Category: Science

China is mulling a law prohibiting kindergartens from taking enrollment tests.

The draft law was proposed in parliament on Monday.

The draft law stressed that pre-schoolers’ main focus should be on playing games, while kindergartens play a crucial role in instilling moral values, good behavior, safety awareness, and physical health, Beijing-based China Daily reported.

Competitions that do not align with the mental and physical developmental stage of kindergarten students should be avoided, it said.

Kindergarten teachers must have teaching credentials and pass background and health checks prior to employment, it added.

China’s Education Minister Huai Jinpeng said despite rapid advancements, preschool education remains a “weak line” of the nation’s educational framework.

The Standing Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress began its session on Monday and will conclude by Friday.

Draft laws are usually passed in three readings.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Our goal is for Cyprus to become an upgraded and quality educational and research center, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Monday, addressing the graduation ceremony of the School of Business Administration of the University of Nicosia.

He announced that very soon the government will begin a public consultation with universities with the aim of forming a strategy to this end, before the end of 2023, in order to achieve the common goals.

The President said that Ministers of Education, Interior, Labor and Foreign Affairs have already been informed about a working document prepared by the Presidency.

He said that this document provides for the further strengthening of the quality of higher education by giving more opportunities to students who choose to study in Cyprus, giving more incentives to universities based on indicators of quality.

Christodoulides also said that the government being fully aware of the great importance that quality higher education has for our country, is taking targeted measures, with the ultimate goal of turning our country into a quality, regional and international, educational center. He noted that quality of studies is the key to being able to develop and emerge as a reliable educational center.

He congratulated the students who graduated last night and praised the University of Nicosia for the very important work carried out.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

A kick-off meeting of the project “Academy for Transitional Skills in the Built Environment” (BuildSkills Academy), financed under the Erasmus+ Programme, co-financed by the European Union took place in Sofia, between 26-28 June.

Three different organisations are participating in the project from Cyprus, which with their knowledge and experience will contribute positively to the successful completion of the project: the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT), the Cyprus Certification Company (CCC) and the KYKLOIKODROMIO.

A press release says that the project officially started June 1, with a total budget of 3,938,490 euros. The three-days event was hosted by the coordinator of the project , Cleantech Bulgaria Ltd, an innovation support network organization based in Sofia working actively on twin transition and skills development.

The consortium brings together 17 partners from 10 European countries, who will work together to achieve its main goal , thus creating a pan-European framework and scheme for certification and upgrading of knowledge and skills for the so-called “twin” transition (green and digital) with a focus on the construction sector.

An important role in the project is played by organizations providing vocational education and training.

Their main task will be to update and adapt the services offered to the emerging new needs in the field of green and digital skills. Within the framework of the project, a BuildEnrichedSkills methodology will be prepared to promote the offering of trainings related to the real needs of the labor market when applying the “lifelong learning” approach, incl. through reskilling and upskilling.

A procedure will also be developed to support vocational education and training centers to boost the rapid adaptation of the workforce to the twin green and digital transition.

Another leading objective is the creation of a certification framework for the recognition of skills and competences corresponding to the needs of the twin transition, which will serve as a reference at global level for the improvement and certification of VET services.

The results achieved by the project will be transferred to 12 pilot projects in 6 countries, involving 300 trainees and reaching 100 vocational training providers, 1 000 companies and 20 organizations at European level in the field of construction skills thus achieving at least 100 collaborations between VET and industry.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

A total of 898 anti-Muslim incidents were recorded in Germany last year, while the number of unreported cases remains high, according to a situation report released on Monday by the Berlin-based non-governmental organization the Alliance Against Islamophobia and Muslim Hostility. According to the study, racism is part of everyday life for Muslims in Germany, with many recorded cases involving women. Among the documented cases were 500 verbal attacks, including inflammatory statements, insults, threats and coercion. Eleven threatening letters to mosques with “often excessive threats of violence and death” were also recorded. The letters contained Nazi symbols or references to the Nazi era. In addition, the report mentioned 190 cases of discrimination and 167 cases of “injurious behavior.” The latter category included 71 cases of bodily harm, 44 cases of property damage, three arson attacks and 49 other acts of violence. In addition, racially motivated attacks on young people and children are increasing, it said. There are cases where women were attacked in the presence of their children and pregnant women were kicked or hit in the stomach. The authors of the study assume that the number of unreported cases is high because there is no broad media coverage. The first situation report included data from 10 advice centers in five German states as well as reports via the “I-Report” portal, statistics for politically motivated violence, and police and press reports. Anti-Muslim crimes are often not recognized as such or those affected did not report them due to a lack of trust in the authorities, the report said. That is why the report calls for, among other things, the expansion of reporting structures and raising awareness of the topic by authorities, schools and the health sector. A country of over 84 million people, Germany has the second-largest Muslim population in Western Europe after France. It is home to nearly 5 million Muslims, according to official figures. Germany has witnessed growing racism and Islamophobia in recent years fueled by the propaganda of far-right groups and parties which have exploited the refugee crisis and attempted to stoke fear of immigrants.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The Biden administration has reinstated a rule banning US taxpayer funding for scientific and technological research in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, the State Department announced Monday.

