dobre? First item of business on this afternoonאפ is portfolio questions, my portfolio on this occasion during the relevant question. to ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to encourage the uptake of education maintenance allowance among fineble pupils? includes among stay eligible pupils"? It is vital in supporting young people from lower income households to overcome financial barriers and to, say in Education, a central component that opportunities will be in supporting young people from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The specific promotions and awareness raising of the programme locally remains the responsibility of our delivery partners, local authorities and the Scottish funding council, as well learning centres such as colleges gyda gyda'r colegau ac i gyda'r gyllidegau yn gyllidegau anioedd. Ond yr�� Y Government yn cael ei gynhyrchu'r ystai'r gynnwys i gyd ymgyrch gael y gynhyrch a chyfrifoeddau cysylltu wedi cyfrifio. Rydw i rydyn ni'n gallu i'n cyfrifio'r pereiswn gwaith i liel i gynnwys i'ch gynhyrch i'r ddefnyddiaeth I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. School attendance can be a huge challenge for pupils with additional support needs and flexibility is key, with many young people requiring reduced timetables to best meet their educational needs. I am hearing recently that some of those pupils are told that they are not eligible for education maintenance allowance, and this seems unfair with a part timetable as a reasonable adjustment to meet an identified support need. Can I ask what steps will the Scottish Government take to ensure that additional support needs pupils are encouraged to remain in education without compromising access to critical financial support, and whether accurate data and part-time timetables is routinely available? I thank Stephanie Hallhan for raising this really important issue, and I very much share her concern if young people with additional support needs find themselves in that position. Given the reported increase in relation to additional support needs pupils towards the end of last year nationally, our EMA guidance makes clear the need for flexibility when administering the EMAs for our young people with additional support needs, because we recognise that they very much often find themselves requiring non-standard attendance patterns that might fall short of the full-time criteria. We know that institutions are also encouraged to be flexible when they are agreeing on attendance patterns for ASM pupils, and that should be agreed and written into the pupils' learning agreement. However, we will continue to reiterate to delivery partners the need for this flexibility. In the meantime, if the member has any particular cases where pupils with additional support needs have found themselves ineligible, I am very happy that she writes to me with details on those matters. To ask the Scottish Government whether it has evaluated the extent to which swimming lessons are a part of the school curriculum for primary school aged pupils. Schools in Scotland have the flexibility to decide upon the content of their own physical education lessons, so the Scottish Government does not specifically evaluate the extent to which swimming lessons form a part of those decisions. However, we know that some local authorities offer swimming lessons as part of their physical education, and in other cases schools may take account of a range of factors, including travel time required to a swimming pool in deciding against offering swimming lessons as part of PE. However, the Government has however been working with the Scottish Swimming Organization, Education Scotland and other stakeholders to develop interventions and approaches to give opportunities for children to become confident, safer and competent swimmers. Learning how to swim is a life skill that has numerous physical, social and mental health benefits. I and others fully believe that every child should leave primary school having had the opportunity to learn to swim. Does the cabinet secretary agree that teaching our young people how to swim is an important skill that must be easily accessible to all across Scotland? Does she advise whether the Government has had any thoughts on how swimming lessons can be more embedded into the primary school curriculum? He raises an extremely important point. I agree with Mr MacGregor that learning to swim gives many physical and mental wellbeing benefits additionally, and we should be mindful of that in terms of curriculum for excellent entitlements. That is why, following the publication of the evaluation of the 2223 pilots, the Government and Education Scotland are going to work with Scottish Swimming and Sport Scotland to look at the best approach for maximising the uptake of swimming among children and young people of school age. I am happy to ensure that the member has kept up to date on that work and would welcome any further input that he may wish to provide on that matter. Access to things like swimming, sport, culture, languages and arts is essential for young people to enjoy learning and be fit for the future. Some are worried that there is a lack of opportunity in those areas. I asked the Government about young people's participation in cultural activities and it said that it tracks sporting but not cultural activity. Is she confident that all young people have equal opportunity to experience those things and will she commit to gathering data to ensure that they are? I thank the member for her question. I think that she raises an important point. Of course, as she will know, we are looking at what more we can do