Tag Archives: education
Nurseries must get nod for evening shift
Nurseries must get nod for evening shift Ahmed Shaaban / 12 August 2013 Nursery schools are not usually permitted to receive small children in the evening but a few exceptions have been allowed by the Ministry of Social Affairs. Moza Salem Al Shoomi, Director of the Child Department at the ministry, said some families had approached the ministry requesting nurseries to keep their young children till late in the evening. “All these applications are normally rejected, but some specific requests are allowed.” A nursery could never substitute a child’s own family who needed to take the responsibility and bring him or her up properly. “A child may not be kept away from his/her mother for over eight hours a day.” Al Shoomi said some requests for the same had been allowed, but only till 6pm, after being convinced of certain situations like the mother having to work late into the evening in a private institution. “However, the ministry’s approval is needed in advance, and the charges for the same may never exceed those paid in the morning shift according to the number of requested hours.” According to the set rules, all nurseries are only open from 7am to 2pm. “Of course, those given permission to receive young children in the evening may only be open till maximum 6pm.” “Also, no children above the age limit (five years) can be received in the evening period. “No activity other than the listed ones should be practised during the evening time, and the nursery building may only be used for the purpose it was built for. The nursery management shall be held responsible for all activities.” Al Shoomi warned that the evening permit issued for some nurseries would be revoked in case the management proved to have flouted the set conditions or been warned by the ministry inspectors. “All nurseries must be off on Fridays and Saturdays every week, and no nursery is allowed to take an extra day off,” she said, noting that it was very critical for all nurseries to abide by all official holidays and weekends. Meanwhile, the ministry issued a warning letter against a nursery and ordered it to be put under strict surveillance after a child was found to be harmed. “We have received 18 family complaints against nurseries in the first half of the year, and this reflects an increasing awareness among families of the nature of nurseries’ work.” She added that a little child had a hand broken while playing in one of the nurseries operating in the country this year. “Though the incident is normal, it has been one of the most harmful to young children at the nurseries here.” The complaints were mostly about the absence of headmistresses, failure to take due care of children, accepting children above the age limit, operating without a licence, charging of extra fees, expelling children for not paying fees, letting workers in during nursery hours and lack of competent cadre. “While the ministry issued licences for 29 new nurseries from January to June this year, 119 applications for opening new nurseries were rejected for not meeting the conditions.” – ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
Eid protests in Egypt as military holds off
Eid protests in Egypt as military holds off (Reuters) / 9 August 2013 Ssupporters of Egypt’s deposed president Mohammed Mursi held a festive rally for the Eid Al Fitr on Thursday to demand his restoration after the military-led authorities that removed him held off from a threat to break up protest sit-ins. The rarely-seen wife of Mursi, Naglaa Mahmoud, made a surprise appearance on stage at the main demonstration in Cairo to appeal for her husband’s return as the crowds roared “Returning! Returning!” Interim President Adly Mansour declared on Wednesday that international diplomatic efforts had failed to resolve the political crisis and the government warned activists to leave the protest camps, saying the decision to remove them was final. US and European Union envoys left Cairo after the breakdown of their attempts to broker a solution, which had also involved Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. However, a person involved in the mediation effort said the authorities and Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood might yet step back from confrontation and implement mutual confidence building steps that could lead to a negotiated settlement. “It’s not over yet,” the diplomat said. “It could work but we don’t have any guarantees. Everything is very fragile.” Government and military sources also said the talks were not terminated but had been frozen to assuage public anger over perceived foreign interference in Egypt’s affairs and among some at the authorities’ willingness to negotiate with the Brotherhood after months of demonising them. A military source said the authorities were holding back from using force to clear the protest camps partly due to fear that liberal Vice-President Mohamed ElBaradei would resign, removing a source of political legitimacy for army rule. State-owned newspapers splashed giant red headlines such as “The last warning”, “Government to Brotherhood: diplomacy is finished”, and “Egypt rejects sermons from the American Satan”, sign of the contempt with which the public holds the United States, which provides Egypt with $1.5 billion in annual aid. Mursi has been jailed at a secret location since the military removed him from power on July 3 and other senior Brotherhood figures have been rounded up. Thousands of Mursi followers have maintained vigils at two Cairo locations for five weeks, despite government orders to disband and two mass shootings when security forces killed scores of them with live fire. Interim Prime Minister Hazem El Beblawi visited the Central Security Forces with the interior minister in an apparent effort to calm hardliners impatient for tougher action. “He assured them that the government places security at the top of its priorities and that there is no stable society without security that is founded on the law, and that protects the sovereignty of the state and the lives of its citizens