Tuesday, November 25, 2008
News in Brief November 2008
A summary of some educational news stories from the last month.
The UK government has launched a new campaign to raise awareness of Higher Education Opportunities as part of a drive to meet the target of 50% of young people attending Higher Education. The latest strand is to show how many adults regret not going to University later in life. The DUIS commissioned a survey of parents and found 4/5 who had not attended Higher Education now wished they had. Of the 1,421 parents without a degree, 80% said they intended to encourage their child to go to University, with the prospect of a good career being the key factor for 70% of parents surveyed. The figures are being used to encourage today's young people to see Higher Education as a viable option for themselves at 18.
The winners of the Becta ICT Excellence Awards were announced at the Harnessing Technology Conference on November 6th. The National winning school in the category ICT Excellence Award for a Secondary School was won by Djanogly Academy, Nottingham, does not use interactive white boards, instead choosing Tablet PCs and PDAs and laptops linked to digital projectors. Details of all winners can be seen on the Becta website.
There have been changes to everyday school-life in Italy following the passing of reforms by the government. The measures which come into effect this term reduce the number of teachers in schools and introduce strict measures of behaviour as a criteria for schools to meet, each school will be given a grade from one to ten. There have been protests from teachers and pupils with strikes planned for later this term. There have also been 2 national demonstrations against the reforms in Rome.
A review of Higher Education in England and Wales to decide the direction for the next 10-15 years was ordered by John Denham in February 2008. The first nine reports have now been published and are available to read on the DIUS website. The next phase of the review is reports from the users of Higher Education which will be published in December. To read the reports or take part in the online debate click here.
The shortlist for the Bett Awards 2009 has been announced and is available to view on the Bett Awards website.The winners will be announced at a Gala Dinner during the Bett Show 2009 which takes place at Olympia 14-17th January 2009.
Cambridge Education have announced the dates of the Personalisation and PbyP Training Courses for 2009. They are 19th March , London, 9th June, Sheffield and 12th November, London. For more information or to reserve a place. visit the camb-ed website.
Over thirty Nobel Peace prize winners have joined together to make a statement urging world leaders to recognise the importance of education in promoting and maintaining peace in troubled areas of the world. The open letter argues for more action on the lack of education for children in potential and present areas of conflict. Of the 70 million children worldwide who are offered no schooling, more than half live in countries affected by armed conflict. The letter states, "An analysis of civil wars of the past 50 years showed that each year of formal schooling attended by boys reduces the risk of their becoming involved in conflict by 20% - yet children trapped in this spiral of conflict continue to be denied education." The statement is backing the Save The Children Alliance campaign for universal primary education and the thirty one signatories include Jimmy Carter, Kim Dae-Jung, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Anug SAn Suu Kyi.
The last 11 plus examinations in Northern Ireland took place this month. From next year the selection exams will not be used to allocate secondary places. A new system, still being agreed, will replace the tests. It is expected to be largely based on parental choice and proximity to schools.
Hundreds of Primary Schools in England will get a major rebuild under the Primary Capital Programme announced by the government. The government has committed £7bn to rebuilding or refurbishing half of all Primary Schools by 2022. The first £1.75bn of funding has been released to 1,500 approved building projects across 133 local authorities. Local authorities which did not meet the standards to receive funding will be given advice and support before the next phase of funding is released. The next phase of funding will be sooner than initially expected because the government has announced the Primary Capital Programme will be accelerated as part of the response to the current global financial crisis.
Two pilot areas have been announced for the UK government's Home Access to Technology scheme which aims to make England the first country in the world where all children have access at home to a computer and the internet. The scheme is part of the Next Generation Learning initiative delivered by Becta. The two pilot areas are Suffolk and Oldham. The scheme will provide low-income families with a grant to cover the cost of an approved home access package including a computer, software and internet access for one year. All children in the pilot areas will be able to take advantage of home access packages from approved suppliers. There will be a home access quality mark awarded to the packages approved by Becta for the scheme. The Next Generation Learning@ Home quality mark list of approved suppliers and packages will be announced in January. The pilot schemes will run for a year.