The Independent - Education RSS Feed

Teachers face ' institutional racism claims'

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:27:57 GMT

Black and minority ethnic teachers face an "endemic culture of institutional racism" in schools, research found today.

Call to fine exam boards which break the rules

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:57:59 GMT

Exam boards should face fines if they fail to stick to guidelines on standards, the head of the Royal Society of Chemistry said today.

Why Sesame Street still counts

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

The letter of the day will be "H" as in "hug" or "hungry" or even "happy birthday." The number of the day will be "40," the exact length of time, in years, that it has been on air. The programme reaching this milestone is, of course, Sesame Street.

Tories to raise entry requirements for teachers

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:00:01 GMT

A Conservative Government would make it harder to become a teacher by raising entry requirements for the profession, the party's education spokesman Michael Gove declared tonight.

Parents to lose rights over sex education

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:32:34 GMT

Parents are to lose the right to withdraw their child from sex education classes when the youngster reaches 15, the Schools Secretary announced today.

Mother challenges council over spying powers

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:35:14 GMT

A mother-of-three has branded Poole Borough Council "ludicrous and completely outrageous" as she took the authority to court for using controversial powers to spy on her family.

Niel McLean: Technology can bridge the gap between parents and schools

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:33:56 GMT

Parental engagement is vital to a child’s learning and known to help raise attainment. Good communication with schools enables parents to learn more about their child’s progress, lesson plans and grades whilst also helping to identify any development or performance issues early on.

Parents urged to increase schools contact

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:29:29 GMT

Parents are taking a back seat in their child's education, with almost two thirds saying they have little contact with their youngster's teacher, a survey found today.

Why students want their universities to do better

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

More evidence about the failure of universities to meet the needs of students has come in the latest report from the National Student Forum, which says that teaching is simply not a high enough priority in many institutions. "It can sometimes feel as if some of my lecturers don't really take their teaching commitments seriously," says a forum member quoted in the report.

New chapter: How college are helping to change people's lives

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

With college alumni ranging from Baroness Boothroyd, the former Speaker of the House of Commons, to the author and academic Andrea Ashworth, the prevailing myth that colleges don't cater for the academically gifted is not a little surprising. But that's the thing with UK colleges – the sector appears to be burdened by outdated stereotypes.

John Bingham: 'Governors are having more impact and reporting greater job satisfaction than before'

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Often, people who are thinking about becoming a college governor spend little time considering how the institutions work and are directed before they decide to join a board. Most become governors because they want to put something back in to their community. They possess knowledge or skills that will benefit staff and the students they serve, and quite understandably they don't focus their thoughts too much on the intricacies of further education and the instruments and articles of governance.

How training can help you develop the skills for survival

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Investing in staff training might not be top of the agenda for businesses struggling to survive the recession, but perhaps it should be. Research shows that firms which cut out training are two and a half times more likely to fail than those that don't. After all, it's competent, committed staff who enable companies to secure a competitive edge.

Recipe for a great career: How college gave one man the ingredients to succeed in the restaurant business

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Restaurateur James Thomson didn't like school. Much of his time was spent looking out of the windows at the old buildings of Edinburgh, fantasising about their history and the people who had lived there. What Thomson did like was working. Aged 12, he became a dishwasher at Crawford's tearooms on North Bridge. "My grandmother had a cashier job there, and they were always short of dishwashers, so I was called in. I loved the theatre of the place – they served morning coffee, lunches and high tea, and had old-fashioned cake stands and waitresses who all mothered me and gave me strawberry tarts to eat. I also helped the chef. I loved things like the smell of the coffee and cheeses, and the whole ambience of the place."

A-Z of Courses: Glass-blowing

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Diary Of A Third Year: 'The first year is wasted on freshers'

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

I am only 21, but I feel like an old, old man. University does that to you. Nothing ages you quite like it. I arrived as a fresh-faced, optimistic teenager and will leave as a bearded and cynical twentysomething. In other words, I've become a student pensioner.

Tackling the North-South divide: How a northern sport is migrating to schools in the South

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Imagine a village cricket tournament in France – or perhaps a string of ice hockey clubs in the Egyptian desert. Well, a sporting trend almost as incongruous is taking root in schools across the South-east of England, and there's striking evidence of it on the playing field of Brentwood County High School in Essex, where, for an hour after school every Wednesday, close to 100 teenagers play rugby league, a sport traditionally confined to former mining and mill towns across Yorkshire and Lancashire.

Leading Article: We need a crackdown

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Ian Craig, the Schools Adjudicator, is a man on a mission. He wants to get the message out to parents that lying to secure a place for your child in a popular school is wicked. It is a form of "theft", he says, because it deprives another child of a place, and we should be saying wherever we can that this is not right.

Education Quandary: My husband and I are getting divorced. Will this harm our children's education, and what can we do to prevent it?

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Passed/Failed: An education in the life of Cherie Blair, QC

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Cherie Blair, 55, Queen's Counsel, part-time judge and co-founder of the radical Matrix Chambers. She is the wife of Tony Blair and daughter of the actor Tony Booth. Her autobiography, Speaking For Myself, is out now in paperback. Next Thursday she will present one of the Women of the Future awards at London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square.

Universities are realising that a January start can hold many attractions

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Missed the September run? Don't panic, join the ever-expanding legion of second-semesterers. Does this sound familiar? You're on a summer holiday and while you're deep in an inspirational book you get the urge to change your destiny.

Bob Burgess: I hope student records make degree classes obsolete

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

In the next academic year, many universities will pilot new records of student achievement that could replace our 200-year-old system of degree classification.

Tougher rival to GCSE exam is blocked

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:44:11 GMT

The Government today blocked the use of a rival exam to the GCSE – considered by many independent heads to be more rigorous – in state schools.

Labour's campus revolution

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:01 GMT

Plans for the biggest shake-up of universities for decades, including the first charter of rights for students, have been unveiled by the Government.

What are universities for?

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:44:24 GMT

The Business Secretary has sparked a debate about degree priorities as he called on universities to play a major role in helping the country's economy, and sought to widen access to them. We asked three people their views:

Low exam scores 'should be no bar to top universities'

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:00:21 GMT

Teenagers who fail to score top grades in their A-levels should not be excluded from leading universities, the Business Secretary said today.