• Empty shops could be converted into schools in just five months a multinational building consultancy claims. The EC Harris building group estimates it would cost between £13 to £17 million to create a new school, saving around third on the cost of creating a new building. Many of the American charter schools have opened in converted commercial premises. BBC


• A group of school children have received an award from the Royal Society of Chemistry after disproving the notion that spiders are afraid of conkers. Telegraph

• Business Secretary Vince Cable has said that a variable graduate tax would make England's student funding system fairer and more variable. Cable acknowledged that graduates would 'almost certainly have to pay' but has asked Lord Browne, conducting the review of higher education funding, to ensure he looks into modes of repayment which are subject to earnings. BBC


• 55% of students are worried they will be unable to find work when they leave university. Those leaving in 2009 left with around £15,812 of debt and 2011 leavers are forecast to owe nearer £21,198. 82% of parents said that higher fees have increased the financial strain of supporting their children through university. Telegraph

• Harriet Harman has tempered her plans for 50% female representation within the Labour shadow cabinet. She had wanted there to be a quota in place for after this autumn's elections, but will now aim for 50:50 equality by 2012, starting with 30:70 this year. Colleagues persuaded the acting leader that new talent of both sexes should have time to learn the ropes of opposition. Guardian


• Britain's workforce swelled by 160,000 in the three months to May, a growth put down to the unprecedented 27% of employees who are now in part-time work. More than a million of the record 7.8 million workers are working part-time because full-time work is unavailable. Professor Paul Gregg of the LSE remarked that high job figures were 'masking under-employment...marked during this [economic] recovery'. Times


• 24% of parents have cut the amount of pocket money they give their children due to the recession; around 38% of children regularly save the money they receive and 70% of parents expect children to carry out household tasks in exchange for the money. Boys typically get more pocket money than girls. Guardian


• The government is facing calls to introduce a system of guardianship for victims of child trafficking after research shows that 55% identified as trafficked go missing from local authority care and are never found. In one reception centre for trafficked children near Heathrow, 77 Chinese children went missing in less than three years. Guardian


• A third night of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland has involved children as young as 10, a Belfast councilor today commented. An Assistant Chief Constable stated that as well as throwing stones and petrol bombs, young children were being used as shields by 'sinister elements' organising the riots. Guardian


• Discrimination and misconceptions about people with learning disabilities remains rife, a study has found. A third of Britons think that those with disabilities cannot live independently or hold down a job; a quarter imagined they would be living in care homes. They were deemed to be the most discriminated against group in society by survey respondents, coming out above gay people, overweight people and ethnic minorities. Guardian

back to top