Celtic studies pioneer courses may point to Highland revival

Between 20 and 30 secondary schools in the Highlands and Western Isles are pioneering courses in Celtic studies, which, it is hoped, will eventually form subjects for SCE examinations. A working party, under the convenership of Mr LF Dick, Gaelic adviser in the Western Isles, wrote that Celtic studies should not be the preserve of the Highlands and Islands alone.

`Bob a head’

Mr Donald Gorrie, Midlothian’s sole Liberal councillor, wants the region to wait until all public-service wage negotiations have been concluded and to divide equally the average rise. Mr Gorrie condemns the unions for insisting on percentage increases that reward the better off at the expense of the lower paid. He will seek to persuade fellow councillors of the merits of “a bob a head” regardless of present salary.

Sir prescribes the sack

A call by Sir Keith Joseph, the education secretary, for teachers to be made compulsorily redundant, coupled with a plea to local authorities to rid the profession of ineffective teachers, has provoked a hostile response from union leaders. “Because of falling school rolls, and the need to constrain expenditure, we must have fewer teachers in total,” he told the North of England Education Conference.

CB enthusiasts blamed for lessons break-in

Citizens band radio enthusiasts have been accused of disrupting lessons for a group of deaf children. Officials from the Home Office and Oxfordshire County Council are investigating interference which has prevented the six children from using their radio-operated hearing aids over the past few weeks.

No short cut to creativity

As well as lifting a night-time curfew that has lasted for 30 years, the South Koreans have said that schoolchildren will no longer be restricted to one hairstyle. The Education Ministry explained: “Compulsory head- shaving and short hair have hampered the development of creativeness.” This is an interesting statement, suggesting an association between personal style and ideology more familiar in communist countries.