EDUCATION
Education crisis: 6,000 jobs slashed and over 100,000 students affected as recession hits education
University and College Union
16/07/2009
Job loss figures released by the UCU reveal that in total across the UK 5,891 jobs are at risk or being cut with 4,593 in higher education and 1,298 in further education.
EDUCATION - FURTHER EDUCATION
College funding fiasco condemned
BBC
17/07/2009
An Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Select Committee report condemns the mismanagement of the Learning and Skills Council’s capital programme in further education colleges, and says the government should review the way quangos operate, so that such a situation cannot happen again. The report concludes: "Both Dius (the former Department for Innovation, Universities and Science) and the LSC are jointly liable for not recognising the weak points of a capital programme which suffered from no overall budget and poor management information but which was being heavily marketed by the LSC to colleges."
Report: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/
cm200809/cmselect/cmdius/530/530.pdf
MPs call on LSC to refund capital project expenses
Times Educational Supplement
17/07/2009
The Commons Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Select Committee has said that the ministerial pledge that no college would be allowed to go bankrupt due to the collapse of the capital building programme, did not go far enough. The committee has backed colleges' claims for compensation.
EDUCATION - HIGHER EDUCATION
Promise of more university places
BBC
16/07/2009
The Prime Minister has told a Commons Select Committee there will be extra university places for the next academic year, but he did not put a figure on the expansion.
'Remarkable' rise of the for-profit university
Times Higher Education
16/07/2009
Two reports reveal that private providers now cater for 30 per cent of global higher education enrolment.
Secret ‘at-risk’ list set to grow, MP claims
Times Higher Education
16/07/2009
Rob Wilson, Conservative MP for Reading East, claims that up to 30 higher education institutions could join a secret list of universities at risk of financial failure.
Sector shows increase in private income
Times Higher Education
16/07/2009
The Business and Community Interaction Survey, carried out by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, shows that universities have substantially boosted their income from businesses and research partners in the past year.
Students and staff a must for post-92 boards
Times Higher Education
16/07/2009
Most new universities will be legally obliged to include at least one student and one academic staff member on their governing boards under planned changes to legislation.
EDUCATION - SCHOOLS
A code to rule lives: but is regulator looking where it's neither wanted nor needed?
Times Educational Supplement
17/07/2009
The new code of conduct for teachers in England was approved last week. However the General Teaching Council continues to face accusations that it is extending its reach into teachers' private lives and leaving them vulnerable to unwarranted disciplinary action.
Allegations Against School Staff
HC Paper No.695 (Session 2008/09)
16/07/2009
A Children, Schools and Families Committee report examines allegations of wrongdoing by school staff and concludes that school staff subject to allegations should be treated according to acknowledged principles of justice and that a person accused of wrongdoing should be seen as innocent until proven guilty. The aim should always be to deal with allegations speedily, effectively and justly, to minimise the cost and the impact upon those accused.
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa
/cm200809/cmselect/cmchilsch/695/695.pdf
Authors in revolt against plans to vet them for school visits
Guardian
10/07/2009
Several high-profile authors are to stop visiting schools in protest at new laws requiring them to be vetted to work with youngsters.
Eleven million names on school vetting database: outcry grows as scale of Government's child protection register revealed
Independent
17/07/2009
Within five years, more than 11 million people will be stored by the Independent Safeguarding Authority as part of the Vetting and Barring Scheme which launches in October and is intended to protect children from paedophiles. By November 2010 it will be mandatory for all individuals who work with children to be registered. MPs who visit schools, parents who help on school trips or accommodate foreign pupils on exchange programmes, visiting authors, and builders working during term time will all need to register, as the list includes anyone who comes into contact with children in a professional or voluntary capacity.
Emerging findings for charity trustees from the Charity Commission’s public benefit assessment work: 2008-09
Charity Commission
14/07/2009
Charity Commission report on the emerging findings on public benefit assessments that sets out key issues and offers information on how charitable organisations can meet the public-benefit test.
Ministers set out next steps in Building Schools for the Future and announce £200m to build new primary reception classes
DCSF
15/07/2009
Barnet, Bolton, Hampshire, Peterborough, Sunderland and Wigan have been given the green-light for their Building Schools for the Future programmes, and DCSF proposed starting 12 more local authorities in 2009-10. Ministers also confirmed they are setting up a £200m fund to build permanent classrooms for reception pupils over the next two years in areas facing exceptional growth in demand.
Overseas teachers to lost UK qualification loophole
Times Educational Supplement
17/07/2009
Some overseas teachers are exploiting a legal loophole due to devolution that allows them to work in England's schools without relevant qualifications. The DCSF is consulting on changing the regulations so that overseas-trained candidates must also work for 60 days to get Qualified Teacher Status in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Report accuses school quango of bullying local authorities
Guardian
12/07/2009
Partnership for Schools has been accused of "bullying" local authorities with threats to withdraw their funding in a report released by think-tank Policy Exchange.
School computers 'fail to filter'
BBC
14/07/2009
School computer systems in the UK are failing to identify 10% of incoming harmful content, according to research from online safety firm, E-Safe Education.
Tax threat could hit hundreds of public schools
Independent
14/07/2009
Hundreds of independent schools will be forced to raise their fees to take in more pupils from poorer backgrounds, following a landmark ruling by the Charity Commission. Two of the first five schools investigated by the watchdog have been told they fail to meet tough new standards for retaining their charitable status.
