| || |
An inspiring talk by Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy, discussing why we end up with limiting beliefs about certain subjects or areas of learning and how the current education system is contributing to this. We need a new approach - focusing on mastering concepts instead of just moving along to fit into a time-based curriculum.
It is definitely time to question the way that we are educating our kids and to find new solutions that fit with our natural ability to learn anything.
In South Africa, our Constitution allows for the best interests of the child to be taken as the highest priority in all situations concerning a child. This means that if the parents of the child are not acting in the child’s best interests that the courts may make decisions for that child that override those of the parents.
This is a good thing.
It means that children who are being physically, sexually or emotionally abused do not have to rely on the judgment of their parents for their wellbeing. Particularly when the parents are the abusers.
So how do we interpret this in terms of the new BELA Bill being proposed when this allows for the 6-year incarceration of parents whose sole crime is to homeschool their children? How do we interpret “the best interests of the child” in this situation?