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Millions of pupils return after historic shut-down

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Millions of pupils return after historic shut-down

Children back in class at a school in Southwark

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Millions of pupils in England are returning to high school after the unprecedented shutdown linked to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Faculties will look completely different, with a technique techniques, screens preserving pupils aside and staggered begin occasions.

Many pupils might be given inductions so that they perceive the brand new guidelines, similar to staying of their “bubble” teams and the place to make use of social distancing.

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Academics might be assessing what and the way a lot their pupils have to catch up.

It has been virtually six months since faculties have been closed by the Training Secretary Gavin Williamson.

They quickly reopened to weak pupils and key employee youngsters, however solely a fraction of the nationwide faculty inhabitants returned to any kind of face-to-face classes over the summer time time period.

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The remainder have been required to hold on studying from dwelling, however ranges of assist and interactive instructing have been very completely different from place to position.

It’s not clear what number of dad and mom are planning to ship their youngsters again, though attendance is obligatory in England.

Some current polls counsel households are eager to see youngsters again at school however others haven’t been so optimistic and in Scotland, the place pupils returned a number of weeks in the past, official statistics present one in 10 pupils is absent.

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Pupils in Northern Eire have already returned, and people in Wales are returning later this week.

However England’s faculties minister Nick Gibb has urged dad and mom to ship their youngsters again to high school to assist them to compensate for what they’ve missed.

He mentioned: “Faculties are doing every thing they will to make it possible for their pupils and their workers are protected.”

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Media captionBBC Well being Correspondent Laura Foster explains what faculties are doing to maintain pupils protected

And talking within the Commons on Tuesday, Mr Williamson mentioned: “Welcoming pupils again might be a large milestone for faculties throughout the nation.”

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However he confronted criticism for having failed to grasp the system he authorised for examination grading was not match for goal.

The mass return comes as senior figures at England’s exams regulator, Ofqual are as a result of seem earlier than the Commons schooling committee.

They are going to be answering questions on how issues went so incorrect with the moderation system primarily based on a mathematical algorithm.

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Pupils returning to secondary faculties, will discover complete sections of faculty buildings cordoned off to some teams, however open to others as head academics try to maintain teams aside.

And there might be diminished motion of pupils round faculties, with lessons and 12 months teams staying in a small quantity of rooms, whereas their particular person topic academics come to them to show.

Pupils could be required to put on face coverings in busy areas, similar to corridors, and classes like bodily schooling might be very completely different, with all contact sports activities nonetheless banned. Many will already be sporting face coverings on public transport to high school.

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Screens have been erected to maintain pupils separate

Head academics and college workers have been working to arrange for the protected arrival of pupils, grappling with ceaselessly up to date security tips from the Division for Training.

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Affiliation of Faculty and School Leaders normal secretary Geoff Barton mentioned the reopening of faculties was a giant step ahead, including that this had been led “with nice dedication” by faculty and faculty leaders and their workers.

“It’s vastly disappointing that the federal government has refused to assist them by offering funding to cowl the numerous value of security measures and has as a substitute mentioned it should come out of hard-pressed budgets.”

There have been wide-spread considerations about pupil well-being throughout lock down and the way this would possibly affect attendance, potential to study and behavior as soon as faculties return.

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And there are fears about additional native faculty closures as circumstances of Covid-19 are on the rise once more notably in some areas of the Midlands and north-west England.

The foundations state that when a college discovers a optimistic case, it’ll work with native well being officers to evaluate what number of different pupils ought to go dwelling and isolate.

It may very well be simply those that have been in shut contact with the pupil, or a complete “bubble” group, which may very well be a complete 12 months group in secondary faculties.

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Pupils in numerous 12 months teams are beginning at completely different occasions

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Alaska $1300 Stimulus Check May 2024 – Stimulus Checks for Everyone? Payment Dates & Eligibility

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Alaska $1300 Stimulus Check May 2024 – Stimulus Checks for Everyone? Payment Dates & Eligibility

Citizens of Alaska are going to receive an important stimulus check which will alleviate to a large extent their financial woes.

