Problem with child poverty
New figures published by the Campaign to End Child Poverty show that almost every local authority contains wards where more than one in five children are living in poverty. The map, breaking down child poverty across every ward, council and constituency, shows that nearly half of Scottish councils have wards where over 30 per cent of children are classed as being in poverty.
www.endchild poverty.org.uk
Plug pulled on ICT programme
The current programme of information and communications technology in English schools will be scrapped from September, the Westminster education secretary, Michael Gove, announced this week at the BETT show for educational technology. It will be replaced by an “open source” curriculum in computer science and programming, designed with the help of universities and industry.
Call for help over global economy
Individuals and organisations are being urged to give their views on what needs to be done to ensure that Scottish schools meet pupils’ needs in an increasingly competitive global economy. The call was made by the commission on school reform, which was set up by think-tanks Reform Scotland and the Centre for Scottish Public Policy. Former education minister and Labour MSP Peter Peacock is the latest person to join the commission.
MSPs urged to protect students
The NUS Scotland campaign, Our Future Our Fight, launched in the wake of proposed cuts to college funding, has resulted in over 55,000 emails being sent to MSPs, urging them to protect the student support budget, college places, teaching quality and local access. For each of the 7,000-plus students who have so far signed up, an email was sent by the campaign to his or her constituency and regional MSP. http:www.our futureourfight.org
Equal pay settlement won
Hundreds of women in Edinburgh have won a multi-million pound equal pay settlement from the city council. The women, who worked in social care, as classroom assistants and in clerical jobs, first made claims to be paid on a par with male workers in 2005. An employment tribunal ruled in their favour in 2008 but the local authority appealed against the decision. Their victory could have implications for thousands of women with similar claims against other Scottish councils.
