Prosecutors said they decided to charge Claire Freemantle, 49, with two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and seven counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving after the Metropolitan Police reopened its investigation and discovered new evidence.

The London police force apologized for how it initially treated the crash and said it had referred its own officers to a watchdog agency looking into police misconduct.

Freemantle was originally not charged after prosecutors said she had an epileptic seizure. She had issued a statement expressing her “deepest sorrow” but said she had no recollection of what occurred.

Defense lawyers questioned why prosecutors reversed their original decision not to charge Freemantle and said she will plead not guilty when she makes her first court appearance June 16 in Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

It’s not clear what new evidence police found, but the reinvestigation came after complaints by the parents of Nuria Sajjad and Selena Lau, who were killed in the crash outside the private Study Preparatory School in Wimbledon, south London, on July 6, 2023.

The driver plowed through a fence and into the side of the school building. More than a dozen people were treated for injuries at the scene and 10, including several pupils, were taken to the hospital for treatment.

AP

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The influential teachers union, an ally of Mayor Brandon Johnson, wants educators to participate in protests in the nation’s third-largest city on May 1, coinciding with workers’ rights rallies worldwide. But the newly named leader of Chicago Public Schools has rejected the pitch to cancel classes.

The standoff has created uncertainty for the families of more than 315,000 students.

Here is what to know about Chicago’s battle over having school on May Day.

Teachers union wants day off to boost May Day rallies

May Day demonstrations are typically robust in union-friendly Chicago. The roots of the day, also celebrated as International Workers Day, go back over a century to a turbulent and pivotal time in labor history.

This year U.S. labor groups are planning for a boycott of work, shopping and school to fight the Trump administration’s agenda. In some places, including North Carolina, unions are encouraging teachers to call off work on May 1.

The Chicago Teachers Union wants the nation’s fourth-largest school district to scrap classes for all, arguing it lets teachers and students protest at a time when education is under threat. Unions are demanding more school funding, raising taxes on the wealthy and ending immigration crackdowns.

More than 70% of the district’s students are low-income; most are Black or Latino.

“What our students need, and what history teaches us is the only thing that works, is educators, labor unions, and community groups standing together to defend each other and our democracy and demand that the government put our families over their fortunes,” the CTU said in a statement.

This week, Macquline King, the newly-named district CEO, said she had no plans to cancel class.

“As a career educator, I believe every minute in the classroom is vital for our students,” she said in a statement, adding that the district’s school board could override her with a vote. Their next regular meeting is April 23.

The union says it will use May 1 as a professional development day for teachers, swapping for one scheduled on for June 5, the first day of students’ summer break. The union has filed a grievance over the matter.

Canceled classes could also scrap test prep and proms

The uncertainty over the closure of more than 500 schools is creating headaches for parents concerned about finding child care or scrapping test prep.

A district survey showed 113 schools, approximately one-fifth of the district, had planned activities on May 1 including field trips, sporting events and makeup testing for Advanced Placement classes.

Another 100 said they had other activities including prom and senior night that day, according to a memo from King to school board members obtained by The Associated Press.

“Disruptions would directly affect academic testing and key student milestones, particularly for graduating seniors and 8th graders with limited ability to recover or reschedule these experiences,” King wrote in the memo.

Mariam Hafezi, parent of a middle school student on Chicago’s northwest side, said she supports learning about civics and wouldn’t be opposed to student-led walkouts. But she noted that these demonstrations were driven by adults.

“It is a teachable moment without them being outside of school,” she said. “It would be wiser to spend time in class explaining about the strike in general.”

Fight over schools puts mayor in tight spot

The fight over the a single day off school showcases a difficult dynamic for first-term Mayor Johnson and a potential 2027 reelection bid.

Johnson supports the May 1 demonstrations. But he has been less clear publicly about whether classes should be canceled. His office didn’t respond to an email Friday.

A former CTU organizer, Johnson was elected in 2023 with the union’s support. That relationship has created tensions, particularly last year amid contract negotiations and the ouster of then-CEO Pedro Martinez.

After a rocky search for a replacement, the board named King, a district insider who served as interim CEO. Last week, the board approved her 3-year contract.

School board members grumble about logistics

The disagreement has also offered a preview of politics on the city’s newest Democratic body. Chicago is phasing out a mayor-appointed school board for a fully-elected one in November.

Currently, the 21-member body is a mix of elected and appointed members who clash often.

“Calls to keep students out of school are reckless,” elected board member Jennifer Custer wrote on Facebook. “They hurt parents who work, disrupt classrooms, and set our kids back — all for politics.”

But Emma Lozano, a longtime immigrant rights activist appointed by Johnson, disagreed.

She thinks it’s important for students to take part in May 1 marches, which in Chicago have drawn hundreds of thousands of people in years past.

“We don’t just get educated in the classroom,” she said. “We get educated in the world and have to learn how to fight for our rights.”

AP

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Carter, 66, said in a statement that he had resigned voluntarily after informing the university’s board of trustees of his error. He did not elaborate on the nature of the relationship and said he was leaving with his wife, Lynda.

“For personal reasons, I have made the difficult decision to resign from my role as president of The Ohio State University,” he said. “I disclosed to the board of trustees that I made a mistake in allowing inappropriate access to Ohio State leadership.”

Ohio State is the nation’s sixth-largest university, with more than 60,000 students, over 600,000 living alumni and a highly ranked football team and medical center. Carter oversaw a fiscal year 2026 budget totaling $11.5 billion in revenues and $10.9 billion in expenditures.

The university brought Carter on board in 2023 from the University of Nebraska system. He is also a former superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy and holds the national record for carrier-arrested landings with over 2,000 mishap-free touchdowns.

He filled a vacancy at Ohio State left by the mid-contract resignation of President Kristina Johnson, which went largely unexplained.

The engineer and former undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Energy had been chancellor of New York’s public university system before she joined the Buckeyes as president in 2020.

AP

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As the US and Israel continued to wage war on Iran Wednesday, paramedics and victims’ relatives said last weekend’s bombing of an elementary in southern Iran was a so-called “double-tap” airstrike—a common tactic used by US, Israeli, and Russian forces by which attackers bomb a target and then follow up with a second strike meant to kill survivors and first responders.

Iranian officials said that around 175 people—most of them young children—were killed when the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab was hit Saturday by what they said was a US-Israeli attack.

“When the first bomb hit the school, one of the teachers and the principal moved a group of students to the prayer hall to protect them,” said one of two Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) paramedics who spoke to Middle East Eye on condition of anonymity.

“The principal called the parents and told them to come and pick up their children,” the paramedic added.

“But the second bomb hit that area as well. Only a small number of those who had taken shelter survived… Some parents recognized their children only because of the gold bracelets they were wearing.”

The father of a girl killed in the second strike on the facility told Middle East Eye that school officials “asked us to come as quickly as possible and take our daughter home.”

However, when he arrived at the school, “My little girl was completely burned.”

“There was nothing left of her,” he said. “We could only identify her from her school bag, which she was still holding.”

“When I saw her smile after coming home from work, all my pain disappeared,” the father added.

“Now I don’t know what to do with this pain. I don’t know how to live with this.”

The mother of a boy slain in the strike told NBC News that the school also called her and told her to quickly come pick up her child.

“By the time we arrived, the entire school had collapsed on top of the children,” she said. “People were pulling out children’s arms and legs. People were pulling out severed heads.”

On Wednesday, Middle East Eye published a partial list containing the names and ages of 51 children—26 boys and 25 girls—one infant, and eight women killed in the school strike.

Thousands of mourners thronged the streets of Minab on Tuesday as funerals were held for the strike’s victims.

It is not known whether the school, which is located near an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps compound, was deliberately targeted.

“All that I know is that we’re investigating that. Of course, we never target civilians,” said US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who oversees a military whose 21st century wars have killed more than 400,000 noncombatants, according to the Costs of War Project at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that the Pentagon “would be investigating that, if that was our strike.”

“Clearly, the United States would not deliberately target a school,” Rubio added.

Since the late 20th century, the US has bombed—either deliberately or through inadequate target vetting and identification—schools in countries including Vietnam, Laos, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

If carried out by the US, Saturday’s strike in Minab is likely the deadliest American school bombing since 182 students, staff, and other civilians were massacred in an apparently deliberate secret strike on a school in Laos—the most heavily bombed country ever—during the Vietnam War.

