Altermedia UK » Education

More Holokaust specialists, not enough knowlege about basic history facts

Wanda — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:36:04 +0000

Tes: £1.5m national programme will train a teacher from every secondary school in England

Hundreds of schools across the country are to become specialist centres of Holocaust education under a national scheme launched today.

The plan, which will be rolled out in 300 schools, forms part of the new £1.5 million Holocaust education programme run by London University’s Institute of Education.

As The TES revealed in November, the Holocaust Education Development Programme will provide extensive specialist training for 3,500 teachers – one from every secondary in England.

The first cohort of 150 will attend a one-day workshop in London at the beginning of November and a second workshop three weeks later. This will be followed by similar sessions in Liverpool. The training will then be introduced across the country over the next two years.

From these teachers, 300 will be able to follow up their training with a masters degree module in Holocaust education. Their schools will then become designated beacons of excellence in the subject.
Read more tes.co.uk

Telegraph: University students are ignorant about some of the most significant events in history because teaching trendy topics and generic skills has sidelined the topic in schools, a lecturer has warned.

Professor Derek Matthews was so surprised to discover that the students in his economics class at Cardiff University had such a poor grasp of British history that he decided to conduct an experiment.

He set five easy questions, which he believed ‘every 18-year-old should know’, and over three years 284 first-year university students took the test.

The results confirmed his fears.

Foreigners ‘prop up UK science’

nationalistrus — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 06:26:01 +0000

Foreign students are propping up British universities in key subject areas like science and engineering, a report for UK vice-chancellors says.

More than a fifth of students in subjects deemed “strategic” by the government come from overseas, the Universities UK (UUK) report found.

Only 29% of postgraduate students in these areas are from the UK, with more than half coming from non-EU countries.

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Teenagers support ‘green’ schools

nationalistrus — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:04:03 +0000

Pupils want their schools to use renewable energy sources and rainwater resources, a survey finds.

The poll of 850 13 to 15-year-olds in England found 81% backed the use of these forms of energy in schools.

Of those surveyed, 70% wanted to know where the ingredients in their school dinners had come from.

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Free school fruit ‘little impact’

nationalistrus — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 20:03:42 +0000

A government scheme to give free fruit to schoolchildren may not result in any long-term health benefits, say experts.

The government has spent millions of pounds giving daily free fruit or vegetables to four to six-year-olds in state schools in England.

But researchers found that while vitamin levels were initially boosted, they fell away after a few months.

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‘Most’ leaders privately educated

nationalistrus — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 17:37:29 +0000

More than half of the leading figures in UK politics, law, medicine, business and journalism went to independent schools, research suggests.

A survey of 1,000 people for the Sutton Trust said the proportion had fallen only marginally in the past 20 years – from 58% a generation ago, to 53%.

However, among those who had been to a UK university the proportion from Oxbridge fell from 61% to 47%.

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Teenagers risk sex health crisis

nationalistrus — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 22:05:14 +0000

UK teenagers are facing a “sexual health crisis” fuelled by alcohol, drugs and risky sexual behaviour, a report warns.

They are “defining their lifestyle” by this behaviour, encouraged by celebrity culture, the Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health and HIV says.

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Town hall pledge on school racists

nationalistrus — Sun, 20 May 2007 14:09:45 +0000

OLDHAM’S education chiefs have been rocked by a 50 per cent increase in the number of pupils suspended for racist abuse and soaring numbers of primary school pupils excluded from school.

Figures obtained from Oldham Council by the Advertiser show that 209 pupils under the age of 11 were excluded at least once from school in 2005/06 – an increase of 15 per cent on the previous academic year.

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Teachers accused of GCSE cheating

nationalistrus — Tue, 15 May 2007 18:04:00 +0000

Teachers are accusing each other of “blatant cheating” in a forthcoming music GCSE exam.

Schools are sent music CDs which are used to test pupils’ listening skills.

These discs can be checked several days in advance to make sure they work – but teachers are claiming some schools may use this to gain an unfair advantage.

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Fake students net loan millions

nationalistrus — Wed, 09 May 2007 19:51:19 +0000

Criminal gangs have obtained millions of pounds in student loans by enrolling “ghost students” in universities, a BBC investigation has found.

The University admissions body, Ucas, has recorded a large increase in suspected fraud to 1,500 cases in 2006.

One fraudster enrolled himself on five different degree courses at the same university and had 17 fake identities.

He collected student loans worth £65,595. His conviction has highlighted flaws in the loans system.

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Bus children ‘made ill by fumes’

nationalistrus — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 17:44:36 +0000

It is thought children who fell ill on a school bus were suffering the effects of diesel fumes.

Forty-two were treated for suspected carbon monoxide poisoning and 24 sent to hospital after several pupils complained of dizziness and nausea.

Emergency services declared a major incident after being alerted by Harris School in Rugby, Warwickshire.

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