Ministers can let themselves have a second chance
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The government has decided that it will no longer fund people seeking to do a degree course at an equivalent level to a degree they already have, or a so-called lesser course (an ELQ). In September, it announced that, from 2008, %26pound;100m of funding for students wishing to study ELQs is to be withdrawn.Back then, [...]
Life on death row
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It may or may not be a tragedy. But the closure of a school is always, without exception, painful: at least for some of the people involved, and at least for some of the time.Mixed feelings greeted the decision last October to close the Ridings school in Halifax - labelled in the media as the [...]
Cribsheet
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The bar is half-empty”Don’t head off into town and spend a fortune on weekend-priced drinks, when you can come to your very own union instead. New this term: fantastic, better-than-ever drinks promotions - trebles+mixer (incl Red Bull) for %26pound;2.50 - new DJ line-up, stilt-walking, stage dancers and fire performers.”This rather desperate promotion for the Newcastle [...]
Unhappy nursery tales
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It is hard to make dreams come true, but when you are a lone parent with a young child and jobless, the task is even harder. Yet, with the right support, dreams can become reality - as one student found out. “I’ve always wanted a career in fashion,” says Lydia Karema, from Greenwich, London, who [...]
Perfect timing
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Paralympian Beverley Gull, MBE was working as a disability adviser at the University of East London (UEL) when she decided she wanted to follow her dreams and become a professional sports photographer. Gull, due to graduate with a BA in photography next month, started her course in February rather than in the autumn, and says [...]
Further falls
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These are increasingly desperate times for adult educators. The latest figures from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) show a drop of 1,400,000 adult learners from publicly funded education in just two years, and there has been a decimation of provision for adults over 40.However, it is rare for a secretary of state to take [...]
Schools out
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%26#183; Sir Peter Vardy, car salesman, creationist, and sponsor of several academies, may have lost out when his academy in Conisbrough and Denaby was halted three years ago by parent-power protest, but to deal with his proposed academy in Blyth, there’s a parents’ consultative committee. Unfortunately, none of the parents who oppose the academy knew [...]
Intellectual literacy hour
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Research libraries have long been the proud curators of historic print collections and regarded as places of quiet study. But with the explosion of the internet and electronic publishing, users are increasingly turning their backs on libraries as a physical space, using them as virtual, digital environments instead. Libraries’ role in warehousing large book collections [...]
Final demand
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The government’s provision of online information for governors has become a joke. An up-to-date website would be the perfect tool to communicate with the 350,000 scattered volunteers who serve on governing bodies. It needs to contain a legal guide as well as clear signposting so that governors can speedily source information. A message board, regularly [...]
Desperately seeking students
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Almost every day, scores of desperate teenagers tune in to Nippon Housou Kyokai - Japan’s equivalent of the BBC. Not for some light relief from schoolwork, but for a show that helps them to cram for tough university entrance exams.For how much longer though? Japan has one of the oldest and most well-respected higher education [...]