through the education reform agenda to ensure that those entitlements are met. Curriculum for excellence provides a curriculum nationally, which is not prescriptive—one of the reasons why I cannot dictate, for example, to local authorities that they must deliver swimming lessons in the context of the member's previous questions. However, in relation to cultural activity, I will speak to officials on that specific point to ensure that we are meeting those entitlements. That was one of the key recommendations to come from the Hayward review and I am very keen that we look again at those entitlements nationally to ensure that equality of access to our curriculum. In island communities like Shetland, the dangers of water are well understood. When I was a young child, I fell into Larwick Harbour and almost drowned. With that in mind, does the Scottish Government think that it is acceptable that 11-year-olds are leaving primary school without the life skill of being able to swim? I thank the member for her question and for sharing some of her personal experience of that. I recognise particularly in island communities the importance of having the skill to be able to swim. Of course, as I intimated in my response to Mr Uncan Glancy, I cannot mandate local authorities to deliver swimming education, but through the work with Education Scotland, more broadly, I am keen that we look at those entitlements. I think that the member's point is hugely important, so I would be keen to work with her and others who might have an interest in the subject to see what more we might be able to do to support schools. We also need to recognise that not all schools will be an island community, so we need to be mindful of the local context and availability and accessibility of swimming pools, for example. It is important in that regard. When I was at school many years ago, we had a swimming pool in the school. That is not always the case in many schools in Scotland, so we need to be mindful of availability of swimming pool access to ensure that equitability point that Mr Uncan Glancy made is met. Question 3, Alex Rowley. To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with universities and colleges to address the reported skills gap across the economy. As I confirmed to Parliament last month, as per the recommendation of the Withers report, the Scottish Government will take on skills planning at the national level and support the development of skills planning at the more regional level, in so doing, recognising that we must better align the education and skills system offering with the strategic skills of the needs of the economy in mind. We are developing those approaches in close collaboration with colleges and universities, along with others, specifically employers. Alex Rowley, I thank the minister for that answer. Over the last year I have met many employers, and the key issue that they consistently raise is the lack of availability of skilled labour. What is the Government doing to encourage and support more development of skills, of training and apprenticeships? Given the cuts to the Scottish Funding Council's budget, will that result in less college places? It is important that Alex Rowley knows that it is to differentiate between skills and labour shortages and to determine what we are doing and the specifics around the skills. That is why I have asked portfolio ministerial colleagues to carry out an exercise to identify the exact nature of current and likely future skills needs, in so doing engaging directly with colleges and universities and to determine what resource and capacity currently exist to meet such tasks and how we can bring all of that together. Certainly, from my direct conversations with the HE and FE sectors, there is a strong appetite to develop that better alignment, which is, of course, in everyone's interests. On the apprenticeship point in particular, the assurance that I could offer Alex Rowley is, again, that it is our intention to seek to better align that with the economic needs of the country. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I have fallen up on that point. Ensuring that there is alignment between the needs of employers and skills provision in our colleges and universities is essential, of course, to tackling skills shortages across the economy. In that light, I can ask what work the Government is doing on a sexual basis with employers to ensure that skills requirements now and in the future are identified and to ensure that funding of colleges and university provision is aligned to support employers' needs. Business and employers will have a crucial role to play in helping to shape the provision within the system. The Government is already engaging with a wide variety of employers looking at the practicalities and options for delivering a more aligned offering. Of course, we have the skills planning team at SDS at the forefront of that work. However, I have the keys right to highlight the need to approach us on a sectoral basis. It is already clear to me from my direct engagement with employers that some sectors are more progressed than others when it comes to having the detail and specifics that we require to move forward. It may be that we pilot approaches as much on a sectoral level as a geographical one. All that will be looked at in detail and employers around the table that we are putting together in the coming months. Of course, learning provided us will also be in the room, because we need all-size directly involved if we are to deliver an agile, aligned and responsive skills in the learning system. According to research by the Fraser of Allander Institute