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Rescue teams are digging through the mud and debris trying to find survivors near Mai Mahiu, in Kenya’s Nakuru County, Gov. In Mai Mahiu, Kihika said a serious situation was unfolding as floodwaters swept away people and homes. Access to Mai Mahiu, 20 miles north of the capital Nairobi, had been difficult as part of the road had been cut off from recent heavy rains, Kihika said. Other video shows vast flooding around the Tana River, with large parts of the surrounding area underwater. Heavy rains in East Africa have also affected Tanzania and Burundi.

Persons: Susan Kihika, Isaac Maigua Mwaura, Mai Mahiu, Kihika, ” Kihika, Tana, Andre Kasuku, downpours, El Niño, Jagan Chapagain, Kassim Majaliwa Organizations: Kenya CNN —, Gov, CNN, Kenya Red Cross Society, of Education Locations: Nairobi, Kenya, Mai Mahiu, Kenya’s Nakuru County, Mai, Mororo, Tana River, Garissa, North Eastern Kenya, Tana, Kona, Tana River County, East Africa, Tanzania, Burundi, Tanzanian

☆ China's crashing birthrate will leave millions of teachers jobless in the coming years
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

China's birthrate has plunged, with the number of newborns in 2023 falling by 500,000, to about 9 million. AdvertisementDecades of China's one-child policy have created a demographic nightmare for the world's second-largest economy, and millions of school teachers could soon be left without a job as birthrates tumble. If those classes don't scale back, China could see a surplus of 1.5 million primary school teachers and 370,000 middle school teachers by 2035, according to a Tuesday report from the South China Morning Post. Last year marked the second consecutive year that China's population shrank, according to the country's National Bureau of Statistics. Total primary school students, too, declined in 2022 for the first time in a decade.

Persons: China's birthrate, —, it's Organizations: Service, South China Morning, country's National Bureau of Statistics, Education, China National Academy of Educational Sciences, Terry Group, Terry, UN Locations: China, Beijing, Hangzhou

CNN has contacted the Unification Church for an official comment but has not yet heard back. Previous controversiesThis is not the first time the Unification Church has been at the center of a controversy. The Sapporo District Court made a landmark ruling in favor of 20 former Unification Church members who had sued the group as part of the case. However, he also notes that some of its members felt happy and at peace after making donations to the Unification Church. Some critics of the Unification Church say the government’s actions don’t go far enough as it could still operate as a non-religious group.

Persons: Japan CNN —, Shinzo Abe, Tetsuya Yamagami, Abe, Yamagami, Reverend Sun Myung, Abe’s, Fumio Kishida, Kishida, Sakurai Yoshihid, Naomi Honma, ”, Nobutaka Inoue, What’s, don’t, Sakurai, ” Sakurai, Kimiaki, Nishida, Toshiyuki, – Organizations: Japan CNN, Unification, Family Federation, World Peace, Court, NHK, Unification Church, Reverend, CNN, Reuters, Japan’s Ministry, Cultural Affairs, Hokkaido University . CNN, National Lawyers Network, Kokugakuin University, Japan’s Ministry of Education, Japan Society for Cult Prevention, Osaka University Locations: Tokyo, Japan, South Korea, Sapporo

Most of the people participating in the trend are in their 20s, citing various reasons for quitting ranging from low wages to burnout. LiangAccording to China’s LinkedIn equivalent Maimai, out of 1,554 employees across various sectors surveyed from January through October 2022, 28% resigned that year. A similar movement, dubbed the Great Resignation, had taken off in the United States, with almost 50 million people quitting their jobs in two years. Despite the proliferation of higher education degrees, China’s economy doesn’t currently require as many high-skilled workers and it takes time to transform the economic structure, she said. The resignation trend could affect fertility, but it’s not yet clear how, she said.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN —, Liang, “, ”, Nancy Qian, they’ve, Jade Gao, Qian, ” Qian, Yao Lu, Veyron Mai, ” Lu, Young Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, CNN, ” CNN, Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, Getty, Ministry of Education, Columbia University, University Locations: China, Hong Kong, China’s Zhejiang, United States, West, Beijing, AFP, Yibin, Foshan, Taizhou

