Yes vote `incompatible’ with tuition fees stance
A former European court judge has said that applying tuition fees to students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland in an independent Scotland would be “incompatible” with EU law. Professor Sir David Edward wrote to campaign group Academics Together, saying that the “policy as stated in the White Paper would be incompatible with EU law and could not survive challenge in the Court of Justice”. Currently, Scottish students, as well as students from other EU states, pay no tuition when studying at Scottish universities. Students from the rest of the UK, however, are subject to fees. The government has said that it would continue this policy in an independent Scotland in order to safeguard the opportunities offered to Scottish students.
Young people kept waiting for mental health help
The Scottish Children’s Services Coalition has renewed its call for the Scottish government to take action to ensure that NHS boards meet waiting-time targets for children and adolescent services. This comes as new figures show that, in the quarter from April to June 2014, only seven of the 14 health boards in Scotland met the 26-week target for treatment from specialist child and adolescent mental health services. These offer help to young people with conditions from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to depression.
Glasgow takes a lead in procurement training
A new Modern Apprenticeship covering procurement and supply chains has been launched by City of Glasgow College and Skills Development Scotland (SDS). The course will lead to career opportunities in an industry employing around 115,000 people across 12,400 companies, according to the college. Tom Wilson, head of procurement and legal services at SDS, said: “From fashion to finance, construction to commerce, or food and drink to pharmaceuticals - they all need good procurement people and that’s what we’re aiming to deliver.” The new course coincides with the opening of the college’s first Industry Academy, which will support its collaboration with university and industry partners.
Online tool opens up research for teachers
All registered teachers in Scotland will be able to enjoy increased access to educational research thanks to the launch of an online collection of 1,700 journals and 28 e-books by the General Teaching Council for Scotland (bit.lyEBSCOinfo). Access to research has often been restricted to those at university, but the GTCS is seeking to eliminate that barrier. Dr Zoe Robertson, acting head of educational services at GTCS, said that better access to suitable resources was one of the “principal concerns about Professional Update”, adding: “We think this free service for teachers is a good start in addressing this concern.”
Root and branch education
A group of Glasgow schoolchildren this week got an insight into how their school lunches are produced when they visited the new food and farming classrooms at the Walled Garden of Dumfries House in Ayrshire. The visit was part of the Class Roots project, which is run by school catering provider Cordia. The scheme is designed to help pupils learn about the food they are served every day. The 30 P4 and P5 children from Parkview Primary took part in workshops on growing, preparing and cooking vegetables. Parkview was the first of a dozen schools to take part in the project which will run over the next six weeks; a further 30 of the city’s primary schools will benefit between April and June next year.
