Category Archives: Sealand

Nature and the great outdoors are the heroes in the eye-catching Sunshine Coast homes and buildings celebrated in the latest regional architecture awards.

The top gong goes to an impressive residence comprising two linked, parallel wings nestled among lush rainforest surroundings.

Ridgewood House, by Robinson Architects, has been awarded the Gabriel Poole Award for Building of the Year at the 2022 Australian Institute of Architects Regional Architecture Awards for the Sunshine Coast.

Ridgewood House won the 2022 Gabriel Poole Award for Building of the Year. Picture: Nic Granleese

The Noosa hinterland home also received a regional commendation in the Residential Architecture New category.

Judges praised the architects responsiveness to the subtropical site.

This project draws you deep into the experience of place with a refreshing inventiveness that epitomises the Sunshine Coast, they said.

Striking tapered eaves hang over the homes periphery, allowing fresh breezes to travel through the entire structure.

Ridgewood House. Picture: Nic Granleese

An existing shed is converted into a studio workspace and a tool/machinery shed is contemporarily clad in galvanised iron.

A plunge pool, small ceramics studio and floor-to-ceiling windows with green vistas are some of the more distinguishing features of the home.

The homeowners said the design accentuated the surrounding natural environment.

As the light changes during the day, the house mellows with the suns warmth, they said.

Our favourite spot is sitting on the deck, enjoying the sunshine or listening to rain on the roof.

Like stories about Sunshine Coast people doing great things? Help us deliver more by registering for our free daily news feed. All it requires is your name and email. See SUBSCRIBE at the top of this article.

In other Sunshine Coast regional highlights, Witta Circleby Shaun Lockyer was awarded a commendation in the Residential New category.

Among the most unique features of the five-bedroom, four-bathroom home (which also has two powder rooms) are the window-framed pool in the courtyard (pictured below) and luxurious glass-encased wine cellar.

Sunshine Coast News recently featured, when the jaw-dropping propertywas named Australian Home of the Year at the 2022 HIA-CSR National Housing Awards.

Witta Circle, designed by Lockyer Architects. Picture: Christopher Frederick Jones Photography

An ambitious 20-year master plan for Montessori International College received a commendation in the Urban Design category.

The plan prioritised a learning environment, with thriving biodiversity and land rehabilitation at the heart.

Jurors noted that the design demonstrates an enduring ecological legacy for future incremental growth of this learning laboratory.

Bath House by Kelly Martin Architecture. Picture: Corey Schweikert

Other Sunshine Coast regional commendation winners are: Commendation (Residential Alterations and Additions) Noosa Heads House by Vokes and Peters Commendation (Educational) USC Foundation House by Hassell Commendation (Residential New) Mt Mellum House by Sparks Architects Commendation (Residential Alterations and Additions) Bath House by Kelly Martin Architecture Commendation (Commercial) Noosa Car Spa by Andrew Bock Architecture Commendation (Sustainability) Australis by Sealand.

Noosa Heads House by Vokes and Peters. Picture: Christopher Frederick Jones

All of the regions awarded projects have now been shortlisted for the Australian Institute of Architects Queensland Architecture Awards.

The state awards will be judged and awarded on June 24.

Read this article:

Natural beauties: the Coast architecture that wowed judges - Sunshine Coast News

Russias Lake Baikal has garnered many superlatives: the worlds deepest lake, the largest freshwater lake and the worlds oldest. It is also one of the clearest bodies of water on the planet and home to many species of plants and animals endemic to the region.

One such species is the Baikal seal, known locally as nerpa. It is one of the smallest pinnipeds in the world and is only found in this lake.

My goal was to photograph the Baikal seal underwater, in its natural environment, which few people have done. I wanted to show the world the pristine beauty of the lake and the creatures that live in it. I had already attempted to take the pictures two years ago, in November, without success; the lake freezes in about mid-January, and it was difficult to find the elusive nerpas in open water.

