EDUCATION
Adult education funding must be shifted to older people, says report
Guardian
17/09/2009
An independent study, Learning through life, says that the £55bn spent on adult education each year in the UK is unfairly weighted towards those aged 18 to 24, who receive 86% of it, and some funding needs to be shifted to fund classes for the over-50s.
Call to change anti-bullying law
BBC
19/09/2009
Leading education lawyers and charities are calling for a change in the law to protect vulnerable young people from bullying. They claim that head teachers are not being held accountable for violent and abusive pupils and anti-bullying guidelines should be strengthened. The calls come as the Children's Legal Centre reports a rise in the number of parents seeking legal advice over bullying.
Cuts threaten to derail dyslexia scheme
Times Educational Supplement
18/09/2009
Funding for the government-run dyslexia training scheme will only be paid by the DCSF for two years.
EDUCATION - FURTHER EDUCATION
Doubts over direction for Diploma
BBC
18/09/2009
Discusses the political uncertainty hanging over the new diploma qualification that many schools and colleges have heavily marketed to students.
EDUCATION - HIGHER EDUCATION
'50,000 students' in loan delays
BBC
17/09/2009
The Student Loans Company says as many as 50,000 students in England might not get all their money until mid or late October.
CBI advises raising university fees to £5,000 a year to tackle funding crisis
Guardian
21/09/2009
A CBI report suggests students should pay more interest on loans and higher tuition fees to offset the inevitable decline in government spending on universities.
Formal review to consider four key areas of postgraduate study
Times Higher Education
17/09/2009
The controversial issue of whether postgraduate courses need to be better aligned with the UK's economic strengths is to be considered as part of a formal review.
Higher education quangos may face the axe – but which ones should go?
Guardian
22/09/2009
Following Peter Mandelson's announcement of a review of higher education quangos, a panel of experts give their opinions on which bodies are worth keeping and which could be scrapped.
Unequal opportunities in final RAE
Times Higher Education
17/09/2009
Female and black staff are less likely to have their work entered in the research assessment exercise, according to analysis by Hefce.
University life: bunk beds, night lectures, late loans
Guardian
18/09/2009
Many universities will be struggling to stretch resources to cope with a record-breaking new intake, partly fuelled by the recession. Double rooms with bunk beds, night-time lectures and overflowing seminars are set to be commonplace.
EDUCATION - SCHOOLS
Labour to cut school spending
Sunday Times
20/09/2009
Ed Balls, the children's secretary, has identified a potential £2 billion of efficiency savings, including tighter teachers' pay deals, a smaller number of head teachers and tighter controls on excess school budget balances.
Police knife searches in schools will be routine
Times Educational Supplement
18/09/2009
London secondary school governors and local authority officers are signing up to the Metropolitan Police's Weapons in schools protocol. The deal means that uniformed police officers with metal detectors can screen thousands of pupils and target schools if they have intelligence information about children.
Private school charity laws would be revised by Tories
Guardian
21/09/2009
Shadow schools minister Nick Gibb, has said a Conservative government would keep the public benefit charity law but challenge the way it is interpreted by the Charity Commission. Schools would be given more freedom to decide how they meet the test.
Tories' Swedish-style free schools could usher in era of budget independents
Times Educational Supplement
18/09/2009
Conservative plans for 220,000 new places in state-funded Swedish-style "free schools" will bring major change to the sector, according to a report from mtmconsulting.
'Virtual school gate' to link parents of secondary pupils
Guardian
21/09/2009
The government is launching a social networking community for every secondary school in England this week. Parents will be able to share advice and information about education, contact teachers and check whether children are telling the truth about the amount of money they need for lunch, the homework they have been set and coursework deadlines. However, the scheme has raised concerns over parents spreading gossip about teachers.