Israel has bombed all levels of schools in Gaza as part of what critics have called a deliberate policy of scholasticide.

North Carolina-based independent journalist Lauren Steiner told Common Dreams Wednesday that the double-tap tactic is “beyond evil.”

Other such strikes have been reported during the US-Israeli war on Iran, including the Sunday evening bombing of Niloofar Square in Tehran, where people were celebrating the end of their daily Ramadan fast.

“Suddenly there was the noise and explosion,” one survivor, who was enjoying the evening at a café before the bombing, told Drop Site News. “We got up and a few people ran away. We turned around to get our belongings and we saw that blood was spraying everywhere. Someone’s hand had fallen on the floor, a head had fallen on the floor.”

“When the second one hit, suddenly everything exploded,” he added.

“The windows all shattered… One of my friends whom I don’t know that well, he was sitting here… He was severed in half. Half of him was thrown to the side. I put him back together and placed him where he was. A piece of his brain was thrown here on the floor.”

COMMON DREAMS

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West’s contributions underpin a technology now embedded in global commerce, aviation, emergency response, and everyday navigation, though her role went largely unrecognized until late in her life.

Born Gladys Mae Brown on October 27, 1930, in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, she grew up on a small family farm in a largely sharecropping community. Determined to chart a different path, she graduated at the top of her high school class and earned a scholarship to Virginia State College (now Virginia State University), where she completed both a bachelor’s and later a master’s degree in mathematics

After a brief period teaching, West joined the US Naval Proving Ground (later the Naval Surface Warfare Center) in Dahlgren, Virginia, in 1956, becoming only the second Black woman hired as a programmer at the base and one of just four Black employees overall. She would remain at Dahlgren for 42 years, retiring in 1998.

From the 1960s through the 1980s, West worked on complex mathematical models of the Earth’s shape using satellite data, a foundation for turning orbital measurements into precise location information. She programmed early high‑performance computers, including the IBM 7030 “Stretch,” to refine geodetic Earth models that later became a core building block of the Global Positioning System used in phones, cars, aircraft, and critical infrastructure worldwide.

In the late 1970s she served as project manager for Seasat radar altimetry data at Dahlgren, supporting the first satellite designed to remotely sense Earth’s oceans. West also contributed to an early‑1960s study on planetary motion and received formal commendations from the Navy for her technical work.

While advancing technically, West continued her education, earning a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Oklahoma via distance learning. After retiring at 68, she set her sights on a doctorate. A stroke temporarily derailed those plans, affecting her hearing, vision, balance, and mobility, but she persisted, completing her doctorate in 2000 at age 70.

Despite the scale of her impact, West’s contributions remained largely unrecognized for decades, even as her white colleagues were more visibly celebrated. In 2018, a brief biography she submitted for an event hosted by her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, helped spark viral interest in her story and a wave of honors.

She was inducted into the US Air Force Space and Missiles Pioneers Hall of Fame in 2018, named Female Alumna of the Year at the HBCU Awards, listed in the BBC’s 100 Women of 2018, and received the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Prince Philip Medal in 2021. The Virginia Senate also passed a resolution commending her “trailblazing career in mathematics and vital contributions to modern technology.”

West often spoke about working under segregation and Jim Crow, supporting the Civil Rights Movement while being unable to protest publicly as a federal employee. She later noted that white co‑workers frequently received recognition and opportunities she did not, even as her calculations quietly reshaped global navigation.

In a 2020 interview with The Guardian, she admitted that she still preferred paper maps to digital navigation, even her life’s work now underpins the way billions of people move through the world.

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Questions surrounding Brown’s security policies have only intensified since the Dec. 13 shooting that rocked the Providence community and led to a lengthy search for the killer.

Much of the focus has centered on whether the Ivy League school had security cameras installed in the building where the attack took place in and the overall ease of accessing campus buildings.

University President Christina Paxson said Rodney Chatman will be replaced by Hugh T. Clements, former police chief of the Providence Police Department.

Chatman had previously faced a vote of no confidence by the union representing school police officers in October. Local media outlets reported at the time that the union said the vote reflected “serious concerns over the failed leadership, contract violations, and policies that jeopardize public safety.”

The scrutiny over the school’s security has led to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education, which said earlier Monday that officials are asking Brown for information to help determine if school officials violated federal campus safety and security requirements. This has included seeking security reports, audits, dispatch and call logs, and when emergency notifications have been utilized.

Meanwhile, hundreds gathered at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, on Monday to remember Ella Cook, a Brown sophomore who was killed in the attack.

On Dec. 13, gunman Claudio Neves Valente, 48, entered a study session in a Brown academic building and opened fire on students, killing Cook and 18-year-old freshman MukhammadAziz Umurzokov and wounding nine others.

Two days later, authorities say Neves Valente, who had been a graduate student at Brown studying physics during the 2000-01 school year, also fatally shot Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro at Loureiro’s Boston-area home.

Neves Valente, who had attended school with Loureiro in Portugal in the 1990s, was found dead days later in a New Hampshire storage facility. Authorities say he killed himself. An autopsy determined that Neves Valente died Dec. 16, the same day Loureiro died in a hospital.

In Alabama, Cook’s family on Monday invited attendees to wear “Easter colors,” underscoring Cook’s Christian faith, at an Episcopal funeral service that also nodded to the Christmas season.

The Rev. Paul F.M. Zahl, who formerly led the church, read from several letters written by members of the Brown community to Cook’s parents, Anna Bishop Cook and Richard Cook, who raised Ella and her two younger siblings in the affluent Birmingham suburb of Mountain Brook.

“Ella was smart, confident, curious, kind, principled, brave. She had a big impact on campus in only three semesters,” wrote Brown professor of political economy David Skarbek. “I used to tell Ella, ‘We need an Alabama to Brown pipeline.’ In fact, her nickname on campus was Ellabama.”

Zahl told the congregation that the funeral was “a kind of bigger stage, a kind of more amplified mic” for Cook to spread her Christian faith. Zahl said he dreamed last week that he was skiing behind Cook and her family.

“Ella turned around and shouted confidently, self-assuredly, ‘Come on, will you?’” he said, saying he believed God had shown himself through the dream.

“I pray now that everyone who has loved Ella so much in this life would be given a vivid, individual feeling of Ella’s love, still present with us,” Zahl said. “Because Ella’s love is eternal and entirely altruistic.”

Cook was an accomplished pianist who was studying French, math and economics at Brown, where she also served as vice president of the college Republicans. Her political activity brought a wave of reaction from national and Alabama Republicans.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey ordered flags to be flown at half-staff statewide in Cook’s memory.

AP

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Gunmen seized at least 303 schoolchildren and 12 teachers in Nigeria’s north-central Niger state when they attacked St. Mary’s Catholic School in the Papiri community on Nov. 21.

Fifty escaped in the hours that followed and 100 schoolchildren were freed earlier this month.

Niger State police spokesperson Wasiu Abiodun said in a statement that “the remaining batch of the abducted students” has now been released.

“A total number of 130 victims including the staff have been released,” Abiodun said.

When asked about the 35 unaccounted for schoolchildren and missing teachers, Abiodun told The Associated Press: “Further details will be communicated.”

Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said in a post on X that the “remaining 130 schoolchildren abducted” have been released.

He said the released schoolchildren would arrive in Minna, the Niger state capital, on Monday and rejoin their parents for Christmas.

“The freedom of the schoolchildren followed a military intelligence driven operation,” Onanuga said.

Sunday Dare, another spokesperson for Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu also said 130 schoolchildren were released and that none are left in captivity, in a post on X.

No group has claimed responsibility for the Nov. 21 abduction, but locals blamed armed gangs that target schools and travelers in kidnappings for ransoms across Nigeria’s conflict-battered north.

The Niger state attack was among a spate of recent mass abductions in Nigeria, and happened four days after 25 schoolchildren were seized in similar circumstances in neighboring Kebbi state’s Maga town. A church in southern Kwara state was also attacked around the same time and the 38 worshippers abducted in that attack last month were freed.

Bola Tinubu had been under pressure at home and from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has alleged that Christians are being targeted in Nigeria’s security crisis.

Nigerian authorities usually do not say much about rescue efforts and arrests in such cases are rare. Analysts believe that’s because ransoms are usually paid. Officials do not admit payment of ransoms.

AP

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The foundation will begin the initiative next year by supporting 45,000 students, with plans to scale up to 1.33 million beneficiaries over ten years.

