Tag: 2019

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Schools around the UK are ‘discriminating against pupils with Afro hair’

Every one in six children with afro-textured hair are being ‘discriminated against at school, according to a report from the charity World Afro Day.

World Afro Day organisers are worried that some school hair policies can negatively affect children with afro-textured hair.

The investigation, led by De Montfort University Leicester,  showed a 66% rise in negative hair policies towards Afro hair Additionally, 95% of adults surveyed said they would like to see the introduction of hair protection laws — similar to those introduced recently in New York — brought to the UK.

Researchers conducted a survey with 1,000 people, looking into attitudes, school policies and the experiences of children in partnership with the group World Afro Day.

Of the children responding, nearly half (46%) had issues with the hair policies, compared with just 27% of adults saying it was an issue when they were at school.

At present neither the Department for Education nor Ofsted monitor school uniform policies, which cover hair, so they don’t know how many schools are breaking UK equality laws. ‘This is a really important issue that needs to be highlighted,’ said Sarah Younie, Professor in Education Innovation at DMU. ‘Nobody should be discriminated against because of their natural appearance and we wanted to find evidence that this was happening in UK schools, because we had heard anecdotal stories that it was. ‘The education research team at DMU worked collaboratively to support World Afro Day by creating the survey and gathering a large sample in a short period of time.’

It’s because of school rules surrounding hair and how you wear it.

These rules can include how short students wear their hair or what styles they wear it in.

HAIR EQUALITY REPORT 2019 “More than just Hair”

This study is in response to the OFSTED Education Inspection Framework 2019. World Afro Day has conducted – The Hair Equality Report, including a survey of 1000 respondents with support from researchers at De Montfort University.

Aim of the study

The Hair Equality Report aims to provide evidence to quantify the problem of hair discrimination in schools. How pupils are affected by it and what can be done to change it? The aim is to provide robust evidence so that the problem is no longer hidden and creates a motivation and impetus for change. The report will look at how this area of inequality has changed over time by comparing the current generation of children’s experiences to previous generations. The report will make recommendations and call for changes to address this discrimination.

The Rationale

The report is needed because there is a lack of awareness about this problem within governing bodies, school authorities and the general public. Hair discrimination has gone unrecognised for decades and needs to be addressed. Evidence was needed to support the calls for change and to educate people about the problems. Afro hair bias has been a global topic, gaining momentum but some of the key flash points, have been discrimination against children.  

So what do you think, should you be told how to have your hair at school? Has this been a problem for you?

Download Report
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Duke and Duchess of Sussex reveal royal baby’s name is Archie

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh meet royal baby Archie, held by Meghan as Prince Harry and Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, look on. Photograph: Chris allerton/Sussex Royal/Twitter

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have named their newborn son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. Right up until now the newest royal was referred to in the press simply as “Baby Sussex”.

Meghan recently said: “It’s magic, it’s pretty amazing, and I have the two best guys in the world, so I’m really happy,” she said during her son’s first brief encounter with a television camera.”

The name was announced shortly after the Queen met her eighth great-grandchild for the first time at Windsor Castle, where earlier the couple showed him off to the cameras and then posted pictures to social media.

“He’s already got a little bit of facial hair as well,” the bearded prince joked.

Archie’s first Instagram got 1.4MILLION likes within an hour of making his social media debut as his parents shared heart-warming family pictures taken by their personal photographer. 

Both the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are so incredibly grateful for the warm wishes and support they’ve received from everyone around the world, since welcoming their son two days ago.

The royal birth

Meghan gave birth to the couple’s first child at 5:26 a.m. local time on Monday. He weighed 7 pounds and 3 ounces, and Harry said on the day that both mom and baby were doing well.

Will Archie have a title?

By deciding to call their son Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, it is thought that the Duke and Duchess have in doing so signified they will not use a title for their first born.

The baby could have become Earl of Dumbarton – one of Prince Harry’s subsidiary titles – or have been Lord Archie Mountbatten-Windsor, but instead he will simply be Master Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.

Will Archie be a Christian and attend Church?

Yes, every member of the royal family is Christened into the Church of England, which is a Protestant strain of Christianity.

The reigning monarch, who’s currently the Queen, holds the title of Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

During her 1953 Coronation, Her Majesty was anointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and took an oath to “maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the Church of England”.

