.

They contacted the head teacher of the school, who alerted social services, after Cox, from Oxted in Surrey, continued to message the pupil.

Pc Laura Davies of the Met Police said: "Cox abused her position of trust as a teacher and groomed the boy which went on to sexual abuse. The abuse has had an extremely adverse effect on the boy with his studies suffering as a result.

"Cox never once admitted the offences during police interview. She only admitted the offences subsequently because of the wealth of evidence against her.

Students who use digital devices in class 'perform worse in exams'

Allowing students to use computers and the internet in classrooms substantially harms their results, a study has found.

The paper published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that students barred from using laptops or digital devices in lectures and seminars did better in their exams than those allowed to use computers and access the internet.

The researchers suggested that removing laptops and iPads from classes was the equivalent of improving the quality of teaching.

The study divided 726 undergraduates randomly into three groups in the 2014-15 and 2015-16 academic years. The control group’s classrooms were “technology-free,” meaning students were not allowed to use laptops or tablets at their desk. Another group was allowed to use computers and other devices, and the third group had restricted access to tablets.

“The results from our randomised experiment suggest that computer devices have a substantial negative effect on academic performance,” the researchers concluded, suggesting that the distraction of an electronic device complete with internet access outweighed their use for note-taking or research during lessons.

The research had an unusual twist: the students involved were studying at the West Point academy in the US, where cadets are ruthlessly ranked by exam results, meaning they were motivated to perform well and may have been more disciplined than typical undergraduates.

My hard work speaks for me - PhD graduate, 27

After years of hard work and determination, a 27-year-old woman is one of the youngest South Africans to have obtained a PhD degree in science. 

Motshabi Sibeko obtained her PhD in Polymer Science at the University of the Free State earlier this month.

Sibeko, who registered as a student at the University of the Free State in 2007, said her record has always spoken volumes of her determination.  

"It is never about where you come from; it is about the work that you put in. I always worked hard so that my work would speak for me," She said.

"When I finished with my Masters, I just thought to myself that I was still very young and wanted to study further. I am very excited because I am the first to obtain a PhD in my family."

Born and bred in Bolata in QwaQwa, Sibeko said the support of her parents, who are not formally educated, and her nine siblings, pushed her to work even harder.

"I was always the quiet one. I would go to school and then come back and do my homework."

Sibeko said her postgraduate studies were funded by the National Research Forum (NRF).  

"If you work hard then you wouldn't have to worry about how you will pay for your studies. I travelled to Italy twice for my studies and everything was provided for. I did not worry about a cent," the graduate said. 

She is currently lecturing postgraduate students at the university and has been offered the opportunity to do her postdoctoral studies in Port Elizabeth. 

"I am looking forward to it and I am very excited. I can safely say the future is too bright, but after my postdoctoral studies, I am done."  

Beware of Cyberbullies!Polish girl, 16, found dead

Dagmara Przybysz, 16, originally from Poland, had complained about suffering from racism at school on the Ask.fm site two years ago.

Police and paramedics were called to Pool Academy in Pool, Redruth, Cornwall, on Tuesday at 2.15pm where the student was pronounced dead at the scene.

Zelma Hill, the school principal, said she was devastated by the news."The loss of Dagmara is heart-breaking. We are supporting students, staff and their families through this terrible time," she said.

She had used the Ask.fm site two years ago and when asked what problems she had at school, Dagmara had replied: "racism" and  added that it makes her sad when friends say things behind her back.

Her friends posted tributes on social media criticising bullies.

One wrote: "It is so sad what people do to make people do this stuff."

Last year social networking site Ask.fm created a safety advisory board after it was linked with cyberbullying and teen suicides, after a number of users took their lives after receiving abusive anonymous messages.

The Latvian-based site has been criticised over its policy of allowing users to ask each other anonymised questions

In 2013 14-year-old Hannah Smith from Leicestershire committed suicide after receiving a series of messages telling her her to “drink bleach”, “go get cancer” and “go die”. The site later claimed it appeared the teenager had sent the messages to herself.