The program will prioritise students in STEM fields, science, technology, engineering and mathematics, alongside girls’ education and nationwide teacher training.

Earlier this year, Dangote was named among TIME’s Top 100 Philanthropists, alongside fellow African business leaders Patrice Motsepe, Strive Masiyiwa and Mo Ibrahim.

The Aliko Dangote Foundation, which he endowed with $1.25 billion in 2014, is designed to give back to the continent that enabled his rise. The foundation invests an average of $35 million annually in programmes across Africa.

Addressing Nigeria’s education crisis

Dangote said the long-term investment is aimed at addressing deep-rooted inequalities in Nigeria’s education landscape, where, according to UNICEF, one in every five out-of-school children globally lives in Nigeria, and more than half of the population of 230 million faces poverty.

“We cannot allow financial hardship to silence the dreams of our young people,” he said in a statement.

The initiative will target students most vulnerable to dropping out and those whose potential can drive community transformation.

“This is not only charity. This is a strategic investment in Nigeria’s future,” he said. “Every child we keep in school strengthens our economy. Every student we support reduces inequality.”

Philanthropy is becoming an increasingly powerful force in Africa, with African billionaires taking the lead in addressing critical developmental challenges.

BUSINESS INSIDER

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The Nigerian government has announced it is cancelling a controversial policy that mandated the use of indigenous languages for teaching in the earliest years of schooling instead of English.

Education Minister Tunji Alausa said the programme, introduced just three years ago, had failed to deliver and was being scrapped with immediate effect.

Instead, English will be reinstated as the medium of instruction from pre-primary levels through to university.

The now-defunct programme was launched by former Education Minister Adamu Adamu, who had argued that children learnt more effectively in their mother tongue.

At the time, Adamu argued that pupils grasped concepts more readily when taught in “their own mother tongue” – a view supported by numerous UN studies on early childhood education.

Nigeria’s education system is facing serious problems, such as poor-quality teaching, inadequate materials, low pay for teachers and numerous strikes.

Although 85% of children go to primary school, less than half complete their secondary education.

Some 10 million children are out of school in Nigeria, more than in any other country, according to the UN.

Announcing the reversal of the language policy in the capital, Abuja, Dr Alausa pointed to poor academic results from those areas which had adopted mother-tongue teaching.

He cited data from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), the National Examinations Council (Neco), and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (Jamb).

“We have seen a mass failure rate in WAEC, Neco, and Jamb in certain geo-political zones of the country, and those are the ones that adopted this mother tongue in an over-subscribed manner,” the minister stated.

The abrupt cancellation of the policy has drawn a mixed response from education specialists, analysts and parents.

Some have hailed the government’s decision, agreeing that the implementation was problematic and contributed to falling standards.

Others, however, believe the policy was abandoned prematurely. They argue that such a significant shift requires substantial investment in teacher training, the development of textbooks and learning materials, and a longer timeframe before it can be fairly judged and begin to bear fruit.

Education expert Dr Aliyu Tilde praised the reversal, saying Nigeria isn’t ready for such a move.

“Does Nigeria have trained teachers to teach in the dozens of indigenous languages in the country? The answer is no. Also the major exams like WAEC, Jamb are all in English and not in those mother tongue languages.

“I think what’s needed to improve the quality of our schools is bringing in qualified teachers,” he told the BBC.

A mother who has two children in early education schools, Hajara Musa, said she supported the reversal as it would help young children to learn English at an early age.

“English is a global language that is used everywhere and I feel it’s better these kids start using it from the start of their schooling instead of waiting for when they are older,” she told the BBC.

However, social affairs analyst Habu Dauda disagreed.

“I think it was scrapped prematurely instead of giving it more time. Three years is too little to judge a big shift such as this – the government ought to have added more investment,” he said.

The debate highlights the ongoing challenge in Nigeria of balancing the promotion of its rich linguistic heritage with the practical demands of a national curriculum and a globalised economy where English proficiency is dominant.

BBC NEWS

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The Russell Group was right to insist, in the wake of the UK government’s recent Post-16 Education and White Paper, that humanities graduates have an important role to play in fulfilling the industrial strategy.

In an article in Times Higher Education, the group’s policy manager, Charlotte Hallahan, reported analysis revealing that 85 per cent of non-STEM graduates from high-tariff, research-intensive universities enter one of the government’s eight priority sectors for growth within five years of completing their first degrees.

As she noted, even high tech start-ups “not only need the scientists or engineers who make the technical breakthroughs, but a whole range of legal, creative, strategic and critical thinking skills – which SHAPE education provides.”

But as human-machine synergies accelerate discovery, product development and social change, wouldn’t it be better to have graduates whose expertise spanned both STEM and SHAPE disciplines?

AI and other digital systems are set to move from being mere tools to joining us as co-creators, analysts and even decision partners.

This raises the stakes when it comes to ethical and security implications.

The speed at which biosynthetic development takes place has created concerns about biosafety, for instance.

The more of ourselves we put into technological systems, the more exposed we become – cybercrime, for instance, costs the UK economy in excess of £30 billion a year.

Having the technological knowledge is valuable but needs to be coupled with critical thinking and wider social and ethical framing.

Multinational corporations such as Google have already begun to respond to these developments, launching in July a US-wide initiative to train workers and small businesses in AI. However, universities have the opportunity to prioritise wider talent creation, which will still serve business, innovation and the economy.

Such a workforce will also be more future-proof and responsive because the accelerated pace of technological change is also likely to increase the rate at which skills, especially individual specialisms, become outdated. Modern graduates need multiple strings to their bows.

STEAM is the purposeful integration of science, technology, engineering, the arts and humanities and mathematics (I hold the view that the A stands for both arts and humanities). This is no mere fad but a very real and necessary evolution in how we understand and shape knowledge and, as a consequence, the creative and cultural industries.

By embedding interdisciplinary opportunities into degree pathways, students can move fluidly between analytical and imaginative modes of thinking, a skill set increasingly demanded by employers across sectors. Equipping them with wide-ranging knowledge and multiple skills – while also demonstrating the relationship between different disciplines – can spark new understanding and solutions to problems by helping them ask critical questions, consider ethical implications and bring meaning and context to innovation.

For example, in their degree, and then in the job market, an engineering student requires critical thinking more than ever. And an arts student now needs high levels of digital competence. The boundaries between disciplines have become increasingly porous.

My new role as the UK’s first pro vice-chancellor for STEAM is therefore not about symbolic advocacy. It is about systemically embedding and reimagining the way STEAM is woven into traditional education.

At Birmingham City University, students from all disciplines are already being exposed to both STEM and the arts and humanities. But we will go further.

We are reviewing and revising the entire curriculum across the university so that every undergraduate degree includes a first-year module with a learning outcome that revolves around defining the basic principles of STEAM.

Moreover, every student will complete at least one assignment that requires them to solve challenges in a directly interdisciplinary way.

And rather than offering optional modules outside their discipline, as is common across the sector, the second year will see students enrolled on a cross-departmental collaborative module that embeds STEAM principles in their subject area. What’s more, no matter their degree, all students will be able to apply for a new venture capital fund supporting innovation and enterprise that bridges fields.

The aim of these steps is to equip students with technical expertise, creative confidence and the ability to see and think critically. 

Industry is no longer asking for graduates who can simply code or calculate: employees need to collaborate across disciplines, communicate complex ideas and adapt to volatile and shifting contexts.

These are competencies deeply rooted in the arts and humanities. So, too, is imagination, which is essential for entrepreneurship that is both commercially viable and socially conscious.

The transformative potential of STEAM is perhaps most evident in the realm of AI. Far from being just a technical tool for STEM, AI is also a cultural phenomenon.

As we introduce students to the possibilities it affords, we must ground their learning in ethical reasoning, human-centred design and societal impact by drawing on the arts and humanities – not least cultural studies and philosophy.

By making these connections visible and actionable through real-world projects, innovation labs and interdisciplinary teaching, we can create a more sustainable workforce that can transform society for the better.

Hanifa Shah is pro vice-chancellor for research, enterprise, engagement and STEAM at Birmingham City University.

Times Higher Education

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Ahead of World Teachers Day on October 31 we had a chat with some Carinity Education teachers about what they most enjoy about supporting students in our schools.

“I’m passionate about helping students rediscover their confidence and develop lifelong skills through creativity, compassion, and connection,” Carinity Education Glendyne teacher Belinda Skinner said.

