Archive and film-making boost
- The first minister has announced pound;130,000 funding to support sound archiving and film-making projects based on Skye. Speaking during a joint visit with education secretary Michael Russell to Sabhal Mor Ostaig, Scotland’s first college to teach solely in Gaelic, Alex Salmond confirmed that the cash will support work to develop a Gaelic National Sound Archive and help to foster a new generation of Gaelic film-makers.
Careers advice comes up short
- Careers advice in the UK is “sorely lacking”, according to Dr Colin Brown, the director of engineering at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Sectors such as automotive and aerospace manufacturing were growing but engineering graduate numbers were falling, he said. Dr Brown was responding to a report by the Lords Science and Technology Committee inquiry into the quality of science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects in higher education.
Foreign students at heart of reports
- Foreign students should be exempted from wider targets on immigration introduced by the UK government, according to two recent reports - one by the Westminster Home Affairs Committee and another by the Lords Science and Technology Committee. The recommendations will be welcomed by Scottish universities and colleges concerned about the impact of tough immigration laws on the market in overseas students, said to be worth pound;400 million annually to the Scottish economy.
Obese children’s hearts at risk
- Almost two out of three severely obese children under the age of 12 already have at least one risk factor for heart disease, such as high blood pressure or high blood sugar, according to a team of Dutch researchers. Overall, 67 per cent of the children aged 2-18 had at least one risk factor. http:adc.bmj.com
Flu vaccinations for children
- All 2- to 17-year-olds in the UK are to be offered annual flu vaccinations. If 30 per cent take up the offer, there will be 11,000 fewer hospitalisations and 2,000 fewer deaths each year, the chief medial officer for England said. The children will be immunised using a nasal spray. Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: “We will be looking at the recommendations to decide how best to implement the programme.”
