PL | EN

Changes in the educational system and censorship in American schools

Are more accessible criteria for getting a good grade, less homework, the elimination of penalties for not submitting it and being late for lessons, and programmes to make it easier to complete subject courses the reasons for students’ poorer education? This is what some US teachers believe. At the same time, between 2001 and 2016, the percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds who have completed high school increased from 85 to 93%. This education policy reduces the high cost of dropping out of high school borne by the individual and society without reducing the intrinsic value of completing high school. A diploma obtained more easily can also positively impact the student’s further education and career prospects.

Censorship returns in  US schools.  PEN America has documented over 2,500 bans on books published in 32 states in the 2021/2022 school year. These books address issues of race, gender, LGBTQ+ identity and US history. Organised activist groups have turned school board meetings into political battlegrounds, threatening teachers and undermining students’ learning freedom. Nadine Faride Johnson, managing director of PEN America Washington, says, “These attempts to censor books are an affront to the elementary principles of free speech and freedom of inquiry, the foundations of American democracy”.

In the context of education reform,  the Indian authorities have passed a bill allowing foreign universities such as Yale, Oxford and Stanford to set up campuses and award degrees. Institutions will have the autonomy to recruit tutors and personnel.

Read also
Climate change and fishing, pastoralism and wine production
Climate change and fishing, pastoralism and wine production
The seaside village of Oostduinkerke in Belgium is the last place in the world where horseback fishing is practised. Fishermen catch shrimp by riding into the water on horses. The animals pull chains, causing vibrations along the sandy bottom, and shrimps jump into stretched nets. However, due to climate change, there are fewer and fewer […]
The impact of drought on human pregnancy and health and contraceptive pills
The impact of drought on human pregnancy and health and contraceptive pills
According to research conducted at the Université du Québec in Montreal, the use of oral contraceptive pills containing synthetic hormones may impair the areas of a woman’s brain responsible for regulating fear. Women taking combined contraceptive pills had thinner ventromedial prefrontal cortex than men. This area of the brain is associated with emotional responses, decision-making, […]
AGOA in Uganda, visa chaos in South Africa, and business development
AGOA in Uganda, visa chaos in South Africa, and business development
South Africa, where ⅓ of the population is unemployed, risks losing investment due to the “chaos” of the visa process and system failure. European companies warn about the lack of qualified employees, threatened development plans and the inability to create new jobs. In South Africa, there is a great need for, among others, engineers, scientists, […]
Israel – Palestine crisis and international reactions
Israel – Palestine crisis and international reactions
According to former Israeli Prime Minister Ja’ir Lapid, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s support for Hamas is a “disgrace” to the country, and it will take a long time to improve Israeli-Turkish relations. Relations between these countries have never been stable as they competed for regional dominance. However, there was a significant rapprochement before the […]
Asia: lethwei martial art in Myanmar and the successes of Afghan cricket
Asia: lethwei martial art in Myanmar and the successes of Afghan cricket
A national sport is developing in the Irrawaddy region of Myanmar, in a delta surrounded by the Bay of Bengal, isolated from other parts of the country and the ongoing civil war there. It’s lethwei, a brutal martial art called the “art of the nine limbs” because every body part can be used in an […]
Previous issues