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A country of new opportunities and a radical break with corrupt elites was what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky promised before he took office. The political newcomer arrived at his inauguration on foot, seemed relaxed and approachable, and took selfies. Shortly thereafter in a controversial decision he dissolved parliament, where he'd lacked a majority. Commentators take stock a year later.

Germany plans to invest nine billion euros in Lufthansa to get it through the coronavirus crisis. The state will take a 20-percent stake in the group but the rescue plan also provides for loans and silent partnerships in the airline. The state's stake will not be large enough to directly block decisions. Commentators nevertheless debate whether this intervention goes too far.

Parti UFP - Militants et militantes, A l'occasion de la fête du Eid el Fitr, j'ai le plaisir d'adresser mes meilleurs vœux à tous les...

Obwohl selbst Parteifreunde seinen Rücktritt fordern, hält Boris Johnson fest zu Dominic Cummings. Nun äusserte sich der ungehorsame Chef-Berater selbst.

La situation en Algérie reste compliquée et le confinement n’a toujours pas permis de faire disparaitre l’épidémie de Covid-19. Hier dimanche 24 mai, la barre des 600 décès a été franchie et 193 nouveau cas ont été recensés, portant le total à 8 306. Désormais le masque est obligatoire en dehors de chez soi. Pour […]

L’article Coronavirus – Algérie : la barre des 600 décès franchie est apparu en premier sur Afrik.com.

A draft statement from the Czech government calls on the EU economic recovery plan and long-term budget to fall in line with the European Green Deal, marking a U-turn from Prague's earlier positions.

A magyar bankrendszer stabil, a veszélyhelyzet idején is akadálytalanul működött – mondta Varga Mihály pénzügyminiszter videoüzenetében, amellyel a Magyar Bankszövetség pénteki tisztújító ülését köszöntötte.

A Varga Facebook-oldalára feltett videoüzenetben a pénzügyminiszter hangsúlyozta, a pénzintézetek gyorsan és támogatóan tudtak részt venni a gazdaságvédelmi intézkedésekben. Varga megköszönte a bankrendszer konstruktív együttműködését, amely a közös munkát a járvány első percétől jellemezte, az azonnali törlesztési moratóriumtól a készpénzmentes vásárlás összeghatárának megemelésén át az értékes szakmai javaslatokig.

A pénzügyminiszter kiemelte, a bankok úgy vállalták a többletfeladatokat, hogy közben az ügyfelek számára kedvező fejlesztések sem szenvedtek hátrányt, márciusban a bankok megvalósították az azonnali átutalási szolgáltatást is. Rámutatott arra, hogy a fejlett gazdaság és a magas színvonalú pénzügyi szolgáltató rendszer összetartozó fogalmak. A válságok egyaránt sújtják a reálgazdaságot és a pénzügyi ágazat szereplőit, a gazdaság visszaesése rendkívüli, az egymásra utaltság megmaradt.

Varga elmondta, a magyar bankrendszer stabil és jó ütemben fejlődött a járvány előtti időszakban, 2019 az elmúlt évtized egyik legeredményesebb éve volt a pénzintézeteknek. Hozzátette: ennek is köszönhető, hogy a szektorban volt mozgástér. A pénzintézetek azonnal, támogatóan tudtak részt venni a hitelmoratórium bevezetésében, az erre vonatkozó szabályozás kialakításában, a fogyasztási hiteleket érintő intézkedésekben, az érintésmentes fizetés összeghatárának ötezerről tizenötezer forintra való megemelésében. A pénzügyi rendszer a veszélyhelyzet alatt is akadálytalanul működött – jelentette ki a pénzügyminiszter.

Varga hangsúlyozta, az erős, felkészült, a kormányzati intézkedések céljaival összhangban működő pénzügyi rendszerre a gazdaság újraindításakor is számítanak. A válság számítások szerint áprilisban tetőzhetett a magyar gazdaságban. Az újraindítást szolgálja az április elején indított nagyszabású akcióterv. A kormány három év alatt több mint kilencezer milliárd forintot, a teljes magyar GDP húsz százalékát mozgósítja gazdaságvédelmi célra, a teljes intézkedéssorozat összességében 3,7 százalékponttal is hozzá tud járulni a növekedéshez.

