State officials responsible for early childhood education in New Mexico say that prekindergarten teachers deserve the same salaries as teachers of older students, and they are willing to pay for it.

According to 2020 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, preschool teachers not licensed for special education earn on average around $35,000 in most areas of New Mexico.

The Early Childhood Education and Care Department said its pay parity program could support around 200 educators.

Total salaries could increase to between $41,000 and around $65,500. The pay bump will be based on pay scales for public school staff.

Elizabeth Groginsky, early childhood education secretary said “Despite the fact that many Pre-K teachers and directors hold advanced educational degrees and qualifications comparable to their colleagues in K-12, their pay is typically much lower.”

The department said the pay parity program is open to an estimated 200 workers who hold a degree in early childhood education, and has already selected at least one qualified advocate. They said her income increased by $1,300.

Federal and state funding has allowed massive spending by the department, including the broadest family childhood subsidy in the nation. Families at 350% of the federal poverty line — $93,000 for a family of four — are eligible.

Authorities in Cameroon say they are attempting to remove thousands of children working in gold mines along the country’s eastern border and send them back to school.

Some of the children were displaced from the Central African Republic because of violence there and dropped out of school to mine gold for survival.

The 2021-2022 school year in Cameroon started Monday, and Cameroon’s Ministry of Basic Education says thousands of children have not returned to class in areas along the border with the Central African Republic.

The government says many of the children prefer working in gold mines.

The mayor of Batouri, a town on the border, Auberlin d’Abou Mbelessa, says his district wants all children to immediately leave gold mining sites and go to schools.

He said village chiefs and religious leaders in Batouri have been asked to visit all houses, markets, farms, churches, mosques and mining sites to tell everyone that without education the future of children looks bleak.

Mbelessa said at least 300 of the children and teenagers are Central African Republic citizens displaced by violence and insecurity following the C.A.R.’s December 2020 general election.

Cameroon says there are over 400 mining sites on its eastern border, a majority of them illegal.

A government labor official in Batouri, Corine Mvondo, said Cameroon will punish people who stop children from going to school.

She said Cameroon is a signatory to the Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention which was adopted by the International Labor Organization on June 17, 1999.

She added that a 2011 Cameroonian law states that people involved in child labor are liable to prison time of 15 to 20 years and fines of up to $20,000.

Cameroon has promised to offer free primary education to children who leave the mines but some of the children say they lack food and books. The government has not said if it will provide those things if the children return to school.

Ministers in the United Kingdom have been told careers advice is needed throughout all secondary schools across England if the Government is serious about levelling up.

Conservative Member of Parliament Mark Jenkinson (Workington) called for careers advice to be offered to all pupils from year 7 until they leave secondary school after GCSEs or A-levels, a service which some academy trusts do not offer.

Introducing his Education (Careers Guidance in Schools) Bill, Jenkinson said it would simplify current law, creating a “level playing field” instead of the difference between the contractual obligations academies have to provide advice, and the duty under the law other state-funded schools have.

His bill later cleared its first Commons hurdle by receiving an unopposed second reading and will undergo further scrutiny at a later date.

It has Government support, which increases its chance of becoming law.

He explained the need for his “landmark bill”, saying: “At present, the statutory duty to provide careers guidance falls on maintained schools, special schools and pupil referral units but not academies, although many academies do indeed have a contractual obligation to secure independent careers guidance through their own funding agreements.”

Labour shadow education minister Peter Kyle said the bill was “a vital way to expose children to alternative options to work with those surrounding them when growing up”.