EDUCATION - FURTHER EDUCATION
HE strategies required for 2010
Times Higher Education
09/04/2009
All English further education colleges must draw up a higher education strategy for Hefce by January 2010.
Head teachers warn: £60m sixth form cuts could scupper diplomas
Guardian
07/04/2009
Head teachers are warning they could be forced to abandon the government's new diplomas after sixth forms and colleges in England were told they face a £60m shortfall in funding from September.
'It's the capital programme all over again'
Guardian
07/04/2009
Train to Gain, another flagship government policy administered by the Learning and Skills Council, is heading for major cash problems because of surging demand.
Principals contend to represent all colleges
Times Educational Supplement
10/04/2009
Nigel Robbins, principal of Cirencester College, and Pat Bacon, principal of St Helens College, will compete in the election to become President of the Association of Colleges.
Schools consider legal action over £200m budget cuts
Guardian
09/04/2009
Heads of school sixth forms and colleges are considering legal action against the government funding agency responsible for making unexpected cuts of £200m to their budgets.
'There may be more money in the pipeline'
Guardian
14/04/2009
Geoff Russell, the new head of the Learning and Skills Council, talks about his plans to tackle the college building crisis and the sixth-form funding shortfall.
EDUCATION - HIGHER EDUCATION
£25 million awarded to transform approaches to energy consumption
HEFCE
16/04/2009
Forty-four higher education institutions (HEIs) have been awarded a share of £25 million from the Revolving Green Fund, a partnership fund between HEFCE and Salix Finance. The fund enables HEIs to radically transform their approaches to energy consumption and reducing emissions.
Academics plan to boycott new student immigration rules
Guardian
14/04/2009
A group of academics are threatening to boycott the government's new immigration rules for students, saying orders that they monitor international students' movements are discriminatory.
Bogus foreign students free to flout new laws
Times
15/04/2009
Despite new laws to tighten controls on immigration, thousands of bogus students remain free to enter Britain as the Home Office fails to vet hundreds of colleges.
British degrees exported to overseas students
Guardian
16/04/2009
British universities are exporting their sought-after degrees to hundreds of thousands of overseas students who can't afford to study in the UK, new figures show.
Colleges and sixth forms lose up to £300,000 each
Guardian
10/04/2009
Colleges and sixth forms are furious that promises of funding made at the beginning of March have been reduced by up to £300,000 per institution. An estimated 35,000 students could be turned away in September.
DIUS promises to ditch the jargon but defends its use of 'customer'
Times Higher Education
09/04/2009
DIUS has said it intends to use more concise and accessible language in future' following a Select Committee accused the department's documentation as being 'impenetrable'.
Hefce wants severance 'fairness'
Times Higher Education
09/04/2009
Hefce has updated its 2002 guidance on severance payments for senior staff. It advises against 'rewarding' failure and confidentiality clauses.
How student visas to Britain became big business
Guardian
11/04/2009
In Pakistan there are up to 4,000 'education consultant' businesses that help young people hoping to study in the UK obtain a student visa.
Institutions attack claims that Saudi and Chinese donors direct policy
Times Higher Education
09/04/2009
Cambridge, Edinburgh and SOAS insist that the Centre for Social Cohesion report "'A Degree of Influence' is inaccurate.
Philanthropy or propaganda?
Guardian
07/04/2009
Large foreign donations are influencing courses at British universities, according to a the report 'A Degree of Influence' from the Centre for Social Cohesion.
Post-92s suffer as AHRC block grants favour traditional sector
Times Higher Education
09/04/2009
Four modern universities have made it on to a list of 48 higher education institutions selected to receive almost £200 million in funding for postgraduate students by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Research councils unveil 'future vision'
Times Higher Education
09/04/2009
The UK's seven research councils have identified three new national priorities for research funding; developing better connected communities, safeguarding the UK's food supply, and ensuring the nation's economic resilience.
Share price crash cut pension fund's value by 24 per cent in eight months
Times Higher Education
09/04/2009
The Universities Superannuation Scheme fell in value by about £7 billion in eight months.
Student freeze halts merger
Times Higher Education
09/04/2009
The Government's crackdown on university expansion has thwarted plans for a merger between Thames Valley University and the Academy of Contemporary Music.
