Willowbank vote causes friction
Scottish Office officials are among the strongest opponents of opting out at the Muslim-dominated Willowbank Primary in Glasgow. Publicly the Government is neutral in the parental ballot, but privately there is a keen desire that Secretary of State Ian Lang should be faced with the consequences of a “yes” vote. Some 15 school staff say they would leave in the event of an opt-out.
Calculators out of the equation
The great calculator debate appears to have fizzled out. Education Minister Michael Forsyth welcomed 5-14 mathematics guidelines for the strong emphasis on basic number skills and competence in “pencil and paper techniques and mental computation”. In a clear effort to placate ministerial anxiety, the final guidelines state that “the calculator should not be allowed to provide unnecessary support”.
Young Scot survey backs SNP
The Nationalists are the most popular political party among young Scots, with the Conservatives second and Labour a poor third, a survey of 796 16 to 19-year-olds has revealed. The figures, from the Young Scot project at the Scottish Community Education Council, show 22 per cent would vote SNP, 15 per cent Conservative, 12 per cent Labour, and 8 per cent for both the Liberal Democrats and Greens.
Mountain safety in sharp relief
The rescue of 15 English children, hopelessly lost in the Grampian mountains near Dalwhinnie, came less than three weeks after the launch of a Government information campaign on mountain safety. Mountain safety expert Iain Davenport, an official with the Scottish Sports Council, said the youngsters were lucky to come out alive.
Go to jail if you want a library
President George Bush’s message to the White House conference on libraries sounded like a sick joke to the 2,000 delegates. His administration is proposing to cut funds for libraries by 75 per cent, from $143 million (pound;84 million) to $35 million (pound;22.5 million). Librarian of Congress James Billington said that, in California, prisoners were more likely to have access to a library than public schools.