Scotland, colleges boosted the Scottish economy by over £8 billion, so more than a 10-fold return on investment. What impact will last year's £26 million cut and the proposed £58.7 million cut to the net college resource proposed in the Government's draft budget have on that £8 billion contribution? I think that £26 million that Liam Kerr refers to is a transition fund, so it will have no direct impact. The £58 million that he refers to was in line with the monies that were reduced in the year. The monies that the colleges had in reality or have in this current year will match almost entirely with the substance of their budget next year. Of course, in an ideal world, we would like to be able to better fund our colleges, and if Mr Kerr has any constructive ideas as we go through the budget process, we are all yours. With regard to the school gap that is currently being faced, I ask the Scottish Government how it is working with universities and colleges to promote the uptake of modern languages. The governance is clear that access to early modern languages is vital at all stages of education to equip children and young people with the skills that they need in an increasingly globalised world universities. However, there are autonomous institutions and such are responsible for their own course provision, and it is for them to decide how to distribute the allocation of funded places between faculties and courses. Similarly, operational decisions, including resourcing and course provision, are matters for individual colleges, but in both instances we would look for that to be done in line with the needs of learners and the local economy. Question 4, 5 or not large, question 6, Ben Macpherson. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle violence in schools and the impact that it is having on pupils and staff. No teacher, member of staff or pupil should have to suffer abuse in our schools. The series of summits that I held with a wide range of stakeholders on behaviour in schools concluded in November. The behaviour in Scottish schools research was also published, and that provides the accurate national picture in relation to behaviour in Scotland schools. In my statement to Parliament on 29 November, I confirmed that a multi-year plan is in development to tackle instances of challenging behaviour, working with local authorities, trade unions and others. That plan will be published as soon as possible. I welcome that update and the different points that the cabinet secretary talked about in terms of the progress. I fully agree that no one in our schools should feel unsafe or suffer abuse of any kind. I am pleased that the final stage of the series of behaviour stakeholder summits has taken place. Cabinet Secretary, what particular attention is being given to tackling gender-based violence in our schools, which is again affecting pupils and staff? What engagement has there been with expert organisations such as Zero Tolerance, White Ribbon and She Scotland, in my constituency? I am very concerned by the findings in the BISSAR research regarding increased misogyny in our schools, which, as has been pointed out, was found to affect both pupils and staff. In the coming weeks, we will publish a national gender-based violence framework for schools that will support them in preventing and responding to gender-based violence. We will also continue to work very closely with some of our key stakeholders that the member alluded to on the gender-based violence in schools working group, which we jointly chair with Zero Tolerance and also with Rape Crisis Scotland. That is really to ensure the framework supports schools in tackling gender-based violence and sexual harassment, but it also supports everyone in our schools to be protected, cared for and have their rights and needs respected. I have a number of supplementaries on that. We have a little time in hand over the afternoon, so I will take them all, but that is not an invitation to go on overly long brevity again. First of all, Ross McCall. I have been inundated with correspondence from constituents raising concerns about the widespread violence in five schools. In five, 71 per cent of teachers who responded to a recent EIS survey reported experiencing violence on a daily basis, while officials said that members have been hospitalised due to physical attacks. It is also concerning now to see that we have teenagers and infirmum engaging in attacks outside the school grounds. That kind of violence, including gender-based, has to stop. I am sure that the cabinet secretary accepts that any time delay on this matter is allowing violence to escalate and embed. When will the Government's plans be implemented to support our teachers and parents? I thank the member for her question. I think that she raises a number of important points. She has commented on some specific cases that I am not cited on, if she wants to share any further detail with me. I would be keen to see that. We are going to use the national research that has been published through the BISA research to help to inform our decision making about the national action plan. We need to be cognisant, too, that we need to trust our teachers and our classrooms in delivering the type of learning and teaching and the behaviour that we expect in our schools. I visited a school—two schools in Glasgow yesterday—who were working to embed strong relationships to support better behaviour across the board. We are working at pace with the Scottish advisory group on relationships and behaviour in schools, and with those wider partners that I mentioned in my response to Mr McPherson on the plan itself. I