All posts tagged: signals

Curriculum review signals primary content cut, fewer exams

Curriculum review signals primary content cut, fewer exams

Published by skeptic

More from this theme Recent articles Cutting the volume of content in primary school lessons and fewer GCSE exams are being considered as part of reforms by the government’s curriculum review. The review’s interim report, published today, also signals changes to the EBacc performance measure and a subject-by-subject review over concerns the balance of content is “inhibiting mastery”. However, the review ruled out “fundamentally changing” the number of subjects studied at GCSE, A-levels or ditching SATs. You can read our full round-up piece of all the proposed changes here. A curriculum review source said “the mainstay of the existing education architecture is doing pretty well and can remain as stands”. Instead, the review – which had 7,000 responses – had “heard issues within those that we’ll be digging into”. One such issue is the “performance measures and the behaviours that they incentivise”. Performance measures review  The interim report said its call for evidence had identified the English Baccalaureate – a suite of five academic subject areas all pupils are encouraged to enter – as one …

China Signals Confidence in Economy Despite Sluggish Growth and U.S. Trade War

China Signals Confidence in Economy Despite Sluggish Growth and U.S. Trade War

Published by Sam

China’s top leaders sought to project confidence in the country’s economy on Wednesday despite sluggish growth, an escalating trade war with the United States and growing geopolitical uncertainty caused by the Trump administration. The government will aim to expand China’s economy by “around 5 percent” this year, said Premier Li Qiang, China’s highest-ranking official after Xi Jinping, at the opening of the annual session of the country’s rubber-stamp legislature. Mr. Li acknowledged that the economy faced many challenges and that “arduous efforts” would be needed to meet the targets. But he struck a positive note about the country’s prospects, saying: “The underlying trend of long-term economic growth has not changed and will not change. The giant ship of China’s economy will continue to cleave the waves and sail steadily toward the future.” The meeting in Beijing, called the National People’s Congress, is a tightly scripted political pageant that runs for several days, showcasing how Mr. Xi plans to lead China through what he has often described as “great changes unseen in a century” in the …

Germany Signals Re-Migration Program For Unintegrated Migrants

Germany Signals Re-Migration Program For Unintegrated Migrants

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Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Modernity.news, Governing German authorities are suggesting unintegrated migrants from Syria could be sent home if they are not in employment, a policy that could mean re-migration for nearly half a million people. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser suggested during an interview with Funke Media Group that Syrian refugees could have their protections revoked if they didn’t fulfil certain residency criteria. “As our law stipulates, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) will review and revoke protection grants if people no longer need this protection in Germany because the situation in Syria has stabilized,” Faeser said. “This will then apply to those who do not have a right of residence for other reasons such as work or training and who do not return to Syria voluntarily.” Given federal data which revealed that nearly half of the 975,000 Syrians living in Germany remain dependent on state welfare benefits, any policy change could impact large numbers of migrants living in the country. “As of August 2024, 518,050 Syrians were receiving these benefits. While …

With Threats to Encryption Looming, Signal’s Meredith Whittaker Says ‘We’re Not Changing’

With Threats to Encryption Looming, Signal’s Meredith Whittaker Says ‘We’re Not Changing’

Published by skeptic

“We don’t want to be the outlier that proves the rule, we want to be a new set of rules leading the way to a much more open and diverse tech ecosystem,” Whittaker said, “that isn’t reliant on like five companies and 15 guys and a paradigm that is very, very stale and ultimately not healthy for the world and the future.” It costs around $50 million per year to run Signal and Whittaker noted at the event that there are no easy answers to finding that type of funding—or more—for projects that need consistent, independent, and secure backing without being subject to the forces of data monetization and surveillance capitalism. “None of this is simple, friend,” Whittaker said. “There’s a type of capital we need. How do we get it?” The first Trump presidency in the United States was increasingly hostile to encryption and independent tech, so with a new Trump administration looming and anti-encryption advocates making inroads in governments around the world, what comes next for Signal? “Signal knows who we are. Signal …

Jokowi signals continuity in Indonesia’s 2025 budget, touts achievements in final State of the Nation speech

Jokowi signals continuity in Indonesia’s 2025 budget, touts achievements in final State of the Nation speech

