Nigerian Times

Media Roundtable Discussion with Justin Chadwick, Director of the Movie, The First Grader from George Wada on Vimeo . Justin Chadwick's remarkable film The First Grader is our movie of the month and when you see it, you would be be thrilled to agree with our choice. Read the synopsis for a start. Kenya, 2003: A radio DJ announces that the Kenyan government is offering free primary school education to all. Maruge (OLIVER LITONDO), an 84 year-old villager, hears this and decides he wants to educate himself. Arriving at his local school, with a newspaper clipping about this change in policy, he meetsJane (NAOMIE HARRIS), the school’s principal, and expresses his desire to learn. Her colleague Alfred (ALFRED MUNYUA), in an effort to get rid of him, tells him all pupils need two pencils and an exercise book. The next day, Maruge returns, telling Jane he wants to learn to read. He has a letter from the “Office of the President” that he wants to understand. Exasperated, she tells him t...

29 Mar 2011 08:00 Africa/Lagos 7 out of 10 Teachers Think the Internet Could Help Improve Communication With Parents BERGEN, Germany, March 29, 2011/PRNewswire/ -- 71% of teachers feel that a secure internet 'parent portal',where parents could see details about their child's schooling, would improve school-to-parent communication,according to a survey of 5805 teachers released today by leading educational ICT provider itslearning (http://www.itslearning.eu). In the survey of teachers in France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the UK and the US, 75% of teachers also rated parental engagement as either 'important' or 'very important' for the success of a child's education. However, 44% said they didn't have the time or means to communicate with parents as much as they would like. "Teachers agree that involving parents is critical,but they aren't able to communicate with parents effectively," says Morten Fahlvik,Research Manager at itslearning. ...