- Councillors to launch new party
- Children's tsar backs uniform calls
- Wave energy receives £6m boost
- Police arrest two after house siege
- Man dies following car collision
- Buyers offering less for homes
- UK 'must stay strong' in arms talks
- Rapist linked to Jodi Jones murder
- Scotland 'staving off recession'
- Staff to protest over DVLA closures
- Rennie urges clarity on monarchy
- Salmond insists on no-strings poll
- SNP in call over CAP negotiations
- Free swimming lessons announced
- Holden cheered on return to BGT
- Two arrested at football match
- Tenement building fire 'suspicious'
- Man held in Poland in murder probe
- Man held after restaurant stand-off
Education
Hugh Reilly: Celebrating St Valentine’s day is no easy task nowadays, with so many pitfalls to avoid
IT was only when I caught myself desperately flicking through the greeting cards rack in a Poundland emporium that I realised how price-sensitive I had become to buying a St Valentine’s Day card.
Tories demand action on education changes
Education Secretary Michael Russell must “act urgently” to allay concerns over the new Curriculum for Excellence, say the Scottish Conservatives.
You’ll get help but don’t delay exams, Mike Russell tells schools
SCHOOLS are to be given more help to make sure they are ready for the introduction of Scotland’s new exam system, but will be discouraged from postponing its start date.
25 commentsAnalysis: Courses still need a lot more preparation
THE Nationals are a two-tier skills-based examination which is due to replace Standard Grades as part of the move towards the skills-based approach of Curriculum for Excellence.
1 commentTeaching chiefs outraged at axeing of skills scheme
TEACHERS’ leaders have criticised a “short-sighted” decision to scrap a scheme which allows members of the profession to increase their pay by developing their skills throughout their careers.
5 comments
Strathclyde University is plunged into chaos after ‘explosive’ campus blaze
HUNDREDS of students at a flagship faculty in one of Scotland’s biggest universities face indefinite disruption to their courses after a fire ripped through a city centre campus.
1 commentCase study: Rules breached when admissions chief went back to school
FIONA Gordon took the top private school where she worked to court when she felt she was suffering discrimination on her return to work after having a baby.
Teacher disciplined for posting sectarian images on Facebook
A TEACHER who used Facebook to criticise his own school and another who posted sectarian images online are among those who have been disciplined by Scotland’s councils for misusing social networking websites.
Hundreds evacuated as firefighters tackle blaze at Strathclyde university video
HUNDREDS of students had to be evacuated from two university buildings in Glasgow city centre last night.
Strathclyde University’s main student union building was affected after smoke and flames were seen coming from the neighbouring James Weir Building.
Bullying claims rock Scots schools watchdog
FEARS have been raised about the impact on Scotland’s schools of falling staff morale and allegations of bullying at the body charged with improving the country’s education system.
40 commentsAnalysis: It needs to have the confidence of pupils and parents
THE importance that Education Scotland has for Scotland’s schools and, by immediate implication, for Scotland’s future cannot be underestimated.
1 commentHugh Reilly: Musical memories got me singing the blues
RECENT research struck a bum note when it revealed that approximately half of the UK’s music teachers cannot play an instrument.
2 comments
Parties call on Swinney to rethink college cuts
Opposition parties have called for a rethink over cuts in college funding, ahead of this week’s vote on the Scottish Government’s Budget.
1 commentTax deals for student loan bosses spark inquiry call
AN INVESTIGATION has been demanded into tax deals for the Scotland-based Student Loans Company (SLC) after it was revealed that half of the board were recently being paid as consultants.
2 commentsChurch hits back in row over Scots faith schools
A DIRECTOR of the country’s top lobbying group for charities has been criticised after he launched an attack against faith schools, saying that they are one of the “key causes” of sectarianism.
78 commentsGlasgow applications up after tuition fees move
GLASGOW University has seen a bigger rise in applications than any of the UK’s other leading institutions, it has been confirmed.
8 commentsBoy set for high school science exam – at age 9
A NINE-YEAR-OLD boy who showed outstanding ability in science even before starting primary school is preparing to sit a Standard Grade exam in physics.
2 comments
Student loans chief in tax scandal got job with help of SNP ministers
SCOTTISH ministers were involved in the controversial decision to appoint the head of the Student Loans Company who has been paid via a company without tax being deducted, a series of letters has revealed.
84 comments
Schools don’t want time to revise for new exams, reckons Mike Russell
SCHOOLS across Scotland remain on track to introduce a new exam system, the Scottish Government has said, despite warnings from the country’s largest teaching union.
6 commentsChief’s tax-free deal ended
The UK government has said it will end a deal under which the head of the Student Loans Company – which has its headquarters in Glasgow – has been paid via a company without tax being deducted.
1 comment
College accused of covering up bullying ‘bullying’ at college
AN investigation has been launched into the running of one of Scotland’s largest colleges amid claims its management buried a report into allegations of bullying against the principal’s wife.
£45m cut in further education funding
COLLEGES will see their teaching budgets cuts by up to 8.5 per cent under funding arrangements for the next academic year, it has been confirmed.
1 comment
University principals to lose their bonuses
THE salaries of Scotland’s university principals are set to be curbed under a radical overhaul of the way higher and further education institutions are run.
7 commentsWatchdog denies ‘MoTs in schools’
THE body that regulates Scotland’s teachers has outlined plans to improve standards within the profession, but has denied the move is an attempt to “weed out” anyone using “MoTs”.