also met with the teaching unions in December, following the update to Parliament to discuss our response. We expect to publish the plan early this year. I am more than happy to write to the member with more detail specifics on that. She will understand that I require, as Cabinet Secretary, to have the buy-in and also the co-production of COSLA in that regard, given that they run our schools. However, I recognise the urgency around this issue, as she is intimated in her question today. In just the last few weeks, I have met a pupil support assistant with a broken wrist, and I have met a teacher who is off on long-term sick because of stress, as a result of violence in the classroom. The education secretary knows that there is some disappointment and a degree of anger that the message from the statement in December was that teachers needed better training. That cannot be the answer. They need more in-class support and more specialist support. However, can I urge the education secretary to look again at the issue of boundaries and consequences? I think that we have got that out of kilter, and would she look at that again to make sure that we get this right? I thank the member for his question. He made similar suggestions in a debate at the end of term. At that time, I tried to intervene on him. He did not allow me to do so, if he will recall, but that was not the message from my statement to Parliament at the end of term. My statement to Parliament recognises the challenges here, but we also need to be cognisant as a Government. The Government does not run our schools directly. We trust our local authorities, such as Fife Council and the member's constituency, to support their school staff on the ground. I think that the Government has a responsibility here, which is why I have brought forward the national plan, but that has to be done in conjunction with local authorities. He has given a number of examples there. He has talked again about consequences, and I have been very clear about that national action plan. We will look to set out some of that in more detail. Actually, some of the feedback from the BISSAR events from head teachers directly has been a call for more of that to be set out at national level. I am keen that we give that clarity so that head teachers understand that they have these options at their disposal. However, I say to the member that we need to be careful not to patronise the profession, who very much recognise how to develop and deliver good quality learning and teaching and to set boundaries for our young people. However, in that process, they also need support from their local authorities. That is why local authorities and COSLA have to be key to the development of the national action plan and to the sagrapus work that I responded to the previous member in relation to our action. To get in the next supplementary, I will need a bit more brevity in both the questions and the responses. Pam Duncan-Glancy. The cabinet secretary will know that non-contact time is crucial to addressing the conditions in schools. Does the cabinet secretary have the report that she commissioned on delivering that? If she does, when will she be able to share some of the detail with Parliament? I very much agree with her on this issue. I do not yet have that report from my officials, but I am happy to write to the member as soon as I have received it, because I recognise the ask here around that additionality in relation to class contact time. To ask the Scottish Government what support it could offer to Northfield academy within my Aberdeen-Donside constituency, where Education Scotland inspectors recently stated that more needs to be done to make pupils feel safe. As the member will know, I visited Northfield academy back in August to understand the action that they were taking in relation to some of the concerns at that school. They undeniably remain a number of challenges, but I am advised that the leadership team at the school is committed to driving improvements for pupils and staff alike. While it is a matter for local authorities and schools to decide on specific support that might be needed, as part of our commitment to ensure that schools are safe and consistent environments for all, we are working on that national action plan that I have mentioned in previous responses today. On the specific issue of Northfield academy, I have requested an update from my officials, from the interim chief inspector, in terms of any additional support that we may be able to provide the school and the local authority at this time. Given the extent of the problem, would the cabinet secretary think that it would be worthwhile encouraging schools to get the debate going at a local level, involving parents, pupils, teachers and staff in the schools, to try to come up and resolve the issue at a local level and to engage people in the problem? The member makes a really interesting and positive suggestion. There have been a number of different pieces of research published over the last few months in relation to behaviour in Scotland schools, but at the turn of the year there was research published around attendance and integration between home and school over the pandemic. I think that that is part of the challenge that the member has suggested about a local approach to how we re-engage the family with the school would be a really worthwhile thing to pursue, and I would be more than happy to work with the member on that issue. