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banhan chueatong/Shutterstock In Toy Story 5, Woody, Buzz, Jessie and the gang are up against a new challenge: Bonnie’s tablet. Even Rex the toy dinosaur is worried about going extinct again. The storyline reflects a broader shift in…

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Toy Story 5 will be released in cinemas this Thursday. The latest instalment of the film franchise addresses a dilemma many parents face: what happens to playtime when children become obsessed with screens? The original Toy Story movie was…

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The child at five is immersed in a material world they come to name, know and understand through direct tactile experiences, mediated by talk and interaction with peers and adults. (Allison Shelley/EDUimages) , CC BY-NC It’s the time of…

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Xavier Lorenzo/Shutterstock Is the time teenagers spend on social media really damaging their wellbeing and mental health? Around the globe, youth mental health problems are on the rise. This has coincided with an ever increasing amount of…

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Kampus Production/Pexels Sleep can be one of the trickiest things for families with little kids. It’s not just important for parental sanity or a child’s grumpiness levels the next day. Sleep is crucial for brain development , especially…

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Thirty-two years after South Africa became a democratic state, the futures of millions of young people in the country are shaped to a large degree by uncertainty, exclusion, poverty and discouragement. As one lens on this scene,…

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Thirty-two years after South Africa became a democratic state, the futures of millions of young people in the country are shaped to a large degree by uncertainty, exclusion, poverty and discouragement. As one lens on this scene,…

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Miriam Makeba in 1969 in exile. Rob Mieremet/Nationaal Archief , CC BY Miriam Makeba sang a famous song about the 16 June 1976 uprising in her birthplace, South Africa. The protest was a pivotal point in the fight against apartheid and…

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Global football body Fifa is branding the World Cup 2026 – and global football in general – as a celebration of inclusivity and diversity . It’s presented as a harbinger of peace and hope , and even somehow a saviour of African migrants…

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As the school year winds down and families start planning summer activities, possibly anticipating those inevitable rainy days, I have found myself returning to a simple but powerful joy: sharing museum experiences with young children. As…

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Across Africa, countries are redesigning school curricula to prepare children for the demands of the 21st century. These reforms aim to nurture creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and problem-solving rather than rote memorisation…

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Across Africa, countries are redesigning school curricula to prepare children for the demands of the 21st century. These reforms aim to nurture creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and problem-solving rather than rote memorisation…

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Nature-based solutions have become central to global climate strategies. From tropical forests to wetlands, restoring nature means trees and plants can capture carbon dioxide, reduce global warming and regenerate biodiversity . Among these…

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The first day of kindergarten is a momentous occasion for children and families. It’s an exciting milestone that comes with new friends, teachers and learning opportunities. It can also bring parental anxiety about whether their child is…

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Globally, agriculture faces mounting pressures. These are driven by climate change , land degradation , labour shortages , supply chain disruptions and the demand for food from a growing population . At the same time, productivity is…

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Justin Paget/ Getty Images If your child has ever dug their heels in on the morning of the school athletics or cross country day, or refused to speak in front of the class, you’re not alone. For some children, these kinds of events bring a…

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Globally, about one in five people in jobs live in poverty . A key reason lies in how global supply chains are organised. From agriculture to tourism, many jobs are embedded in systems that keep wages low, even as they generate value for…

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Nearly a quarter of the land in Ethiopia is degraded . It has lost its quality and can no longer grow crops, support plant life, or hold water as it used to. The causes are mainly human pressures (deforestation, overuse, poor land…

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The first shipment of Lenacapavir, a long-acting injectable that prevents HIV with two shots a year, arrived in South Africa from the United States in early April 2026. Clinical trials showed close to 100% efficacy . The rollout, expected…

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As the news spread about the outbreak of Ebola in mid-May 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a report about pandemics. The title was: A World on the Edge: Priorities for a Pandemic-Resilient Future. The document was…

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The origin of turtles has always been a bit of a puzzle for scientists who study the evolution of animals. To this day, where they fit in the tree of life remains a highly debated topic. The evolutionary relationships of most vertebrate…

