The standard of behaviour among children in Scotland’s schools is plummeting, a conference has been told. Delegates attending this year’s Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association (SSTA) conference spoke in doom-laden terms about the nation’s education. We can agree that the educational system is under pressure in Scotland due to Covid lockdowns and the problems of ‘unmotivated students with…
Working class Tory MP Lee Anderson caused a storm after saying that many people who use foodbanks can’t budget or cook properly. At the foodbank he works at in his Ashfield constituency, those seeking help have to sign up to budgeting and cookery lessons. The cost-of-living crisis has focused attention on these issues and for…
At last, a Conservative MP has made the case for the expansion of grammar schools. Jonathan Gullis MP – a former teacher – is urging the Prime Minister to lift the ban on new free schools being selective. He is thought to have the backing of 200 fellow back benchers – and quite possibly cabinet…
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair, author of the catchphrase ‘education, education, education’, has waded into this debate again as he pauses from his globe-trotting. During his premiership, he made it a policy to have 50 per cent of young people attend university – a wrong-headed ambition in my view. That figure has now been achieved,…
The Government has issued a white paper setting out the future of education and I broadly welcome it, but there is one important omission. Nadhim Zahawi, the Education Secretary, launched the document with a list of highlights including a minimum school week of 32.5 hours by the start of the next school year. Other changes…