But I was determined to try again. So this year I came to Lake Baikal in April, when spring is awakening Siberia, the snow is melting and the sun dazzles the eyes. The only reminder of winters tenacious grip is the sheet of ice still covering the lake.

Baikal seals are normally very shy, but the young ones are the exception. Nerpa females give birth in March, in snow-covered burrows on the ice. Newborn pups are covered with white fur, are unable to swim and it is impossible to get close without scaring them. But within a few weeks their fur becomes thicker and grey, and the pup is ready to explore the depths of the lake and the magical world below the ice.

Finding a burrow in the vast expanse of the Baikal ice is not easy, so we enlisted the professional help of Pulka, a local dog with years of experience in the job.

The seals burrow has an exit to the lake from under the ice, so our strategy was to locate it, dive and then wait for the nerpa.

But looking for Baikal seals under thick ice can be incredibly precarious, and it takes many dives to get lucky. Our first dive was next to a giant crack in the middle of the lake. These cracks form because of temperature changes and can be several kilometres long. They can also change shape and size overnight an obvious concern for people driving across the lake.

The surface of the ice is visually stunning, but underwater, the cracks look even more phenomenal huge ice blocks are layered on top of each, others forming caverns and passages. And when you are inside these passages, you are always conscious of the kilometre-deep water below you and the ceiling of thick ice above. The only way back is a small hole in the ice 100 metres away a precious window to our world.

Divers in Lake Baikal can also experience the ice cloud a massive formation created at the beginning of winter when strong winds move huge floes along the water. Rapidly changing light and colours give the illusion of being under a fairytale sky.

After a few fruitless dives, Pulkas search efforts finally produced results and we reached the precious target. While slowly getting close to the burrow from beneath I detect some movement, and then a curious nose.

The seal pup was obviously surprised to see a strange clumsy creature loaded with gear. That probably explains why it stayed with me for about 15 minutes keeping its distance but circling back to get a better look.

The mother seal surfaces only once or twice a day, to suckle her pup and to ensure the ice hole has not frozen over.

But the seals know that the ice will melt very quickly in April, and soon they will have the freedom to swim all around the giant lake, which has long been known to local people as the Glorious Sea.

Follow this link:

Icy determination: on the trail of the Baikal seal a photo essay - The Guardian

(Photo by Sebastian Reuter/Getty Images for ABOUT YOU)

Celebrity children already have a leg up in the world, but some of them go on to do some incredible things regardless. Case in point? Leni Olumi Klum, the daughter of supermodel and reality TV star Heidi Klum, has racked up quite a career on her own.

The 18-year-old joins other celebs kids like Johnny Depps daughter Lily-Rose and Kate Mosss daughter Lila Grace in the modeling industry, and shes had some pretty big milestones along the way. So who is she?

The younger Klum was born in 2004 in New York. She started modeling about two years ago when she turned 16, according to People.

I had grown up going to work with my mom, Leni said. Ever since 11 or 12 years old Ive been begging her and then finally I turned 16 and she said that I could finally start modeling.

Shes been the face of both Dior Beauty and Michael Kors, and shes been on the cover of quite a few magazines, including a cover of Vogue Germany and Bazaar with her mother.

Lenis real father is a rich Italian businessman named Flavio Briatore, but Heidi and Briatores relationship dissolved before she was born. Briatore reportedly did not participate in the young Lenis life, but that doesnt mean she didnt grow up with a strong father figure.

The pop singer Seal and Heidi were married from 2005 to 2014, and Seal went so far as to adopt Leni and raise her himself.

Leni also gets along with her new stepdad, Tom Kaulitz from the rock band Tokio Hotel. The two even have matching tattoos.

Leni shares a lot of her life on Instagram, and it captures her doing various teenage stuff. For example, she took a job at an ice cream shop last year. She also likes to take pictures with her friends and go to concerts too.

Leni Klum told People that her mother is constantly giving her tips about modeling.

Shes always telling me I need to have fun Shes always like Bounce around, have fun, be energetic, be excited.'