The Children Act 1989 (Higher Education Bursary)(England) Regulations.
DCSF
06/04/2009
Consultation on the draft Regulations which set out arrangements for local authorities to pay a bursary to former relevant children who undertake a recognised course of higher education. This implements a Care Matters White Paper commitment.
Universities and colleges to offer real help now for communities in tough times
DIUS
09/04/2009
HEFCE and DIUS have announced that more than 70 universities and colleges have won a share of £27m to offer help to individuals and businesses during the downturn. The £50 million Economic Challenge Investment Fund will include over 2,000 internships and work placements for new graduates, short targeted courses, and vouchers for the unemployed for training and help with looking for work. Businesses will benefit from initiatives including courses for workers on reduced hours in managerial and financial skills, and placements of graduates for research and design.
Universities weigh up new fraud unit to thwart bogus applications
Guardian
11/04/2009
Universities are considering establishing a new anti-fraud unit to identify falsified applications from overseas students, amid concerns that most of those recently arrested in the north-west of England over an alleged terror plot were Pakistanis who had come to the UK on student visas.
Vice-chancellors take pay freeze
BBC News
17/04/2009
The vice-chancellors of at least seven universities accept a pay freeze as universities face financial difficulties.
Where power lies
Times Higher Education
16/04/2009
The unexpected exits of two vice-chancellors have raised questions about governors and their authority, and whether new forms of governance are appropriate for universities.
EDUCATION - SCHOOLS
£18m in payouts for disputes and injuries in the workplace
Times Educational Supplement
10/04/2009
Teachers were awarded more than £18 million in compensation in 2008.
£50m for expansion as diplomas reach 'tipping point'
DCSF
06/04/2009
To support the expansion of the Diploma programme Schools Minister Jim Knight announced £50 million in new investment, to provide local areas with the set-up costs they need to deliver the qualifications.
Abuse of teachers by parents and pupils on the rise, says survey
Guardian
06/04/2009
Teachers are facing increasingly abusive behaviour from parents and pupils, according to research from the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.
Asbestos 'causing teacher deaths'
BBC News
16/04/2009
Asbestos must be removed from schools to prevent the risk of cancer to pupils and teachers, a teaching union says. Health and Safety Executive figures reveal 228 teachers died from asbestos-related diseases between 1991 and 2005.
EU law may force faith schools to take atheists: anti-discrimination directive could also make churches perform gay marriage ceremonies
Sunday Telegraph
12/04/2009
A draft EU Directive outlawing discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, sexual orientation or belief contains proposals which could allow children from non-religious families to attend faith schools.
Expert group steers clear of Sats reform
Times Educational Supplement
17/04/2009
The TES has learnt that the expert group commissioned by ministers to rethink the future of pupil assessment will not recommend major reform of national tests for 11 year olds.
Extension of the National Strategies Contract
DCSF
07/04/2009
The Department for Children, Schools and Families have announced their intention to extend the National Strategies contract by one year, to 31 March 2011. The value of the extension is £64 million and programmes are delivered by Capita Strategic Children’s Services on behalf of the DCSF.
'Ghastly nonsense' of false allegation sparks inquiry by MPs
Times Educational Supplement
10/04/2009
The Children, Schools and Families Select Committee will undertake an inquiry into whether there is an increase in the number of malicious allegations made by pupils against teachers.
Government says proposed Sats boycott 'unlawful'
Guardian
10/04/2009
The government has declared a proposed boycott of next year's Sats "unlawful" raising the question of a legal challenge if the National Union of Teachers backs the plans at its annual conference in Cardiff tomorrow.
Jabs bought by bitten teachers
BBC News
15/04/2009
Special needs teachers at a teaching union conference say they are being inoculated against disease for fear of being bitten.
Now teachers threaten strike if Sats are scrapped
Guardian
16/04/2009
Teachers at the NASUWT conference threatened to strike today if ministers end national tests for 11-year-olds, days after the National Union of Teachers voted for a boycott to force their abolition.
Private schools axe teaching staff as recession bites
Guardian
08/04/2009
Nearly 30 independent schools have shut, merged or become academies as the economic crisis affects family finances.
Schools 'employing bouncers'
BBC News
12/04/2009
Schools are employing bouncers to "crowd control" classes in teachers' absence, a union conference is told.
