College re-building to push ahead

The government is set to appoint a troubleshooter to help tackle delays with its re-building plans for schools and colleges in England.

Sir Andrew Foster is expected to start work on a £5bn programme to renovate colleges and sixth-form premises.

Decisions on 20 colleges have been postponed until March by the funding body, the Learning and Skills Council.

The LSC insists there is no freeze on the programme but says some colleges are having trouble raising funds.

Sir Andrew, a former chief executive of the Audit Commission, will push forward a building programme against the background of the economic downturn.

The Liberal Democrats say the delay to the building programme "rows against" the government's drive to bring forward capital spending.

The Prime Minister Gordon Brown has brought forward funding for capital spending to help stimulate the economy through building projects.

The Learning and Skills Council had been due in December to take decisions on 20 applications for building schemes from colleges.

But shortly before Christmas the colleges were told decisions would not be taken until March.

A spokesman for the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills says that the government has made the extra money available, but "the LSC is responsible for the delivery of the capital programme".

'Grave risk'

One of the institutions affected is Cirencester College.

Principal Nigel Robbins said it had already spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on architects, consultants and engineers.

He told BBC News there was a "grave risk" the project team could break up and the work be wasted.

The LSC says the college rebuilding programme has been "hugely successful", with 700 projects agreed at 330 colleges.

It says the growing demand from colleges for funding is one of the reasons for the decisions have been deferred.

Mark Haysom, LSC chief executive said: "There is no freeze on the programme."

Currently 253 projects were being funded - and would not be affected - while £110m had been bought forward from future budgets to accelerate spending.

"However, the pace of demand for funding has increased. This is because the scale of ambition and the government funding they require has grown," Mr Haysom said.

"In addition there are early signs that the ability of colleges to raise their own funds for proposed projects is being affected by the downturn.

"It is for this reason that the LSC, over the next few weeks, is working closely with colleges that have or intend to submit bids to look at the individual current positions before making further funding decisions."

It is understood part of the reason for the delay is that the growing demand from colleges has brought with it a need to prioritise applications, previously dealt with on a "first come, first served" basis.

'Excellent programme'

The Association of Colleges says the delays are making "a complicated process more complex".

Chief executive Martin Doel said colleges wanted greater clarity.

"The programme is a 'victim of its own success' in many ways - as colleges are being so responsive to local needs in their plans - so the demand cannot be reconciled with the available budget in year," he said.

"A review of priorities on this basis is logical and is not unusual for major projects of this kind."

Unlike the programme to re-build England's schools, the college programme does not rely on Private Finance Initiatives (PFI).

Projects are funded by the government, through the LSC, and by colleges raising money themselves.

The Liberal Democrats say the delays are a sign of deep problems in the government's use of private finance for such projects.

Higher education spokesman Stephen Williams said: "It runs counter to the government's stated aim of bringing forward capital expenditure.

"The people meant to be implementing this seem to be rowing in the opposite direction."

On Wednesday, MPs on a Commons committee heard the Construction Industry Council say building firms were struggling to raise the cash needed to take part in the Building Schools for the Future scheme, which does rely on PFI.

A spokesman for the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills said: "Under this government nearly 700 projects have been agreed by the LSC and all but 42 colleges have had money to make capital improvements.

"As part of the pre-Budget Report some of this funding has been brought forward to accelerate improvements through the downturn."

Graduates who took student loans before 1998 miss out on interest rate cut

Almost 350,000 graduates who took out student loans before 1998 are being penalised after missing out on the recent interest rate cut. By Graeme Paton, Education Editor Former students who took out loans before that year are being forced to pay more than double the existing Bank Rate of 1.5 per cent. The rise will add to growing pressures on young professionals who are already struggling to find decent jobs because of the global recession. Even students going to university after 1998 - when key changes to the student loans scheme were made - are being forced to pay more than the Bank of England's record low interest rate announced earlier this month. Last night, the Conservatives said students were being put under undue financial strain. Loans have been offered to students on the basis that they are in line with inflation - making them effectively interest free. The Student Loans Company uses the Retail Price Index (RPI) to calculate repayments. Students taking "mortgage style loans" before 1998 are subjected to interest rates fixed for 12 months every March - currently 3.8 per cent. Graduates taking so-called Income Contingent Loans after 1998 have traditionally made the same repayments. But in a little-noticed change, the Government introduced reforms a decade ago allowing these loans to track the Bank Rate - plus one per cent - if this figure is lower than RPI. In recent weeks, the Bank Rate has plunged as low as 1.5 per cent - giving newer students repayments of 2.5 per cent. But the changes do not affect those taking out loans before 1998, leaving them to pay around double the new Bank Rate. According to official figures, 341,300 people in England still owe around £1 billion under the old method - an average of £2,846 each. A spokesman for the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills said: "Student loans have consistently offered a much better deal than commercial loans. Interest is only charged to maintain the value of the loan in real terms so that graduates only pay back the same amount as they borrowed. "Borrowers with mortgage-style loans only make repayments when their income is over £25,936 per year, with outstanding amounts written off after a certain period of time."