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to address any challenges in relation to the accessibility of traditional skills programmes to ensure that young people have access to career opportunities. Historic environment Scotland continues to champion traditional skills and is working with stakeholders across the country to address traditional skills gaps to help to ensure that our historic buildings can thrive as part of the country's sustainable future. Additionally, skills development Scotland delivers careers, information, advice and guidance in all state secondary schools, dedicated centres and community locations nationwide. It is all age, service and powers people from all communities to make their own learning and career decisions based on the best available career intelligence. The closure of Edinburgh College's stone masonry programme has raised serious concerns about the future of stone masonry here in the capital and across Scotland. A recent stone masonry survey report found that over 200,000 of all buildings in Scotland are pre-1919 and stated that we will need a healthy supply of stone masons to adapt those and make sure that they are fit for purpose in decades to come. Can I ask the minister what work is the Scottish Government doing to provide for future generations of stone masons and what work has been undertaken to develop new models to deliver national courses and apprenticeship schemes? I associate myself with the importance that Miles Briggs places on this matter. As he does, I recognise the need to ensure that stone masonry, like other traditional skills, are prioritised within our apprenticeship and training offering. The Minister for Culture, Europe and Environment and I have tasked the Historic Environment Scotland with developing proposals for a sustainable future model, which ensures that we continue to be able to access the skills required to maintain our historic buildings. However, it has to be recognised that delivery of stone masonry apprenticeships is costly and that the numbers involved do not produce sufficient critical mass to allow for course provision to be delivered across a multitude of locations. Without wishing to prejudge matters, it may be that a centre or centres of excellence model might be the best way forward. We currently have three colleges, City of Glasgow, UHI Elgin and Fourth Valley, engaged in such delivery. However, I hope that I have provided Miles Briggs with some reassurance. Given his long-standing and genuine interest in the topic, I would be happy to continue to engage with him on that. To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that teachers are fully equipped to safeguard the wellbeing of pupils. The wellbeing and safety of children and young people in Scotland is a key priority for the Government. Our national guidance for child protection in Scotland describes the responsibilities and expectations for everyone who works with children and young people and emphasises the key role that the education workforce has in support and protection for children. Education Scotland's safeguarding and education national network brings together leads at local authority level to share safeguarding and education practice. The professional standards for Scotland's teachers also set out the role of teachers in ensuring the wellbeing and safety of children and young people. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. Last month, the UK Government published comprehensive guidance for teachers on how to support pupils questioning their gender in schools. The guidance acknowledges the critical role that biological sex plays in maintaining safety and promoting equality in schools, while also recognising the profound psychological effects that the social transitions have on young people and the need for parental involvement in those life-changing decisions. Can I ask the cabinet secretary, does she agree that the teachers should be fully equipped to discuss those issues with the pupils and will the Government introduce the same guidance for Scottish schools? As she may be aware, we are reviewing our relationship sexual health and parenthood guidance. The consultation closed back at the end of November last year. We received more than 4,000 responses to the consultation. My officials are currently analysing responses, and our report on that consultation will be produced shortly. The initial findings suggest that the guidance needs to give more clarity, and the guidance will be updated in light of the feedback. Other findings are the consultation in due course. I have been more than happy to write to the member with an update as soon as we publish that consultation data. Thank you, cabinet secretary. That concludes portfolio questions. There will be a brief pause before we move to the next item of business.


Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30-minute program from the Voice of America. I'm Ashley Thompson. And I'm Dan Novak. This program is designed for English learners, so we speak a little slower, and we use words and phrases, especially written for people learning English. Coming up on the program, Gregory Stockle reports on labor shortages in the U.S. caused by an aging population. John Russell has a story on how businesses are offering fewer products. Brian Lin has the technology report on President Biden's appearance on TikTok as a part of his reelection campaign. Later, Jill Robbins and Andrew Smith present the lesson of the day, but first... Each day, about 10,000 baby boomers leave the U.S. workforce. Baby boomers are the generation of people born between 1946 and 1964. The COVID-19 pandemic only increased the amount of people retiring as older workers decided to retire early rather than risk getting sick. We're running out of workers. Why? Because baby boomers are retiring and you don't have enough younger workers who are skilled to fill their spots, said Dana Peterson, chief economist at the conference board, a research group. She said the U.S. is going to have labor shortages and she added that the pandemic quickened retirements and made labor shortages more intense. Seljuk Aeron is a senior economist at the conference board. He said the problem is that for every person leaving, only one person is coming into the labor force and a slowed down labor force means limited growth. He said, so one-on-one means that your labor force is not growing, which is going to slow down economic growth as well. The federal government workforce is also expected to be hit hard as more boomers retire. 