Belinda was drawn to teaching at the Hervey Bay special assistance school because it provides “a safe and nurturing environment for young people who need education delivered differently”.

“Glendyne’s focus on tailored support and wellbeing aligns perfectly with my belief that every student deserves an education that meets them where they are and inspires them to grow.

“I love watching students experience success in ways they never thought possible: whether it’s mastering a literacy skill, creating an expressive artwork, or simply engaging with learning again after a difficult journey.

“Seeing that spark of pride and self-belief is the most rewarding part of teaching.”

Aden Bennett is “truly inspired” by the Carinity Education Shalom community.

His favourite thing about teaching at the Townsville school is “learning from my students and seeing the world through their diverse perspectives”.

“Building meaningful connections and relationships with young people is what makes me love coming to work every day,” Aden said.

“One of my fondest classroom memories was my first time teaching Business. Initially, I was dreading it because it was my first time teaching the subject.

“However, by the end of the term, the students and I had so much fun learning together and creating different ideas and products.

“It reminded me that teaching is just as much about curiosity and collaboration as it is about content.”

Cheryl Hendry worked in the mainstream education system for 40 years before deciding to retire and spend time supporting her three grandchildren who were born hearing impaired.

She started working casually at Carinity Education Rockhampton after seeing “how difficult it is for students who need additional assistance in a regular classroom, to be successful”.

“My favourite thing about teaching is being able to share with young people the joy of learning. Being a lifelong learner is, I believe, something that shapes our lives in a positive way,” Cheryl said.

Some of Cheryl’s most memorable moments as a teacher have been outside of school, realising she has made a lasting impact on young people beyond the classroom.

“A student came back to school to tell me that he finally ‘got’ what I was talking about with the wisdom to be found in Shakespeare’s plays. He thanked me for that. That was important to me,” Cheryl recalls.

Belinda Culley has also taught in both independent and state secondary schools and has “witnessed many students in desperate need of specialised support simply fall through the cracks”.

A teacher for 32 years, Belinda was drawn to the student-centred approach at Carinity Education Southside, an all-female special assistance school in Brisbane.

“It was clear that Southside prioritises the needs of students over data, and that really resonated with me,” the visual arts teacher said.

“I aim to create a classroom where every student feels seen and valued, using creativity and storytelling to inspire confidence, curiosity, and a belief in their own potential.

“One of the things I love most about teaching is the opportunity to nurture young people, especially those who may not have received the care and support they needed growing up.

“Being able to offer encouragement, consistency, and compassion can make a real difference in their lives, and it’s a privilege to be part of that journey.”

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The university, which is the oldest in the English-speaking world, topped the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026.

It is joined in the top 10 by Cambridge, which has risen to joint third from fifth place in last year’s edition, and Imperial College London, which is in eighth.

Overall, 11 UK universities made it into Times Higher Education’s (THE) top 100 institutions worldwide.

Prof Irene Tracey, Oxford’s vice-chancellor, said the institution was “honoured” to be top-ranked for a 10th year.

“This achievement reflects the dedication of our academics, professional services staff and students, but it comes at a time of real strain for UK higher education,” she said.

“Sustaining a dynamic and globally competitive sector requires renewed investment and support, so that universities can continue to drive discovery, opportunity and economic growth for future generations.”

BBC NEWS

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AI integration in schools worldwide has become a transformative force, reshaping how teachers teach and students learn. Schools are finding innovative ways to incorporate artificial intelligence into everyday classroom activities. These real-world case studies of successful AI integration demonstrate how technology is transforming education across diverse cultural and economic contexts.

“Schools that thoughtfully implement AI tools see improvements not just in academic outcomes, but in student engagement and teacher effectiveness,” explains Michelle Connolly, an educational consultant with over 16 years of classroom experience. The success stories span from English as a Foreign Language classrooms using AI chatbots to enhance language acquisition to science programmes employing virtual reality for immersive learning experiences.

While schools face challenges like connectivity issues and the need for proper teacher training, the global movement towards AI integration in education continues to gain momentum.

Schools in countries like Finland, Singapore, South Korea, and India are pioneering approaches that bridge technological innovation with sound pedagogical practices, creating blueprints for others to follow.

The Evolution of AI in Education

Artificial intelligence has transformed from theoretical to practical tools in classrooms worldwide. Educational AI technologies have progressed rapidly, creating new opportunities for personalised learning while presenting unique implementation challenges.

From Theory to Practice

The journey of AI in education began with simple computer-assisted instruction systems in the 1960s. These early programmes laid the groundwork for today’s sophisticated AI technologies in education systems.

Over the decades, AI evolved from basic programmed learning to intelligent tutoring systems. The 2010s marked a turning point when machine learning algorithms became sophisticated enough to analyse student performance patterns and adapt learning materials accordingly.

“I’ve witnessed how AI has shifted from a futuristic concept to an essential classroom tool that helps teachers identify learning gaps more efficiently,” notes Michelle Connolly, founder and educational consultant.

Today’s AI educational tools can:

• Generate personalised learning paths
• Provide instant feedback on student work
• Automate administrative tasks
• Create adaptive assessments

Milestones in Educational AI

The first major milestone came with intelligent tutoring systems like Carnegie Mellon’s Cognitive Tutors in the 1990s. These systems could track student progress and adjust difficulty levels based on performance.

The launch of adaptive learning platforms like Knewton in 2008 represented another leap forward, demonstrating how successful integration of computers into classroom teaching could personalise education at scale.

Between 2015 and 2020, natural language processing advancements enabled AI to assess written work and provide meaningful feedback. Schools began implementing chatbots to answer student questions outside class hours.

Most recently, AI-powered technologies have been integrated into developing countries’ educational policies, helping bridge educational divides. These systems support teachers rather than replace them, addressing teacher shortages while maintaining human guidance.

Building a Foundation: Developing AI Literacy

AI literacy forms the essential groundwork for successful technology integration in education. Proper development involves thoughtful curriculum design, comprehensive teacher training, and focusing on critical thinking and problem-solving skills that prepare students for an AI-driven future.

Curriculum Design and Teacher Training

Creating effective AI literacy programmes requires careful planning and resource allocation. Schools worldwide are developing curricula that introduce AI concepts progressively from primary years onward.

“I’ve seen how crucial it is to build teacher confidence before expecting them to introduce AI in classrooms,” explains Michelle Connolly, educational consultant and founder of LearningMole.

Successful teacher training programmes typically include:

• Hands-on workshops where teachers experience AI tools firsthand
• Collaborative planning sessions to develop cross-curricular AI activities
• Ongoing professional development rather than one-off training sessions

The most effective schools pair teachers with technology specialists to co-develop lessons. This partnership ensures AI concepts are taught accurately while remaining pedagogically sound.

Essential AI Skills for the Future

The AI literacy skills students need extend beyond basic technical knowledge to include critical thinking and ethical reasoning. You’ll find the most successful programmes focus on developing a blend of technical and human-centred capabilities.

Key skills include:

1. Data literacy – Understanding how data powers AI systems
2. Algorithmic thinking – Recognising patterns and problem-solving
3. Ethical reasoning – Evaluating AI impacts on society and individuals
4. Critical analysis – Questioning AI outputs and understanding limitations

Project-based learning provides an excellent framework for developing these skills. When you engage students in creating simple AI models or evaluating existing ones, they gain a deeper understanding through practical application.

Role-playing exercises also help students grasp AI ethics concepts by considering multiple perspectives. This approach builds empathy alongside technical knowledge—a powerful combination for responsible AI citizenship.

Case Studies of AI Integration

Various educational institutions worldwide have embraced artificial intelligence to enhance learning outcomes and transform teaching methods. These case studies highlight practical implementations and their measurable benefits for students and educators.

Asia: Pioneering AI Schools

In Singapore, Nanyang Primary School has successfully integrated AI into their mathematics curriculum. Their adaptive learning platform analyses students’ performance and customises exercises based on individual learning patterns.

Japan’s Fujitsu Learning Systems partnered with 50 schools to implement AI-driven language acquisition tools. The system uses speech recognition to help students perfect pronunciation and provides real-time feedback, improving speaking confidence by 40% within six months.

“The success in Asian schools comes from balancing technology with human teaching,” explains Michelle Connolly, an educational consultant with 16 years of classroom experience.

South Korea’s KAIST School has introduced AI teaching assistants that help with marking and provide personalised feedback, allowing teachers to focus on complex teaching aspects.