“Azt várjuk, hogy mindezek hatására már az év második felében élénkülés következhet be, így a 2020-as három százalékos visszaesés után 2021-ben 4,8 százalékos növekedést prognosztizálunk” – mondta Varga. Megjegyezte, Európában három állam – Németország, Olaszország és Svédország – költ Magyarországnál többet a vállalkozások megsegítésére, a munkahelyek megtartására.

A kormány nem mond le arról a célkitűzésről, hogy a magyar gazdaság növekedési üteme legalább két százalékponttal haladja meg az uniós átlagot. Ebben a munkában is számítanak a pénzügyi szektor együttműködésére – fogalmazott Varga.

Hozzátette, az elmúlt időszak bebizonyította, hogy a bankszövetségre nemcsak akkor lehet számítani, amikor jól megy a gazdaságnak, hanem a nehéz időkben is. A magyar gazdaságpolitika továbbra is a magyar gazdaság érdekeit fogja előtérbe helyezni, a magyarországi pénzintézetek számíthatnak a kormányra – mondta Varga.

Nichts mit Wonnemonat Mai: Die Bise hat bisher Frühsommer-Gefühle effizient verblasen. Der Eindruck der Bise als Dauergast indessen täuscht. Die Bise war seit Monatsbeginn ungefähr gleich häufig wie der Südwestwind.

Students learn with tablets in a school in South Africa. Credit: AMO/Jackie Clausen

By External Source
May 25 2020 (IPS)

Many well meaning education benefactors and commentators in South Africa have expressed that in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic online self-guided learning could solve some of the current teaching problems and address the educational backlog. What learners need, the reasoning goes, is to get free internet access to educational support materials on offer online.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, self-guided online learning is doomed to fail. Research shows an exceptionally high drop-out rate – even in developed countries. Learners simply have no incentive to keep at their studies without peer pressure, a teacher at hand or a structured learning environment.

In South Africa in particular, with socio-economic disparities and related problems, the drop-out rate would be even higher. More so in key subjects like mathematics and physical science where prior knowledge, conceptual understanding and self-motivation to succeed are critical.

Self-guided online learning is doomed to fail. Research shows an exceptionally high drop-out rate – even in developed countries. Learners simply have no incentive to keep at their studies without peer pressure, a teacher at hand or a structured learning environment

The only answer, in the country’s unequal teaching environment, is a customised version of blended learning. Blended learning integrates computer-assisted online activities with traditional face-to-face teaching (chalk-and-talk).

When used by a trained teacher, this approach can add valuable new dimensions to the learning process. It can allow learners to work at their own pace and teachers to fill content gaps.

 

Blended learning in South Africa

In many developed countries, blended learning is a well-established practice. It has enabled these countries to adapt to the demands of the current pandemic. Digital remote learning and teaching is backed up by dependable infrastructure and skilled, motivated teachers.

By contrast, the differences between South African schools have been thrown into sharp relief. The binary system of a privileged minority of schools and the rest remains, despite the political changes more than 25 years ago.

More than 80% of public schools are under-resourced. They are ill-equipped to respond to the teaching and learning challenges of the 21st century – let alone the latest demands of the pandemic.

The current lockdown has suddenly compelled teachers to adopt predominantly online, blended learning teaching practices. But nearly 90% of all households in South Africa are still without access to the internet at home. Very few schools had adapted to blended learning before lockdown and few schools would be able to adopt it during the lockdown. Therefore the schools that had fewer resources and skills will fall even further behind.

This is especially disappointing since the current cohort of pupils (born after 2000) have long expressed their preference for a blended learning model. Even the recent recognition by the South African government that science, technology, engineering and mathematics are important in the Fourth Industrial Revolution has had little effect on the skills development of teachers, infrastructure or modernisation of resources in schools.