☆ China to impose hefty fines, penalties for illegal education tutors
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Students stand at a school during a flag-lowering ceremony on the first day of the new academic year in Shanghai, China, September 1, 2021. The announcement made by the Ministry of Education on state run CCTV on Tuesday, is the most recent measure by authorities to reform China's education sector and alleviate the academic pressure on students. However, problems such as unlicensed after school tutoring continues to "varying degrees" and the problem of individual institutions "taking money and running away" still occurs, the ministry said. The high cost of education has been cited as a key factor by young Chinese for not wanting to have children. ($1 = 7.2910 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Farah Master and the Beijing newsroom; Editing by Michael PerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Aly, Farah Master, Michael Perry Organizations: REUTERS, country's Education Ministry, Ministry of Education, Beijing, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, HONG KONG, Beijing

Government data shows 100 public school teachers in South Korea – mostly elementary school teachers – killed themselves from January 2018 to June 2023. Under the law, anybody who suspects a case of child abuse can report it to the authorities without needing to provide evidence. South Korean teachers holding signs that call for "truth," to commemorate the death of a teacher, in Seoul on September 4. Call for changeBut protesters and teachers say they won’t be satisfied until the child abuse law is amended. South Korea has the highest suicide rate among OECD nations, with that rate increasing among teenagers and young adults in their 20s, according to the country’s health ministry.

Persons: Chung Sung, Cho Hee, Cho, Jung Yeon, ”, –, Yoonjung Seo, Lee Joo, “, ” Lee, Yoon Suk Organizations: South Korea CNN, Korean Federation of Teachers ’, country’s Education Ministry, Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, Seoul Seoi Elementary School, Getty, Authorities, Teachers, South, Korean Teachers and Education Workers ’ Union, CNN, CNN Education, Reuters, OECD, Ministry of Education, Korean Federation of Teachers ’ Associations Locations: Seoul, South Korea, “, South

Critics say the move is a part of a sustained effort to indoctrinate school children and stifle any independent thinking. Russian President Vladimir Putin has always maintained that Moscow’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine is an effort to liberate the country from a “Nazi regime” and Western influence. No critical thinking allowedMany countries introduce school children to patriotic ideas and civic values. According to independent human rights monitor OVD-Info, there have been almost 20,000 people detained for protesting against the war in Russia. This complete crackdown on freedom of speech means there isn’t a force in Russia that can counteract school propaganda.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Sergey Kravtsov, ” Kravtsov, Katerina Tertytchnaya, “ There’s, ”, Putin, Yuri Kadobnov, Sergey Lavrov, Kirill, ” Ian Garner, ” Tertytchnaya, ” Garner, Garner Organizations: CNN, country’s Ministry of Education, Nazi, Russian, Russian Federation, RIA Novosti, University College London, Ministry of Education, Schools, Getty, Kremlin, University of Chicago’s, Political, Students Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Crimea, Moscow, AFP, Russian, France, Russians, China

☆ China takes major step in regulating generative AI services like ChatGPT
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

China also urges platforms to “participate in the formulation of international rules and standards” related to generative AI, it said. Generative AI tools like ChatGPT have taken the world by storm. Generative AI refers to the technology that underpins platforms like ChatGPT. In the global race to build guardrails for how governments tap AI, China had gained a significant head start, US Senator Mark Warner warned last month. So far, Baidu, Alibaba and JD.com’s generative AI services are either in the trial stage or being tested by corporate users.

Persons: —, Olivier Morin, Mark Warner, ” Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Cyberspace Administration, Ant, Baidu, Getty, China, Politico’s Global Tech Summit ., ” Citi, National Development, Reform Commission Locations: Hong Kong, China, Beijing, AFP, United States

Seoul, South Korea CNN —Raising a child in South Korea is no easy task. As a result, the hagwon industry in South Korea is massive, and profitable. Of the nearly 60,000 middle and high school students surveyed nationwide, almost a quarter of males and one in three females reported experiencing depression. Activists say South Korea needs deeper change instead, such as dismantling entrenched gender norms and introducing more support for working parents. Some agreed the private education sector needed reform, but doubted the effectiveness of this move.

