For the first time, the 2015 round of PISA collected data on students’ exposure to bullying. These data show that bullying is widespread. On average across OECD countries, around 11% of students reported that they are frequently (at least a few times per month) made fun of, 8% reported that they are frequently the object of nasty rumours in school, and 7% reported that they are frequently left out of things.

Globally, enrolment in secondary education has expanded dramatically over the past decades. This expansion is also reflected in PISA data, particularly for low- and middle-income countries. Between 2003 and 2015, Indonesia added more than 1.1 million students, Turkey and Brazil more than 400 000 students, and Mexico more than 300 000 students, to the total population of 15-year-olds eligible to participate in PISA.

As educators know well, there are many barriers to learning that originate outside of school, such as those that arise from socio-economic disadvantage. In many education systems, the concentration of disadvantaged students in certain schools poses an additional challenge.

Diversity in the classroom includes differences in the way students brains learn, or neurodiversity. Diagnoses of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) have risen dramatically in the last two decades.

Late next month (21 November, to be exact) we’ll be releasing the results PISA’s first-ever assessment of students’ ability to solve problems collaboratively. Why has PISA focused on this particular set of skills? Because in today’s increasingly interconnected world, people are often required to collaborate in order to achieve their objectives, both in the workplace and in their personal lives.

Solving unfamiliar problems on one’s own is important, but in today’s increasingly interconnected world, people are often required to collaborate in order to achieve their goals. Teamwork has numerous benefits, from a diverse range of opinions to synergies among team members, and assigning tasks to those who are best suited to them.

The assessment examines students’ ability to work with two or more people to try to solve a problem. The report highlights how students’ gender, socio-economic status and immigrant background are related to their performance in the assessment and to their attitudes towards collaboration in general.

Girls are much better than boys at working together to solve problems, according to the first OECD PISA assessment of collaborative problem solving.

This month’s PISA in Focus provides an overview of the assessment’s results and shows that collaborative problem-solving performance is positively related to performance in the core PISA subjects (science, reading and mathematics). The results also show, among other findings, that girls perform significantly better than boys in collaborative problem solving in every country and economy that participated in the assessment.

with Andreas Schleicher - Director for the Directorate of Education and Skills (November 21, 2017)

Too many people from disadvantaged backgrounds are falling behind in education and future job market, according to a new OECD report. Educational Opportunity For All says that children, students and adults from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds receive too little support to succeed in school and in learning opportunities later in life.

Standardised tests help measure student’s progress at school and can inform education policy about existing shortfalls. However, too much testing could lead to much pressure on students and teachers to learn and teach for a test, something that would take the joy out of the learning process.

PISA 2015 data show that, on average across OECD countries, as many as three out of four students from the lowest quarter of socio-economic status reach, at best, only the baseline level of proficiency (Level 2) in reading, mathematics or science.

This publication is the follow-up to the forum held in March 2012. It offers proposals to counter the effects of the earthquake shock, to secure the sustainability of the local economy.

Through the example of Abruzzo, whose capital L’Aquila was destroyed by an earthquake four years ago, a new OECD report recommends policies that can speed the recovery of regions hit by natural disasters, making them more attractive to residents, tourists and investors.

This working paper assesses national policy and governance mechanisms that can influence green growth in Chinese cities.

Mexico regularly faces a wide range of natural hazards, including earthquakes, tropical storms and floods. Over the years, the National Civil Protection System has improved its institutional and operational preparedness to manage these disruptive events. But more can be done to avoid future losses and at the same time support sustainable economic development.

Many areas like Manisa suffer from a local lack of sophisticated demand in terms of expressed SME requirements. This leaves considerable scope for demand and supply side initiatives set within KOSGEB’s framework that will assist in shaping intervention and promoting a coherent approach to SME development.

Improving Myanmar's agricultural sector by building up food processing activities and related services could help the transformation of the country's economy, to a more modern one able to produce higher-value goods for export, according to a new OECD report.

The OECD event "Risk Governance and Resilient Cities" will examine how risk governance can better manage complex risks and how to improve the resilience of cities to these risks.

The work will seek to identify good practices for employer engagement in the areas of both developing and utilising skills, including setting up innovative workplace learning methods, designing effective employer partnerships with the employment and training system as well as financing mechanisms for employer-led training, including how best to reach SMEs.

A snapshot of current and future challenges in urban development and how they are impacting on human development, well-being, and public governance systems worldwide.

On January 26th and 27th the Ministry of Regional Development of Ukraine and the OECD organised a seminar in Kiyv focusing on recent decentralisation and territorial reforms in Ukraine and in OECD countries.

This seminar was held in held in Lviv on 22 June 2017.

This seminar series is part of the OECD project, Supporting Decentralisation in Ukraine.

Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) play an important role in the economic, social and urban development of cities and regions and are also a powerful engine for innovation and competitiveness. T‌he conference represents the closure of the 1st Summer Academy on Cultural and Creative Industries and Local Development.

This document presents the outcomes of the 3rd OECD Biopesticide Seminar, held in 2011, that focused on the topic of “botanicals” (also known as plant extracts). The Seminar reviewed a number of scientific and regulatory issues related to the “characterisation and analyses of botanicals for the use in plant protection products”.

This document follows on from a report entitled Important Issues on Risk Assessment of Manufactured Nanomaterials [ENV/JM/MONO(2012)8]. This report identified a range of issues which the WPMN considered important in risk assessment and which should be addressed in the future. It summarised results of a survey which was circulated to delegations of the WPMN, methodologies used to analyze the survey, and the identified priorities.

