Category Archives: Education

Further strike action in England looks ‘inevitable’, education union leaders say

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NEU joint secretary says teachers will ‘not back down’ as pay rise negotiations with government reach stalemate

Schools in England look set for further disruption over the coming weeks after talks to avert planned strike action by teachers ended in failure, with no new offer on the table.

Union leaders met the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, on Wednesday morning in the latest of a series of meetings. Though they remarked on a new urgency about the talks, there was still zero progress on pay.

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George Washington University accused of ‘colluding’ with rightwing pro-Israel group

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StadWithUs filed charge with US education department accusing Lara Sheehi of hate speech and discrimination against students

An Arab professor and lecturer in diversity has accused George Washington University of “colluding” with a rightwing pro-Israel group over a federal complaint accusing her of antisemitism.

The group, StandWithUs (SWU), filed a complaint with the US education department’s civil rights office claiming that Lara Sheehi, an assistant professor of clinical psychology, discriminated against Jewish students by refusing to accept their definitions of antisemitism.

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Students should be told of university course job prospects, says commission

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Social Mobility Commission says students should be informed of ‘earnings implications’ of course choices

Students should be given more details about how the courses they study after leaving school might affect their employment prospects, it has been suggested, as figures show near-record numbers of 18-year-olds applying to university.

A review of research into the employment effects of higher and further education by the government’s Social Mobility Commission showed wide variations in earnings, with some courses failing to boost salaries, while the most lucrative courses for graduates often admitted few students in England from disadvantaged backgrounds.

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Old-school backpacks too heavy, Japan’s pupils complain

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Sturdy leather bag known as randoseru can weigh 4-10kg when full, leaving students in pain and wanting something lighter

It’s a familiar sight every weekday morning and afternoon all over Japan: children as young as six creaking under the strain of a leather backpack crammed with textbooks.

The randoseru – a Japanese derivation of ransel, the obsolete Dutch word for backpack – is a fixture of primary school education, a repository for everything a child needs to get through a day at school.

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Pennsylvania boy, 9, becomes one of the youngest ever high school graduates

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David Balogun, who loves science and computer programming, receives diploma after taking remote classes

A nine-year-old boy from Pennsylvania who loves science and computer programming has become one of the youngest ever high school graduates, and he has already started accumulating some credits toward his college degree.

David Balogun recently received a diploma from Reach cyber charter school – based in his state’s capital of Harrisburg – after taking classes remotely from his family home in the Philadelphia suburb of Bensalem, the local television station WGAL reported Saturday.

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Brexit causes collapse in European research funding for Oxbridge

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Oxford and Cambridge universities, once given more than £130m a year in total by European research programmes, are now getting £1m annually between them

One of the UK’s most prestigious universities has seen its funding from a large European research programme plummet from £62m a year to nothing since Brexit, new figures show.

The latest statistics from the European Commission reveal that Cambridge University, which netted €483m (£433m) over the seven years of the last European research funding programme, Horizon 2020, has not received any funding in the first two years of the new Horizon Europe programme.

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New proposal sets limits on sugar in US school meals for first time

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Agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack also seeks to significantly lower sodium in meals as part of fresh nutrition standards plan

US agriculture officials on Friday proposed new nutrition standards for school meals, including the first limits on added sugars, with a focus on limiting sweetened foods such as cereals, yogurt, flavored milk and breakfast pastries.

The plan announced by the agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, also seeks to significantly decrease sodium, making for less salty meals served to the nation’s school kids by 2029, while making the rules for foods made with whole grains more flexible.

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Ministers and unions dig in amid widespread strike action across UK

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Little prospect of breakthrough as strikes hit schools, trains, universities and border checks across country

Unions and the government appeared as far apart as ever, after Wednesday’s widespread strike action closed thousands of schools across England and Wales.

Striking workers from participating unions held rallies in cities including Bristol, Brighton, Birmingham and London, as teachers, university staff, rail workers and civil servants stopped work to demand better pay.

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No 10 refuses to deny Sunak was given informal warning about Raab’s behaviour before he made him deputy PM – live

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Dominic Raab under increasing pressure as civil servants’ union calls for him to be suspended until bullying inquiry concludes

MPs have been told that paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland have coerced young people with drug debts to take part in rioting, PA Media reports. PA says:

A community worker gave an example of a user’s debt being reduced by £80 for doing so.

Megan Phair, coordinator of the Journey to Empowerment Programme and member of the Stop Attacks Forum, said both loyalist and dissident republican groups use the tactic to force people on to the streets.

It’s time for the prime minister to come out of hiding and face the music. The public deserves to know the truth about what he knew and when, including the full disclosure of any advice given to him by the Cabinet Office.

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Disruption across UK as strikes hit schools, trains, universities and border checks – as it happened

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UK public warned of ‘significant disruption’ from strikes involving teachers, civil servants, Border Force staff and train drivers

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, speaking from a teachers’ picket line in Warwick, said:

I think Gillian Keegan [the education secretary] is hoping our strike is ineffective and people won’t do it again.