Worries over college fund 'gap'

The future of higher education in Wales is uncertain, if a core funding gap between Welsh and English colleges is not tackled, a group of MPs has warned.

A report by the Welsh Affairs Select Committee found there was an investment gap of £61m in the year ending in 2006.

It also found problems in policy-making between Whitehall and Cardiff.

The assembly government said funding was on a par with England, it had provided £449m this year and introduced ways to increase funding opportunities.

The report also found problems of communication and effective policy-making between Whitehall and Cardiff.

"There is a need for officials within Whitehall to have a better understanding of devolution as there is an impression that some officials believe that it means that they can 'forget' about Wales," said the report.

"Similarly there is a need for officials and ministers in the Welsh assembly to take a greater interest in developing policies across the border."

In the report, the MPs predict a negative impact on the Welsh economy if the country's higher education continues to receive proportionately less core funding than English institutions and a smaller relative share of UK research funding.

David Jones, the Conservative MP for Clwyd West and a member of the committee said Wales would have to divert resources if it was going to grow an "effective higher education sector".

"How the Welsh Assembly Government does that is a matter for the Welsh Assembly Government but I think what they've got to do is recognise from the contents of this report that there's is a big problem that is not just highlighted by the Welsh Affairs Select Committee but is also being highlighted by the university authorities themselves."

The report claims that a lack of investment will also make institutions in Wales less attractive because the quality of teaching staff and available resources will be affected.

The committee wants the UK's Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) to make funds available to develop research in economically deprived areas.

It also calls for more effective communication between government departments and the assembly government to avoid confusion over further and higher education policy.

Ben Gray, president of the National Union of Students in Wales said: "If I walk onto an English university campus I can see the difference in the buildings, I can see the difference in where the investment's been spent.

"I think it's clear to see from the research assessment exercise that just got released that Wales is performing incredibly well in terms of it's teaching quality and research capability," he added.

But the assembly government disagreed with the committee's findings and have claimed the level of funding is on a par with English levels.

A spokesperson said: "Evidence suggests that we spend a comparable amount per head of population as in England.

"In 2008-09, we made £449m available to higher education institutions via the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales.

"We have also introduced a number of initiatives to increase the opportunities for funding available to higher education institutions in Wales, such as a new scheme to encourage Welsh universities to increase and expand their fundraising capacity."

Wales being left behind, says UCU

Union warns that Assembly must close funding gap with rest of UK, reports Melanie Newman

The Welsh Assembly has been urged to close the funding gap between universities in the principality and the rest of the UK or risk causing "long-lasting damage" to the sector.

The warning comes in a letter to a task force on the future of Welsh higher education, from the University and College Union.

The UCU also says that the sector must not lose sight of its core mission of adding to the world's knowledge and understanding rather than focusing on its value to Wales' economy and culture.

An Assembly task force is reviewing the purpose and role of higher education in Wales with a view to updating Reaching Higher, the Assembly's strategy for the sector. A report to the task force said that the funding gap between universities in Wales and England was £61 million, and a report by Universities UK on the effects of devolution last month warned that England was moving further ahead of Scotland and Wales in terms of research income and student numbers.

UCU regional officer Margaret Phelan said: "My personal view is that the Assembly is hoping reconfiguration will streamline things and save costs. Personally I haven't seen any evidence that collaboration leads to savings.

"As a union we will support the reconfiguration agenda so long as changes are managed properly and staff are not made compulsorily redundant."

The UCU is also concerned about the sector becoming too narrow in focus. Its submission says: "The Government must make a very clear statement in any future version of Reaching Higher about the core mission of higher education in Wales; it must not and cannot be solely limited to the contribution of higher education to the Welsh economy and culture."

The core mission is "adding to knowledge and understanding for the benefit of all", it says.

The review, which follows an earlier look at student finance, is due for completion in spring 2009.

Last November, the Assembly revealed plans to scrap the £1,890-a-year grant to all Welsh students who study in Wales.

It proposed that a "significant proportion" of funding be redirected to help students from low-income families from 2010.

The independent review panel that made the recommendation, chaired by Merfyn Jones, vice-chancellor of Bangor University, had said the current system was not the best way to attract more people to Welsh universities.

A consultation on the proposals ends on 16 February.

Public-private mix? The debate rumbles on

WIll privatisation in higher education mean compromise to corporate demands, or is it time state institutions got some competition?

While some of the UK's banks have been put in public hands, how quickly are the country's universities heading the other way — towards the private sector? Higher education institutions worry that quality could suffer in the pursuit of profit. Private higher education providers counter that a little competition would be a good thing.

Of Britain's 325 institutions offering further and higher education, only one, the University of Buckingham, is private. This contrasts with the US, where approximately 25% of its higher education institutions are out of state control. Buckingham, which has topped student satisfaction surveys for the past three years, gives students the chance to do a three-year degree in two intensive years and with flexible start dates. It is also the only UK university that receives no direct subsidy from the government, thereby remaining academically independent.

