8 fatally shot in Serbia town a day after 9 killed at school
AI In-Brief
Thailand News in Brief
Thai PBS World
Thailand and the world, every day
AI can make mistakes. Please double-check.
8 fatally shot in Serbia town a day after 9 killed at school
13 Sept 16:44Key points summarised by AI
Serbia endured its second mass shooting in two days, with eight people fatally shot and 13 wounded in a drive-by attack near Belgrade, labeled a "terrorist act" by the Interior Minister.
This followed a horrific school shooting where a 13-year-old boy killed eight students and a school guard using his father's guns after extensive planning.
The unprecedented violence has deeply shocked the nation, prompting a three-day mourning period, urgent calls for stricter gun control, and a national debate on societal issues.
Authorities are actively investigating both incidents, with the school shooter placed in a mental institution and his father detained for endangering public security.
Experts emphasize Serbia's widespread gun culture, a legacy of the 1990s wars, warning of the dangers posed by the high number of weapons and persistent societal divisions.
Thailand's Education Ministry is implementing a four-pronged strategy to address its students' below-average performance in PISA 2025 and tackle significant educational inequality.
The plan prioritizes closing performance gaps by increasing funding for small and low-income schools, overhauling the curriculum to foster critical thinking, and adopting a data-driven management system to reduce teacher workload.
Key initiatives include enhancing school safety, combating cyberbullying, and expanding mental health support through peer-to-peer networks, recognizing the severe impact of distress on academic performance.
An education expert advises verifying if PISA improvements stem from structural changes, advocating for a revived STEM curriculum with practical 'learn by doing' methods, and urging bureaucratic reform to link teacher evaluations to student development.