She also said her personal style is very different from her mothers.

She calls it grungy, I call it oversized I guess Youll never catch me in super tight jeans because I dont like wearing things that are uncomfortable baggy and big, Leni said.

'+// ''+// '

See the rest here:

Who Is Heidi Klum's Daughter? - We Got This Covered

Somewhere around the turn of the century, people began to realize that new car smell is actually an unhealthy combination of 50-60 VOCs off-gassing from plastics, vinyl, and glues. For a while, environmentalists paid a lot of attention to avoiding VOCs, but its hard to maintain attention these days.

The Federal Trade Commission is responsible for handling false advertising claims, but they have filed only two to five environmental marketing cases per year since 2015, which means that very few greenwashers are ever held accountable. Unfortunately, some companies have taken advantage of the lack of scrutiny to greenwash their products, as evidenced by one of those rare FTC legal actions. The FTC took action against YOLO Colorhouse for advertising their paints as no-VOC when that wasnt true at all. Heres why thats a bigger problem than just false advertising.

VOC stands for volatile organic compound. Volatile organic compounds include a wide variety of chemicals that share two key characteristics. First, they are all emitted as gases from solids or liquids that contain them in a process called off-gassing. Second, they are all organic. In environmental circles, organic is usually a positive term that implies natural origin. But in chemistry, organic is a neutral term that refers to carbon-based compounds.

Organic chemicals include most of the compounds that make up living matter. Relatively few of them are volatile, but some such as methane and benzene are naturally occurring. But many other VOCs are manufactured chemicals that are rare in nature if they exist there at all. Regardless of their origin, VOCs work as industrial solvents, fuels, paint thinners, and dry-cleaning agents. They are also present in thousands of commercial products, from paints and paint strippers to cleaning supplies, pesticides, glues and permanent markers.

VOCs, including formaldehyde, a variety of compounds found in paints and finishes, and some flame retardants, are on the Red List of materials green builders try to avoid. When released outdoors, VOCs react with nitrogen oxides in the air to form ozone pollution. Organic compounds in myriad chemical products become pollutants in groundwater, and volatile organics in many home products contribute significantly to indoor air pollution.

Organic pollutants can have short- and long-term adverse health effects. Because VOCs comprise such a widely varied group of compounds, their health impacts are also varied, but can include irritation of eyes, nose, and throat; difficulty breathing and nausea; central nervous system and other organ damage; and even cancer. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease RegistryToxic Substances Portal identifies specific health effects from different kinds of VOCs.

Indoor air quality can be two to five times worse than outside air quality. Concentrations of many harmful VOCs are up to 10 times higher indoors than outdoors. There are several remedies for indoor air quality at home, but one of the most important is source control.

Choose cleaning products, solvents, glues, and paints that are labeled low-VOC or no-VOC. To avoid the kind of greenwashing revealed in the Colorhouse case, look for third-party certification. Unfortunately, there is no single certification system for VOCs. Paints and finishes may have one of several types of certification, including GreenGuard, Green Seal, and Indoor airPLUS. Green Seal also looks at the safety of cleaning products. Numerous other certification systems, such as MADESAFE, consider the safety or toxicity of ingredients in a wide variety of consumer products.

You can also avoid VOCs by choosing different types of products. Avoid anything made from vinyl (also known as PVC). Choose solid wood furnishings instead of upholstered ones and bare wood or tile floors instead of carpet to avoid the VOCs in foams.

Most off-gassing takes place when products are new and decreases over time. Buying second-hand is one way to avoid VOCs in soft furnishings and other products where VOCs may be unavoidable. When you must buy new products for example, engineered woods bound with adhesives that contain VOCs let the materials off-gas outdoors or in the garage before bringing them into the home.

Time remodeling and craft projects for summer so that you can keep doors and windows open while working. Completely avoiding VOCs in products is impossible when even computers and mattresses contain them. So, try to maintain good ventilation in your home at all times to remove any VOCs released. Off-gassing is more severe in high temperatures and high humidity, so keeping your home cool and dry is also helpful. Finally, communicate with the manufacturers of the products you buy and encourage them to offer low and no-VOC products.