Europe: Innovative Educational Reforms

Finland’s Helsinki Education Department has pioneered cross-cultural AI integration across 30 primary schools. Their AI-enhanced reading programme recognises when pupils struggle with specific concepts and provides additional resources.

The Romanian education system’s AI integration demonstrates how smaller countries can implement educational technology effectively. Their case studies show 31% improved scores in coding and computational thinking.

Estonia’s TalTech School uses AI to predict potential dropouts through behavioural pattern analysis, enabling early intervention and support for struggling students.

Americas: Blazing a Trail in Adaptive Learning

In Canada, Toronto District School Board has implemented an AI-powered maths platform that adapts to each student’s pace. Teachers receive weekly insights about class progress, helping them identify knowledge gaps.

Arizona State University’s pilot programme in 15 secondary schools uses AI systems for adaptive learning that have reduced achievement gaps by offering:

• Personalised learning pathways based on individual progress
• Early detection of learning difficulties
• Automated assessment for immediate feedback
• Custom content suggestions aligned with curriculum goals

“The most successful AI implementations happen when technology enhances rather than replaces the teacher-student relationship,” notes Michelle Connolly, founder of Learning Mole.

Peru’s educational ministry has documented how AI technologies in developing countries can bridge resource gaps, allowing schools in remote areas to access quality educational materials through low-bandwidth AI applications.

AI Tools and Applications in the Classroom

Schools worldwide are revolutionising learning with AI tools that enhance personalisation and engagement. Modern classrooms now integrate technologies that adapt to individual student needs while providing interactive experiences that boost participation.

Adaptive Learning Platforms

Adaptive learning platforms use AI to customise educational content based on each student’s abilities and progress. These systems analyse student performance and adjust difficulty levels automatically, ensuring learners receive appropriate challenges.

Popular platforms like DreamBox for maths and Lexia for reading track student responses and create personalised learning paths. The effectiveness comes from real-time feedback that helps pupils master concepts before moving forward.

“As an educator with over 16 years of classroom experience, I’ve seen adaptive learning platforms transform struggling students into confident learners by meeting them exactly where they are,” explains Michelle Connolly, an educational consultant and founder.

Many schools report improved test scores after implementing these systems, particularly in subjects requiring sequential skill building. Teachers benefit too, gaining insights from detailed analytics that highlight areas needing additional support.

Enhancing Engagement with Generative AI Tools

Generative AI tools are changing how students create and interact with learning material. Applications like ChatGPT and DALL-E help pupils generate stories, artwork, and presentations, fostering creativity while building technical skills.

These tools are particularly valuable for differentiation. A Year 8 history class might use AI-powered applications to create personalised historical narratives or virtual museum exhibits, allowing different entry points based on interest and ability.

Teachers are using AI tools to create engaging lesson materials, saving time while producing high-quality resources. For example, language teachers use AI to generate culturally relevant dialogue scenarios that students can practise with.

Project-based learning benefits tremendously from these applications, as students can focus on higher-order thinking rather than mechanical tasks. When implemented thoughtfully, these tools support, rather than replace, human creativity and critical thinking.

Ethical Implications of AI in Education

As AI systems become more prevalent in classrooms worldwide, schools must navigate complex ethical considerations to ensure these tools benefit all learners. The responsible implementation of AI in education requires careful attention to privacy concerns, equitable access, and proper governance structures.

Data Privacy and Security

When implementing AI in education, protecting student data is paramount. Schools collect vast amounts of information through learning platforms, which raises significant ethical consequences regarding how this data is stored, used and shared.

“As an educator with over 16 years of classroom experience, I’ve seen the anxiety that data collection can cause among parents and students. Schools must prioritise transparency about what information is being gathered and how it’s protected,” explains Michelle Connolly, educational consultant and founder.

You should consider these key privacy measures:

• Clear consent procedures for data collection
• Robust security protocols to prevent breaches
• Limitations on data retention periods
• Restricted access controls for sensitive information

Children’s data deserves special protection. Many countries have enacted specific regulations governing educational data, requiring schools to implement stronger safeguards for AI systems that track learning behaviours.

Fair Access and Transparency

The benefits of AI in education should be available to all students, regardless of socioeconomic background. Equitable access to AI tools remains a significant challenge as schools with fewer resources may struggle to implement these technologies.

Transparency in how AI makes decisions is equally important. When an AI system determines a student’s learning path or assesses their work, both teachers and students should understand how these judgements are made.

Michelle Connolly notes, “Having worked with thousands of students across different learning environments, I’ve observed that children respond best when they understand why certain recommendations are made for their learning. AI systems must be explainable at a level appropriate for their users.”

Consider these aspects of fairness:

AI Governance in Schools

Proper governance frameworks are essential for ethical AI implementation in education. Schools need clear policies that outline responsible AI use, including accountability measures when systems fail or produce harmful outcomes.

Effective AI governance involves multiple stakeholders. Teachers, administrators, students and parents should all have input into how these technologies are deployed in educational settings.

“Drawing from my extensive background in educational technology, I believe schools need comprehensive AI policies that balance innovation with ethical safeguards,” says Michelle Connolly. “These policies should be living documents that evolve as technology and our understanding of its impacts develop.”

Schools should establish ethics committees dedicated to reviewing AI applications before implementation. These committees can assess potential risks and ensure alignment with educational values and goals.

Regular audits of AI systems help identify bias or other issues that may emerge over time. This ongoing oversight ensures that educational AI remains beneficial and doesn’t inadvertently disadvantage certain student groups.

Impact of AI on Educational Outcomes

AI technologies are reshaping the educational landscape with measurable improvements to student achievement. These tools create more tailored learning experiences while giving teachers powerful resources to enhance their instruction and assessment practices.

Personalised Learning and Student Performance

AI-powered educational systems are transforming how students engage with content by delivering truly personalised learning experiences. These systems use machine learning to improve learning outcomes through continuous assessment of student progress and adaptation to individual needs.

When you integrate AI into your classroom, you’ll notice students progress at their optimal pace. Struggling learners receive additional support while advanced students encounter appropriately challenging material, preventing both frustration and boredom.

“Having worked with thousands of students across different learning environments, I’ve seen how AI-driven personalisation can dramatically improve engagement and achievement,” says Michelle Connolly, founder and educational consultant with 16 years of classroom experience.

Research shows schools using AI-powered adaptive platforms have seen up to 30% improvement in test scores, particularly in mathematics and science subjects where concepts build upon each other sequentially.

Teacher Support through AI-Driven Tools

AI tools are revolutionising how you manage administrative tasks, freeing valuable time for meaningful student interactions. Automated marking systems can assess objective assessments instantly, while more sophisticated systems provide feedback on essays and complex assignments.

These AI-driven tools enhance educational quality by offering data-driven insights about student performance. You’ll receive detailed analytics highlighting both class-wide trends and individual student needs, allowing for more targeted interventions.

Key Benefits for Teachers:

• Reduced marking time (up to 70% for some assessment types)
• Early identification of struggling students
• Data-driven lesson planning
• Automated differentiation suggestions

The most successful implementations occur when AI tools complement rather than replace teacher expertise. Your professional judgement remains essential for interpreting AI recommendations and maintaining the human connection that drives educational success.

Challenges and Concerns

As schools adopt AI technologies, several key issues arise concerning ethics, information quality, and the changing nature of human relationships in education settings. These challenges require careful consideration to ensure AI enhances rather than hinders the educational experience.

Navigating Misinformation and Plagiarism Risks

The integration of AI in education brings significant concerns about data quality and accuracy. When students use AI tools for research and writing, they may encounter misleading information that appears credible but lacks factual basis.

AI writing tools make plagiarism easier and harder to detect. Students might submit AI-generated work without proper understanding of the content, undermining genuine learning.

“As an educator with over 16 years of classroom experience, I’ve observed that teaching critical evaluation skills is essential when introducing AI tools in the classroom,” notes Michelle Connolly, educational consultant and founder. “Students need guidance to question AI outputs rather than accepting them as fact.”

To address these concerns, you can:

• Implement clear policies about AI usage
• Teach students to verify information from multiple sources
• Use plagiarism detection tools designed to identify AI-generated content
• Create assignments that require personal reflection and unique experiences

The Debate on AI and Human Interaction

A central ethical concern in AI education is whether technology might reduce meaningful human connections in learning environments. Face-to-face interactions help develop crucial social skills that screen-based learning cannot fully replace.