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ANOTHER APOLOGY Dressed in a black outfit of the Betawi people – a group native to Jakarta – for his State of the Nation address, Mr Widodo bade farewell and apologised to the people for the second time this month. While he had tried to give his best, he understood that his achievements could not please everyone, he said during a 20-minute speech at the People’s Consultative Assembly meeting, a yearly tradition before Independence Day celebrations on Aug 17. “I and (Vice President) Ma’ruf Amin apologise. I apologise to every heart that may be disappointed, for every hope that may not have been realised, for every dream that may not have been achieved,” said Mr Widodo. His previous apology, during a congregational prayer event on Aug 1, was labelled by critics as a ploy to gain sympathy. At last year’s State of the Nation address, Mr Widodo had emphasised continuity of policies ahead of the February general election while asserting he had no authority to determine who the presidential and vice-presidential candidates would be.  Ahead of …

Trump Signals Weakness to Xi Jinping

Trump Signals Weakness to Xi Jinping

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Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (NOA) using AI narration. Words matter in international diplomacy, and Donald Trump has spewed out some that are especially dangerous. He signaled that he might not defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion. “Taiwan should pay us for defense,” he told Bloomberg Businessweek in an interview released on Tuesday. “You know, we’re no different than an insurance company.” Trump went on to imply that protecting the island was not even possible. “Taiwan is 9,500 miles away,” he said. “It’s 68 miles away from China.” The comment typifies Trump’s view of foreign policy as a business transaction, and likely appeals to a political base weary of Washington’s superpower responsibilities. But although such talk may be good domestic politics, it makes for atrocious geopolitical strategy. The Chinese dictator Xi Jinping is listening for clues about American intentions in Asia, and factoring them into his calculations for promoting Chinese influence. Trump’s Taiwan remarks play right into his hands by undermining the most fundamental, yet fragile, source of U.S. global power: confidence in …

Hamas signals post-war ambition in talks with Palestinian rival Fatah

Hamas signals post-war ambition in talks with Palestinian rival Fatah

Published by Sam

RAMALLAH: Deep divisions will limit progress at reconciliation talks between Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah this month, conversations with five sources in the groups indicate, but the meetings highlight that the militant group is likely to retain influence after Israel’s war in Gaza. The talks between Hamas and the Fatah party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will be held in China in mid-June, according to officials from both sides. They follow two recent rounds of reconciliation talks, one in China and one in Russia. China’s foreign ministry declined to comment. The next meeting will be held amid attempts by international mediators to reach a ceasefire deal for Gaza, with one of the key sticking points being the “day-after” plan – how the enclave will be governed. Considered a terrorist organisation by many Western nations, Hamas was shunned long before its Oct 7 attacks killed 1,200 people in Israel, with more than 250 hostages taken, triggering the war in Gaza. But even as it is pummelled militarily, the meetings of Hamas politicians with officials from the Fatah …

Scrapping admissions cap signals alarming lurch towards religious privilege

Scrapping admissions cap signals alarming lurch towards religious privilege

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The government is planning to abolish the rule requiring faith-based free schools in England to offer half their places without any reference to religion. This means that for the first time, religious groups will be able to receive 100% state funding for schools with 100% faith-based admissions. Many faith schools, known as voluntary aided (VA) schools, can already select all pupils based of faith. But while the running costs of a VA school are fully state funded, the religious body that runs the school usually owns the land and buildings. However, the Government’s new reforms will secure total taxpayer funding for faith schools that religious leaders can prevent your child from attending. The policy shift comes at the behest of Catholic bishops who have disingenuously argued that not allowing the schools they run to admit children from exclusively Catholic backgrounds unfairly discriminates against Catholic students. This is untrue – there is no way the 50% cap could result in a child losing a place at a Catholic school because they are raised Catholic. Faith schools …

Mysterious space signals may come from a dead star with a planet

Mysterious space signals may come from a dead star with a planet

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Artist’s impression showing a fast radio burst travelling from a distant host galaxy to reach Earth ESO/M. Kornmesser One of the most puzzling phenomena in space may finally have an explanation. It might be caused by the interactions between a “dead” neutron star and a planet in tight orbit around it. The strange phenomenon in question is a repeating fast radio burst (FRB). These are series of powerful radio waves blasting at us from distant galaxies. FRB 121102, spotted in 2012, was the first one ever found to repeatedly send out radio… Source link