Read the original post:

What Are VOCs and How Can You Avoid Them? - Earth911.com

Here are just some of the events taking place across the district over the next few weeks.

-Bingo at Pinchbeck Village Hall, Friday June 10. Doors open at 6:30pm and eyes down at 7pm. Light refreshments will be available.

-Pinchbecks Carnival in The Park, Glebe Field,, Saturday June 11. Gates open at 12pm with the official opening by the Carnival Queen at 1pm. Live entertainment from The Blighty Belles, bar raffle, stalls, games and competitions. Free entry but donations are welcome.

-Sunday Lunch at Pinchbeck Village Hall, Sunday June 12. Tea and coffee supplied, bring your own alcohol and glasses. Tickets are 7.50 from Christine on 01775 680444.

-Rehoming Day at The Lodge Cattery, Dozens Bank, West Pinchbeck on Sunday, June 12. From 11am to 4pm there will be kittens, cats and rabbits all looking for their forever home. There will also be stalls, refreshments and live music, along with an auction and raffle.

June 18 - Festival at Jolly Farmer, Moulton Chapel, 4pm. The Sarah Skinner Band, The Very Beautiful South and the Soundinjectors will be playing. Free entry.

- The Wash 2022 Seal and Birdwatching Cruises with RSPB South Lincs on the Boston Belle are taking place throughout the year. Upcoming dates are; Thursday, June 9 (today) departing at 11am, Thursday, June 23 departing at 11:30am, Friday. Cruises set off from Boston Marina and last around four and a half to five hours.Tickets for RSPB members are 20 for adults and 10 for children. Non members tickets are 22.50 for adults and 11.50 for children. Tickets are available from http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/blackfriars or via 01205 363108.

- Pauls Quiz Night at The Elizabethan Centre Social Club, Whaplode Drove on Saturday, June 11 at 8pm. Doors are at 7:30pm.

- Spalding Gentlemens Society is open every Wednesday from 11am - 1pm.

- Late Summer Open Farm Day at Flatlands Alpacas, Crowland on Sunday, August 28. Open from 10am to 4pm with stalls, bouncy castle and more.

Visit link:

Upcoming events include alpacas, bingo, quizzes and rehoming days - Spalding Today

You have viewed over 50 articles in the last 12 months.

Support insidethegames.biz for as little as 10

For nearly 15 years now, insidethegames.biz has been at the forefront of reporting fearlessly on what happens in the Olympic Movement. As the first website not to be placed behind a paywall, we have made news about the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Commonwealth Games and other major events more accessible than ever to everybody.

insidethegames.biz has established a global reputation for the excellence of its reporting and breadth of its coverage. For many of our readers from more than 200 countries and territories around the world the website is a vital part of their daily lives. The ping of our free daily email alert, sent every morning at 6.30am UK time 365 days a year, landing in their inbox, is as a familiar part of their day as their first cup of coffee.

Even during the worst times of the COVID-19 pandemic, insidethegames.biz maintained its high standard of reporting on all the news from around the globe on a daily basis. We were the first publication in the world to signal the threat that the Olympic Movement faced from the coronavirus and have provided unparalleled coverage of the pandemic since.

As the world begins to emerge from the COVID crisis, insidethegames.biz would like to invite you to help us on our journey by funding our independent journalism. Your vital support would mean we can continue to report so comprehensively on the Olympic Movement and the events that shape it. It would mean we can keep our website open for everyone. Last year, nearly 25 million people read insidethegames.biz, making us by far the biggest source of independent news on what is happening in world sport.

Every contribution, however big or small, will help maintain and improve our worldwide coverage in the year ahead. Our small and dedicated team were extremely busy last year covering the re-arranged Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, an unprecedented logistical challenge that stretched our tight resources to the limit.