Teachers worry about becoming technicians rather than mentors. The human elements of encouragement, inspiration and emotional support remain essential for effective learning but are difficult to replicate with AI.

Cultural differences also affect AI integration in classrooms. Research shows that different societies have varying comfort levels with technology in education, requiring adaptable approaches.

Finding balance is crucial. You can use AI to handle routine tasks whilst preserving time for meaningful discussions and personalised feedback. The goal should be using technology to enhance rather than replace human educational relationships.

Global Perspectives on AI in Education

Around the world, educational systems are finding innovative ways to use artificial intelligence to enhance teaching and learning. Countries are developing their own approaches while also following shared guidelines that help make AI integration effective and ethical.

OECD’s Guidelines and Standards

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has become a key player in shaping how AI is used in education globally. Their framework provides important guidelines that help schools implement AI tools responsibly. These guidelines focus on transparency, security, and putting human values at the centre of AI development.

“As an educator with over 16 years of classroom experience, I’ve seen how following established guidelines like those from the OECD helps schools avoid common pitfalls when adopting new technologies,” says Michelle Connolly, educational consultant and founder.

The OECD encourages countries to:

• Ensure AI systems respect privacy and data protection
• Make AI technologies accessible to all students regardless of background
• Focus on using AI to complement rather than replace teachers
• Regularly assess the impact of AI tools on learning outcomes

Schools following these guidelines have reported better outcomes when integrating AI into different curricula.

Cross-Cultural Educational Innovations

Different cultures are adapting AI to fit their specific educational needs and values. This creates a rich landscape of AI-driven education worldwide with diverse approaches.

In Asian countries, AI often focuses on personalised learning paths and exam preparation. European schools tend to emphasise critical thinking and creativity through AI projects. Meanwhile, African educational institutions are exploring how AI can help overcome resource limitations and reach remote areas.

These cultural differences lead to fascinating innovations. For example:

Global collaboration between educational institutions is creating communities where successful AI practices can be shared and adapted across borders, enriching educational experiences for students everywhere.

Preparing for the Future

Education systems worldwide are adapting to integrate AI technology, focusing on developing skills that will remain relevant in an increasingly automated workforce. Schools are reimagining their curricula to balance technical knowledge with uniquely human capabilities that AI cannot easily replicate.

The Role of AI in Future Employment

The job market is evolving rapidly as AI transforms industries across the globe. Many routine tasks are being automated, creating both challenges and opportunities for today’s students. Schools must prepare young people for a workplace where AI-driven technologies will be commonplace.

“As an educator with over 16 years of classroom experience, I’ve seen how vital it is to help students understand not just how to use AI, but how to work alongside it,” says Michelle Connolly, founder and educational consultant at Learning Mole.

Successful schools are teaching students to:

• Identify which tasks AI excels at versus human strengths
• Develop complementary skills to AI capabilities
• Understand the ethical implications of AI in the workplace

Case studies from countries like Singapore and Finland show schools introducing AI literacy alongside traditional subjects. These programmes often include real-world simulations where students solve problems that require both AI tools and human judgement.

Investing in the Next Generation’s Skills

Educational institutions are integrating ethical discussions and practical AI experiences into their curricula. This investment focuses on developing skills that will remain valuable despite technological advancement.

Key skills being prioritised include:

Several international schools have implemented comprehensive AI education that touches all subjects. In Japan, for example, secondary schools teach AI concepts through cross-curricular projects that combine science, ethics, and humanities.

The most successful programmes don’t treat AI as a separate subject but as an integral part of preparing students for future careers. This holistic approach acknowledges that tomorrow’s workers will need both technical understanding and uniquely human capabilities.

Enhancing Education Beyond the Classroom

AI technologies are transforming learning experiences outside traditional classroom settings, creating opportunities for immersive education and cross-disciplinary applications that prepare students for future careers.

Extended Reality and Virtual Classrooms

Extended Reality (XR) combined with AI is revolutionising how students learn beyond physical classrooms. Virtual classrooms now allow pupils to experience historical events, explore anatomical structures, or visit faraway locations without leaving their homes.

“Having worked with thousands of students across different learning environments, I’ve seen how virtual reality transforms abstract concepts into tangible experiences, particularly for visual learners,” explains Michelle Connolly, educational consultant with 16 years of classroom experience.

Several schools in Finland and Singapore have successfully implemented AI-powered virtual learning environments that adapt to individual learning paces. These systems provide real-time feedback even when teachers aren’t physically present.

Students with mobility challenges particularly benefit from these technologies, as they can participate in field trips and laboratory experiments virtually. The educational experience becomes more equitable and accessible for all.

Interdisciplinary Impact of AI

AI’s integration in education extends beyond individual subjects, creating connections between traditionally separate disciplines. Students now engage with technology that mirrors real-world applications in industry, healthcare and transport.

For example, secondary schools in South Korea have implemented programmes where students use AI tools to analyse environmental data while simultaneously developing maths, science and geography skills. This interdisciplinary approach better prepares them for future careers.

The integration of AI-powered technologies also helps students understand complex systems through simulation. Healthcare scenarios allow students to practise diagnostic skills, while transport models demonstrate physics principles in real-world contexts.

Many schools have established partnerships with local industries to provide real-world challenges for students to solve using AI tools. These collaborations bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application, making learning immediately relevant.

Learning Mole

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Almost instantly after Charlie Kirk was assassinated Wednesday at Utah Valley University, the news — captured on video in grisly detail — sent shockwaves through classrooms everywhere. Because no matter teens’ political opinions, everyone knew Kirk.

In high school classes in Spanish Fork, Utah, chatter spread fast Wednesday, as students learned of the shooting and began to wonder if Kirk would live or die. A cellphone ban meant many students didn’t learn of Kirk’s fate until the final bell — pushing tough conversations in class to the next day.

“By the end of the day, I was worn out,” said English teacher Andrew Apsley. He discussed the shooting with each of his four classes Thursday at Landmark High School, about 15 miles south of UVU.

In the current political climate and with new cellphone bans, schools have tried to push social media and controversial topics to the sidelines, saying classes should focus on basic academics. Kirk’s shooting upended all that.

Graphic footage of Kirk’s shooting on the Utah college campus was available almost immediately online, captured by cellphones from several angles.

The videos, in slow motion and real-time speed, show a direct view of Kirk being shot, his body recoiling and blood gushing from his neck. The videos were easy to find on X, TikTok and Instagram.

Many teens say they feel traumatized by what they saw.

They couldn’t escape the videos popping up on their social media feeds or being passed to them by friends and classmates.

Some teens posted warnings that urged people not to click on the Kirk videos, saying they wished the visuals had come with trigger warnings.

Apsley’s 19-year-old child received a gruesome video of Kirk’s death in a message from a friend. His child has autism and has difficulty processing emotions, so the video was “pretty traumatic,” Apsley said. That incident became a teaching moment for Apsley’s students.

“I know we want to be first. I know we want to be the one to share the information that other people rely on,” Apsley recalled telling his classes. “But at the same time, not everyone is well-equipped to handle something as graphic and violent as that.”

Students tuned in everywhere, highlighting the global reality of social media.

In Canada, Aidan Groves was in a college writing class when he saw a headline on Reddit that Kirk had been shot. He had not shared Kirk’s political views, yet “my heart sank, and I was immediately on edge,” said Groves, a student at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in Calgary. He quickly swiped through comments, feeling overcome by horror and dread.

Even so, he left his classroom to watch the video.

Groves, 19, grew up watching his dad play video games with violent imagery, but he was struck by the video’s immediacy and the crowd’s frantic reaction.

When Groves returned to class 10 minutes later, everyone was distracted by the news of the shooting. Students passed around their phones. Some of his classmates expressed shock. Others who weren’t fond of Kirk’s views cracked jokes.

Through it all, the professor carried on with his lesson.

A similar scene played out in a now-viral video taken in a classroom at the University of North Texas, where a student filmed her class watching the video on tablets and cell phones they passed around the room. Some students have amused looks on their faces, and the student filming the video chastises those making light of it.

“Why are we cheering for someone getting shot? No matter what political beliefs are, we should not be cheering that someone got shot,” the student tells her classmates. A University of North Texas spokeswoman confirmed the video was filmed in one of its classrooms.

“I’ve never seen anybody die, and immediately everybody in this crowd had just witnessed that,” he said.