Persons: Lee Ju, Lee, “, ” Lee, Anthony Wallace, Jung Yeon, Lee –, Yelim Lee, hagwons, ”, Critics, Kim Hong Organizations: South Korea CNN, South Korean, College, Education, Getty, South, Ministry of Education, Organization for Economic Co, Development, OECD, Ministry of Health, Twitter Locations: Seoul, South Korea, AFP, South Korea's, South, Haiti, Iceland, United States, United Kingdom, Korean, Korea, Japan

☆ Why Chinese students are taking graduation photos looking ‘more dead than alive’
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

These are graduation photos, and their theme is “being more dead than alive,” according to the accompanying caption. Urban youth unemployment is at record levels, reaching 20.8% in May, and an influx of new job seekers will only increase the competition. Li Nian, a PhD student who graduated this past week, is among those to have posted “more dead than alive” style photos. After being inspired by examples online, Li took her own graduation photos, which are funny despite the tiredness depicted. “I thought I would remember such graduation photos for the rest of my life,” she told CNN.

Persons: sprawled facedown, banister, –, Ren Yong, …, commiserate, ”, Li Nian, Li, Goldman Sachs, ” Young, lockdowns, “, can’t Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Urban, Students, Wuhan University, China’s Ministry of Education, CNN, Communist Party, Twitter, Weibo, ” Locations: Hong Kong, China, Nanjing, Spain, Italy

Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi CNN —Textbooks in Saudi Arabia have been changing. On Israel and the Palestinians, IMPACT-se found moderation, but not yet full acceptance of Israel. “Some in Israel want to see normalization with Saudi so badly that any interaction about Israel will be framed as something positive towards normalization,” he said. In Saudi Arabia, support for normalization stood at 5%. But Podeh and the other experts all agreed: public perceptions of Israel will be shaped by much more than textbooks.

Persons: ”, Mira Al Hussein, Kristin Diwan, Islam Aziz Alghashian, ” Alghashian, Israel, “, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Elie Podeh, “ It’s, ” Podeh, It’s, Diwan Organizations: Abu Dhabi CNN, Monitoring, School Education, IMPACT, Zionism, United, United Arab Emirates ’, University of Edinburgh, ISIS, Muslim Brotherhood, CNN, Saudi Center, International Communication, Ministry, Education, Gulf States Institute, Saudi, Abraham Accords, Arab Center Washington DC, Department of Islamic, Eastern, Hebrew University Locations: Jerusalem, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, United States, Israel, London, Saudi, Palestine, United Arab, Scotland, “, al Qaeda, Washington

☆ UN in talks about possibly handing over Afghan teaching projects to Taliban
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Charlotte Greenfield | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Aid officials say that the Taliban had signalled international organisations could no longer be involved in education projects, in a move criticised by the U.N. but not yet confirmed by Afghan authorities. A spokesperson for the Taliban did not respond to request for comment. International organisations have been heavily involved in education projects, and UNICEF made an agreement with the Taliban to run community classes before they took over the country. Two humanitarian sources told Reuters this month that aid agencies had been told provincial authorities had been directed to stop the involvement of international organisations in education projects, possibly within weeks. The Taliban took over Afghanistan after a 20-year insurgency against U.S.-led forces with a speed and ease that took the world by surprise.

Persons: Afghanistan's, Samantha Mort, Charlotte Greenfield, Nick Macfie Organizations: UNICEF, REUTERS, Afghan, de, Ministry of Education, Reuters, Education, United Nations, Taliban, U.S, Thomson Locations: Jalalabad, Afghanistan, New York

☆ Russia is asking its schoolchildren to knit socks for soldiers and write poems about the Motherland in an all-out effort to get support for the war
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Peter Gelling | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Russian schools are introducing programs promoting the military to encourage support for the Ukraine war. Russia asked students to knit socks for soldiers and write poems about military history, NYT reported. Russia is now asking its students to knit socks for Russian soldiers, a seemingly antiquated effort that feels like a throwback to the Soviet era. Russian Ministry of EducationWith Russia stagnant on the battlefield, propaganda steps inRussia first invaded eastern Ukraine in February 2022. But much of the Russian military equipment is outdated, and soldiers have complained of equipment shortages.