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Ghana fans will be cheering their team alongside nine other African nations at the World Cup finals. Adera Abdoulaye Dolo/Pexels , CC BY The 2026 men’s Fifa World Cup marks a seismic shift in the global football landscape. The decision to…

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Bullying is a widespread global problem, with extensive research across countries showing that no school is immune. In South Africa, the scale is particularly concerning, with studies indicating that between a fifth and over half of…

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Bullying is a widespread global problem, with extensive research across countries showing that no school is immune. In South Africa, the scale is particularly concerning, with studies indicating that between a fifth and over half of…

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Built in the 1950s to generate electricity, Lake Kariba in Zambia and Zimbabwe has since supported activities such as tourism, fishing and conservation. All of these are affected by changes in water levels. The 40km wide and 223km long…

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10'000 Hours/Getty Images Getting the kids out the door for school can feel like herding cats in the rain. Just when one child is ready, another can’t find a shoe, someone remembers homework, and someone else starts crying because they…

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Le conflit dans le golfe Persique perturbe l'approvisionnement en engrais , et les systèmes alimentaires africains risquent d'en pâtir. Les systèmes agroalimentaires (les activités qui relient les personnes, les investissements et les…

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The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is taking an unusual step to secure its critical minerals. It plans to create a new paramilitary unit to protect mining sites and transport routes, backed by funding and support from the United States…

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Emphasizing the sounds of certain words to young children can help them retain language, not confuse them about speaking properly. MoMo Productions/DigitalVision via Getty Images Many parents have heard the warning: Don’t use baby talk…

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Sudan lies at the crossroads of Africa and the Middle East. It has played a key role in human demographic movements , reflected in the diversity of its cultures and languages . Although much of the country is arid, the Nile River has long…

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The shape of the word bubble resembles the shape of an actual bubble, according to research participants. (Unsplash) Think about a word that looks like its meaning. For instance, the word bed kind of looks like a bed, with the vertical…

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Throughout history, most of the world’s genomic research has relied on DNA data from people of European ancestry. A genome is the full DNA code of about three billion (a thousand million) bases, including all the chromosomes. Each person…

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airdone/Shutterstock Screens are everywhere in children’s lives. They use them at school and at home. They see screens used by their parents as they work on laptops, use phones to arrange playdates or look up outings or recipes on tablets.…

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L'Afrique du Sud est confrontée à une augmentation alarmante des maladies non transmissibles et de la mortalité qui y est associée. Selon Statistics South Africa, les décès dus à des maladies non transmissibles telles que le diabète de…

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What kind of education best helps students learn math? In the province of Ontario, the most recent provincial standardized results (2024–25) show modest improvement in elementary mathematics achievement, but overall performance remains…

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SDI Productions/ Getty Images It’s the time of year when schools and parents typically meet for parent-teacher interviews. These meetings are often short: in high school, usually only five to ten minutes per subject. In primary school,…

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Vach cameraman/Shutterstock What’s the point of play? Is it simply a way to keep children occupied, or something more? For some, it’s about learning literacy and numeracy. For others, it’s how friendships form and relationships deepen. But…

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Galitskaya/ Getty Images Many young Australians are beginning their winter sports season, gearing up for sports such as football, hockey and rugby. Apart from the training sessions, weekend games and oranges at half-time, these contact…

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Male sylvan chameleon (Nadzikambia goodallae) from Mount Ribáuè, Mozambique. Krystal Tolley , CC BY Tropical rainforests are known for their unique biodiversity, with species found nowhere else on Earth. But nearly 30% of tropical…

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Photo by Gustavo Fring via Pexels , CC BY Academia isn’t strong on gender equality. Women are under-represented throughout, in the research workforce and even more so as leaders in scientific organisations. This is true for science…

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These kids are doing a lot more than just playing in the dirt. SolStock/E+ via Getty Images I used to teach high school science in Oklahoma, and one day I brought in a stalk from a cotton plant with bolls of cotton still attached. Students…

