Israeli student filed lawsuit after suspension for spraying pro-Palestinian protesters with foul-smelling substance
Columbia University has reached a $395,000 settlement with a student who was suspended in January after spraying student protesters with a foul-smelling substance at one of several campus demonstrations in support of Palestine.
The Israeli student who received the payout had been suspended until May.
Continue reading...Independent Schools Council says its focus is on children and it is concerned about impact on specialist schools
The Independent Schools Council (ISC) has said it will launch legal action against the government’s decision to impose VAT on independent school fees.
The council, which represents more than 1,400 private schools in the UK and abroad, reached its decision after a board meeting held on Thursday.
Continue reading...Rachel Reeves made funding the NHS a priority but people working in other areas said they were disappointed
Rachel Reeves’s first budget emphasised raising taxes to help the NHS, as the health service tries to cope with huge waiting lists and an ageing population. Funding the NHS was a top priority but people in other sectors – from universities to social care – feel the budget was a missed opportunity to tackle impending crises or introduce desperately needed reforms in their areas.
Continue reading...Home Office failed to show presence of Dana Abu Qamar ‘not conducive to public good’, according to tribunal ruling
A Palestinian student who was stripped of her student visa after remarks she made about the Israel-Gaza war has won a human rights appeal against the Home Office’s decision.
The Home Office failed to demonstrate that the presence of Dana Abu Qamar, 20, was “not conducive to public good” after the law student’s visa was revoked in December 2023, according to a tribunal ruling.
Continue reading...Prosecutors say impersonators took tests on behalf of applicants, and testing proctor was allegedly bribed
Five people in Texas have been charged in connection with an alleged fraudulent teacher certification scheme, which prosecutors say was used to improperly certify hundreds of unqualified teachers to work in local school districts throughout the state.
At a press conference on Monday led by the Harris county district attorney, Kim Ogg, prosecutors said the alleged scheme generated at least a million dollars and was used to certify more than 200 unqualified teachers who are currently or have previously worked in Texas public schools.
Continue reading...Trade body for France’s travel industry reportedly writes to UK home secretary over concerns for programme’s future
A scheme designed to boost the numbers of French children able to travel to Britain for school trips is reportedly in peril as a result of an overhaul of entry requirements in the UK.
New rules for French school trips were introduced in December last year after a meeting between the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the then UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak.
Continue reading...Waits of more than a year for hearings into councils’ failure to meet growing needs of Send children
Parents are having to wait more than a year for tribunal hearings into inadequate provision for children with special educational needs after new cases surged by more than 50% in a year.
The National Audit Office last week highlighted the worsening crisis in the special educational needs and disabilities (Send) system, with cash-strapped councils unable to meet rising need amid a lack of suitable school and college places.
Continue reading...Proportion of students eligible for free school meals at 15 who progress to higher education falls from 29.2% to 29%
The proportion of disadvantaged teenagers in England going on to study at university has fallen for the first time on record, leading to accusations that the country is moving backwards in terms of social mobility.
Figures released by the Department for Education show that 29% of students eligible for free school meals at 15 had progressed to university by the age of 19 in 2022-23, compared with 29.2% the previous year – the first time the rate has fallen since it was first measured in 2005-06.
Continue reading...National Audit Office report finds no signs of improvement in lives of pupils despite record spending
The bill for special needs education in England has hit £10bn a year, with the number of children and young people entitled to government support in the form of education, health and care plans set to double to 1 million within a decade, a landmark report has found.
The investigation by the National Audit Office (NAO) found that despite record levels of spending there had been no signs of improvement in the lives of children with special educational needs (SEN).
Continue reading...Contender says ‘it is about being brave and not being scared that the Guardian is going to mock us’
Shabana Mahmood, the justice secretary, has told MPs that magistrates are getting powers to sentence offenders for longer – to reduce the number of prisoners being held on remand and to cut the backlog in crown courts
In a statement to MPs, she said that, although this would increase the prison population slightly, by reducing the number of offenders being held on remand it would free up spaces in reception prisons where overcrowding is particularly serious.
Unless we address our remand population, we could still see a collapse of the system, not because of a lack of cells, but because we do not have those cells in the places that we need them. It is therefore crucial that we bear down on the remand population.
This government inherited a record crown court backlog. Waits for trials have grown so long that some cases are not heard for years.
The impact on victims of crime is profound. For some justice delayed is, as the old saying goes, justice denied as victims choose to withdraw from the justice process altogether rather than face the pain of a protracted legal battle.