The decision to reverse the Trump administration’s policy from late 2020 that allowed funding to flow to the contested areas comes amid rising tensions in Israel and Palestine, and a dramatic increase in Israeli settlement building in the West Bank. The US maintains the settlements hinder the prospects for a long-sought two-state solution.

Spokesperson Matthew Miller said the State Department “recently circulated foreign policy guidance” to US government agencies “advising that engaging in bilateral scientific and technological cooperation with Israel in geographic areas which came under the administration of Israel after 1967, and which remain subject to final status negotiations, is inconsistent with US foreign policy.”

“The guidance is reflective of the longstanding US position, going back decades, reaffirmed by this administration, that the ultimate disposition of the geographic areas, which came of the administration of Israel after 1967 is a final status matter,” he told reporters.

“We’re reverting to US policy to long-standing pre-2020 geographic limitations on US support for activities in those areas, a policy that goes back decades,” he added.

In all, three Israeli institutions in the West Bank, including Ariel University, will be affected. Miller did not have a dollar amount on the amount of government funding that will be curtailed.

Miller maintained the US “strongly values scientific and technical technological cooperation with Israel, and robust scientific and technological cooperation with Israel continues.”

Israel seized the West Bank in 1967. Under international law, all Jewish settlements in the occupied territories are considered illegal.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The establishment and operation of the Academy of the Republic of Cyprus Law Office was officially announced on Tuesday in Nicosia with an inaugural conference on the concept of public interest in Cypriot Law.

President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides, attended the opening of the conference where the establishment of the Academy was announced. Present were also Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Commissioners, Members of Parliament, Permanent Secretaries of Ministries, Judges, the Police Chief, representatives of political parties, of the business world, of Cypriot universities, lawyers and officials of the Law Office.

In his address at the conference on the topic “The Concept of the Public Interest in Cypriot Law and Beyond,” President Christodoulides stated that the public interest is defined and determined based on the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus and the existing laws, as well as those derived from the European Convention on Human Rights, which is binding on the member states of the Council of Europe, of which the Republic of Cyprus is a member.

Such conferences of this nature and scope, he noted, contribute to substantive public dialogue on issues that concern citizens, adding that the concept of the public interest is encountered in all areas of law.

President Christodoulides further congratulated the Attorney General of the Republic, George Savvides, and the Deputy Attorney General, Savvas Angelides, for their initiative to establish the Academy of the Legal Service, which falls within the multifaceted reforms introduced since they assumed their duties in 2020, with the aim of modernizing the structure, organization, and functioning of the Legal Service of the Republic.

In her remarks, House President Annita Demetriou said the public interest should only express the best interests of society as a whole and the people themselves, ‘whom it is always legitimately mandated to serve’.

She told the inaugural conference of the Academy of the Legal Service Department that while it is a legally functional concept specified by legal rules, it often aligns with the immediate interests of the organised society within a state. The invocation of the public interest, she stated, whether by the legislator or the executive authority, cannot be arbitrary or abusive, as it is subject to guarantees and in correlation with the principles of proportionality, good governance, and soundly balanced decision-making, which are inherently embedded in our Constitution.

Referring to the establishment of the Academy, she said it is “an exceptional initiative that falls within broader efforts to modernise the service”.

In his address, President of the Supreme Court Antonis R. Liatsos said the events that constitute and define the public interest must be determined and specified to protect the individual interests of those affected and, consequently, to ensure judicial control.

The Supreme Court President added transparency is also required for the public interest to emerge. Liatsos added that only then does the concept of the public interest acquire ‘practical, tangible significance’.

Referring to the establishment of the Academy, he said that it will aptly contribute to the upgrading of the institutional role of the Legal Service while the training of public sector officials on matters handled by the Legal Service, allows for a better understanding of the subject and for the more effective functioning of the state sector in particularly sensitive and significant issues for our country.

Attorney General George Savvides, said in his speech that, recognising the importance of lifelong education and training of law officials, both on legal and other matters, the establishment of a statutory body within the Law Office to undertake this task was among the priorities himself and the Deputy Attorney General set upon assuming their duties.

The newly established Academy, along with a series of other reforms, he added, reflect their vision, which is gradually taking shape, and which is none other than the modernisation and continuous upgrading of the prestige and credibility of the Law Office, for effective administration of Justice as well as serving public interest.