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New Africa/Shutterstock Incels, or involuntary celibates, are members of an online subculture, most often heterosexual men, who believe they have been unconditionally excluded from the dating scene. This has negative implications for their…

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Liliana Drew/ Pexels Pretend play is a significant and often magical part of childhood . Children have huge imaginations and use these to turn rocks into spaceships, tables into forts or pens into fairies. They might pretend to be “mum” or…

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À chaque minute, vos reins travaillent intensément. Ils filtrent environ 200 litres de sang, éliminent les déchets, équilibrent les sels et les fluides, et régulent la pression artérielle. Tout cela se fait sans aucun effort conscient de…

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The south coast of South Africa’s Western Cape province is a rich source of fossil tracks and traces – clues suggesting what this environment may have been like many thousands of years ago. We’re a research group from the African Centre…

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Klaus Vedfelt/ Getty Images Students’ mental health is one of the biggest challenges facing schools. In Australia, half of all adult mental health challenges emerge before the age of 14 . It is also estimated that more than 50% of children…

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Artist's impression of _Lystrosaurus_ embryo. Artist: Sophie Vrard , CC BY Between 280 and 200 million years ago, a group of animals evolved which would eventually give rise to mammals, including humans: the therapsids . They were first…

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Pope Leo’s decision to make Africa one of the early destinations of his young papacy signals the continent’s importance in global Catholicism. His April 2026 visit reflects both his personal ties to Africa and the rapid rise of…

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Lisa from Pexels/Pexels Families with kids juggling full-time work may have been alarmed by media reporting this week, suggesting “ too much ” time in early childhood education and care could harm their child’s development. Data from a…

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Motor skills are foundational for a lifetime of movement. For children, they play a vital role not only in facilitating physical activity levels but also for cognitive and socio-emotional development and school readiness . Motor skills are…

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Every minute your kidneys are hard at work, filtering around 200 litres of blood, removing waste, balancing salts and fluids, and regulating blood pressure. This happens without any conscious effort on your part. But when your kidneys…

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“Magic mushrooms” are consumed recreationally and for medicinal purposes around the world. These fungi gained their fame as “magic” because they produce chemical compounds (called psilocybin and psilocin ) which have psychedelic effects.…

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Lisa from Pexels/Pexels Families with kids juggling full-time work may have been alarmed by media reporting this week, suggesting “ too much ” time in early childhood education and care could harm their child’s development. Data from a…

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The rating agency S&P Global’s Africa Credit Rating Trends 2025 reviews the past year’s rating activities and analyses the continent’s prospects for 2026. It is an important document because it interprets underlying drivers of…

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PeopleImages/Shutterstock As a researcher in autism and education and a former secondary school teacher, it took me a while to realise that autistic school staff were rarely included in conversations about inclusion and diversity in…

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The first time I understood that names could hold two worlds was not by changing mine, but by hearing it differently. As a Pakistani child growing up in Canada, I learned early that my name could sound different depending on who was saying…

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New research on a group of Australian preschoolers suggests more than 40% are dealing with an anxiety disorder. The study , led by Monash University and published in the journal of Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, was based on…

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Art_Photo/Shutterstock There’s no nice way to put it: small children are snotty. A research study that tested children for multiple respiratory viruses every week for a year found that under-fives are carrying one or more viruses 50% of…

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Matryoha/Shutterstock Children today can encounter harmful material online with alarming ease, including violent, sexual and self-harm content. While this is often treated as a moderation failure, the deeper cause is economic. Much of the…

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University can be a time of great opportunities, but it can also be very stressful . Many students need to support themselves financially and may be living away from home. Students are also under constant deadlines and, if in their final…

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Pixabay/ Pexels It is swimming carnival season in Australia. This typically means children from about Year 2 and up are asked to swim a distance of 50 metres or one length of an Olympic-size pool – if they say they can. As a parent of…

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School room in Kibagare, Nairobi, Kenya. Ninara, via Flickr , CC BY Access to school is considered to be better for children who live in urban areas than in rural areas in countries such as Kenya. But research shows that this access…