Lockdown sparked surge in ‘unruly pupils falsely accusing teachers’
- Union chiefs have warned that lockdown has led to a rise in pupils submitting “malicious” complaints against teachers who have told them off.
- School leaders have also reported a surge in bad behaviour following the pandemic.
- The NASUWT union warned that tutors are increasingly having to break up fights and confiscate mobile phones.
- Union heads warned that pupils who have been disciplined had submitted complaints about staff as an act of revenge, with the teacher then suspended from duty until the claim is investigated – potentially taking up to two years.
- For the full story, please visit the Telegraph website.
Influencer who created AI of herself tried to stop it from ‘going rogue’
- Snapchat influencer Caryn Marjorie created an AI version of herself where her subscribers could pay $1 a minute to talk to ‘her’.
- The 23-year-old has 1.8 million followers on Snapchat and created the AI to be a virtual girlfriend for people who felt lonely.
- She used OpenAI’s GPT-4 API and worked with deepfake start-up company Forever Voices to create the chatbot.
- When using the tool, Fortune reporter Alexander Sternlicht reported that when prompted it could encourage “erotic discourse”.
- Marjorie wanted CarynAI to be “flirty and fun” but did not anticipate it to have sexually explicit conversations with those using it.
- For more please visit the Standard’s website.
Covid support in place for A-levels and GCSEs as exams begin
- GCSE and A-level students across the UK are being told that their grades will be protected from Covid disruption.
- Extra measures are in place to aid pupils, but support varies across different parts of the UK.
- Students in England have not been given information prior to testing about the topics they are likely to be examined on and grades are expected to fall within the scope of results from 2019.
- Some adjusted measures from last year are still in place, GCSE students will be given formulae and equations in some subjects and will not be expected to know unfamiliar words in language exams.
- In Wales and Northern Ireland, many students have been given information in advance as to what will appear on their examinations.
- For more, please see the BBC News website.
Youth Centre funding freeze to ‘hurt hundreds’
- BBC News NI has seen an email from the Department of Education (DE) stating that there is “no funding available” for new youth sector building schemes in 2023-24.
- DE has been contacted as to how many centres will be affected.
- BBC News NI had said that no new school buildings or extensions would be started, however work that had already began would continue.
- In 2023-23 the youth service budget was about £34 million, but the Education Authority has recently stated they could be facing a cut of £7 million.
- For more, please visit the BBC News website.