Therefore, in the South African context, mainstream blended learning is not the complete answer. We need to go beyond blended learning.

 

Customised blended learning model

Since 2002, the Govan Mbeki Mathematics Development Centre in Nelson Mandela University in Port Elizabeth has wrestled with these challenges.

The bad news is that there’s no way to make the teaching and learning of maths and science easy. But we’ve developed a number of interventions that have lifted the twin burdens of poor training and lack of infrastructure from the shoulders of teachers. Skills development linked to the use of user-friendly and interactive digital resources has allowed teachers to focus on attaining a high quality of teaching with subsequent learning successes.

Over the past decade, the centre has experimented with various combinations of online and offline self-directed teaching methods. It has worked specifically on blended learning for mathematics and physical sciences in secondary schools.

The greatest success has been a blended learning system that uses a combination of online and offline interactive resources with pre-installed apps that are aligned with the South African school curriculum. These can be used as a guide for teaching, home-schooling, after-school study and tutoring. We call it techno-blended learning: a structured approach, using mostly offline apps in an integrated way, with the full participation of a trained or experienced adult mentor or guide.
One of the centre’s more recent interventions is a mini personal computer called the GammaTutor™. This’s an offline device pre-loaded with interactive learning material. These resources have been specifically designed for South African school conditions.

 

The GammaTutor: a tutor in your pocket.

 

The GammaTutor™ software package is primarily intended for teachers: when plugged into any data projector, a TV or digital screen, it doubles as a flexible maths and science teaching assistant in the classroom and a learner support resource for after school hours. It fits in the palm of a hand, requires no data and is navigated by the click of a mouse. Its small size makes the device easy to keep safe and to take where it’s needed.

 

What needs to be done

It’s well known that major educational challenges exist in schools as a result of the country’s multi-language society – particularly in the teaching and learning of mathematics. The GammaTutor™ application offers mathematics concept explanations in eight indigenous languages.

The device covers the full curriculum for high school maths and physical sciences, presented in video, PDF or animated PowerPoint format – along with glossaries, exam revision support, translations from English into indigenous languages and many additional teaching support materials. It can be used for interactive teaching online and remotely.

The response from teachers, learners and stakeholders to this approach of teaching and learning has been overwhelmingly positive. Where these interventions have been applied, in pilot schools in the Eastern Cape province, the results have been gratifying. Marks have improved significantly and successful learners have been able to progress to university.

The new urgency for remote teaching caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has created an opportunity for the country to adopt policies to accelerate blending learning practices among teachers and learners. The Govan Mbeki Mathematics Development Centre offers lessons learned through more than a decade of research.

Werner Olivier, Professor in Mathematics and Director: Govan Mbeki Mathematics Development Centre, Nelson Mandela University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The post Education Post-COVID-19: Customised Blended Learning is Urgently Needed appeared first on Inter Press Service.

IPA Europe publishes it’s manifesto: “Priorities and recommendations for a holistic approach on probiotics in Europe, for informed consumers and a sustainable food industry

"In the context of the exponential growth of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the President of the European Parliament has announced a number of measures to contain the spread of epidemic and to safeguard Parliament's core activities.

On 2 April, the Conference of Presidents updated the EP's calendar of activities to introduce an extraordinary plenary session on Thursday 16 and Friday 17 April in Brussels, and additional dates for remote meetings for EP governing bodies, committees and political groups.

The current precautionary measures adopted by the European Parliament to contain the spread of COVID-19 do not affect work on legislative priorities. Core activities are reduced, but maintained to ensure that the institution's legislative, budgetary, scrutiny functions are maintained.

Following these decisions, the next AFET Committee meeting will take place on 25 May and 4 June (via videoconference).

New Calendar 2020
Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

L’Autriche, le Danemark, les Pays-Bas et la Suède ont envoyé leur propre projet de fonds de relance de l'UE aux capitales européennes samedi 23 mai. Point central du document : l'argent devra être remboursé. Un article d’Euractiv Allemagne.