The call from the Foreign Office to Professor Valpy FitzGerald, the head of Oxford’s Department of International Development, came in the spring of 2002.
Would he please consider taking a certain student, the son of the Libyan dictator, to help the British Government ingratiate itself with his father, part of a bigger project to bring the Gaddafi regime in from the diplomatic cold.
“He was contacted by a senior civil servant at the FCO ‘to enquire if they could admit Saif to the MSc in Development Economics, or failing that to the MPhil in Development Studies’,” reveals Lord Woolf, in his report into how the London School of Economics later came to accept Gaddafi’s son Saif as a student, as well as a £1.5m donation from Saif’s foundation.
“It was made clear, he told me,” said Lord Woolf, “that the FCO would appreciate help in this case since Libya was opening up to the West again.” The professor told the civil servant that “the bottom line was whether (Saif) had adequate prior academic qualifications”.
After the FCO had provided Professor FitzGerald with evidence of Saif’s academic qualifications, Oxford rejected him and the matter was dropped.
Read full article…
Everyday many individuals and parents will be faced with the important question of “What is the best way to educate my child?”. For many the answer to this important and life changing decision is utilizing, not the traditional public school option, but using the Montessori style of teaching environment. Montessori schools are unique and different in many ways form traditional public schools. These differences have been shown to not be a negative against Montessori schools, but rather a positive. This brief article will discuss some of the chief benefits that Montessori schools can offer to their pupils.
Recent studies from the United Kingdom have shaken many within the traditional school system. These studies focused upon Montessori schools and their benefits. The benefits were amazing and not expected by the testers. This is due in part because unfortunately some have a negative view of Montessori schools. These studies and many others prove the negative views are incorrect. T Read full article…
Outdoor activities will help children grow and develop emotionally, mentally and socially and exercises are important for physical growth. It is the role of the parents to motivate children to get out and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. Children need to realize the pleasure that is obtained by playing on outdoor toys and hanging out with friends. Another task of parents is to choose the right outdoor equipment that is high quality and durable for many years.
Today the market of outdoor toys is crowded as there are so many different varieties of play equipment, including sand pits, trampolines, toddler ride ons, slides and swings.
Outdoor games have different effects on different body parts. For example, bouncing a trampoline is required for physical strength and hand-eye coordination while climbing is good for strengthening muscles. However it is not possible to buy all the toys for children, which is one reason that many parents decide to buy one toy and attach various accessories to form a perfect system of outdoor play based on the preferences of children. Read full article…
Today it seems like a foreign concept for children to play outside. Until about 15 years, it was assumed that, after school, on weekends and during school holidays, playing outside is something that all children have participated in. You can continue this tradition buying Samba football goals, if you and your child like playing soccer.
With the advent of personal computers, and with more advanced video games, children found that there was no reason to get out more. Add to that the concerns of parents about child safety, and now there is a generation of children who are obese more than ever in history. There are also children who have poor social skills and can not interact properly. Those children who remained within the 15 years or so are some of our young workforce now. They have poor communication skills, and they lack the ability to recognize the professional and personal boundaries.
That’s why children should play outside after school and on weekends. T Read full article…