Ciara Pugsley, 15, was also found dead in woodland near her home in Ireland in 2013, after becoming the target of abusive messages on the Ask.fm website.

Top 10 countries for university education

Rankings which assess the quality and accessibility of higher education in countries across the world, have been published today by QS Quacquarelli Symonds. Fifty countries across six continents have been represented, with researchers looking at access, system strength and a country's top performing institution to compile the tables. Here are the top 10.

10. Japan

With two universities in the top 50 institutions in the world, according to QS, Japan takes tenth place in the rankings. Kyoto University and the University of Tokyo take 38th and 39th place respectively. The capital city, Tokyo, was also ranked as the third best city in the world for students, with a low student to general population ratio.

9. South Korea

Similar to Japan, South Korea has two universities in the top 50 world institutions, with its top ranked Seoul National University coming in in 36th. KAIST, Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology, positions 43rd, with the capital city, Seoul, coming 10th in the student city rankings.

 8. China

Tsinghua University is one of China's most renowned higher education institutions and is situated in the north-west of Beijing in the former imperial gardens of the Qing Dynasty. The institution is the highest ranked university in China, scoring 25th overall. Peking University, in 41st position, is the country's other top 50 university.

7. Netherlands

The Netherlands has five universities in the top 100 institutions in the world, according to OS, the highest ranked of which is the University of Amsterdam in 55th. Maastricht University (pictured) while only ranking 169th in the world, achieves eighth place in the Top 50 under 50 years of age table. The institution is popular with international students with nearly half of all undergraduate programmes offered in English.

6. France

France's capital, Paris, was last year named the top city in the world to be a student with both the Ecole normale supérieure, Paris and the Ecole Polytechnique situated in or near the city. The former places an impressive 23rd in the overall rankings, while the Ecole Polytechnique ranks 40th.

5. Canada

With three universities in the top 50 world rankings, Canada makes it into the top five countries for higher education, according to QS. McGill University ranks in 24th, while the University of Toronto features in 34th and the University of British Columbia scrapes into the top 50. Canada can often prove a cheaper alternative to US study and involves a simpler application process.

4. Australia

With seven universities in the top 100 world university rankings, it's unsurprising that Australia makes the top five in this list. Only the US and the UK have more universities in the top 100. The highest ranked university, The Australian National University, comes in in 19th place overall, and scores particularly highly for academic reputation and international faculty.

3. Germany

While only four German institutions make it into the top 100 universities in the world, with the highest ranked Technische Universität München only scoring 60th place, the fee system in Germany certainly makes it a desirable place to study for students. In 2014, the last of Germany's states abolished tuition fees, meaning that now all students can access education for free - aside from a small admin fee and living costs.

2. United Kingdom

Ranking in second place for higher education, the UK has 18 universities in the top 100 world institutions, with the highest, the University of Cambridge, ranking in third place. The University of Oxford (6), University College London (7) and Imperial College London (8) also feature in the top 10.

1. United States

Coming top of the table is the United States, with 30 universities in the top 100, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) taking top spot overall. According to QS, the US set the benchmark for all four criteria used to rank countries, including access, system strength, flagship and economy.

Australian girl wins right to wear trousers to school

An Australian mum campaigned for her daughter to wear pants to schoo

An Australian schoolgirl has won the right to wear trousers to her Catholic school in Melbourne.

Asha, 6, used to ask her mum "why she couldn't wear pants like the boys," so it would be easier for her to run and climb.

Her mother Simone Cariss asked the school to let Asha wear trousers, but after they declined, she started a Change.org petition called #GirlsWearPantsToo.

Her petition calls for uniform gender equality in schools to be legislated. It now has more than 15,000 signatures and a hashtag that's being used to show support on social media.

Teacher leaves inspirational notes for pupils taking exams

Chandni Langford left these notes for her students CREDIT: WOODBURY CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

A teacher has been widely praised after photos of notes she left for her primary-age students ahead of an exam went viral on social media. 

