Though primary education universalisation has been promoted strongly, the number of students passing this level has not reached 100 per cent in HCM City. Photo sggp.org.vn HCM CITY – A variety of solutions to improve recruitment and incentive policies for teachers were proposed by representatives from 24 districts at a recent conference on education universalisation and illiteracy eradication in HCM City, according to a report in Sài Gòn Giải Phóng (Liberated Sài Gòn) newspaper. Cao Minh Quý, deputy head of the city's secondary education division, said that education activities in recent years had made progress but that experts were concerned about policies regarding full-time teachers specialising in education universalisation and illiteracy eradication in all districts. “Previously, Tân Phú District worked with teachers on a contract basis. … [Read more...] about HCM City seeks solutions to promote education universalisation
‘100,000 members ripped off’: CBA’s super arm hit with class action
The new class action alleges Colonial's slow implementation of the MySuper reforms for its customers led to Colonial breaching its duties to members. The banking royal commission heard that Colonial, as well as other superannuation funds, failed to meet the January 1, 2014 deadline to move customers to a new, government-mandated regime that ensured members with low balances were charged only low fees. Maurice Blackburn principal Miranda Nagy said the alleged contraventions led to members in Colonial's FirstChoice Employer Super paying higher fees and earning less returns for an extended period of time when they could have been in the cheaper, better-performing MySuper product earlier. "MySuper was introduced to protect the retirement outcomes of Australians by ensuring that consumers weren’t losing money on unnecessary fees and products, and Colonial had a legal obligation over and above a basic moral obligation to move member balances into MySuper at the time that best met their … [Read more...] about ‘100,000 members ripped off’: CBA’s super arm hit with class action
‘Very wrong’: NBN boss slams critics of Australia’s broadband speeds
Loading The latest Global Broadband Speed Test by Ookla ranks Australia fifth globally for mobile speeds out of 140 measured locations. But for fixed broadband speeds, with a 42.1Mbps average, the ranking is 61 out of 175 countries measured. This puts Australia at a lower position on the list than countries like Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Serbia. Mr Rue defended the quality of the network, saying the NBN Co ensured "ubiquitous high speed broadband across the nation" and argued that speed tests did not hold up to scrutiny. "Intuitively that's very wrong," Mr Rue said of the low rankings from multiple online speed tests, adding that the companies involved often do not consider factors such as the availability of broadband or the physical size of countries, and relied on small sample sizes to come to conclusions. Research from AlphaBeta, commissioned by the NBN Co, ranks Australia's internet services when using government-validated subscription speed data as 22nd out of 37 countries, … [Read more...] about ‘Very wrong’: NBN boss slams critics of Australia’s broadband speeds
‘Unique unicorn’: Canva’s private market valuation soars to $4.7 billion
Venture capital investors who back tech start-ups typically demand protections to limit their downside risks, including through structures such as liquidation preferences. This means valuations for companies such as Canva are not directly comparable to those of listed companies. Canva, which Ms Perkins founded in 2013 with Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams, aims to allow anyone to easily design products including greeting cards, posters, websites and presentation slides. Ms Perkins said the additional investment will fund the company's foray into the enterprise market and enable the startup to put more resources into its presentations product which she describes as an alternative to "death by Power Point". Canva for Enterprise is aimed at large businesses seeking to create products in line with their branding. "We have been inundated with requests from our customers for this for some time now," Ms Perkins said. "So even though we've been used by 85 per cent of the Fortune 500 … [Read more...] about ‘Unique unicorn’: Canva’s private market valuation soars to $4.7 billion
Brands need to stop seeing rentals as a threat. They’re an opportunity
Australia's biggest player, GlamCorner, has evolved since 2012 from a mainly special occasion site to meeting demand from "everyday" women who love new clothes but want to save space and minimise their environmental footprint. Last week, it announced a partnership with Country Road, which would see current styles from the fashion brand added to GlamCorner's new subscription model. Customers can have three garments a month for $99, or unlimited "swaps" for $149. Country Road's managing director, Elle Roseby, said it made perfect sense for the company to get in bed with a rental service. She said it offered customers a chance to "access our brand on their terms". But while a growing number of Australian fashion brands are selling direct to rental sites, treating them as wholesale clients as they would boutiques or department stores, others are more hesitant, still fearing they will cannibalise their businesses. These labels need to wake up and drink some of Roseby's tonic: there is room … [Read more...] about Brands need to stop seeing rentals as a threat. They’re an opportunity