Civitas
Institute for the Study of Civil Society
  Latest Books | Press Releases | Free e-Books | Issues | Email Alerts | Civitas Review
Projects

English and maths for children falling behind at school.

Non-profit, low-cost, high-quality private primary education.

Teaching English and maths to boys excluded from school.

Independent resources for teachers and students.

How can we best encourage racial and religious harmony?

Bookshop

All Civitas books at special low online prices.

Resources

Information for teachers about the EU and PSHE.

Information for members of the EU Speakers' Panel.

BookshopFor
Universities

Inspection copies and low student prices.

German Verdict – Lisbon Treaty Battles On Against The Odds

There was a sigh of relief in Brussels yesterday as the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the Lisbon Treaty does not contravene the country’s constitution, writes Nicola Di Luzio, though prior to its implementation, the German Parliament’s right to approve or reject matters decided in the Council of the European Union under Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) will have to be enshrined in law. However, relief in Brussels will have been matched by consternation in many quarters. The treaty may be legal, but that does not make it liked, and this remains one of the main problems facing the EU.

Read the rest of this entry »

Many Consider Themselves Called, but in Truth Only Few Have Been Chosen

“The requirement that, if a pupil is to qualify for admission his mother must be Jewish, whether by descent or by conversion, is a test of ethnicity which contravenes the Race Relations Act.”

So three appeal court judges decided last week.

Read the rest of this entry »

A test which fails

One of the latest changes amongst what appear to be last ditch attempts to win over the public on education policy is the introduction of ‘personality’ tests to ‘weed out’ weak teachers. Outlined in today’s Times Educational Supplement are proposals to use a diagnostic tool in teacher training institutions to work out who is and who isn’t suitable for teaching.

Read the rest of this entry »

Follow the leader…

More ridiculousness from the powers that be.  One year down the line the Department of Health has finally got round to fleshing out details of its ‘top leaders programme’; c. 1,000 ‘leaders’ (up, it seems, from the original 250 planned) drawn from 50 NHS-related organisations identified as ‘needing the most senior leaders’ to go on a fancy leadership development scheme.  You can only imagine the 1,000 clones walking out of the factory, primed in meeting the latest central initiative and playing the NHS game… or am I being overly cynical?!

Brussels plays the name game

This week saw the parties of the newly elected European Parliament (EP) scrambling to formalise alliances that will allow them to access EU-funds and other benefits afforded to official parties in the EP, writes Luke Clark.

Read the rest of this entry »

A Very Big ‘If’

Since 1999, the size of the NHS workforce has increased by 29 per cent. One in every 19 people in Britain now works for it.

A chief architect of that increase is Ed Balls, between 1990 and 2004 chief economic adviser to Gordon Brown. Last week in  a widely reported radio interview, Mr Balls said: “If we can get the economy right – as I believe we are doing – I think we can see spending rising on health and schools in real terms after 2011.”

Since public borrowing increased last month by more than it has ever done since monthly figures began, this seems a very big ‘if’.

Recently Added

Research
Latest Releases

Disunited Kingdom

Multiculturalism

The government's community cohesion agenda, based on pressurising members of different groups to mix with each other, may be ineffective and even counter-productive.


From Two Cultures to No Culture

Multiculturalism

C. P. Snow's Two Cultures Lecture Fifty Years on.


Individualists Who Co-operate

Multiculturalism

Education and Welfare Reform Befitting a Free People.


Licensed to Hug

Multiculturalism

The escalation of child protection measures has succeeded in poisoning the relationship between the generations and creating an atmosphere of suspicion that increases the risks to children.


Our Island Story

our island story dust jacket

"The best book of all for 8-12s is HE Marshall’s Our Island Story, republished at last in stirringly patriotic glory. The history of Britain from the Roman invasion to Queen Victoria it is precisely the kind of old-fashioned, sequential, kings and queens, history-as-story approach which the National Curriculum has jettisoned so disastrously. Clear, vivid, dramatic narrative will inspire a new generation of historians. Every child should have this book."
Amanda Craig, The Times, December 2005


Statistics Corner

A section of the website devoted to statistical analysis. Read on