The Algorithm Age

Primary schools across the country have become reliant on the Deposit Return Scheme to raise money to ‘keep the lights on’. Parents are increasingly being asked to chip in through fundraisers to make up shortfalls in capital grants, which are used for day-to-day running expenses, including heating and insurance. While the grants are set to rise from €200 per child to €224, teaching unions have said they are at 2007 levels. As a result, parents and children have been asked to take part in multiple fundraisers, including collecting bottles and cans, which can be redeemed for up to 25c via the Deposit Return Scheme . Séamus Mulconry of The Catholic Primary School Management Association has said that in many schools, this has now become an ‘integral part of their financial planning. They’re desperate to raise cash and we have a lot of schools now who are dependent on money from collecting plastic bottles to pay for school essentials,’ he told Pat Ke...

A Perth school is getting ahead of the incoming nationwide social media ban for young people under 16, introducing its own initiative to help students adapt to the changes. More than 160 students have voluntarily agreed to stop using social media at John Septimus Roe, in Mirrabooka. The school has also asked the parents of those students to join in and enforce the ban at home and during the weekends, to help their children learn to build connections offline before December 10 – when the real ban will come into effect. Year 9 student Jasmine Cacciola said she had signed up to the program as she found it difficult to get off the apps once she started scrolling. “I always find myself scrolling at night, I find it quite addictive,” she said. Fellow student Jack Simon said he knew it would be hard and that he would miss social media, but that it was “for the best”. Principal Jason Bartell said the school had students from kindergarten to year ...

A Perth school is getting ahead of the incoming nationwide social media ban for young people under 16, introducing its own initiative to help students adapt to the changes. More than 160 students have voluntarily agreed to stop using social media at John Septimus Roe, in Mirrabooka. The school has also asked the parents of those students to join in and enforce the ban at home and during the weekends, to help their children learn to build connections offline before December 10 – when the real ban will come into effect. Year 9 student Jasmine Cacciola said she had signed up to the program as she found it difficult to get off the apps once she started scrolling. “I always find myself scrolling at night, I find it quite addictive,” she said. Fellow student Jack Simon said he knew it would be hard and that he would miss social media, but that it was “for the best”. Principal Jason Bartell said the school had students from kindergarten to year ...