Glasgow janitors' dispute ends in victory
20 August 2017
Janitors in Glasgow’s primary, nursery and additional support schools have won a pay rise – and the principle of one janitor, one school.
Education
Education
Teachers need to target their struggle
If teacher unions are to protect and improve members’ pay and conditions of work, then tactics and strategy must be reconsidered and revamped.
Teachers strike for education
Teachers have long railed against their growing workload, whose bureaucratic nature, ironically, means less time in the classroom.
Oversubscribed - and no way of coping
The crisis in school places is already a huge problem, especially in primaries, due mainly to local large spikes in population (it will hit the secondaries very soon).
Academies: brute force and ignorance
Thanks to George Osborne, ably supported by Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, a new word is gaining currency – “academisation”, the forcible conversion of schools into unaccountable academies…
Government U-turn over baseline tests for four-year-olds.
12 April 2016
Government ministers have abandoned controversial plans to judge primary schools based on new tests for four-year-olds.
Colleges funding campaign
The National Union of Teachers is balloting members in sixth-form colleges for a one-day strike over funding to coincide with a national demonstration in March.
Strike ballot for sixth-form colleges
8 February 2016
The National Union of Teachers has launched a funding campaign for the sixth-form sector, and is balloting members for a one-day strike to coincide with a national demonstration in March.
'Studio' schools to close in Free Schools fiasco
12 January 2016
The Midland Academies Trust has announced the closure of two of its “studio” schools, in Nuneaton and Hinckley, because of a failure to attract students.
1972 -1974: The London Allowance campaign
Astronomic rises in house prices and rents, young teachers unable to live in the capital, a staffing crisis in the schools. Sounds familiar?
'Incoherent' teacher plans
A recent Ofsted report talks about local authorities failing to raise school standards – but noted the long-standing difficulties in recruiting teachers.
Academy conversion by force
Each successive Secretary of State for Education tightens the noose of state control around schools, and the current one, Nicky Morgan, is no exception. The Schools and Adoption Bill currently making its way through parliament is a short bill with a long arm.
Adult education campaign launched
The Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) is calling for support for its campaign to save adult education. The area is under increased threat in the run-up to the government’s Comprehensive Spending Review.
Schools: the long arm of the state
24 October 2015
The Schools and Adoption Bill currently making its way through parliament aims to speed up the rate of “conversion” to academy status – this time by force.
Born free - now in chain
17 October 2015
In what appears to be the first case of a free school being forced to accept an academy sponsor, Grindon Hall Christian school in Sunderland looks set to be pushed into the arms of the Bright Tribe academy chain.
London teachers launch housing campaign
19 September 2015
Teachers can’t afford London, says the newly formed London Teachers’ Housing Campaign, as tthe average price of a home soars above £500,000 and rents continue to rise by over 10 per cent a year.
Where have all the teachers gone?
2 September 2015
Statistics quietly released at the end of August tell a devastating story: we are heading for a full-blown teacher supply crisis. For the third year running, ministerial recruitment targets fell woefully short.
Tested to destruction?
Why are governments (Tory, Labour) so obsessed with school testing? The latest wheeze is to test the youngest children within a few weeks of starting full-time school, when most are still just four years old.
Wasted spaces
24 May 2015
Nicky Morgan, the new government’s education secretary, has tried to bolster free schools. Her stance should dispel the illusion that she is more approachable and reasonable than her irascible predecessor.
Children forced into Sikh free school
1 May 2015
Parents in Leeds have been shocked to discover that their local authority has allocated places to their children in a Sikh free school, despite their not having chosen the school.
Something for nothing
With Scottish universities among the highest users of zero-hours contracts, it is fitting that the University and College Union (UCU) should hold its annual congress this May in Glasgow.
And the next generation?
The number of young people choosing to study science is actually rising, despite the fees. From 2007/8 to 2013/14: Physics up 16 per cent, Engineering and Technology up 15 per cent, Biological Sciences up 30 per cent.
Arts education for all, too
No matter how hard it tries to push a private/public partnership agenda, the Warwick report cannot escape the key role of state education in developing the creativity and curiosity of students.
Paying the cost of university
A report at the end of March showed that almost half of the 9 per cent increase in household debt in 2014 in Britain was accounted for by young people trying to fund their way through university.
Barnsley College workers strike for conditions
3 April 2015
Barnsley College workers are in dispute over restructuring plans that will bring worse pay and conditions. A series of strikes restarted with four more days' action in the week ending 20 March.
Special school site handed over to religious academy
4 January 2015
The government has ordered Leeds City Council to hand over a £1 million former primary school site where it had been looking to build a special school – gratis and without compensation – to a Sikh academy.
Students march against fees
20 November 2014
Thousands of students from all over Britain demonstrated in London on Wednesday 19 November against the fees charged for university courses. Placards called for the return of free education.
More cuts in graduate teacher training
4 November 2014
Despite glaring evidence of failure, the government has announced an increase in its programme of school-based teacher training for 2015-16. One result will be a massive switch in funding away from universities.
Survey reveals scale of teacher workload
15 October 2014
Excessive workload has driven nine out of every ten of teachers to consider giving up teaching during the past two years, according to an online survey carried out by the National Union of Teachers.
The real Trojan horse
The “Trojan Horse” inquiry indicated that people with a shared ideology were out to control schools’ governing bodies. That’s also happening in some academy chains.