The remainder of 2022 is not going to be any less busy, or less challenging. We had the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing, where we sent a team of four reporters, and coming up are the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the Summer World University and Asian Games in China, the World Games in Alabama and multiple World Championships. Plus, of course, there is the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Unlike many others, insidethegames.biz is available for everyone to read, regardless of what they can afford to pay. We do this because we believe that sport belongs to everybody, and everybody should be able to read information regardless of their financial situation. While others try to benefit financially from information, we are committed to sharing it with as many people as possible. The greater the number of people that can keep up to date with global events, and understand their impact, the more sport will be forced to be transparent.

Support insidethegames.biz for as little as 10 - it only takes a minute. If you can, please consider supporting us with a regular amount each month. Thank you.

Read more

See the article here:

Alan Hubbard: Welcome to Saudi-on-sea - land of sun, sand and sportswashing - Insidethegames.biz

The Louisville Zoo's baby boom is still booming as it is announcing the birth of a total of seven new babies.Three Canadian lynx kittens were born on May 19 to mom Matilda and dad Sitka in addition to four Bennetts wallaby joeys that were also recently born.The zoo said that Matilda will care for her kittens in a nest box during their first few weeks and that guests will be able to see the box. Visitors will be able to see the kittens moving about the Americas' exhibit toward the end of June.We do not know the gender of the kittens yet as that is not discovered until their first exam which will happen when they are close to six weeks old. This is to avoid disrupting Matildas bonding time with her kittens.As for the wallaby joeys, they will take some more lucky timing to see for a bit since wallabies spend a lot of time in their mom's pouch or, less frequently, in the yard. You can see in the photo one of them peeking out.One of the joeys, a male, is being taken care of off-exhibit due to an early departure from the moms pouch, thus requiring additional attention.The gender of the other three wallabies will be known when they emerge from their "pouch life". You can follow the growth of these new babies at the zoo's website here, which includes recent newborns Emmy the harbor seal and the zebra filly. You can also follow the expected arrival of the giraffe baby that the zoo is expecting.

The Louisville Zoo's baby boom is still booming as it is announcing the birth of a total of seven new babies.

Three Canadian lynx kittens were born on May 19 to mom Matilda and dad Sitka in addition to four Bennetts wallaby joeys that were also recently born.

The zoo said that Matilda will care for her kittens in a nest box during their first few weeks and that guests will be able to see the box.

Visitors will be able to see the kittens moving about the Americas' exhibit toward the end of June.

We do not know the gender of the kittens yet as that is not discovered until their first exam which will happen when they are close to six weeks old. This is to avoid disrupting Matildas bonding time with her kittens.

As for the wallaby joeys, they will take some more lucky timing to see for a bit since wallabies spend a lot of time in their mom's pouch or, less frequently, in the yard.

You can see in the photo one of them peeking out.

One of the joeys, a male, is being taken care of off-exhibit due to an early departure from the moms pouch, thus requiring additional attention.

The gender of the other three wallabies will be known when they emerge from their "pouch life".

You can follow the growth of these new babies at the zoo's website here, which includes recent newborns Emmy the harbor seal and the zebra filly.

You can also follow the expected arrival of the giraffe baby that the zoo is expecting.

The rest is here:

Baby boom continues at Louisville Zoo with arrival of lynx kittens and wallaby joeys - WLKY Louisville

Mid South Extrusion, which produces polyethylene film for food packaging and other consumer and industrial uses, is investing $4.9 million to add a 12th production line at its manufacturing facility in Monroe. The company will retain 170 jobs and create eight direct new jobs, and LED estimates the project will result in 16 indirect jobs, for a total of 24 new jobs in Ouachita Parish.

The additional line will allow the company to meet the growing demand for polyethylene film, the thin, lightweight plastic sheeting that is used to seal and protect a wide variety of packaged industrial and consumer products. The new, state-of-the-art production line is a direct response to the growing demand for food packaging, and comes on the heels of the Global Food Safety Initiatives certification of the companys Food Safety Management systems.