40% of the federal government is aged 55 or more as of now, so that means that this huge wave of retirements is coming, Aeron says, and you're going to have a difficult time to replace them because there's not enough younger people, especially with the educational requirements that those jobs require. A conference board report looks at industries that are likely to have shortages as older Americans leave the workforce. They include physical labor jobs like personal care, food services, cleaning, and jobs involving repairs and building, among others. Production and transportation jobs will also be affected by retiring baby boomers, but less so. The report finds that the most severe labor shortages will be in health-related jobs as more aging boomers will require personal care. The possibility for labor shortages is mostly lower in jobs that require a college degree. STEM professionals or those working in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are at a lower risk of shortages. Jobs that permit remote work will have less intense labor shortages, the report says. Immigration could be a way to lessen the effects of boomers leaving their jobs, Aeron says. Aeron said, that's probably the fastest solution because it takes time to educate a younger person to bring them to that skill level. He said, the fastest solution is just immigration and giving priority to immigrants with those skills that we are going to be lacking. That's number one. He said, number two is to keep baby boomers working by giving them incentives to stay in the workforce. Incentives could include tax and social security policies that do not punish someone who works into their 70s and offering increased freedoms like remote or part-time work to people nearing retirement age. For Chicago-based college professor, Kristen Mariani, retiring baby boomers mean increased opportunities for her students. She said the effect is, it's giving younger people the generations that came after them to become the change makers, the decision makers. Mariani is a professor at the School of the SCART Institute of Chicago. She added that it is important to make sure that the education and the knowledge that is given to these individuals, that they will be able to move forward with these responsibilities. I'm Gregory Stockle. American businesses are reducing the number of products that they offer. The change began before the COVID-19 pandemic. It has only increased in recent months. Coca-Cola used to offer around 400 different kinds of drinks. The beverage company recently decided to discontinue half of them. Among the products cut were Tab, Zico coconut water, Diet Coke feisty cherry, and Odwalla juices. Other American businesses are reducing food offerings from mayonnaise to cereals. Car companies, too, are offering fewer kinds of cars and instead putting more effort into what they think will sell best. Stu Leonard's, a company that operates food stores in Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey, has cut the number of cereals it offers from 49 in 2019 to 24. Edgewell Personal Care Company, the maker of Chick-Raisers and Banana Boat Sundhand Lotion, has cut some kinds of its antibacterial wipes, called wet ones, among other products. Dollar General, based in Goodlitzville, Tennessee, used to offer six different kinds of mayonnaise. Now it offers two. The consumer is not going to know the difference. Todd J. Vassos, chief of Dollar General, told experts in December. Actually, it's going to make her life a little simpler when she goes to the shelf. Shoppers looking for cars are finding fewer choices as well. Both General Motors and Ford have announced they are limiting the number of option combinations customers can get on their vehicles to reduce manufacturing and purchasing complexity. That is a change of direction from a few years ago when companies aimed to offer more choices. Online shopping caused some to think that more choices lead to better sales, but more choices often do not. Companies started reducing the number of products they offer a year or two before the pandemic. During the pandemic, the reductions increased with companies focusing on necessities as they faced supply problems. After the pandemic, when goods began moving freely again, many businesses discovered less was better. New offerings made up about two percent of products in stores in 2023. That includes products for beauty, footwear, technology, and toys. Market research company Cercana said that number is down from five percent in 2019. Many think the companies are also helping shoppers. Some studies show that fewer choices result in shoppers buying more. In 2000, psychologists Sheena Langer and Mark Lepper published a study that showed limited selection is better for people who are buying things. In their experiment, the researchers found consumers were ten times more likely to purchase jam when the number of jams available was cut down from 