Opening election shots fired
- The education lobby has met the announcement of the general election with a campaign to make its policies a central theme. The EIS has circulated a leaflet to members which advises that candidates should be asked about attitudes on nursery, primary and secondary education and, specifically, about current topics - Munn and Dunning, the 16-18 action plan, in-service training of teachers, and micro-processors in primary schools.
EIS left holding the conference
- It is not clear if Margaret Thatcher chose 9 June as a deliberate attempt to complicate the organisation of the EIS annual meeting. Possibly the biggest change has been that Fred Forrester, the organising secretary, has had to take over responsibility from Keir Bloomer, depute general secretary, whose name will be on the ballot paper for the Social Democratic Party in the Cathcart district of Glasgow.
Fletcher opts for Standards
- Standard grades? That is the name suggested by Mr Alex Fletcher, minister for Scottish education, for the new examinations to be introduced under the Munn and Dunning development programme. He tested out “Standard grades” on the Professional Association of Teachers in Glasgow last weekend, and reminded himself to use the phrase every time he mentioned the new exams. There was no response from the audience.
Underuse of television criticised
- Television had changed the lives of ordinary people, but it had not changed schools enough, said Dr Tom Bone, principal of Jordanhill College. Teachers were not making enough use of a proven resource. Those at the conference had to go out and convert their colleagues. But there was a need to bring broadcasting in at the design stage of a syllabus, he said.
Heroin - new threat to the deprived
- The Irish government has set up a ministerial task force on drugs after the disclosure that heroin abuse in Dublin’s north inner city is reaching New York levels. Misuse of drugs - except perhaps alcohol - arrived later than in most other European countries. But it has spread rapidly over the past decade.