I applaud Mid Souths investment in the growth of its team and its facility, which will increase economic activity in the Northeast Region of the state, Gov. John Bel Edwards said. Mid Souths role in the food packaging supply chain illustrates the importance of Louisianas contribution in this sector. Food production remains critical in the United States and beyond, and it is reliant on packaging. This investment contributes to these important national and global interests.

Installation is expected to be complete and the new production line commercially operational by the end of 2022.

Along with increasing our production capacity, this investment allows us to continue to target new markets and capitalize on our momentum in the food packaging sector, said Mark Kent Anderson, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Mid South. We love our state and community, and knowing that we have the support of our local and state officials makes reinvestment and growth in Louisiana an easy decision. Plastics is an industry that is in high demand due to the industrys commitment to growth, innovation and sustainability. Mid South Extrusion is looking forward to our continued growth in Monroe for many years to come.

Since it was established in 1986, Mid South Extrusion has steadily expanded its operation from a 17,000 square-foot facility with four employees to a 215,000 square-foot site with nearly 200 employees. The company serves a wide array of sectors, including agriculture, consumer products, e-commerce, food and beverage, and industrial applications.

Mid-South Extrusion is an integral part of the economic development in the City of Monroe, Monroe Mayor Friday Ellis said. They provide hundreds of jobs for our people, and this expansion is a reflection of their investment in employees, and an investment in our community. Their growth demonstrates the opportunity for businesses to thrive in Monroe.

To secure Mid Souths investment in Monroe, the State of Louisiana provided the company with a competitive incentive package that includes $170,000 from the states Retention and Modernization Program. The company is also expected to participate in the states Enterprise Zone and Industrial Tax Exemption programs.

We are proud to have Mid South Extrusion as part of our existing industry base, as well as our community, North Louisiana Economic Partnership President and CEO Justyn Dixon said. This decision to increase their footprint in North Louisiana emphasizes the areas dedicated workforce and strategic location.

Continued here:

Mid South Extrusion Invests $4.9 Million to Expand Production Capacity at Monroe Facility | Office of Governor John Bel Edwards - Governor John Bel...

Dear Dr. Vinny,

What's the shelf life of a box of wine?

P.M., San Antonio, Texas

Dear P.M.,

Good question, as there definitely is a shelf-life for boxed wines. There is a bag inside the box that holds the wine, and it cleverly collapses as wine is consumed, limiting the wines exposure to oxygen. That means that once you open the seal and start pouring the wine, youshould be able to enjoy it for at least a few more weeks (as opposed to a few days with an open bottle) before you notice that the wine is fading. In both cases, storing an open container of wine in a fridge will extend its life.

That bag is typically made of polyethlene, which is a very safe plastic to use, but its not as impermeable as glass, and over time, the microscopic amounts of oxygen passing through will cause the wine tolose its freshness. If you look at the box, somewhere on it (perhaps on the bottom) will be a best-bydate, usually about a year from the date it was packaged.

Given all of this, the wines inside the box arent meant for long-term aging. But there are some terrific wines in boxes. When we review boxed wines, we review them in blind tastings alongside their bottled peers, and we find plenty of wines to recommend.

Dr. Vinny

View post:

What's the shelf life of a box of wine? - Wine Spectator

Even learners in affluent schools lost around two-thirds of a school year.(Pixabay photo)

When a state of disaster was declared in South Africa in 2020 in response to the COVID pandemic, a hard lockdown was instituted and schools were shut. This was followed by varying periods of lockdowns, school closure and rotational timetables to maintain social distancing across different grades.

Administrative data show that children in South Africa missed at least three-quarters of a year of school in the past two school years. This reduced their opportunities to learn and allowed more time to forget what they had learnt.

To measure the effect of time out of school on learning, we analysed the test performance of almost a quarter of a million learners at the end of 2021, comparing them to performance in 2019.

We found that the time out of school left public school learners in South Africa about a year behind previous cohorts.