Chandni Langford teaches a class of 10- and 11-year-olds  at Evergreen Avenue Elementary School in Woodbury, New Jersey. She wrote the messages directly on her pupils desks on Monday morning, as the pupils prepared to embark on a high-pressure fortnight of testing.

“A lot of my kids were nervous that if they don't pass this test with good scores they won't go to the next grade. They feel a lot of anxiety about that," Langford said. "I thought this would be a cute thing for them to walk in to."

She got the idea after seeing similar notes from another teacher on Pinterest. Pictures of the desks were posted to the Woodbury City Public Schools Facebook page, where they’ve been shared close to 19,000 times at time of writing.

To a pupil named Jules the teacher wrote: “Remember, mindset is everything. You work hard every day, so do the same thing today!”

Another pupil, Ronald, came in to find a note saying: “We’re so proud of the progress you’ve made this year. Take your time and work through the challenging problems!”

All the notes were signed by “Your Teachers”, and accompanied by text saying #growthmindset.

Thousands of children taught in 'illegal schools'

Thousands of children are being taught in unregistered schools across England, many more than previously thought, Ofsted's chief inspector has said.

Unregistered schools are those that operate outside the supervision of the Department for Education, local authorities or Ofsted inspections.

They are often run by faith groups and there are concerns about the safety of pupils in their charge.Sir Michael Wilshaw said a crackdown had found more than 100 suspected illegal schools - half of which were faith-based, Ofsted said.Roughly a third of them were Islamic and a sixth either Christian or Jewish.

Seven warning notices have been issued to schools in London, Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Luton and Staffordshire.

Any school offering 20 hours of lessons a week must be registered.

108 fresh students expelled over fake admission

Vice Chancellor,University of Ilorin, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali

According to an online report,The University of Ilorin says no fewer than 108 fresh students of the institution were expelled for gaining admission through dubious means.

The institution’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. AbdulGaniyu Ambali, disclosed this on Monday in Ilorin while exchanging views with the Commissioner of Police in Kwara, Mr. Sam Okaula, who visited him.

Ambali told the commissioner that due to stable academic calendar and culture of excellence prevalent in the university, the pressure to secure admission into the institution was high.

“This result in some candidates seeking illegal and unauthorised ways to gain admission into the university,” he said.

Ambali assured the commissioner of the university’s continuous cooperation by readily offering the police useful information required in the course of their work.

“We will volunteer any information you need to succeed,’’ the vice chancellor said.

He reiterated the university’s stance on zero tolerance for cultism and indecent dressing, stressing that these had helped to maintain sanity on the campus.

Ambali also gave an assurance that eligible personnel of the Force interested in higher education could take advantage of the opportunity provided by the university’s Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies.

Girl born without hands wins handwriting competition

Anaya Ellick, a seven-year-old girl born without hands, has won a national handwriting competition in the United States.

ABC News reports that the youngster mastered the art of writing by holding her pencil in between the ends of her arms and stays at a comfortable edge of her desk to write.

Anaya holds on to the trophy she won for having the best handwriting.

It was gathered also, that the girl had the option of using prosthetics, but she decided to use her own arms instead and became so good that she won the Nicholas Maxim Special Award for Excellence in Manuscript Penmanship for beautiful writing in 2016.

Her parents, Bianca and Gary, according to reports, were bothered about the condition of their daughter, but were amazed when she learned early on in life to tie her shoes, dress herself, and attempted to do other things by herself before asking for help.

Tracy Cox, Anaya’s school principal, said:“There is truly very little that this girl cannot do.”

The handwriting that won her the award at the national competition.

Sport Fiesta

There are few good schools of A+ standard,The Regent school is non arguably one of the best in such category.It was a wow experience as the school hosted and organised one of the best sport fiesta.It was a great sight to behold as talents at its natural form were discovered in various age groups. see pictures below.