JUBA, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan said Friday it would send the third batch of teachers and school managers to China for training under the second phase of the China-Aided Technical Cooperation Project in Education.

Kuyok Abol Kuyok, undersecretary of the Ministry of General Education and Instruction, said that the group of 82 members who will leave on Saturday for one-month training in Shanghai comprises education directors, school inspectors, and managers.

"We have about 82 headmasters, school inspectors, managers that are going to attend this specific training in Shanghai, it is part of the China-Aided Technical Cooperation Project in Education program that has been running for the last two years," Kuyok said while briefing the trainees in Juba, capital of South Sudan, ahead of their trip to China.

Kuyok revealed that the first batch of trainees under the project returned to the country about two months ago.

"This is part of the support China is providing for education in South Sudan, it is support from the government of China, some of whom are directors, and we expect them to come back and train others," he added.

In November 2023, 150 teachers and school managers went to China for training.

The second phase of the project involves drafting, printing, and provision of textbooks for some primary and secondary schools in South Sudan, organizing capacity-building programs for the teachers and the educational administrators, developing and providing an evaluation system for the usage of the textbooks, and dispatching Chinese teaching personnel to Juba to teach the Chinese language. - Xinhua

Macky Sall says consultations for organization of election of his successor will begin on Monday. 

Senegal’s president announced Thursday that his mandate as president will end on April 2 and consultations for the organization of the election of his successor will start next week.

Speaking in a media interview in the capital Dakar, Macky Sall said the date for holding presidential elections he had postponed remains open but he plans to leave his position as president after the end of his term.

“On April 2, 2024, my mission ends as the head of Senegal,” he said.

“As far as the date is concerned, we'll see from the outcome of consultations, which are expected to begin on Monday, Feb. 26 and probably end on Tuesday. If a consensus is not reached, everything will be referred to the Constitutional Council,” he said.

The election can be held before or after April 2, he added.

Sall announced the indefinite suspension of the Feb. 25 presidential election on Feb. 3, citing a dispute over the candidate list and alleged corruption of constitutional judges.

The National Assembly then passed a bill postponing the vote until Dec. 15 as security forces stormed the building and removed some opposition lawmakers.

But the Senegalese Constitutional Council declared the law postponing the country’s presidential vote to December “unconstitutional” and annulled his decree to delay the poll.

The election delay in the West African country triggered violent protests, during which three people were killed and dozens of others were arrested.

The protesters accused Sall of using “fallacious reasons to postpone the election” just hours before the campaign began. By James Tasamba, Anadolu Agency

Scotland Yard has been accused of arrogance and resistance to change by Doreen Lawrence, 25 years after the publication of the damning Macpherson report.

In an article for the Guardian, the social justice campaigner said it is “sickening to feel that the same issues are still happening today”, in reference to the insufficient progress since the report in February 1999 about the force’s flawed investigation into the murder of her son, Stephen Lawrence.

The report by Sir William Macpherson, a retired high court judge, concluded that the investigation into the fatal stabbing in 1993 in Eltham, south-east London, had been “marred by a combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism and a failure of leadership”.

A total of 70 recommendations were made to transform the police’s attitude towards race relations and improve accountability, which led to the introduction of detailed targets for the recruitment, retention and promotion of black and Asian officers, as well as the creation of the Independent Police Complaints Commission. 

Lady Lawrence said the retention of black officers and barriers to their promotion up the ranks remains a pertinent issue today. She wrote: “I ask myself why the police are so resistant to change. My only conclusion is that they are arrogant, they believe only in themselves and don’t think they need to change.

“Occasionally I hear that a police officer has been suspended, but it’s not enough.

“So much more needs to be done. I’ve spoken to the commissioner and one of the things I told him is that only when the community can see and experience change, can they truly say they are making changes.

“Recruitment and retention of black officers within the police was one of the big areas that Macpherson highlighted for improvement. And it is a crucial issue today. In my experience, many senior officers are capable of understanding the issues involving policing of the black community. But the lower ranks don’t.”

The Labour peer said figures show that black officers are still more likely to be disciplined than their white counterparts and are less likely to be promoted.

Lawrence also called for “urgent reform” of the education system to help eradicate discrimination. “Twenty-five years after Macpherson suggested reforming our national curriculum, black Britons still don’t learn about their history in British society,” she said. “Unless this is changed, they will always grow up feeling that they are seen as second-class citizens.

“When the Windrush scandal happened, people needed to know that those from the Caribbean were asked to come here. That should have been part of our history lessons.”

Nicola Rollock, a professor of social policy and race at King’s College London, has also expressed concerns about “signs that we are now regressing in promoting racial justice”.

Writing in the Guardian, the author warned that a “lack of political leadership instead promises to fuel increased ignorance and division.”

“Macpherson and his advisers regarded the schools system as essential in eliminating racism from society,” she said. “Education has changed significantly since the recommendations were published in 1999. There is light there.

“But less so in our politics. Twenty-five years after the release of the Macpherson report – 30 years after Stephen’s murder – we remain in dire need of leaders who will recognise the struggles of racially minoritised groups, alongside the challenges faced by white working-class communities, and who will find bold ways to bring us together rather than divide us. That wait continues.” By Nadeem Badshah, Guardian