Bord na Gaidhlig chief resigns
- The chair of Gaelic development body Bord na Gaidhlig, Arthur Cormack (pictured), has stood down after three years in the post. “I am relinquishing my post having been off work for some time and concluding that I cannot continue to do everything I have been doing between Bord duties and my daily work,” he said in a letter to Alasdair Allan, minister for learning, science and Scotland’s languages. Elizabeth McAtear has been appointed interim chair, with Iain Campbell vice-chair.
Call for research on rural schools
- Research must be carried out into the benefits of rural schools, the Scottish Parent Teacher Council has said. In its submission to the Commission on Rural Education, it also calls for greater financial transparency in local authorities around closures. Other points: parents who do not send their children to the local school should not be excluded from consultation; the definition of a rural school “seems to make no sense”; impact studies should give greater weight to the views of young people involved, community impact, and journeys to new schools.
www.sptc.info
Plans to boost job prospects
- The Scottish government has announced plans worth pound;1.95 million to help young people in Highland and Moray find jobs. The European Social Fund grants are part of the latest round of European “structural funds”. Projects include: North Highland College - energy collaboration (pound;559,342), English speakers of other languages (pound;190,372), personal empowerment scheme (pound;311,837), developing digital literacies (pound;439,142); Inverness College UHI - meeting demand for full-time college places in Inverness (pound;146,767), centre for engineering and technology skills (pound;174,147); Moray College - fresh approaches to e-hospitality (pound;128,328).
In search of festival-goers
- Organisers of the 2012 Scottish Learning Festival have called for potential participants to get in touch. The festival, on 19 and 20 September in the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow, promises to highlight the importance of “creative skills” across the curriculum. ltscotland.org. ukslf
Autism support
- Due to an error in information provided to TESS, the wrong telephone number was printed last week for the National Autistic Society Scotland’s family programme. The number is 0808 800 0075.
