Petition against shifting courses
A 5,000-strong petition has been handed to the Scottish Government as part of a campaign by students and staff at Glasgow’s Stow College against the Scottish Funding Council’s decision to move over half its courses to the City of Glasgow College. Campaigners claim the move could put 4,500 places and over 300 jobs at risk. The petition calls for an independent government review of further education delivery in Glasgow.
pound;4m boost for school-leavers
Skills Minister Angela Constance has announced a pound;4m investment to support school leavers and tackle unemployment by offering them 1:1 help to find jobs, employment, training or education. The cash will help roll out “activity agreements”, between a young person and an adviser, to undertake a learning and support programme to help prepare for work or study. The move follows a two-year pilot.
Cash to fund food learning centre
The Scottish Government has committed pound;50,000 to the creation of a new Food Learning Centre to deliver active learning for pupils from Ayrshire and beyond. The one-year grant will fund a full-time education officer to deliver the programme, which will teach pupils about how food is produced, where it comes from, and how it affects their health and the environment. It will also deliver CPD.
Re-occupation at research club
Students re-occupied the Hetherington Research Club at Glasgow University on Wednesday, a day after they were evicted by 80 police officers. They were allowed to return to the building after a group of over 100 students laid siege to a university administration building overnight. They had initially tried to confront university principal Anton Muscatelli over the eviction, which ended a two-month occupation in protest against proposed cuts to university services.
Parents’ learning could do better
An HMIE review of community learning and development, published this week, praises schools which actively support parents’ learning. But not all schools and communities have successfully forged partnerships, and challenges remain in meeting the aspirations of Curriculum for Excellence for building effective learning communities in Scotland. Better joint planning and self-evaluation will improve the impact of CLD on children, families and communities, the report says.
