TweetThese are some of the education stories we found interesting between the May 3rd-10th 2013.
Michael Gove attacks ‘infantilisation’ of school curriculum which encourages pupils to compare Nazis to Mr Men (The Independent)
Education Secretary Michael Gove attacked the school curriculum at a speech in Brighton this week, where he criticised using Mr Men to teach pupils about the Nazi regime. The speech has been widely criticised following reports that the children’s cartoon was used by one teacher, and as a revision tool, rather than being used widely in schools. Mr Gove is currently considering the changes he will make to the school curriculum as part of reforms to the education system.
Pupils ‘segregated from society’ by exclusive private schools (The Telegraph)
Labour have warned that children who attend private schools are failing to mix with others who aren’t wealthy. Lord Adonis, the Labor schools minister said that the price of attending private schools also “puts private education out of the reach” of most of the people in the UK. He also said that private schools should become involved in the running of academies.
‘Summer children need exam boost’ (The Times)
Children who are born in the summer months should have their exam results altered as they generally achieve lower exams results than those who were born in the winter. A report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies made the suggestion in a recently published report which says that those born in April or onwards should be awarded higher score in primary school tests and GCSEs to make up for when they were born.
Crackdown on school pranks (Herald Scotland)
The Scottish Teachers’ Association have called for children who vandalised school property during end-of-term pranks to be pursued by the police and court systems. Recent incidents have seen pupils hospitalised after being injured by eggs being thrown in pranks and the teachers association want the pranksters to be dealt with seriously.
Universities ‘need more cash to keep up with world’s best’ (The Telegraph)
Universities in the UK need more money to help keep up with the world’s best higher education systems an international study has claimed. Despite having two of the world’s top institutions, in Cambridge and Oxford, the UK only comes 10th in a list of the best research institutions in the world. However the UK slipped further down the ranking list when assessed by the amount of public and private money invested.
Village schools ‘outperforming those in inner-city areas’
International researchers for the Organisation for Economic Development and Co-operation (OECD) say that pupils in village schools are performing better than those in inner-city areas. The study ranked British children in rural schools 10th out of 57 countries while those in the cities were ranked 30th. One expert from Buckingham University said those in rural schools may perform better as they have a more settled pupil population.
State schools paying private tutors thousands for extra help (The Guardian)
English schools have been paying private tuition firms thousands of pounds to help disadvantaged pupils and in some cases schools are charged up to £1,400 a day for tutoring. One classroom union have questioned whether schools were getting value for money by spending vast amounts on the tuition, although most of this money is covered by the pupil premium – a subsidy that entitles schools to an extra £900 per pupil on free school meals.