The $1300 Stimulus Check May program is a courtesy by the state’s Permanent Fund Dividend. It will be a great support for the residents of Alaska in their difficult times.

The Alaskan support program has been rolled out to reduce the financial difficulties of the people of Alaska who are finding it difficult to meet their basic expenses. The $1,300 stimulus check which will be rolled out in May 2024 is open for all Alaska permanent residents who do not have any recent criminal records and meet the eligibility requirements.

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The stimulus checks are aimed to improve the quality of life of residents of the state of Alaska by affording financial security and enabling them to get essential support when they need it most. The eligible candidates are advised to visit the official website of the Alaska Revenue Department to get to know about the latest updates.

Alaska $1300 Stimulus Check May 2024

$1300 Stimulus Check May 2024 is a gift from the Alaska Revenue Department to enable the eligible residents of Alaska to get vital and much needed support during the time of financial crisis. The project is especially beneficial for persons who are finding it difficult to pay for their bills and facing a financial emergency. The stimulus will serve as a timely infusion of funds that will reduce their burdens.

Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend 2024

Article$1300 Stimulus Check May 2024
DepartmentDepartment of Revenue, Alaska
Benefit NamePermanent Fund Dividend
Amount$1300
Applicable inAlaska, USA
Payment DateMay 2024
CategoryGovernment Aid
Official Websitehttps://pfd.alaska.gov/

$1300 Stimulus Check May 2024 Latest Update

The Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) website has stated that eligible Alaskans can hope to get their next stimulus payments on 16th May 2024. The program is a part of the financial support initiative launched for the state of Alaska by the Government of America and the funds are channeled via the Permanent Fund Dividend program, which is managed by the Alaska Department of Revenue.

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Citizens can check their eligibility status on the official website from 8th May 2024 and in case their claim is marked as “eligible-not-paid,” they can expect to get the money directly into their Bank accounts on the specified dates. Citizens are encouraged to visit the Permanent Fund Dividend’s official website for more information and updates.

Also Read: New Hampshire Is Raising Legal Age Of Marriage To 18 Without Exceptions

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New Hampshire Is Raising Legal Age Of Marriage To 18 Without Exceptions

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New Hampshire Is Raising Legal Age Of Marriage To 18 Without Exceptions

The New Hampshire House has passed a bill to raise the minimum age for marriage from the present 16 years to 18 years without any exceptions. The bill, which has been designated as SB 359, will now be sent to the Governor for his signature.

If approved by the Governor, New Hampshire will become the 12th state to have a law that bans marriage under the age of 18 with no exceptions.

New Hampshire To Raise Minimum Marriage Age to 18

The New Hampshire House voted 192-174 to pass the bill SB 359 on Thursday, raising the legal age for marriage from 16 years to 18 years. The bill has a long and eventful history and has been sent to Gov. Chris Sununu for approval.

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Bill 359 clearly states that

“no person below the age of 18 years shall be capable of contracting a valid marriage, and all marriages contracted by such persons shall be null and void.”

Presently, the legal age for marriage is 16 years.

The bill will also nullify the current legal options for minors to marry.

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The current laws, RSA 457:6, permit parents and guardians of persons between 16 and 18 to approach a family court to grant permission for the marriage.

The petition also requires the involvement of the Division for Children, Youth, and Families and allows the court to interview with each minor getting married without their parents present. SB 359 would eliminate this process.

If the law is signed by the governor, it will make New Hampshire one of 12 states that have banned marriage under 18 with no exceptions. The other states which have such a law in place include Washington, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and New York.

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Maine permits marriage for 16- and 17-year-olds with written consent from their parents, legal guardians, or custodians. However, this will become nullified in New Hampshire if SB 359 becomes law.

The bill was advocated for years by Rep. Cassandra Levesque, a Barrington Democrat. In 2018, the idea of raising the marriage age to 18 years from the then stipulated 14 years was first proposed by Levesque, then 19 and not yet a state representative. However, the House and Senate Republicans agreed to pass a bill to raise it to 16 instead. Levesque won her first election to the House and continued to advocate raising the marriage age to 18 years.