European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, in a video message, welcomed the decision of the Law Office to establish an Academy, noting that the European Commission attaches great importance to judicial training. He noted that such training was essential for equipping legal practitioners with the appropriate skills and knowledge, and for them to be up-to-date with regard to national and European law and to help meet the challenges of the digitalisation of Justice. Also, the Commissioner said that the rule of law is the bedrock of European democracies and the core value of the EU.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

President of the International Union for Muslim Scholars (IUMS) Ali al-Qaradaghi has called for dialogue between regional rivals Algeria and Morocco to ease their tension.

‘We feel pain due to sedition between Algeria and Morocco,’ al-Qaradaghi said on Twitter. ‘This sedition is meant to eliminate what is left of strength of the Islamic and Arab nation.’

The prominent Islamic scholar appealed for both sides to ignore voices seeking to fuel the rift between the two neighbors.

“There is no need for escalation. We are for dialogue and against rift,” al-Qaradaghi added.

Algeria-Morocco ties have been strained for decades against the backdrop of the disputed Western Sahara region between Rabat and the Algeria-backed Polisario Front.

In August 2

21, Algeria severed diplomatic relations with Morocco, accusing Rabat of having “hostile tendencies,” an accusation denied by Moroccan authorities.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar

Source: Anadolu Agency

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva welcomed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday, marking Maduro’s first visit to Brazil since 2015.

Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, arrived in Brasilia on Sunday ahead of a Latin American summit scheduled for Tuesday.

Diplomatic relations between Venezuela and the South American powerhouse have been significantly strained since Jair Bolsonaro assumed power in 2019. Bolsonaro issued a decree prohibiting Maduro from entering the country and expressed his support for self-proclaimed opposition leader Juan Guaido.

Following Lula’s triumph in the 2022 elections, there has been a dramatic shift in the diplomatic approach towards Venezuela. Lula extended an invitation to Maduro to attend his inauguration in January 2023, ending the ban imposed on Maduro.

President Lula took to Twitter to express his enthusiasm for Maduro’s visit, considering it a historic moment. He expressed his eagerness to re-establish diplomatic and commercial relations with the Venezuelan government.

“Our commercial relationship once had a flow of 6 billion dollars. Today it is 2 billion. This is bad for Venezuela and for Brazil. But the relationship between our countries can also be cultural, economic, in the exchange of science and technology, in the fight against drug trafficking on our borders,” wrote Lula.

For his part, Maduro also applauded the resumption of the bilateral relationship between the countries.

“My meeting with the President @LulaOficial constitutes a historic, transcendental fact and a victory for the dignity of our peoples. The rescue and reinvigoration of the union between Brazil and Venezuela is the correct path that will lead us towards the development and integration of the Great Homeland,” Maduro tweeted.

The South American Leaders Summit will be held Tuesday in Brasilia at the Itamaraty Palace. The presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname, Uruguay, and Venezuela have confirmed their presence.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Minister of Education, Sports and Youth (MPAN) Athina Michaelidou said on Thursday that Cyprus’ results in the PIRLS 2021 survey are encouraging for the country. Michaelidou was speaking during a press conference organised by the Ministry to present the main results of the International Programme on Progress in Reading Literacy (PIRLS 2021) for Cyprus. The Minister noted that the PIRLS survey is organised by the International Agency for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), is conducted every five years, and provides internationally comparative data on the reading and comprehension skills of primary school students in grade 4. “The results of Cyprus in the PIRLS 2021 survey are exciting and very encouraging for our country”, she stressed, explaining that “the performance of our students has increased significantly compared to our previous participation in the survey and exceeds the median value of the scale.” The pilot survey took place in March and April 2020, with the participation of 366 students from 20 schools in Cyprus. The main survey was conducted in March-June 2021 with the participation of 4,589 students from 160 public and private schools. 272 teachers and 4,352 parents/guardians also took part in the survey. It was found that the average performance of Cyprus on the PIRLS scale was 511. Furthermore, this score represents a statistically significant improvement (17 points) compared to Cyprus’ previous participation in 2001 (494). In addition, girls’ performance (515) increased compared to boys’ (506). In statements to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), the President of the Pancyprian Organisation of Greek Teachers (POED) expressed her hope that the announcement of the PIRLS results would be the beginning of further support for teachers, our children, and the public school. Myria Vassiliou added that it was unfair to silence or ignore in public discourse the high performance and success of children in international surveys. “This could not have been achieved without our teachers’ dedication, commitment, and love, even with limited support. This is further confirmed by the fact that these results are for the period 2021, a period in which our schools had to cope with a challenging daily routine due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” she added.

Source: Cyprus News Agency