Earlier studies on learning losses in South Africa, mainly in poor schools and with relatively small samples, found similar results. Our study used data from the Western Cape provinces Systemic Test, which tests all public school pupils in grades 3, 6 and 9. None of the countrys other eight provinces tests learners on such an extensive scale so the Western Capes data is the best opportunity to measure learning loss.

Because we measured learning losses in both rich and poor schools and in three grades across primary and secondary schools, we can generalise with some confidence to the whole country and to all grades.

The findings are important for all those with an interest in education, from government officials to teachers and parents. These tests were conducted in both mathematics and language, which form the foundation for learning in most other subjects, both in school and beyond.

The Western Cape Systemic Test system has been in place for two decades. Every year almost all public school learners are tested in mathematics and language in grades 3, 6 and 9. The pandemic prevented testing in 2020. We analysed the 2019 and 2021 tests. Most questions were exactly the same in both years to allow valid comparison. We analysed only the common questions.

The figure below shows average learner performance and learning losses between 2019 and 2021. The arrows reflect large learning losses in all six tests, but much larger losses in mathematics than in language, consistent with international experience.

In language, the biggest learning loss was in grade 6. Most South African learners are taught all subjects in their home language in the first three years of schooling. From grade 4, they switch to being taught in English in all subjects except their home language. Even in 2019, schools where there was a language transition from isiXhosa (one of the home languages used in Western Cape schools) to English performed weakly, but in 2021 they also experienced larger learning losses. The pandemic may have made this difficult language transition even more difficult.

Moreover, the language problems may also have affected grade 6 mathematics performance, because language is key to understanding other subjects.

As expected, learning losses were on average smaller in schools serving the richest communities. But even learners in these affluent schools lost around two-thirds of a school year. The Western Cape has a higher proportion of rich public schools than other provinces. There are more learners in the Western Cape who attend well resourced schools and with higher levels of parent education compared to other provinces. Thus learning losses may be even larger in poorer provinces.

Losses were smallest in grade 9 language in fact, rich schools experienced almost no learning losses in these tests. The reason may be that language at this level is less dependent on school-based learning. Or it may be because the common test items we could analyse contained less writing.

In all the tests, girls significantly outperformed boys, except in grade 9 mathematics in 2019. But because grade 9 boys experienced greater learning losses in mathematics, their earlier performance advantage disappeared in 2021.

What does this mean for South Africas performance on international tests?

South Africa generally performs poorly on international tests in both mathematics and reading. Many South African learners dont even reach the low international benchmarks that are regarded as a bare minimum that should be achieved. If learning losses in the Western Cape were applied to the whole country, many more learners would fail to reach the low international benchmarks.

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science study of 2019 found that 63% of all South African grade 5 children performed below the low international benchmark in mathematics. This may now rise to around 76%.

For reading, the proportion of grade 5 pupils who score below the low international benchmark in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2016 reading tests would rise from 80% to about 88%.

Younger learners can catch up over their school career. But teachers now have an even more difficult task to cover the curriculum for each grade, and to fill some gaps in understanding from previous grades. This is especially true for a subject such as mathematics.

Two policy areas require special attention.

The schooling system needs to find more time for maths, to overcome the accumulated deficit from the COVID years. For instance, grade 9 learners who have fallen a year behind in mathematics need to catch up a full year before the matric examinations (grade 12, the final year of secondary school). This requires them to learn as much in three years as previous cohorts learned in four.

In language, the big challenge is to ensure that reading is mastered by the end of the foundation phase the third year of schooling and to ease the subsequent language transition. Weak reading skills and an inadequate English vocabulary can inhibit all further learning for the majority of learners who have to make this language transition.

Servaas van der Berg, Professor of Economics and South African Research Chair in the Economics of Social Policy, Stellenbosch University and Chris van Wyk, Researcher, Stellenbosch University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Read more here:

Moker Front Crank Seal Wear Sleeve Installer for Ford 6.0 - Sleeve Driver Tool with OEM Sleeve and Seal,Without Special Tools Required,Compatible with...