education

Thu
31
Mar
2016
New translation available
Submitted by hannah

By Burgos Online

The article, “El ojo que todo lo ve” or “The All-seeing Eye” by Burgos Online paints a picture, but not for the purpose of artistic beauty, but rather...

Mon
20
Feb

Army Cadet Force units ruled out at Scottish state schools

ARMY cadet units will not be permitted to operate in state schools north of the Border, the Scottish Government has confirmed.

Ministers said there was no change to the long-standing policy in Scotland that units could not be based at council-run schools.

The intervention came after UK defence minister Sir Michael Fallon suggested he wanted more units to be allowed in Scotland during a discussion about a pilot project at Maxwelltown High School, in Dumfries.

Read the full article here.

Tue
20
Dec

Catalonia: Activists demand military-free educational events

On 29th November, the campaign Demilitarise Education from Catalonia organised an action in front of the Consortium of Education of Barcelona, calling on the officials to ensure that military will not take place in any future educational events in Catalonia. As part of the action, activists handed in letters addressing the official bodies responsible for avoiding the military participation in educational events, and organised a press conference.

Previously in November, the organisation committee of the Festival of  Childhood in Barcelona, which is one of the educational events the armed forces joined previously, made a statement announcing that the military or any police bodies will not be taking part in the festival this year, which will take place between 27th December and 4th January.

Sun
27
Nov

Militarization of children in the Czech Republic

In the Czech Republic soldiers have reportedly started touring elementary schools nationwide in an effort to introduce students to military life. Children from the age of 10 are being familiarized with and encouraged to play with machine guns. These terrifying images bring memories of totalitarian regimes, in which education about war and a militaristic vision of society and life were instilled into children from a young age.

All of this, moreover, is taking place right at a time when the United States has yet again witnessed a mass shooting that took place in a school and the President himself is impotent to act against the powerful arms industry. According to the Gun Violence Archive, in 2015 alone gun-related incidents in the US amounted to 33,293. 8,514 people lost their lives and 17,361 were injured. Among the dead there were 486 children under the age of 11 and 1,687 between 12 and 17. Is this the model we want to follow?

Thu
24
Nov

MSPs back further research on military school recruitment despite Tory complaints

Petitions committee seeks further round of evidence on military targeting young people

THE CAMPAIGN FOR TRANSPARENCY over military targeting of young people will receive further attention from the Scottish Parliament’s petitions committee. 

A short session on the issue was held today [Thursday 24 November] at the Scottish Parliament, with the decision taken to seek further evidence on how military careers visits to schools impacts on military targeting of teenagers for recruitment into the armed forces. 

Campaign groups Forces Watch and Quakers in Scotland brought the petition forward, receiving over 1000 signatures and a range of high profile political backers. 

The committee, composed of five MSPs, decided to seek further evidence on the issue, despite objections to the petition from the group’s two Tory representatives. 

Thu
24
Nov

Germany: Humboldt University Student Parliament opposes military advertising at university

The Student Parliament (StuPa) of Humboldt University (HU) in Berlin voted on November 21 to oppose any Bundeswehr (armed forces) advertising at the university. The motion was tabled by the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) chapter at Humboldt.

The StuPa adopted the resolution by a large majority: 19 voted in favor, six against and seven abstained. The resolution reads: “The Student Parliament rejects all forms of advertising for the Bundeswehr at our institution and calls on the Berlin Students Union and the University administration not to allow advertising by the Bundeswehr on the campus of HU.”

Sat
19
Nov

UK: Militarising Childhood

By Dr. Victoria M. Basham 

Since the late 2000s, successive British governments have put considerable resources into promoting greater recognition and support for the UK Armed Forces. The targeting of children has been integral to this. From the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) recommendation that its ‘Armed Forces Days’ take place on Saturdays so that school children can more easily attend, to military provision of activities for classrooms, enhancing positive associations with the military, specifically among children, has been an aim from the outset.

Tue
15
Nov

Making global citizenship education possible for refugees

By Ozlem Eskiocak

Our students, learning about global values, become frustrated that they are unable to experience this world. Learning about diversity, they possess limited opportunities to interact with people from elsewhere.

All around the world we are witnessing an increased focus on global citizenship education (GCE). Fostering global citizenship was listed as one of the three priorities of the UN Secretary General’s Global Education First Initiative (2012). Then came the global consultations. This in turn led to the first ‘pedagogical guidance’ from UNESCO: Global Citizenship Education: Topics and Learning Objectives.

Tue
11
Oct

David Gee at Movement for the Abolition of War Youth Conference

David Gee, from Child Soldiers International, gives a talk on British militarism.

Thu
22
Sep

Scottish Parliament asks for more information on military visits to schools after hearing from ForcesWatch

ForcesWatch comment

Things have really moved on since ForcesWatch and Quakers in Scotland lodged a petition earlier this year with the backing of over a thousand signatures at the Scottish Parliament concerning military visits to state schools.

Back in March we asked Holyrood to ensure ‘guidance is provided to schools', ‘information is collected to provide public monitoring’ and ‘parents/guardians are consulted’ when it comes to visits by the military.

This reflected the work done with the Welsh Assembly in 2015 when Assembly Members in Cardiff agreed to support, in principle, greater oversight, guidance and balance in relation to how the armed forces operate in secondary schools. This decision was made in recognition of the unique nature of an armed forces career.

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