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Institute for the Study of Civil Society
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21 June

Primary and Secondary Education

  • Michael Gove has announced he will 'overhaul' bureaucratic planning laws to enable existing shops or houses to be used as schools. The scheme would be funded by capital investment for schools which had previously been 'swallowed up by bureaucracy' and a £50m Enhancing Technology Grant; critics question whether it would prove more expensive. Telegraph

  • The government has been accused of draining money from schemes aimed at the poorest children to fund their flagship policy of 'free schools'. The review of Labour's £55bn Building Schools for the Future is likely to question the priority given to schools in academically struggling areas over those where the need for new facilities was more urgent under Labour. Gove is also facing criticism over a memo advising that £35m of funds for free school meals could be used to boost funding for free schools. Guardian

  • Britain's biggest exam board - the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) is in the process of creating tests tailored to the perceived strengths of female and male pupils. Neither sex would be forced into one option but the proposals are based on the premise that boys perform better in exams and girls in coursework. The announcement has met with criticism among teaching unions. Telegraph

  • Christine Gilbert, HM Chief Inspector of Schools, has said that she has no plans to leave the post before her contract expires in October 2011, despite being told by Michael Gove that she should leave 'sooner rather than later'. She is believed to have lost support of ministers and teaching unions as Ofsted faces criticism over its increasing powers and bureaucratic regime. Telegraph

  • 26 signatories including three Nobel Laureates and Richard Dawkins are calling on the government to put evolution on the primary school national curriculum. It comes after two proposals to ensure pupils are taught Darwin's theory of natural selection were dropped - by Labour, and the Conservative-Liberal coalition, when they announced they would not be implementing the recommendations of the Rose primary school review. Telegraph

  • The difficulty of implementing the free schools policy must be overcome to reap its gains: the financial sacrifices elsewhere; opposition from the education establishment and the effective quashing of the rumour that free schools will entrench social and educational segregation - while in fact giving parents and communities initiative in the most radical sense. Telegraph

  • The Telegraph outlines the process of setting up a free school. Telegraph

  • One in five secondary school pupils apparently receives private tuition - children are most likely to receive the tuition in the run up to their GCSEs, the Sutton Trust found. Mail



Higher and Further Education

  • John Hayes will today set out how £50 million is to be distributed among 150 colleges still reeling from the collapse of the £2.3 billion Building Colleges for the Future scheme, to improve further education. Mr Hayes expressed his hope that with better facilities and careers advice, students would decide to study for a degree or vocational course at their local college rather than applying for university. Telegraph

  • A survey commissioned by the Sutton Trust has found that although 80% of young people currently think they will probably go into higher education, the figure would drop to 45% if fees doubled to £7,000 a year, and to a third among those with unemployed parents. In a letter to the Guardian, staff and students from more than 70 colleges and universities talk about 'a lost generation of learners'. Guardian

  • British academics have designed a new benchmark to deal with the escalating problem of plagiarism at universities. It sets out a range of options for penalising students for offences in different situations so disciplinary staff can score the offender and come up with the appropriate punishment. The problem has been exacerbated by the rise of online businesses offering bespoke services. Telegraph

  • Geoffrey Hill has been elected Oxford Professor of Poetry - following an election in which all students and graduates of the university were eligible to vote. He gained more than three times the number of votes as nearest rivals Michael Horowitz and Sean Haldane. Telegraph

  • Campaigning against a hike in top up fees starts in earnest tomorrow when thousands of students and lecturers team up for 70 events across the country. The Guardian meets NUS President Aaron Porter for whom success will be 'ensuring that a market in fees does not emerge'. Guardian

  • Research by Manchester University has found that many students perceive that their peers are cheating, often by buying essays online - a sector now thought to be worth more than £200 million in the UK. Detection is proving an enormous problem; MPs have suggested prosecuting those running the essay companies. Telegraph

  • A senior lecturer at Cambridge has issued an apology to a student whose dissertation she quoted verbatim in an opinion piece she submitted to a land economy journal. Guardian



Family

  • Founder of the Big Issue, John Bird, has written to David Cameron urging him to reform Britain's benefits system which he believes traps the worst off in poverty and fuels addiction. He comments that the cost of keeping a child in care is £2,428 a week - four times the cost of an Eton education. He believes that new claimants should be forced to work for their benefits, by providing care for the elderly or keeping towns clean. Telegraph

  • On Father's Day, Cassandra Jardine finds the most deserving recipient of a card. Telegraph

  • Horatio Clare discusses the father-son relationship as he celebrates father's day as a father figure. Telegraph

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