Archive for March, 2009
How Not to Argue About the Ethics of Assisted Suicide
Posted by David Conway in Uncategorized on 31/03/2009
‘Allowing people to arrange their death is a simple act of kindness.’ So runs the title of an opinion piece in today’s Times that defends the morality of assisted suicide. It was written by A.C.Grayling, professor of applied philosophy at London University’s Birkbeck College.
Tomorrow there is due to appear in the same newspaper a second piece that argues against that practice, written by another university professor. One sincerely hopes the quality of its argument will be a trifle higher than that exhibited by today’s piece. Read the rest of this entry »
Forcing Europe onto the agenda
Posted by Claire Daley in European Union on 31/03/2009
There has been widespread press coverage of Mr Stuart Wheeler’s announcement that he intends to donate £100,000 to the UK Independence Party and to vote for UKIP at the forthcoming European Parliament election in June 2009. Mr Wheeler has said that whilst he still intends to vote Conservative in the local elections on the same day, for the European election he will support UKIP because he cannot “work from within” the Conservative Party to influence its policy on Europe.
Should Ofsted Be Placed Under ‘Special Measures’?
Posted by David Conway in Education on 24/03/2009
Ofsted is a publicly-funded agency whose job is to inspect schools on behalf of the state to ascertain their fitness for purpose. If it judges the education a school provides unsatisfactory, Ofsted can recommend that it be placed under ‘special measures’. Then, unless called-for improvements are made within a certain period, a school so placed can be forced to close.
Judged by a recent report, however, it seems that it is Ofsted, rather than the schools it inspects, that needs placing under special measures.
False start
Posted by Anastasia de Waal in Education on 23/03/2009
This spring Sir Jim Rose’s final report on the primary curriculum will be published, recommending that all children enter formal education by the September after their fourth birthday. This is in spite of the fact that a significant number of experts have already voiced concern that formal education for five year olds is inappropriate; a delay until children reach six is seen to be preferable. Nevertheless, there is a high probability that Rose’s recommendations will become law by 2011.
What can the EU do to tackle the global recession?
Posted by Claire Daley in European Union on 20/03/2009
The International Monetary Fund recently forecast that the world economy will contract by 0.6% desipte the earlier prediction that it would grow by 0.5%, writes Kyial Arabaeva. At a time of deepening recession, increasing unemployment, soaring prices and gloomy economic prognosis by economists and experts who claim that the global economy will get worse before it gets better, debate about the current economic turmoil is certain to become more heated.
Cambridge’s Requirement that Entrants should have Stars in their As is Correct and should Not be University Challenged
Posted by David Conway in Education on 17/03/2009
Amidst predictable howls of protest from those who will accuse them of doing so merely to reinforce still further the privileges of the already undeservedly more advantaged pupils of public schools, colleges at Cambridge University have today announced that, from 2010, applicants must have gained at least one A* grade at A-level. Read the rest of this entry »