Award to honour Robert Owen
- A new award recognising inspirational educators has been created in honour of social reformer Robert Owen. The award will recognise inspirational innovation in education and the first winner will be announced later this year. News of the award was issued by education secretary Michael Russell at a conference in New Lanark, where Owen provided education and decent living conditions for mill workers and their families. His book A New View of Society was published 200 years ago.
HE applications on the rise
- More 18-year-old Scots than ever before have applied to go to university, statistics published by the university admissions service Ucas have shown. Compared with last year, the figures revealed a 1.2 per cent rise in the number of young Scots who applied to study at universities. Overall, the number of applicants has risen by 6.1 per cent to 111,296. Education secretary Michael Russell said that the figures showed the appeal of Scottish universities was “as strong as ever”.
New chief for merged college
- Alan Sherry, principal of John Wheatley College in Glasgow, has been appointed principal designate for the new college in the northeast of the city being created by the merger of North Glasgow, Stow and John Wheatley colleges. The new institution is due to be launched in November, and will be one of three colleges in the Glasgow region.
Cash boost to battle obesity
- Almost #163;1.7m of funding to tackle childhood obesity in Scotland in the run-up to the 2014 Commonwealth Games has been announced by the Big Lottery Fund Scotland. The Healthy Powerful Communities project will help families in 11 Scottish local authorities to change their behaviours and stress the role of physical activity and improved diet.
Better knowledge of the Holocaust
- A programme to provide Scottish students with a more detailed knowledge of what happened during the Holocaust was launched this week. The Holocaust Educational Trust’s Ambassador Programme will equip student ambassadors with the know-how needed to spread the message to their peers and wider communities about what happened during the Holocaust. Regional ambassadors have been appointed across 10 regions in England, Scotland and Wales, recognising students who had shown the most commitment to ensuring that the lessons of the Holocaust would never be forgotten.