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Up to half a million to strike across UK as talks go ‘backwards’

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Action by teachers, civil servants, Border Force staff and train drivers to go ahead, with ministers accused of ‘stonewalling’

Up to half a million workers will go on strike on Wednesday with thousands of schools shut, rail lines closed down and significant border disruption, as unions said negotiations on ending strikes were “going backwards”.

Ministers have been accused of “hoodwinking the public” and freezing any moves towards a settlement with NHS workers and rail unions. Government sources privately conceded that optimism at the beginning of the month about bringing an end to industrial action had faded.

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Number of EU students enrolling in UK universities halves post-Brexit

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Data shows sharp decline in students from Italy, Germany and France with Brexit seen as primary deterrent

The number of EU students enrolling in British universities has more than halved since Brexit – with sharp declines in scholars from Italy, Germany and France, figures reveal.

Brexit is seen as the primary deterrent, with home fees and student finance no longer available to EU students who do not already live in the UK with settled or pre-settled status.

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Good early years teaching may boost earnings of children in England – study

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Study reports one in 40 primary schools in England produce entire classes likely to earn more than their peers

Never mind getting a place at Oxbridge – a child’s future earnings can be significantly improved by the quality of their teachers at the age of four, according to new research.

The researchers used Department for Education (DfE) databases to connect adults’ earnings to the reception classes attended. The results highlight the outsized influence of early years’ education, finding that one in 40 primary schools in England produce entire classes likely to gain more money than their peers.

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Nurses to strike again as ministers prepare to introduce ‘spiteful’ bill

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Industrial action also set to escalate in other sectors while government gears up anti-strike legislation

A wave of further teaching, ambulance and civil service strikes is likely to move forward this week as nurses are set for their second major period of industrial action.

While ministers signalled a new deal may be close with the rail unions, strikes looked set to escalate in other sectors as ministers geared up to introduce controversial new anti-strike legislation to the House of Commons on Monday.

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Most UK voters still back strikes by nurses and ambulance crews

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Public support for industrial action by health workers remains strong in the face of government claims it is putting lives at risk

A majority of voters continue to support striking nurses and ambulance workers, despite government claims that they are putting the public at risk, according to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer.

Labour has also increased its lead over the Tories by 1 percentage point, to 16 points, after the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, and other cabinet ministers tried to make political capital by accusing Keir Starmer and his party of being in the pockets of the unions at a time of industrial unrest, the survey shows.

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More than 70,000 staff at 150 UK universities to strike for 18 days

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Industrial action to take place in February and March in dispute over pay, conditions and pensions

More than 70,000 staff at 150 universities across the UK will strike for 18 days between February and March in disputes over pay, conditions and pensions, it has been announced.

The University and College Union (UCU) said the precise dates of the action will be confirmed next week.

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Labour look to force vote on ending private schools’ tax breaks

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Opposition day debate seeks to establish committee to investigate reforming tax benefits enjoyed by independent schools

Labour will attempt to force a binding vote on ending private schools’ tax breaks and use the £1.7bn a year raised from this to drive new teacher recruitment.

The motion submitted by Keir Starmer’s party for the opposition day debate on Wednesday is drafted to push the charitable status scheme that many private schools enjoy to be investigated, as the party attempts to shift the political focus on to education.

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One-off payment ‘unlikely to avert teacher strikes in England and Wales’

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Union chief welcomes hour-long meeting with ministers on Monday but says ‘months have been wasted’

A potential government offer of a one-off payment to teachers is unlikely to be enough to prevent upcoming strikes in England and Wales, the head of the biggest teaching union has warned ahead of talks with ministers on Monday.

Mary Bousted, the joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said while talks with the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, were welcome, she was sceptical about what could be achieved.

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Harvard Kennedy School condemned for denying fellowship to Israel critic

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ACLU and Pen America back former Human Rights Watch chief Kenneth Roth and say decision ‘raises serious questions’

Leading civil rights organisations have condemned Harvard Kennedy School’s denial of a position to the former head of Human Rights Watch over the organisation’s criticism of Israel.

The American Civil Liberties Union called the refusal of a fellowship to Kenneth Roth “profoundly troubling”. PEN America, which advocates for freedom of expression, said the move “raises serous questions” about one of the US’s leading schools of government. Roth also received backing from other human rights activists.

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Most schools in England and Wales to shut for several days if teachers win strike vote

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February and March closures will mean biggest shutdown for years if union ballots for action this week

Most state schools across England and Wales will have to close completely on several days in February and March if the country’s biggest teaching union votes for industrial action this week, the Observer has been told.

In what would represent a dramatic escalation of the chaos sweeping the public sector, and affect millions of working parents, the National Education Union (NEU) expects a ballot of its members, which ends on Friday, to approve action that would trigger the biggest shutdown of schools for many years.

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