Persons: —, Wagner, Bakhmut, Alexandra Arkhipova Organizations: Service, The New York Times, The Times, Times, Russia's Ministry of Education, Russian Ministry of Education, Russia, Wagner Group Locations: Ukraine, Russia, The, Soviet, Crimea, Donetsk, Russian, Bakhmut, Ukrainian

☆ Malawi: Their son was banned from school for 3 years because of his dreadlocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Nimi Princewill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Although it is not a legal requirement in Malawi, an unwritten policy enforced across government schools meant his son was being denied admission because of his hair. “I felt oppressed,” Nansolo said as he recalled the staff of a state-run secondary school in Zomba, southern Malawi. Then, in 2020, the Malawi High Court placed an interim order compelling public schools to enroll Ishmael and other Rastafari children until a final ruling was reached. Despite this victory, Malawi’s Rastafarian community still faces numerous challenges. Lack of jobs is a big challenge for the Rastafarian community because those in offices are reluctant to employ Rastas,” Nansolo said.

☆ Israel demolishes Palestinian West Bank school
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Emily Rose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] Israeli troops take position during clashes between Palestinians and Israeli troops after Israeli machinery demolish a school near Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank May 7, 2023. REUTERS/Mussa QawasmaJERUSALEM, May 7 (Reuters) - Israeli authorities demolished a Palestinian school in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, drawing harsh condemnation from the European Union. "We got ready to come to school and when we arrived we didn't find the school," student Mohammed Ibrahim told Reuters. Israel has often cited a lack of building permits, which Palestinians and rights groups say are nearly impossible to obtain, in destroying Palestinian structures in the West Bank, an area it captured in the 1967 Middle East war. The Gush Etzion Regional Council, which represents a nearby block of Jewish settlers in the West Bank, welcomed the demolition.

☆ Madagascar suspends schools as cyclone Freddy approaches
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Lovasoa Rabary | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ANTANANARIVO, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Madagascar's government on Tuesday suspended schools and transport in the path of tropical cyclone Freddy, which was likely to make landfall in the southeast of the country by evening. The cyclone is expected to hit Mananjary district, about 270 km from the capital Antananarivo, with winds of nearly 155 km per hour, Madagascar's meteorological services said. All traffic in cyclone Freddy's projected path was suspended overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, the country's ministry of transport and meteorology said. Cyclone Freddy is expected to make landfall nearly a month after storm Cheneso battered the island nation of 29 million, killing 33 people and forcing thousands from their homes. "It is expected to cause locally devastating winds and a very dangerous sea state near the impact zone in Madagascar," UNOCHA said on Monday.

☆ ChatGPT failed miserably in Singapore's 6th-grade tests, averaging 16% for math and 21% for science. Days later, it was getting answers right.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Aditi Bharade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

OpenAI's ChatGPT failed math and science tests that sixth-graders in Singapore take. It made errors in simple addition and could not comprehend any diagrams, per The Straits Times. It scored an average of 16 out of 100 marks for the three mathematics papers it took, per The Straits Times. ChatGPT fared a little better at the science papers, getting an average of 21 out of 100 marks. But on Monday, when Insider tested ChatGPT on two PSLE science questions — one from 2020 and another from 2022 — it got both questions right.

☆ Jamaica PM will not face corruption charges, despite 'evidence'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 16 (Reuters) - Jamaica's anti-corruption agency said on Thursday that the prime minister will not face any charges after investigating a potential conflict of interest around government contracts awarded to a construction company between 2006 and 2009. The prime minister's office could not be reached for comment about the latest development that he had been cleared. Holness said yesterday that he "strongly disagree(d) with the findings of the Integrity Commission regarding conflict of interest based on mere associations." He previously presided over the Ministry of Education, which awarded 10 contracts totaling almost JMD$22m ($140,000) over a two-year period to Westcon. Reporting by Isabel Woodford in Mexico City and Kate Chappell in Kingston; Editing by Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

SYDNEY, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Australia is preparing for the arrival of thousands of Chinese students, the education minister said on Monday, days after China's education ministry warned students enrolled overseas that online learning would no longer be recognised. Tens of thousands remain offshore after pandemic restrictions and strained diplomatic relations led many to return home. Phil Honeywood, chief executive officer at International Education Association of Australia, an advocacy body for international education in Australia, said there were currently about 40,000 Chinese students still offshore. "We anticipate a lot of Chinese students will be scrambling as we speak to get on flights to Australia. The move by China's Ministry of Education has been met with anger from Chinese students.