Levesque argued that raising the marriage age will prevent situations that can be exploited by others.

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Levesque, in the House Calendar introducing SB 359, said,

“The committee found that this bill is important to be in law because we know that age of majority does not amount to maturity, and that there is a greater risk of human trafficking and domestic violence without these protections.”

However, the bill was opposed by Republican lawmakers. Rep. Margaret Drye, a Plainfield Republican, argued that the marriage was a beneficial option for those under 18 in certain circumstances like an unexpected pregnancy.

Also Read: Ontario Sunshine List 2024 Reveals Why People Can’t Afford To Buy A Home

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Ontario Sunshine List 2024 Reveals Why People Can’t Afford To Buy A Home

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Ontario’s Sunshine List Reveals Why People Can’t Afford To Buy A Home

Ontario Sunshine List is released every year and it reveals the salaries of public sector workers who take home a salary in excess of $100,000. This year the list features 300,570 names which is 30,000 higher than last year of public sector employees with salaries over $100,000. The Ontario Sunshine list also features five employees working at the Ontario Power Generation who are among the top 10 earners with the province’s highest salary nearing $2 million.

Ontario had passed the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act in 1996 under the Mike Harris government and the stated aim of the act was to make the government more transparent and accountable. The $100,000 limit was a big deal then.

However the $100,000 in 1996 in relative terms in 2024 will be equivalent to $180,564.97. If you remove 300,570 people on this year’s Ontario Sunshine List for that salary threshold there you drop 279,781 names. In other words there will be many people who will not be able to own a house without help from family or an inheritance.

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In a nutshell it means that employees who take home a six figure salary package will still feel the pinch of Canada’s affordability crisis. The soaring inflation and rising cost of living a $100,000 salary doesn’t guarantee financial security in many parts of the country.

Also, to maintain the $100,000 threshold today, the province should have adjusted it to $55,381.73 in 1996. Ontario has fixed a threshold of $100,000, while the threshold varies in other provinces. Alberta, for example, has set a threshold of $125,888 for government employees and $150,219 for people in public sector bodies.

Not much information is available for the federal government, but a Canadian Taxpayers Federation access-to-information request revealed that 110,593 employees in the federal public service earned $100,000 or more in 2023.

There are a couple of options for Ontario and other governments with non-indexing disclosure requirements. Resetting the threshold to a number that makes more sense today and then continuing to index the threshold going forward seems feasible.

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We also don’t need to reveal the names of all individuals. The government could report aggregated salary ranges by job title rather than disclosing specific names below a second, lower threshold. This would maintain government accountability and transparency by still disclosing who the highest earners are.

As it stands, we have a list that publishes the names and salaries of potentially hundreds of thousands of people who could not afford to buy a house. This doesn’t seem aligned with the original intent of the disclosure act.

Some features of the Ontario Sunshine List 2024 are as follows:

  • The highest paid employee took a pay check of $1.9M
  • Public sector employees were paid salaries in excess of $100K
  • The Ontario Sunset list top position is held by Kenneth Hartwick, CEO of the electricity Crown Corporation with a salary of $1.93 million followed by chief strategy officer Dominique Miniere $1.2 million and chief projects officer Michael Martelli drawing $1 million as salary.
  • Public sector workers were paid counting in Bill 124 compensation
  • 2024 budget revealed that Ontario deficit will triple
  • CEOs of the Hospital for Sick Children and the University Health Network figured in the top 10 list and each drew a salary of $850,000 each while CEO of the provincial transit agency, Metrolinx drew a salary of $838,097.
  • 17 professors or associate professors at the University of Toronto drew a salary in excess of $500,000

Caroline Mulroney, president of the Treasury Board, stated in a release,

“The largest year-over-year increases were in the hospitals, municipalities, and services, and post-secondary sectors, which together represented approximately 80 percent of the growth of the list.”

Also Read: Hims & Hers CEO Andrew Dudum Says Wants to Hire Student Protesters Backlash Underway

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