and their possessions,” a statement from Beblawi’s office said. Thousands of demonstrators converged on the Brotherhood protest camp in northeastern Cairo in a festive atmosphere to attend prayers and a rally on the first day of the Eid Al Fitr. “I came here because I want to make a small difference,” said Ghada Idriss, 35, who travelled from the rural province of Minya by car with her husband, two young sons, and two-month-old daughter Lougine. “By sitting here peacefully, they will understand and know that we refuse the return of the system of Hosni (Mubarak),” he said of the former autocrat swept from office in a 2011 revolt. The public appearance of Mursi’s wife after five weeks out of the limelight since her husband’s detention caused wild excitement outside the Rabaa Al Adawiya mosque. She waved her hands above her head, flanked by senior Brotherhood leader Mohamed El Beltagi. “Of course it’s very difficult for me to speak. God willing he is returning, God willing, God willing,” she said in a strong voice, dressed in a cream-coloured waist-length veil over a long burgundy dress. “Praise God, the Egyptian people proved that they are Islamist… God willing, Islamist,” she said. Secular and leftist groups have also called for mass demonstrations and public prayers across Egypt to support what they see as a popular revolution that led to the overthrow of Mursi by the military after just a year in office. In one apparent conciliatory gesture, prosecutors dropped the main charge against the head of the Brotherhood’s political wing, Saad El Katatni, in a possible prelude to releasing him. The Brotherhood allowed a human rights organisation and a European Parliament delegation to visit the Rabaa Al Adawiya sit-in, where anti-Mursi media have alleged that weapons had been stockpiled – a charge denied by the Islamists. The person involved in the mediation effort said a sequence of statements and confidence building measures aimed at reducing tensions and reassuring public opinion might yet lead to direct or indirect negotiations between the two sides. So far, the Brotherhood has refused to accept what it calls the illegal coup and has publicly demanded the return of the elected president. The new authorities have accused Islamist leaders of inciting violence, frozen the Brotherhood’s assets and vowed to put them on trial. “The train of the future has departed, and everyone must realise the moment and catch up with it, and whoever fails to realise this moment must take responsibility for their decision,” interim president Mansour said in an Eid broadcast. Diplomats have said any settlement would have to involve a dignified exit for Mursi, Brotherhood acceptance of the new disposition, the release of political prisoners arrested since the takeover and a future political role for the Brotherhood. The United States and the EU said on Wednesday they were very concerned that the Egyptian parties had not found a way to break what they called a dangerous stalemate. “This remains a very fragile situation, which holds not only the risk of more bloodshed and polarisation in Egypt, but also impedes the economic recovery, which is so essential for Egypt’s successful transition,” US Secretary of State John Kerry and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement. Continue reading
Sharif upset over border clashes, calls for peace
Sharif upset over border clashes, calls for peace (IANS) / 9 August 2013 Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed “sadness” on Thursday over the border clashes in Kashmir, and said India and Pakistan must take “effective steps” to restore normalcy on the frontier. Sharif told foreign ministry officials here that he was sad over the incidents involving Pakistani and Indian troops along the Line of Control (LoC) that divides Jammu and Kashmir between the two countries. ‘The prime minister said it was imperative for both India and Pakistan to take effective steps to ensure and restore ceasefire on the LoC,’ a foreign ministry statement quoted him as saying. Sharif’s comments came as Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony earlier in the day formally accused the Pakistan Army of killing the five soldiers in Indian territory early Tuesday. Antony’s previous statement blaming ‘heavily armed terrorists’ and others in Pakistani military uniform led to a storm, with the opposition accusing him of trying to take away the blame from the Pakistan Army. Without referring to the death of the Indian soldiers, the statement said the clashes – two Pakistani soldiers were later wounded by Indians – had flared up tensions between India and Pakistan leading to ‘loss of precious human lives’. Sharif, who took power in June, emphasised that existing military-to-military channels could be more optimally used to prevent misunderstanding between the two neighbours. The present crisis, he said, should not be allowed to escalate. ‘Pakistan … is prepared to discuss steps with India for further strengthening of existing mechanisms both at the political and military levels,’ the statement quoted him as saying. This is the first major diplomatic crisis Sharif is facing and it comes ahead of a planned meeting between him and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September. Sharif said it was incumbent upon the leaders of India and Pakistan ‘not to allow the situation to drift and to take steps to improve the atmosphere by engaging constructively with a view to building trust and confidence’. He said he looked forward to his meeting with Manmohan Singh in New York, where he hoped to ‘discuss steps to further build trust and consolidate this relationship’. The prime minister reiterated Pakistan’s resolve to persist in its efforts to improve relations with India ‘through a constructive dialogue on all issues’. Those present at Sharif’s meeting included Information Minister Pervez Rashid and Advisor to the prime minister on National Security Sartaj Aziz. The Tuesday killings of Indian soldiers and the wounding of a sixth have led to calls in India that further talks with Pakistan must be called off. Continue reading