Drunk teacher swore at pupils and deputy head, inquiry hears
AN APPARENTLY drunk teacher swore at staff and students before driving off in his car, a disciplinary panel was told.
St Andrews won’t take away degree
FRED Goodwin will not have his honorary degree from St Andrews University withdrawn, despite students’ calls for it to be stripped along with his knighthood.
Hugh Reilly: Tall order for Larry to keep teachers sweet
HATS off to Larry Flanagan on becoming general secretary of the EIS. Like other progressive trade unions, as part of a drive to save unnecessary expenditure on stamps and envelopes, the EIS saw no need to trouble the rank and file in the decision to replace Ronnie Smith.
4 commentsAnalysis: Good news as government investment pays off for Scottish university applications
THIS year’s final Ucas figures for applicants looking to start university at the end of the summer make for interesting reading.
2 comments
SNP ‘vindicated’ over tuition charges
THE Scottish Government has claimed its position on tuition fees has been “vindicated” after figures showed the country’s universities have been protected from the worst of a UK-wide downturn in applicant numbers.
75 commentsGardening helps to grow children’s skills
Gardening can help children with special educational needs (SEN) to express themselves and learn new skills, claims a study by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS).
New head for biggest teaching union amid threat of fresh strikes
A TEACHER at a Glasgow secondary school has been appointed the next head of Scotland’s largest teaching union.
9 commentsHard-up Scots students stump up whopping £3.8m in library fines
CASH-strapped students in Scotland have paid more than £3.8 million in fines after failing to return library books on time, new figures have revealed.
6 comments
We don’t reward bullying, college insists
CLAIMS that management at one of Scotland’s largest colleges preside over a culture that “rewards victimisation and bullying” and treat the institution like a “plaything” have been denied.
Teacher denies he wrote and submitted exam essays for students
A TEACHER wrote exam essays for students after failing to teach them a key part of their subject, a disciplinary hearing was told.
Nurse training places cut
Reducing the number of student nurses and midwives is the “sensible way forward”, health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said.
7 comments
One pupil in ten excluded in Dundee
SCHOOLS across Scotland are taking wildly different approaches to unruly pupils according to figures which show a huge variation in exclusion rates across different local authorities.
£15m fund to pay-off staff as part of college mergers
A £15 million “transformation fund” for Scotland’s colleges will be used to speed up mergers by paying for voluntary redundancy schemes.
Indefinite delay for new Elgin Academy
THE handover of the new £30 million Elgin Academy to Moray Council has been indefinitely delayed, it was revealed yesterday.
2 comments
Cost of raising a child hits £220,000
SCOTTISH parents face costs of around £220,000 in raising a child from birth to their 21st birthday, new figures reveal.
Teacher is cleared of assaulting girl after evidence discredited
A TEACHER who was accused of subjecting a rebellious ten-year-old girl in his primary-six class to a string of physical assaults has walked free from court.
Government announces that an exam’s an exam for a’ that
All pupils sitting Higher English exams will be required to answer a question on Scottish texts, Education Secretary Michael Russell will announce today.
Hugh Reilly: Please sir, I need to go to the innovation hub
WHEN the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu applied for planning permission to build a 500ft-tall pyramid in Giza, the ten jobsworth officials on the Greater Cairo Environmental Committee recommended refusal on the grounds it would impact negatively on the desert habitat of the saw-scaled viper.
4 commentsColleges ‘can’t meet need for bursaries’
THE current budget to support college students cannot meet demand, new research claims.
Edinburgh University’s £50m loan opens a new chapter for library
ONE of Scotland’s leading universities has secured £50 million in funding from the European Investment Bank in a deal to improve teaching and research at the institution.
2 commentsGraduates worry over job skills
The vast majority of university leavers feel they have the skills required to get jobs, but worry it is more difficult than ever to find work, new research shows.
5 comments
Many Scots children can’t spell basic words
MORE than a third of Scottish children are unable to spell basic words and a quarter cannot add without a calculator by the time they leave primary school, a survey has found.
76 commentsHugh Reilly: You’ll need a calculator to work out the cost of hiring a tutor – and it’s probably a waste
WE live in the age of ambulance-chasing lawyers, legal vultures who will swoop to cash in on a mishap that has caused injury, real or imagined.
2 comments
Edinburgh to build £43m Curriculum for Excellence school
THE first school to be built around the principles of Scotland’s new education curriculum has been given the go-ahead as part of a £42 million campus project.
8 commentsDiplomats meet minister over language fears
DIPLOMATS have met with the Scottish Government to discuss cuts to the number of foreign language assistants in schools.
2 comments
Brightest pupils 5 years ahead of poorest
FIFTEEN-year-old children at the bottom of the class are so far behind they are performing “as if they were ten years old”, a report handed to MSPs has claimed.
36 comments- Scottish independence: David Cameron set to snub Alex Salmond’s separation
- Fathers of Scots children murdered in Dunblane tragedy in plea to David Cameron over arms treaty
- Baftas: The Artist wins big as Meryl Streep wins best actress
- Six Nations: It’s not all gloom as new faces offer Scotland bright flashes of promise
- NBNK may look again at Clydesdale
- Scottish independence: David Cameron set to snub Alex Salmond’s separation
- Jim Murphy warns that independence could cost ‘thousands’ of defence jobs
- Labour rebel councillors could contest Glasgow May election
- Scottish independence: SNP deeply divided over policy to withdraw from membership of Nato
- Further jobs gloom on the way as north-south ‘chasm’ widens
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Edinburgh
Monday 13 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 6 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: West