Whether students admired Kirk or not, teenagers across the world knew him from his social media presence.

A right-wing activist and close ally of President Donald Trump, Kirk’s savvy use of social videos, capturing his pithy responses to questions from liberals, raised his profile at speaking events on college campuses and online, especially among young men.

San Francisco teen Richie Trovao didn’t agree with all of Kirk’s ideas, but admired how the activist “really stood on his beliefs.” Trovao, 17, had thought about getting politically involved himself, but the assassination has given him second thoughts. He worries that speaking his mind could put him at risk.

The high school senior was on Discord when a friend messaged that Kirk had been shot. Trovao didn’t believe it at first, so he went to X to confirm, and a video of Kirk’s death autoplayed. His stomach turned.

“I never thought I would see something like that happen to someone who’s just basically an influencer,” Trovao said. Especially shocking: Some social media comments seemed to celebrate Kirk’s death.

Reaction to the video has highlighted the political divide and polarization that exists among American youth, said Connecticut high school senior Prakhar Vatsa. That was the main topic of discussion among classmates in his AP Government class after Kirk’s death.

Raised in an era of easy access to violent imagery, Vatsa, 17, said he wasn’t too affected when he saw the video while scrolling social media, because he isn’t too sensitive to gore.

“It was a bit traumatizing, but I’ve seen worse,” he said.

AP

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The region saw the biggest rise in school feeding of any region, by nearly a third to 87 million in 2024. Ethiopia, Rwanda and even severely impoverished Madagascar and Chad all managed to feed six times as many over the period.

“Government investments in school meals … (signal) a significant shift from reliance on foreign aid to recognising school meals as a strategic public investment in children’s education (and) health,” the report said.

It was a welcome bright spot on a continent plagued by rising numbers of hungry people as a result of extreme weather linked to climate change, armed conflict and food inflation.

A U.N. report at the end of July found that more than one in five Africans, 307 million, were chronically malnourished, meaning hunger is worse than two decades ago.

It predicted the continent would have 60% of the world’s hungry people by 2030.

Poor countries face falling aid from their rich counterparts, with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration gutting its aid arm and some European nations slashing assistance to reallocate spending to defend themselves against Russia.

The WFP report found that local farmers had also benefited from the school feeding.

The government of Benin’s buying local food for these programmes contributed over $23 million to the economy in 2024, it said. More than a third of school meals in Sierra Leone came from food produced by smallholder farmers.

It warned, however, that millions of children, especially in some of the lowest income African countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Somalia, and South Sudan, still lacked access to school meals, as donor support continued to fall.

REUTERS

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After a summer of vacations and late nights, it’s time to set those back-to-school alarms. A good night’s sleep helps students stay focused and attentive in class. Experts say it’s worth easing kids back into a routine with the start of a new school year.

“We don’t say ‘ get good sleep ’ just because,” said pediatrician Dr. Gabrina Dixon with Children’s National Hospital. “It really helps kids learn and it helps them function throughout the day.”

The amount of sleep kids need changes as they age. Preschoolers should get up to 13 hours of sleep. Tweens need between nine and 12 hours. Teenagers do best with eight to 10 hours of shut-eye.

Set an earlier bedtime

Early bedtimes can slip through the cracks over the summer as kids stay up for sleepovers, movie marathons and long plane flights. To get back on track, experts recommend setting earlier bedtimes a week or two before the first day of school or gradually going to bed 15 to 30 minutes earlier each night.

Don’t eat a heavy meal before bed and avoid TV or screen time two hours before sleep. Instead, work in relaxing activities to slow down like showering and reading a story.

“You’re trying to take the cognitive load off your mind,” said Dr. Nitun Verma, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. “It would be like if you’re driving, you’re slowly letting go of the gas pedal.”

Parents can adjust their back-to-school plans based on what works best for their child. Nikkya Hargrove moves her twin daughters’ bedtimes up by 30 minutes the week before school starts.

Sometimes, her 10-year-olds will negotiate for a few extra minutes to stay up and read. Hargrove said those conversations are important as her children get older and advocate for themselves. If they stay up too late and don’t have the best morning, Hargrove said that can be a learning experience too.

“If they’re groggy and they don’t like how they feel, then they know, ‘OK, I have to go to bed earlier,’” said Hargrove, an author and independent bookstore owner from Connecticut.

In the morning, soaking in some daylight by sitting at a window or going outside can help train the brain to power up, Verma said.

Squash back-to-school sleep anxiety

Sleep quality matters just as much as duration. First-day jitters can make it hard to fall asleep no matter how early the bedtime.

Dixon says parents can talk to their kids to find out what is making them anxious. Is it the first day at a new school? Is it a fear of making new friends? Then they might try a test run of stressful activities before school starts to make those tasks feel less scary — for example, by visiting the school or meeting classmates at an open house.

The weeks leading up can be jam-packed and it’s not always possible to prep a routine in advance. But kids will adjust eventually so sleep experts say parents should do what they can. After all, their kids aren’t the only ones adjusting to a new routine.

“I always say, ‘Take a deep breath, it’ll be OK,’” Dixon said. “And just start that schedule.”

AP

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What do you remember about maths at school? Did you whizz through the problems and enjoy getting the answers right? Or did you often feel lost and worried you weren’t keeping up? Perhaps you felt maths wasn’t for you and you stopped doing it altogether.

Maths can generate strong emotions in students. When these emotions are negative, it leads to poor mathematical wellbeing. This means students do not feel good when doing maths and do not function well. They may experience feelings of hopelessness and despair, and view themselves as incapable of learning maths.

Poor mathematical wellbeing, if not addressed, can develop into maths anxiety). This can impact working memory (which we use for calculating and problem-solving) and produce physical symptoms such as increased heart and breathing rates. It can also lead to students avoiding maths subjects, courses and careers.

Research shows students often start primary school enjoying and feeling optimistic about maths. However, these emotions can decline rapidly as students progress through school and can continue into adulthood.

Our new, as-yet-unpublished, research shows how this can be an issue for those studying to become teachers.

Our research

We frequently see students enter our university courses lacking confidence in their maths knowledge and ability to teach the subject. Some students describe it as “maths trauma”.

To better understand this issue, we surveyed 300 students who are studying to be primary teachers. All were enrolled in their first maths education unit.

We asked them to recount a negative and positive experience with maths at school. Many described feelings of shame and hopelessness. These feelings were often attributed to unsupportive teachers and teaching practices when learning maths at school.

‘I felt so much anxiety’

The responses describing unpleasant experiences were highly emotional. The most common emotion experienced was shame (35%), followed by anxiety (27%), anger (18%), hopelessness (12%) and boredom (8%). Students also described feeling stupid, afraid, left behind, panicked, rushed and unsupported.

Being put on the spot in front of their peers and being afraid of providing wrong answers was a significant cause of anxiety:

The teacher had the whole class sitting in a circle and was asking students at random different times tables questions like ‘what is 4 x 8?’ I remember I felt so much anxiety sitting in that circle as I was not confident, especially with my six and eight times tables.

Students recalled how competition between students being publicly “right” or “wrong” featured in their maths lessons. Another student recalled how their teacher held back the whole class until a classmate could perfectly recite a certain times table.

Students also told us about feeling left behind and not being able to catch up.

In around Year 9, I remember doing algebra, and feeling like I didn’t ‘get’ it. I remember the feeling of falling behind. Not nice! The feeling of gentle panic, like you’re trying to hang on and the rope is pulled through your hands.

Students also described the stress of results being made public in front of their classmates. Another respondent told us how the teacher called out NAPLAN maths results from lowest to highest in front of the whole class.

‘I was scared of maths teachers’

In other studies, primary and high school students have said a supportive teacher is one of the most important influences on their mathematical wellbeing.

In our research, many of the students’ descriptions directly mentioned “the teacher”. This further shows how important the teacher/student relationship is and its impact on students’ feelings about maths. As one student told us, they were:

[…] belittled by the teacher and the class [was] asked to tell me the answer to the question that I didn’t know. I felt lost and embarrassed and upset.

Another student told us how they were asked to stay behind after class after others had left because they didn’t understand “wordy maths problems”.

[there were] sighs and huffs from the teacher as it was taking so long to learn. I was scared of maths and maths teachers.

But teachers were also mentioned extensively when students reflected on pleasant experiences. Approximately one third of student responses mentioned teachers who were understanding, kind and supportive:

In Year 8 my teacher for maths made it fun and engaging and made sure to help every student […] The teacher made me feel smart and that if I put my mind to it I could do it.

