Literacy and numeracy below standard
A new OECD comparison of adult literacy and numeracy, published in Britain yesterday, reveals 10 per cent of Australia’s 16 to 19-year-olds fall below the minimum standard for literacy. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development statistics, based on global testing in 2012, reveal alarmingly low literacy and numeracy levels among university graduates as well, finding about 10 per cent of graduates aged 20 to 34 have poor literacy. Click here for full article.
60 per cent of EU’s lower secondary pupils studied more than one foreign language
Around 18 million lower secondary school pupils studied at least one foreign language in the European Union in 2014, according to a report issued by Eurostat. Currently, there are 24 official languages recognised within the EU. In addition, there are regional languages, minority languages and languages spoken by migrant populations. Click here for full article.
Obama pledges $4.2 billion for computer science education
US president Barack Obama has pledged over 4.2 billion dollars in funding to expand computer science education in the country’s schools. “In the new economy, computer science isn’t an option skill, it’s a basic skill, right along with the three ‘Rs,” Obama said in his weekly radio address at the weekend. In 2014, Obama became the first US president to write a line of code, and issued a broad call to action to expand computer science across the nation’s classrooms. Click here for full article.
Cameron plans to tackle racial bias at Britain’s elite universities
British universities are to be forced to detail the class and ethnic backgrounds of students winning places at their institutions, Prime Minister David Cameron announced Sunday. The move comes as a response to criticisms that students from the ‘wrong’ backgrounds are underrepresented at elite universities such as Oxford. Click here for full article.