Principal under fire in ministers back yard
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The beleaguered principal of Harlow College is facing calls for his resignation following publication of the results of A-level modules that his opponents claim are “far from satisfactory”.The president of the college’s students’ union, Victoria Broad, maintains that large numbers of students either failed or received low grades in exams taken in January. The college [...]
Testing time for courses on managing money
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Topping the league tables is an important consideration for most schools, so would more teach personal finance if it resulted in accredited qualification that contributed to league table scores?At present, financial education is not obligatory and is not assessed within schools. The Personal Finance Education Group (Pfeg) believes schools should not be too hung up [...]
Stress still main cause of ill health in teachers says ATL
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The rash of government education policies over the last five years has undermined attempts to agree a proper work/life balance and led to increasingly stressed teachers, according to the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL).Delegates at the ATL conference in Torquay heard that stress-related illness remains the principal cause of ill health in teachers and [...]
Should elite cease to be a dirty word
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YesThe idea of an academic elite is a fundamental, democratic good and one that we must defend vigorously if British education is to compete seriously on the global stage. The trouble is that the word elite is now heavy with pejorative connotations. Its beginnings were innocuous enough. It came from the Latin eligere, meaning “to [...]
Remembering 1993 and all that
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To compare the freeing of further education colleges from municipal control 15 years ago today with the fall of the Berlin wall would be absurdly disproportionate, but is tempting. “Back in 1992 if you wanted to upgrade a secretary - bring them on to a higher salary with more responsibility - you had to apply [...]
Army offers bursaries to boost recruitment
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The British army is to introduce a bursary scheme for thousands of school leavers in an effort to boost recruitment and raise the calibre of candidates, the Guardian has learned. The scheme, which mirrors the American model where many join up to acquire qualifications, will offer %26pound;1,000 to those who sign up but first wish [...]
Building in a college Hire the locals says Denham
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Construction firms seeking building contracts in colleges will have to provide apprenticeships and training schemes for local people if public money is involved, ministers announced today.It is the first time in any major procurement programme that companies will be contractually obliged to invest in the skills and training needs of staff, said John Denham, secretary [...]
Why NUS reforms are necessary
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Next week the National Union of Students’ annual conference will discuss reform. Unlike a small but vocal group of Socialist Worker supporters (Letters, March 27), we do not believe the proposed reforms have any relevance to the government’s disastrous policy in the Middle East, nor do we believe they entail any future connections with the [...]
White workingclass the worst GCSE students study finds
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White working-class teenagers perform worse than their black and Asian classmates in GCSEs, a government-backed study has found.White 16-year-olds from poorer backgrounds make the least progress at secondary school of any ethnic or national group, the research, published today by Warwick University, argues.Living in poverty, rented accommodation and deprived neighbourhoods has a worse effect on [...]
Colleges show the way
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News that the government has given universities %26pound;800m over the past five years to improve a 22% student drop-out rate without apparently getting a result prompted a robust response in the FE sector. “We’ve had nothing to date,” says Ioan Morgan, principal of Warwickshire College. “All we have had is a kick up the arse [...]