As part of her role as the Defender of the Faith, the Queen helps the Prime Minister appoint archbishops, bishops and deans of the Church of England.

Prince Charles has previously said that, when he becomes King, he will be known as Defender of Faith – to avoid excluding all the other religions practised in Britain today.

Harry and Meghan, a timeline

8 November 2016 – Kensington Palace releases a statement that confirms Prince Harry has been dating Meghan Markle “for a few months” and asks the press to respect their privacy

28 November 2017 – Harry and Meghan announce they are engaged to be married

15 December 2017 – Kensington Palace confirms the couple have chosen to wed in Windsor on 19 May the following year

19 May 2018 – Harry and Meghan are married in front of 600 guests at St George’s Chapel and become the Duke and Duchess of Sussex

15 October 2018 – Kensington Palace announces the duchess is pregnant, and is due to give birth in Spring 2019

6 May 2019 – Meghan gives birth to a boy, who becomes seventh in line to the throne

  • The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh meet royal baby Archie, held by Meghan as Prince Harry and Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, look on. Photograph: Chris allerton/Sussex Royal/Twitter
    The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh meet royal baby Archie, held by Meghan as Prince Harry and Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, look on. Photograph: Chris allerton/Sussex Royal/Twitter


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3 Timeless New Years Resolutions for 2019

People spend lots of time talking about a new year and all the things they plan to do.

I’m not immune from this foolishness. I, like you, have made some resolutions I know I’m not going to keep. As we go about the year, we’re going to forget a lot of what we said January 1. It happens in this business we call life. And it’s only natural because many of these promises we made to ourselves and not to God! If we  were truly honest with ourselves, how many times did we make a rule or promise that didn’t have God in mind? How many times  did we get angry when December comes around and we realize how little progress we’ve made?

Jesus already gave a list of things you need to do, so let’s start there for 2019:

1. Share the Gospel with the world, teaching them everything about Jesus (Matt. 28: 18-20). Jesus wants everyone to know him and to be known in the world. Beyond everything you hear in the news about Christians being persecuted for their faith in him, it’s still our job to share “The Good News”.

2. Be useful. Jesus says for us to present what he has done in our lives and be a light to this world (Matt 5: 14 -16). We have many Believers who choose to remain silent, oversaturated with social media missteps and fallacies, and who believe that if they over love the person in sin while never addressing their sin, they’re doing a good deed. The flavor we provide to this world as salt is to purify and make things better received when ingested (Matthew 5:13). Now before Mark 12:31 is taken out of context in response to that comment, let’s consider what is being done: Like a parent to a child,  do you not love your children enough to present to them their wrongdoing and a pathway to correction?  God did that with you!  We are sinners saved by grace. Simply share that truth, and God will do the rest.

3. Be discerning. Sans the popular culture abuse of Matthew 7:1 in regards to judging, we are to be discerning. Did you know that it’s written that we should avoid being deceived because of the effects of “Bad Company” ? (1 Cor. 15:33). I think that involves making some judgement calls on people and places right? In addition, John says that we should “…try the Spirits…” (1 John 4: 1-6).

The Bible presents all the New Years Resolutions we’ll ever need, and they’ve lasted longer than ours.

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Smartphones are paving way for the Antichrist, says head of Russian church

Russia Orthodox leader: The internet is the tool of the Antichrist

In a bold statement on Monday of Orthodox Christmas, Patriarch Kirill, leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, warned his congregants about putting too much trust in their smartphone. What spiritual leaders term “external forces” can track and control smartphone users where “location, interests, and fears” have been collected from their devices, a media report explained.

People’s dependence on smartphones and modern technology could bring about the coming of the Antichrist, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church has warned. 

Speaking to Russian state TV, Patriarch Kirill said smartphone users should be careful when using the “worldwide web of gadgets” because it represented “an opportunity to gain global control over mankind”. “The Antichrist is the person who will be at the head of the worldwide web, controlling all of humankind,” he said.

“The Antichrist is the person who will be at the head of the worldwide web, controlling all of humankind,” he said. 

Kirill said he was not against technology, only wary of the possibilities generated. “Control from one point is a sign of the coming of the Antichrist,” Kirill told government-run television network, according to the Moscow Times.

“The Antichrist is the personality who will be the world leader who controls all mankind. Thus, the structure itself presents a danger, ” he told television interviewers. He stated, “if we don’t want to approach the apocalypse, there shouldn’t be a single center (control and access).”

