smoke
Institute for the Study of Civil Society
 home | blog email to a friend | printer friendly  
08 July

Primary and Secondary Education

  • Two private schools have been told by the Charity Commission that they must offer more free or subsidised places to children who cannot afford the fees after they failed to prove they were providing enough public benefit to retain their charity status. Both are small preparatory schools which grade music exams for local children, stage sports tournaments for state schools and lease out school facilities. Telegraph

  • Michael Gove last night apologised for 25 errors in the published list of schools affected by the abolition of Building Schools for the Future. Telegraph

  • Novelist Alison Pearson writes about witnessing the dark side of girl power: bullying. Telegraph



Higher and Further Education

  • Lecturers are on strike after universities forced through reforms to their pensions yesterday to fill a £17 billion deficit - the retirement age will rise to 65 and new members of the pension scheme will lose their right to a final salary pension. The University and College Union remain opposed, arguing that a legitimate agreement would come on the back of a ballot of members rather than 'a token consultation exercise'. Times

  • The University and College Union has claimed that 23,000 posts could be lost in coming years, leading to an increase in the size of lectures and tutorial groups and loss of contact time with academics. There are already almost 18 lecturers to every academic in British universities compared to 15 in the US and 12 in Germany. Telegraph

  • Zoe Williams probes the business of internships. Unpaid labour is set to soar as 70 applicants apply for every graduate job, yet it is clear that recruitment practices remain deeply unjust. Oxford's Red Dress Couture Ball can offer a £300 ticket to its intern auction for any graduates looking for an unpaid job. Guardian



Family

  • Only a third of adults see smacking as posing a 'high risk' to young people; 16% thought smacking posed no risk at all to the young. Last year a government review concluded that it would be impractical to stop those 'in loco parentis' administering a mild smack. Telegraph

  • The suicide of 18-year old care leaver Andrea Adams offers an insight into a catalogue of missed interventions by social services, health and police professionals. Guardian

  • Does Yvette Cooper's analysis of the budget as disproportionately punishing women really indicate the extent to which women have become dependent on the state, either for benefits (as mothers) or within public sector employment? As the public sector - having proven so progressive on flexible and part-time work - is cut, the labour market is likely to become even more gender polarised. Guardian

  • A new report suggests that lack of physical activity among obese children is more likely to be the result of their size, rather than its cause. Researchers now believe that overfeeding by parents and children's consumption of junk food is the root cause of weight gain. Mail

  • Beer companies, confectionary firms and crisp-makers will be asked to fund the government's anti-obesity Change4Life campaign and in return will not face legislation outlawing fatty, sugary and salty food, Andrew Lansley has announced. Health campaigners are said to be 'horrorstruck' by the move. Guardian



back to top

Menu