Tories join students in anti-cuts campaign

The Scotsman

- Students fighting to reverse college budget cuts have won the support of Conservative MSPs. The party signed up to the National Union of Students’ campaign, Fund Scotland’s Future, to protect resources from #163;34.6 million reductions in the Scottish government’s budget.

Brave schoolgirl the Taleban couldn’t kill leaves hospital

The Scotsman

- A Pakistani girl who was shot in the head by the Taleban has been discharged from hospital in the UK. Malala Yousafzai, 15, was targeted for backing women’s rights to education in her home country and was later flown to the UK for specialist care. British doctors have been delighted with her recovery.

Apprenticeship scheme for school-leavers

The Guardian

- School-leavers will be able to apply to become apprentice civil servants under a scheme to be launched today by the Cabinet Office and civil service. In April, the first 100 apprentices, aged 18-21, will be recruited. They will learn “on the job” in government departments from September.

‘New Einstein’ Neil, 15, says discovery is beginner’s luck

The Times

- A 15-year-old schoolboy has helped change how science views the way galaxies are formed. Neil Ibata, the son of British astrophysicist Rodrigo Ibata, became one of the youngest researchers to co-sign a paper in a scientific journal after a computer programme he developed turned his father’s assumptions on their head and made the cover of Nature.

Teacher ‘bias’ gives better marks to favourite pupils, research reveals

The Telegraph

- New research has revealed that teachers mark children’s work according to how they feel about particular pupils. The study, commissioned by the Department for Education in England and involving more than 2,000 teachers, found that staff allow “bias” and “personal feelings” to influence their marking. Neat handwriting also brings children extra marks, it found.