☆ How Russia is molding the minds of schoolkids to support its brutal invasion of Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Elise Morton | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Russia is running a campaign of propaganda lessons to rally support for its invasion of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin at a rally in Moscow held in March 2022, a few weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine. An image from the lesson materials showing Russian armored personnel carriers marked with the Z symbol from the invasion of Ukraine. But, the union said, "huge internal resistance" from Russia's teachers forced officials to edit out most references to the "special military operation" and achieve its aims less directly. It's the effect on young children, whose whole world is their school and family, that scares me."

☆ China's big cities are starting to look past Covid, while rural areas brace for infections
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Subway passenger traffic in Shanghai is quickly returning to levels seen before the latest Covid wave, according to Wind data. Subway and road data show traffic in major cities is rebounding, he pointed out, indicating the worst of the latest Covid wave has passed. "The dramatic U-turn in China's Covid policy since mid-Nov implies deeper short-term economic contraction but faster reopening and recovery," Hu said in a report Wednesday. In the last several days, the southern city of Guangzhou and the tourist destination of Sanya said they'd passed the peak of the Covid wave. watch nowChongqing was the most congested city in mainland China during Thursday morning's rush hour, according to Baidu traffic data.

All the major S&P 500 sector indexes rose, with consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) and technology (.SPLRCT) leading the pack with a near 3% rise. The Fed's aggressive rate hikes have hammered equities this year, with the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) shedding 19.3% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbling nearly 33%. The CBOE Volatility index (.VIX), known as Wall Street's "fear gauge", slipped, signaling an easing in investor anxiety. Tesla shares (TSLA.O) rose 8.3% after Chief Executive Elon Musk told staff they should not be "bothered by stock market craziness". The S&P index recorded no new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 40 new highs and 117 new lows.

All the major S&P 500 sectoral indexes rose, with consumer discretionary (.SPLRCD) and information technology (.SPLRCT) up 1.8% and 1.9%, respectively. The U.S. Labor Department's report showed initial claims for unemployment benefits rose 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 225,000 for the week ended Dec. 24. The report hinted at some softening in an otherwise tight labor market, bolstering hopes that the U.S. central bank would dial down its aggressive monetary policy stance. "Signs of the job market beginning to weaken is certainly apparent," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist, Spartan Capital Securities LLC. A strong labor market and resilient American economy have fueled worries that interest rates could stay higher for longer even though easing inflationary pressures keep alive hopes of smaller increases.

☆ Younger Chinese are spurning factory jobs that power the economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( David Kirton | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

For his father's generation, factory work was a lifeline out of rural poverty. For Zhu, and millions of other younger Chinese, the low pay, long hours of drudgery and the risk of injuries are no longer sacrifices worth making. Factory bosses say they would produce more, and faster, with younger blood replacing their ageing workforce. But offering the higher wages and better working conditions that younger Chinese want would risk eroding their competitive advantage. Yet young workers are vital to keep production moving.

CNN —At least 100 people were killed after two car bombs exploded near Somalia’s education ministry in the capital Mogadishu on Saturday. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the Islamist group al-Shabaab has claimed other recent attacks. The two car bombs exploded near a busy intersection in the capital and near the Ministry of Education, according to an official with the president’s office. Mohamed Muhudin/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesMohamed Moalim, who owns a restaurant near the ministry, said his wife, Fardawsa Mohamed, a mother of six, tried to help victims of the blast. “We recognized the number plate of the tuk tuk, which was now rubble,” Aden said.

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