24 to 6. Later studies have produced similar findings. Retailers are recognizing that they have to be respectful of shoppers' time, said Paco Underhill, whose company, Enviracell, studies consumer behavior. But retailers cannot just reduce offerings without a plan, said David Berliner of BDO, a business services company. You want to make these cuts so they're not even aware of it, and you want the store to still look full, Berliner said. If you do it too much, you might scare some away. I'm John Russell. U.S. President Joe Biden officially has a presence on TikTok, but his re-election campaign is having to defend its decision to put him on the video-sharing app. That is because his administration has repeatedly warned of national security concerns linked to TikTok. Biden, a Democrat, first appeared on TikTok in a video published Sunday night. The 32nd video showed him answering a series of questions, mostly about Sunday's Super Bowl. U.S. officials have said the decision to put the president on TikTok came from Biden's campaign organization, not the White House. Campaign officials have explained that they see TikTok as a way for Biden, age 81, to connect with younger voters. Last month, a TikTok representative told U.S. lawmakers the app currently had an estimated 170 million active users in the United States. That was up from 150 million a year earlier. Online data company Statista has estimated about 70% of American teenagers are users of TikTok. U.S. officials have long warned that TikTok presents national security concerns. The government has accused TikTok's owner, Chinese company ByteDance, of sharing user data with China's government. Critics have said China could also use TikTok to spread misinformation and that material published on the service can harm the mental health of young users. TikTok denies the accusations. President Biden approved a limited ban on TikTok in December 2022. The ban made it unlawful for most of the federal government's 4 million employees to use the app on devices owned by agencies. On Monday, White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. government's position and policies concerning TikTok had not changed. There are still national security concerns about the use of TikTok on government devices and there's been no change to our policy not to allow that. Kirby said White House Press Secretary Kareen Jean-Pierre told reporters election rules barred her from commenting on campaign matters. But when asked about worries that TikTok and similar apps can help spread disinformation, she said it's a concern that we have. A spokesman for Biden's re-election campaign defended the use of TikTok to help get the president's message out. Deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty noted that by Monday afternoon Biden's TikTok video had been watched more than 5 million times. The video, Flaherty said in a statement, demonstrates the campaign's continuing efforts to reach voters in an evolving, fragmented and increasingly personalized media environment. Attempts in Congress to restrict TikTok have not resulted in approved legislation. A number of U.S. states and some universities have banned TikTok on state-issued devices. Several lawmakers criticized the Biden campaign's decision. Among them was Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri. He wrote on X that Biden's campaign was bragging about using a Chinese spy app even though Biden signed a law banning it on all federal devices. Republican Senator Joni Ernst also reacted on X expressing concern that the campaign had decided to put Biden on what she described as a dangerous propaganda app. Republican Representative Daryl Issa said, The panic is when the Biden campaign joins TikTok after the White House banned the app from devices a year ago. Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat, also expressed his national security concerns about TikTok and criticized the campaign's decision to put Biden on the app. I think that we still need to find a way to follow India, which has prohibited TikTok, Warner said. He added, I'm a little worried about a mixed message. I'm Brian Lin. Brian Lin joins us now to talk more about his technology report. Thanks for being here, Brian. Of course, Dan. Thanks for having me. Your report was about a decision by President Joe Biden's reelection campaign to put him on TikTok in an effort to appeal to younger voters. But the decision has been criticized by many. Are there any signs the campaign might reconsider? So at this point, there has not been any indication of that. The campaign did put out a few statements about the TikTok launch and praised the amount of attention Biden's video was getting. But some political experts have said the decision to put the president on TikTok might have to be reconsidered at some point, especially if criticism of it does not die down. In the end, the campaign will have to weigh whether having Biden on TikTok helps him more than any lasting criticism is hurting him. A lot of the criticism seems to be centered on the campaign's decision being related to an investigative report that suggested Biden suffers from age-related memory issues. Have campaign officials addressed this? So none of the campaign statements I've seen directly link Biden's appearance on TikTok with the observations made by investigators that the president has problems with his memory. But campaign officials have said repeatedly that putting Biden on TikTok, of course, is an attempt to get him to connect with a younger audience. They have made no secret of that and say they hope the move will in fact introduce the president to young people who might