I have made it my personal mission to constrain the Kremlin, closing the net around Putin and his mafia state using every tool at my disposal.
Continue reading...Nova university programme criticised for only having white instructors and for some of its content, such as session on ‘does racism really exist?’
A top university in Lisbon has suspended plans to launch a postgraduate programme on racism and xenophobia after the course was criticised for hiring only white instructors.
The programme, offered by the faculty of law at Nova University in tandem with the government-backed Observatory on Racism and Xenophobia, was also condemned for some of its content, such as a session entitled: “Does racism really exist?”
Continue reading...Wolsingham school’s carbon-cutting event had been planned by pupils but parents raised concerns
A school has made a U-turn on a student-led plan to turn the heating off for a “blue nose” climate action day after parents raised concerns.
The heating was due to be turned off at Wolsingham school, County Durham, on Friday but the plan has now been postponed until the summer term of next year when it is likely to be warmer.
Continue reading...Summer riots were a consequence of relegating the subject to just one month, says Black Curriculum founder
Black history must be made mandatory in England to counter hatred and help prevent racist riots, a leading campaigner says.
Lavinya Stennett, who founded the Black Curriculum, warned of the real risks of black history and a diverse curriculum being relegated to just one month, or only being implemented in schools with diverse students and in metropolitan areas.
Continue reading...New climate network will teach trainee doctors more about heatstroke, dengue and malaria and role of global warming in health
Mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and malaria will become a bigger part of the curriculum at medical schools across Europe in the face of the climate crisis.
Future doctors will also have more training on how to recognise and treat heatstroke, and be expected to take the climate impact of treatments such as inhalers for asthma into account, medical school leaders said, announcing the formation of the European Network on Climate & Health Education (Enche).
Continue reading...Group says government policy would force many to close and leave deeply religious families with no alternatives
Independent faith schools have held talks with ministers over a proposal to exempt small private establishments from VAT if their fees are far below those charged by elite schools such as Eton.
The group, representing more than 270 Jewish, Muslim and Christian independent faith schools that often rely on donations and volunteers to survive, say the government’s policy of adding 20% VAT to fees from this January would force many to close and leave deeply religious families with no alternatives.
Continue reading...English primary schools having to help infants catch up on speech and language to cope with lessons
Primary schools are having to teach infants how to communicate, as they struggle to make friends or cope with lessons because of speech and language difficulties, according to a report by Ofsted.
The research by Ofsted inspectors, based on visits to schools in England rated as good or outstanding, found that the Covid pandemic “is still having an impact on children’s behaviour and social skills”.
Continue reading...The Treasury refuses to confirm 1 January start date as unions, tax experts and school leaders say it is unworkable
Government plans to impose VAT on private schools from 1 January next year may have to be delayed because of warnings from unions, tax experts and school leaders that meeting the deadline will cause administrative chaos and teacher job losses, and put pressure on the state sector.
The Treasury on Saturday night refused to confirm that the plan to impose 20% VAT on private school fees would go ahead from 1 January, as confirmed by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, in July, instead saying it would be introduced “as soon as possible”.
Continue reading...Business students at £9,250-a-year Regent College London raised series of complaints with Office for Students
Students at a private higher education college charging £9,250 a year were taught by staff reading out bullet points and showing videos, according to an investigation that found one tutor held an online class while appearing to be on public transport.
The students attending Regent College London told investigators from England’s higher education regulator that teaching staff changed frequently, including one cover tutor who “arrived almost half an hour late” to host an online class and “was clearly travelling or in a public place”.
Continue reading...Joint review by chief of Ofsted and prisons chief inspector discovers children kept in cells to avoid conflict
Children in youth offender institutions (YOIs) are being denied access to education, with too many being kept in their cells as staff struggle to keep warring youngsters apart, a damning new report has found.
It documents a worrying decline in the quality and quantity of education provided to 15 to 18-year-olds in YOIs over the last decade despite a sharp drop in the number of children being held in custody.
Continue reading...NEU snap poll shows 95% of members voting for 5.5% pay rise, ending months of industrial action
Teachers in England have voted overwhelmingly to accept a 5.5% pay rise but warned ministers that without further “corrections” pay would remain uncompetitive and teacher shortages would persist.
Of those members who responded to the National Education Union’s snap poll, 95% voted to accept the 2024-25 offer, which would give schools an additional £1.2bn to cover the pay rise.
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