Prosecution threat over asbestos level
- There should be an urgent public enquiry to establish what levels of asbestos pupils should be exposed to, according to Mr Edward Rushworth, director of the Cancer Prevention Society and former HM principal inspector of factories. He told The TESS that one way of initiating an enquiry would be to prosecute Strathclyde Regional Council over levels of asbestos found at St Brendan’s Primary in Glasgow’s Yoker.
Western Isles agree to evaluation
- The Scottish Education Department has won its battle with the Western Isles Council over the future of the council’s bilingual education policy. The council resisted demands that an independent evaluation of the seven- year-old bilingual scheme in primaries should be carried out prior to SED approval for extension into secondaries. This was interpreted locally as an attempt to justify refusal of financial support.
Most black pupils still segregated
- Race segregation in schools is on the increase in some parts of the US despite progress towards integration in the South, where, up to 1954, schools were segregated by law. A report delivered to congress estimates three out of five black children are being educated in schools which are predominantly black.
`Record of needs’ for handicapped
- From January the 11,000 Scottish pupils with physical and mental handicaps will have a statutory “record of needs” to ensure their individual requirements are recognised. Mr Alex Fletcher, Scottish education minister, said the government was trying to introduce a broad concept of special educational needs.
Call to involve teachers
- When money is short, educational researchers have to guard against being used to make propaganda, but they have increased opportunity to use teachers in their research work. Professor Ted Wragg addressed the Scottish Council for Education and Research, Edinburgh. He contrasted attitudes to research in education and industry: educational enquiry could be seen as a “frill”, whereas in industry it became essential as stress was placed on increasing efficiency.
