education – SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR)

UK: Late-September – Time to go “Conkering”! (3.10.2026)

03/10/2026 Adrian (釋大道)

Two people would face-off in a Conkering Competition – with one holding their stringed conquer “still” – whilst the opponent “swung” their stringed conquer at it with as much force as they could muster. The impact would either do nothing – damage and/or smash the conker. The swing could also miss. I seem to remember the one strike each – or agreed number of strikes – often three-swings each. Today, children still marvel at the dropping of horse-chestnuts – but do not really know what to do with them. Kai-Lin, my ten-year old daughter, has gathered-up about 20 conkers from the local park. It seems that local schools banned Conkering due to injuries being sustained by participants and those watching. Although not officially banned – this draconian approach amounted to much the same effect.

The State Council Information Office (SCIO) holds a press conference on advancing high-quality development in civil affairs during the 15th Five-Year Plan period in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 23, 2026. (Photo by Zhao Yifan/Xinhua)

China: Boost to Psychological Protection of Children in Difficulty! (24.9.2026)

24/09/2026 Adrian (釋大道)

Beyond strengthening existing programmes, new services, including care programmes for children with autism and assessments of family guardianship arrangements, will be established with stepped-up efforts, Hu said.

He also highlighted the primary-level role in child protection. China currently has about 42,000 “child supervisors” at the township and subdistrict levels and 550,000 “child directors” and workers at the village and community levels.

Hu described them as “strong guardians” of children in difficult circumstances and said their training would be expanded to include mental health screening, safety risk assessments, mandatory reporting and home visits as required components, strengthening their ability to identify and respond to risks facing children.

Prime Minister calls on education authorities, teachers, parents, students and society as a whole to strengthen efforts to improve education quality!

Laos Buddhist-Socialist Republic: PM Calls for Strong Improvement in All Education Standards During New Academic Year! (22.9.2026)

22/09/2026 Adrian (釋大道)

He commended education administrators, teachers, students, local authorities and development partners for their contributions during the 2025–2026 academic year, particularly in improving school infrastructure, expanding school meals in remote areas, promoting non-formal education, increasing student allowances and reducing school dropout rates.

For the new academic year, he called for stronger measures to address teacher shortages, reduce dropout rates, improve vocational and higher education enrolment, and enhance teaching quality through modern techniques and technology.

The Prime Minister urged teachers to uphold professional ethics and continuously improve teaching methods, while encouraging parents to ensure their children remain in school through at least compulsory lower-secondary education.

Taliban Schools Out-Law Unauthorised Smiling

UK: “Taliban-Style” School Discipline Comes to Somerset! (18.9.2026)

18/09/2026 Adrian (釋大道)

It is a primitive culture that equates “literacy” with “rebellion”. In Somerset, “lack of freedom” is illogically equated with “literacy”. Creative expression is equated with a “deviation” from the norm – but whose “norm” are we talking about? A disadvantaged working-class child will continue to be a disadvantaged working-class child – even if their personal freedom is compromised. The “weight” of society is already balanced against them. No. Like the brutality of the Taliban – the Somerset Solution is designed all crush freedom of expression. Of course, the justification for all this suffering is that it allegedly “does the children good” – but surely – this is a form of child abuse. Not all children will be high-achievers or geniuses. Nature (and evolution) is just not like that. The lumpen proletariat (of which I am a part) are “average” in achievement – but this is precisely how humanity has developed. It is the “group effort” that matters – and not usually the antics of an individual whose “behaviour” (UK spelling) does not equate to the well-being of the collecive.

China: Nation to Advance Fertility-Friendly Push! (15.9.2026)

15/09/2026 Adrian (釋大道)

With more than 10 million students enrolling in colleges and universities each year amid a boom in the higher education sector, China is building an expanding and highly skilled workforce, Lei said.

Official data shows that, by the end of 2025, China had about 851.36 million people ages 16 to 59, and that group had an average of 11.3 years of schooling, up 0.1 year from a year earlier.

Lei added that the annual number of newborns has remained at about 8 million despite an overall downward trend.

“Compared with other developed and developing countries, very few have births at this level, so China will still have a relatively ample labour force in the future,” he said.

Lei noted that China will continue to roll out fertility-friendly measures to ease the burden of childbirth, child-rearing and education.

Among the latest fertility support policies are the rollout of a fertility subsidy, which has so far benefited more than 30 million families, and the establishment of nearly 12,600 early pregnancy care clinics nationwide, providing counselling and assessments.

The wooden coffin was on display in the Egypt and Sudan collections

UK: Why Museum’s Last Mummy Has Been Taken-Off Display! (14.9.2026)

14/09/2026 Adrian (釋大道)

When I was in Egypt during the mid-1990s, I found the local Egyptians would allow virtually anything just as long as you gave them money. In airports that served Westerners – the toilets would have no toilet-paper. Egyptian “attendants” would discreetly wait until a Westerner locked the door of a convenience and then knock on the door and offer sheets of toilet paper delivered under the door for a specified amount (usually Egyptian pound notes). This is the level of cheapness we are dealing with. Virtually anything was for sale in Islamic Egypt as the Arabs who control the country now have nothing to do with pyramid-building or the Pharaohs. We saw mummy after mummy on display as we traversed around (Egypt remains the only country where I was questioned by the Airport Authorities – and asked to explain “why” I was in a “mixed-ethnicity” marriage). Knowing what I know about the shallowness of contemporary Egyptian culture – I find the pretentious bourgeois attitude relayed below to be bordering on the laughable. Why would modern Egyptians care about the remains of a different ethnic group, whose religion they do not follow or care about? Muslims over the recent centuries have damaged the pyramids they now exploit to a remarkable degree. It is funny the BBC does mention this aspect.

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