not go out and do their own research. Thanks for answering my questions, Brian, and thanks for your report. You're welcome. Thank you, Dan. And now it's time for the lesson of the day on the Learning English podcast. My name is Jill Robbins and I'm joined by Andrew Smith. Hi, Andrew. Hi, Jill. Our lesson is based on our video series Let's Learn English. The series shows Anna Mateo in her work and life in Washington, D.C. Here's Anna introducing herself. Hello, my name is Anna Mateo. In a recent lesson of the day, we explained the differences between the verbs talk and speak. Today, we compare the verbs tell and say. We'll be listening to some of lesson 22, level two of Let's Learn English, to give some examples of these verbs. You know, we often get emails from our audience asking about how to use these two verbs. At first glance, it seems they should work the same way as they have the same meaning. That's not the case, so I'm sure this will be very helpful. Tell us more, Andrew. Okay. Here's the main idea to help your English. We put indirect object pronouns or nouns directly after the verb tell. Here's some examples. Tell me the truth. Tell me the truth. Tell her the answer. Tell them what we said. Tell them what we said. But with the verb say, we can't put those pronouns directly after the verb. Listen to Andrew give these examples. She said to me. What did he say to her? Say to them. Say to them. Did you hear the difference between tell and say? With the verb say, we must use the preposition to before the pronoun. And most of the time, we don't even use indirect object pronouns like in this example. He said that I need to finish the job by tomorrow. Just to be clear. The pronoun I is a subject pronoun. The pronoun me can be either an indirect object pronoun or an object pronoun. Now let's listen to the beginning of lesson 22 of level two. In lesson 21, Anna visited a store that sells art and objects found in the trash or garbage. Now Anna has tried to make art or special objects from the things she found. Try to listen for the difference between the verbs tell and say. Welcome to class, Anna. I can't wait to see your trash. Okay. All right. This net with the, oh, that's got a hole in it. Tell me about that. This net said to me, Anna, I used to catch stuff. I don't anymore. So use me, Anna, that's what it said. It said use me, Anna. Okay. So it's a plastic helmet. This plastic helmet said, Anna, hey, Anna, find me a head. Okay. And a broken toy. This broken toy, this broken toy said to me, it said, Anna, help me find fun. Help me, Anna, is what it said. Anna, this stuff is not saying anything to you or me or anyone. It's what we like to call in the business garbage. We heard Sue say, tell me about that. And we heard Anna say, this broken toy said to me, it said, Anna, you can hear how Anna used the preposition to after the verb say. And of course, the objects don't really talk to Anna. Anna just means that she was interested in the objects in a special way. As we explained in our previous podcast lesson, we can say that the objects spoke to her. And notice that the past tense of say is pronounced said. You can remember this pronunciation by thinking of words that rhyme with said, such as red and head. And what about the past tense of tell? Let's listen to more of lesson 22 to hear that verb. Anna, what happened? I told you to wait for me. Actually, you told me not to start without you. The verb tell changes to told in the past tense. It sounds like Anna had some problems following directions in the class. She sure did. Our listeners should really watch the video to see just how badly Anna followed directions. Yeah, I think it's pretty funny. Anna ends up with pieces of paper glued all over her. Okay, now we're going to move to the last part of our lesson. To learn how to use the verbs tell and say correctly, it can be helpful to simply hear several examples. So Jill and I are going to read the following chant, which is kind of like a poem. Are you ready, Jill? Ready. Okay, here's the chant. I can tell you and you can tell her. She can tell them and they can tell him. He can tell us and then we will learn. If everyone said the same thing you did. But if he says something we did not say, then we will know that something's astray. Astray just means wrong or not really right. I can tell you and you can tell her. She can tell them and they can tell him. And if he tells us the same thing we said, what I told you is what you told her. And what she told them is what they told him. Isn't it great when everyone listens? That way you don't need to say it again. But maybe this poem's a little bit tricky. I think they just might need to hear it once more. And that's exactly what Rewind is for. Okay, okay, I get what you mean. Now let's continue before I turn to Gray. No comment on that, so take it away. Now we will tell you just what to say to family and friends and those who will listen. You can learn English by starting today with programs we make here at VOA. Our website is learningenglish.voanews.com. And remember, you can write to us at learningenglish at voanews.com. You can ask us questions or comment on our lessons. Tell us what you think about our programs. Or tell us something about yourself and what you enjoy. We hope you enjoyed today's lesson about the verbs say and tell. And Anna's effort to make treasure out of trash. Thanks for listening. Say goodbye, Andrew. Goodbye, Andrew. Very funny. I'm Jill Robbins. And I'm Andrew Smith. And that's our program for today. Join us again tomorrow to keep learning English through stories from around the world. I'm Ashley Thompson. And I'm Dan Novak.