Worldwide Problems

The explosive growth of smart phones used on our earth is mind blowing. An estimated 2.5 billion people worldwide will use a smartphone by the end of 2019 according to research on the Statista website. And the latest statistical patterns do not show a decline. By 2020, according to emarketer.com, the smartphone user base will number 4.78 billion people, more than half the earth’s population. Whether people buy smartphones or not will depend on many factors, some of which might be budget problems. Some people who can’t afford to buy a device may be forced into using one because they follow their peers. There is also a question concerning the environment: Making a smartphone involves mining, and uses a number of precious metals that are in hard to reach places on the planet. Extracting these materials can damage large areas of land and place people – who live nearby in physical danger. Other environmental problems include spills of toxic chemicals and disruption to the planet’s ecosystem.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL – NOVEMBER 11: (AFP-OUT) Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill looks on during his meeting with Israel’s President Shimon Peres on November 11, 2012 at the President’s residence in Jerusalem, Israel. This is Kirill’s first visit to Israel since becoming head of the church in 2009. (Photo by Sebastian Scheiner-Pool/Getty Images)

Kirill’s TV appearance on Monday came two days after the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was granted independence from the Russian Orthodox Church– a split that has been described as the largest in the Orthodox Christianity since the Orthodox church became independent from the Roman Catholic Church in 1054.

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BPS World Research Highlights Challenges Facing Employers in 2017 Following Brexit

Global resourcing specialist BPS World has warned that one of the main challenges facing employers in the UK in 2017 will be the impact of Brexit on the ability to attract talent, particularly in the high-value digital, technical and engineering industries where recruiters are already struggling with severe skills shortages. This follows the publication by BPS World, of: “Brexit: What the World is Saying” which, for the first time, researched the global impact of Brexit and how other countries believe it will impact on skills.  

Simon Conington, Founder of BPS World, has urged the government to ensure that the UK continues to have access to skilled professional from Europe, particularly in the sectors where there are already skills shortages, or face a sharp decline in the UK’s ability to compete.

Although the UK will not be leaving the EU until 2019 we can expect an announcement this year on the shape of Brexit and what it will mean in practice.   Under so-called ‘hard-Brexit’ freedom of movement would be restricted and it would be as difficult for talent to be recruited from France as from the US. It is this that alarms those at the sharp end of skills shortages, such as BPS World. Recruits themselves are already showing signs of being aware of these new competitive forces: research revealed that almost half (48 per cent) of UK jobseekers were more concerned about finding a job than before the referendum.

Last year BPS World spoke to business leaders, representative bodies and professionals in the recruitment and retention sectors in Europe, India, Australia and the USA. The research focussed on the sectors most affected by skills shortages in the UK and overseas. It is in these sectors that the impact of Brexit and any restrictions or changes to work permits, is likely to be most keenly felt.

One of those they spoke to was Marco Dadomo, from the Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (VDI, Association of German Engineers) in Düsseldorf: “As we know, Britain has already problems finding enough specialists in this sector. Brexit will make it less attractive for international experts to work in Britain for a British company. We have also heard that quite a lot of UK experts of different sectors plan to leave Britain when Brexit will be implemented.”

Simon Conington, Founder of BPS World argued;

“2017 is going to be a pivotal year for the UK economy. The decisions the government makes now on the implementation of Brexit will affect our ability to attract the talent we need to grow. The impact will be felt immediately as talent will not come to the UK if they know they will have to leave within two years.   We urge the government to continue to ensure we have access to skilled people, particularly in sectors where we’re already struggling to find the talent we need.”

Kevin Green, Chief Executive of the REC welcomed the report:

“This review of the international community’s fears and needs following the EU referendum contains warnings about the challenges employers could face in the future. The prospect of skill and talent shortages intensifying in higher-end sectors is a huge concern. The government must ensure that any changes to immigration policy as a result of the EU negotiations reflect immediate labour market needs so that businesses can continue to grow.”

Brexit: What the World is Saying is available free to download from www.bps-world.com

Notes to Editors

BPS World are global resourcing experts who work across a number of sectors, specialising in technology, marketing and engineering.

For further information:

Julia Barton
Onyx
E: julia@onyxcomms.com
T: + 44 20 7048 2700

 

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