This OECD monograph demonstrates how a chemical hazard assessment that considers and ranks all available relevant information - a so-called weight of evidence approach - can be constructed to conclude on a particular hazard endpoint for a chemical, in this case, skin sensitisation for 4-isopropylaniline.

The OECD has just published two new Test Guidelines on human health hazard endpoint skin sensitisation. Skin sensitisation refers to an allergic response following skin contact with the tested chemical, as defined by the United Nations Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (UN GHS).

A major fruit crop of temperate regions, APPLE is consumed worldwide as fresh fruit, juice and other food products. This consensus document provides science-based key insights for the regulatory assessment of the environmental safety of genetically-engineered products: taxonomy, reproductive biology, genetics, hybridisation and introgression, and ecology.

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3. Sachin Tendulkar provides financial aid to 4000 underprivileged people  Hindustan Times
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6. View Full coverage on Google News

I worry about my brother Tom. He has Fragile X, the most common cause of inherited learning disability. He can't write, read or understand money. He refers to Covid-19 as 'this bloody flu virus'.

The Veronicas have reignited their feud with Qantas after claiming they were unfairly removed from a flight last month.

Jess and Lisa Origliasso have revealed that they thought they were the subject of a prank when they were removed from a Qantas flight last month.

The Veronicas' Lisa and Jessica Origliasso have been announced as presenters at this year's ARIA Awards on Wednesday November 27.

The Veronicas' Lisa and Jessica Origliasso have spoken out about their mother's health battle.

1. The present case pertains to alleged cartelisation amongst certain parties in relation to Requests for Quotations ('RFQs') issued by certain Automobile Original Equipment Manufacturers ('OEMs') for supply of (i) Anti-Vibration Rubber Products ('AVR Products'); and (ii) Automotive Hoses (Water and Fuel) ('Hoses').

Suo Motu Case No. 01 of 2016 1

PUBLIC VERSION

2. The case commenced upon receipt of certain information under the provisions of Section 46 of the Competition Act, 2002 (the 'Act') read with the Competition Commission of India (Lesser Penalty) Regulations, 2009 (the 'LPR') which disclosed that two or more of the following companies had exchanged information and/ or reached agreements amongst themselves, as to who would supply AVR Products and Hoses in response to the RFQs issued by certain Automobile OEMs:

Nicola Rayner was loving her life and work in Buenos Aires when a night out ended in terror. She recounts the horrifying ordeal that almost cost her her life

I worry about my brother Tom. He has Fragile X, the most common cause of inherited learning disability. He can't write, read or understand money. He refers to Covid-19 as 'this bloody flu virus'.

Any concerns that the disagreement between Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane could develop into a long-running feud were swatted aside as Liverpool won 3-1 against Newcastle.  

The legendary actress, 85, also revealed that despite her great success, a career in film was never her intention after she was told she would 'never make a movie'.

By Uzmi Athar New Delhi, May 10 () Several NGOs working in the disability sector are facing severe financial crunch as most of the funds and donations they would earlier get has been diverted towards tackling the COVID-19 crisis.Prashant Verma, general secretary, National Association for the Blind, says he could just pay 65 per cent salary to his employees in the last two months due to financial crunch and if no fresh donations are made he does not have any money to pay his 120 staff members this month."We feel as if we are at the end of the line," he told .Verma said his organisation used to get grants from many companies under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and even from individuals, especially during March as it was the end of the financial year."But this year we didn't get any money.

The West Bengal government has asked the heads of all hospitals to ensure that immunisation programmes against vaccine-preventable diseases continue in full steam amid the Covid-19 outbreak. Immunisation should go on during COVID-19 outbreak to protect children and pregnant women from 'vaccine-preventable diseases' (VPD), the health and family welfare department said in a notification. It was addressed to the superintendents of all medical colleges and hospitals and the chief medical officer of health of all districts. Copy of the notification issued on May 6 was made available on Saturday.

Municipal leaders, including mayor of the BJP-ruled North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), on Sunday took part in a sanitisation drive outside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence on Flagstaff Road here. The sanitisation exercise is part of the NDMC's campaign to prevent spread of COVID-19, said Jai Prakash, chairman of the standing committee of NDMC. "We have been sanitising the whole municipal area with mechanical and manual spray of sanitisers. So, we are here on Flagstaff road which comes under the NDMC's jurisdiction," Jai Prakash said. The municipal corporation has deployed nearly 40 large truck mounted power sprays and around 40 smaller mechanical sprays, to cover roads, residential areas, markets and other public places under the NDMC, he said.

Several NGOs working in the disability sector are facing severe financial crunch as most of the funds and donations they would earlier get has been diverted towards tackling the COVID-19 crisis. Prashant Verma, general secretary, National Association for the Blind, says he could just pay 65 per cent salary to his employees in the last two months due to financial crunch and if no fresh donations are made he does not have any money to pay his 120 staff members this month. "We feel as if we are at the end of the line," he told PTI. Verma said his organisation used to get grants from many companies under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and even from individuals, especially during March as it was the end of the financial year. "But this year we didn't get any money. Some of the companies, which even committed to us, are saying that this time they have to think about their own survival. Many individuals (who earlier donated) don't have money to support us. A lot of the money is ...

The India Together editorial.

Ramesh Ramanathan

Over the next two decades, Indians are going to see an enormous challenge to the value systems of the past, being replaced by the new value systems of globalisation says Ramesh Ramanathan.

The top down approach of the Disaster Managment Act had its advantages but completely ignored local knowledge and ways of living. The need is for a judicious mix of the traditional and technological, argues Max Martin.