What can we do differently?

Our research suggests there are four things teachers can do differently when teaching maths to support students’ learning and feelings about maths.

1. Work with negative emotions: we can support students to tune into negative emotions and use them to their advantage. For example, we can show students how to embrace being confused – this is an opportunity to learn and with the right level of support, overcome the issue. In turn, this teaches students resilience

2. Normalise negative emotions: we can invite students to share their emotions with others in the class. Chances are, they will not be the only one feeling worried. This can help students feel supported and show them they are not alone

3. Treat mathematical wellbeing as seriously as maths learning: teachers can be patient and supportive and make sure maths lessons are engaging and relevant to students’ lives. When teachers focus on enjoying learning and supporting students’ psychological safety, this encourages risk-taking and makes it harder to develop negative emotions

4. Ditch the ‘scary’ methods: avoid teaching approaches that students find unpleasant – such as pitting students against each other or calling on students for an answer in front of their peers. In doing so, teachers can avoid creating more “maths scars” in the next generation of students.

Muir is Professor in Education (STEM), Australian Catholic University, Hill is Lecturer in Mathematics and Numeracy Education, The University of Melbourne,  Livy is Senior Lecturer, Mathematics Education, Monash University

The Conversation

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Police are investigating the cause of a fire that has claimed the lives of 17 pupils at Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri County in Kenya.

“More bodies are likely to be recovered once [the] scene is fully processed,” police spokesperson Resila Onyango told international media.

The news has sent shockwaves through the country. Kenyan President William Ruto said on X that the deaths were devastating, and he was praying for the families of the victims.

“The government under the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of the national government is mobilising all the necessary resources to support the affected families,” Ruto said.

The academy has around 800 pupils who are aged between five and 13. It is located 150km north of the capital city Nairobi.

The pupils, who are all boys, were reportedly sleeping in a dormitory when the fire broke out. More than 10 pupils are injured.

Ruto promised swift police action to arrest those who are responsible for the incident.

The Kenya Red Cross alongside a multi-agency response team is providing trauma counselling to the pupils, teachers and affected families.

It said on X it has also set up a tracing desk at the school

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Australia has a nationwide teacher shortage. But there is a particular shortage of Aboriginal teachers. This is very worrying because we know Aboriginal teachers are desperately needed to boost learning and school outcomes for Aboriginal students.

Not only do they bring vital cultural knowledge to schools, it also means Aboriginal students are represented by those who educate them. Aboriginal teachers can use Indigenous knowledge in the classroom and build effective student-teacher relationships which are vital for learning.

To boost the overall teaching workforce in late 2023, the federal government launched a campaign to “Be That Teacher”. But we need more specific measures, designed to resonate with Aboriginal students and communities.

In a new, ongoing project, we are talking to Aboriginal high school students and teachers to understand how we can encourage more Aboriginal people to become teachers in the Northern Territory.

What are the current figures?
As of 2023, 39.3% of school students in the NT were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, this is the highest proportion of any state or territory. Nationally, Aboriginal students account for 6.5% of all school students.

As of 2020, there were 260 registered Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teachers in the NT. This includes the public, private and Catholic system and represents only 4.6% of the teaching workforce.

As of June 2024, there were just 163 Aboriginal teachers, senior teachers and principals in the public system, according to the NT Department of Education.

While there are existing initiatives to encourage Aboriginal people to become teachers, such as the Remote Aboriginal Teacher Education program, clearly more can be done to increase teacher numbers.

Our project
In an ongoing project, in collaboration with the NT Department of Education, we are talking to students and teachers to ask:

how can Aboriginal people encourage and inspire each other to become teachers?

So far, we have surveyed 23 Aboriginal students and ten Aboriginal teachers across government, independent and Catholic schools. Students are in the final years of schooling and at least 16-years-old.

Do you want to be a teacher?
When asked if students would like to be a teacher when they left school, most students we surveyed responded negatively.

As one student said, “school environments are mentally damaging”. They added the best way to encourage young people to teach would be to “put them in a school that actually accepts them”.

Some of the main reasons students gave for not being interested in teaching were having other career plans, not being interested in school and their teachers’ attitudes to the profession.

Some said their teachers “don’t look enthusiastic about their job” and “always complain about it”. While it was not specified if their teachers are Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal, we know statistically, the vast majority of teachers in the NT are non-Aboriginal.

More information
Students are also telling us they want more information about what it is like to be teacher and the practicalities of the profession. As one student said, they want to be shown “how to be a teacher”.

Another respondent told us:

Sit and talk to them and ask if they are interested in becoming a teacher by explaining the benefits of helping young people.

Role models can help
A strong theme to emerge so far is the importance of role models. Students said their teachers could help them consider becoming a teacher by the way they do their jobs. This was particularly so if they portrayed the profession as one focussed on student success and passion.

One student told us students could be attracted to the profession if they were told about how teachers helped “the next generation [to] follow in elders’ footsteps”.

Students also said they needed encouragement. As one respondent told us, they are worried about being treated badly by students.

Teachers’ own experiences matter
Aboriginal teachers also emphasised the importance of role models and personal experience. They told us their experience at school, whether as a student or later working in supporting roles, was a key reason behind deciding to teach. As one teacher said:

I loved school. I was really lucky enough that I had a school and teachers that were engaging and really lovely people.

But another was also inspired by negative experiences growing up:

I wanted to be a better teacher than the ones I’d had.

They stressed how passion was integral to their work and helping students to learn. They also talked of the importance of culture – something that could be emphasised with potential new recruits. As one teacher told us:

[I am] putting my own perspective on things. Embedding Indigenous content and a different pedagogical [teaching] approach.

Another teacher told us their work also had a simple purpose: “to combat racism”.

What now?
Our research is showing the need for more accessible information for Aboriginal students on how they get into a teaching career. According to students and teachers alike there is also a need for role models to encourage Aboriginal students to take up teaching.

We will keep surveying students and teachers this year and translate our findings into materials and information for universities and schools by the end of 2024.

Tracy Woodroffe
2024 ACSES First Nations Fellow, Senior Lecturer in Indigenous Knowledges, Charles Darwin University

Khushi Chauhan
Research Associate, PhD Candidate, Charles Darwin University

This article talks primarily about Aboriginal people. Some of the data sources we accessed describe “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander” statistics, which is why different terms have been used.

The story was first published in The Conversation.

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Millions of people across Turkey on Tuesday mourned the loss of more than 53,000 friends, loved ones and neighbors in the country’s catastrophic earthquake a year ago.

To mark what it calls the “Disaster of the Century,” the government arranged a series of events to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the disaster in southern Turkey.

In Antakya, the capital of the southern province of Hatay, angry crowds jostled with police as officials were led to the commemorations. Mayor Lutfu Savas was greeted with chants calling for him to resign, while Health Minister Fahrettin Koca was jeered and booed as he gave a speech.

Amid the fog by the Orontes River, people chanted “Can anyone hear me?” — echoing the voices of those buried under the rubble a year ago — and ”We won’t forget, we won’t forgive.”

After a moment of silence at 4:17 a.m. to mark the time the quake struck, carnations were tossed into the river in an act of remembrance and a local orchestra played a song to honor the victims.

Hatay, which lies between the Mediterranean Sea and the Syrian border, was the worst affected of the 11 southern provinces hit by the 7.8 magnitude quake. Including the 6,000 people killed in neighboring Syria, the quake left more than 59,000 dead.

Crowds in Adiyaman held a silent march, passing a clock tower that has shown the time of the earthquake for the past year.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be in Kahramanmaras, the earthquake’s epicenter, to inspect the work being done to rebuild the city and rehouse thousands of people who remain in tents and pre-fabricated containers.

He also will take part in handing over completed homes to survivors, and then spend the rest of the week touring other cities in the earthquake zone.

In a social media post, the president said the loss from the disaster “continues to burn our hearts as fresh as the first day,” adding: “Thank God, our nation has successfully passed this painful and historical test.”

Opposition politicians are also visiting the region, with the Republican People’s Party leader Ozgur Ozel attending the commemorations in Hatay before traveling to Gaziantep and Kahramanmaras.

Schools were closed for the day in many of the earthquake-affected porvinces. In Malatya, the governor banned any marches or other public displays outside officially sanctioned events for three days.

AP

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