But one area of education that is raising concerns about privatisation in Britain is the recruitment of international students, that lucrative source of funding that covers, on average, 8% of universities' budgets.

The private company Into University Partnerships has already set up centres catering for international students within five British universities. The Into Centres at the University of East Anglia, Newcastle University, the University of Manchester, the University of Exeter and Glasgow Caledonian University recruit international students and teach them English to the standard required for undergraduate study.

But their presence has raised alarm at the University and College Union (UCU), the UK's largest trade union and professional association for academics and other university staff. The UCU is worried about how quickly universities are moving into public/private partnerships. "Our strategic focus is on making sure that the in-house alternative is always being considered in this dash for international students," says a UCU spokesman.

Dr Thomas Kealey, vice-chancellor of the University of Buckingham, believes private universities have a lot to offer: "Every other university in this country works solely to government targets. The government gives them money, and therefore they do whatever the government wants. We exist primarily to provide a good experience for our students. As Karl Marx once said, we live in a world of economic determinism, and our economic success is determined by our students' satisfaction. The other universities' success is determined by how much they please the government."

In France, the public education system was shaken up by a profound policy change in 2007. For the first time, President Nicolas Sarkozy allowed its publicly funded universities to set up foundations enablerto attract funding from private and corporate sources. Last June, the University of Auvergne in Clermont-Ferrand became the first institution to set up a private foundation, helped by the presence in the city of the Michelin tyre manufacturer.

Meanwhile, the rapid growth of online learning has already given for-profit companies a route into higher education. In 2007, BPP Professional Education, a private education provider that specialises in accountancy and law courses, became Britain's first for-profit company to be given degree-awarding powers.

"BPP is looking to expand its online provision, and why wouldn't you?" says the UCU spokesman. "It's the most fantastic and cost-effective education. The more closely private companies get entangled with universities, the more closely they will develop online learning at the expense of other forms of learning."

BPP is following the example led by Kaplan, the education subsidiary of the Washington Post Company. As well as giving a million students worldwide campus-based and online study, it owns Dublin Business School (DBS), Ireland's largest private higher education institution. DBS already runs degree programmes that are sponsored by business, notably the Lidl discount supermarket chain. In a twist to conventional funding, its "Lidl degree" in retail management pays the student a wage during the three years, from €16,000 to €20,000, with the proviso that he or she works for the company later.

DBS chief executive Gerry Muldowney told the Irish Times: "I thought it was a great opportunity. It was reaching out to a target group of potential students who would not have gone to college otherwise because they probably wouldn't have been able to afford it." In these tough economic times, it could be a sign of things to come.

Mary Novakovich

Lack of education for prisoners serving longer sentences

Inmates serving four years or more are missing out as training is geared towards those serving shorter sentences

Prison education is failing to meet the needs of people serving longer sentences, according to Ofsted.

While most jails are running training programmes for offenders detained for a year or less, the inspectorate has identified few if any with learning strategies for those inside for four years and more.

Programmes are designed around the average lengths of stay in particular institutions and do not suit prisoners who stay for longer or who move on to another jail, Ofsted finds.

The absence of a national system for recording offenders' progress severely hinders their chances of continuing to advance when transferred to another institution or when they are freed, conclude two reports by the inspectorate into education for long- and short-serving offenders.

Ofsted's chief inspector, Christine Gilbert, said: "The learning needs of long- and short-term offenders are particularly challenging and complex, but it's crucial their needs are met and every learning opportunity is fulfilled."

She called for "greater overall consistency in the provision of learning programmes and a national system for recording data, so that offenders are given every opportunity to progress and develop their skills during the period of their custody and on release".

Roughly two-thirds of those in prison have poor literacy or numeracy, or both. A good range of programmes is available when individuals' needs are identified, Ofsted has found. Some courses concentrate on reading, writing and arithmetic, and other vocational programmes – catering or physical education, say - include these basic skills in their training.

But the great majority of prisons report high numbers of offenders nearing the end of long sentences who still have poor literacy and numeracy. Although staff in most prisons recognise that poor basic skills hinder eventual job prospects, it does not seem to be realised that they also prevent offenders getting the full benefit of other vocational and social activities while inside.


"In particular, learning and skills strategies do not recognise the need and benefit of improving these skills to a level where other programmes, such as offending behaviour programmes, become more accessible and beneficial," says the report into offenders on longer sentences.


"They do not give sufficient emphasis to the benefits of developing these skills early on in an offender's sentence."


Ofsted wants the Learning and Skills Council and the National Offender Management Service to find ways of improving literacy, numeracy and language programmes.

More account should be taken of the limitations on offenders on short sentences, many of whom are also on drug and alcohol detoxification.

In general, prisons need systems for diagnosing offenders' individual learning needs more quickly and accurately, the inspectorate recommends.

Prison education too often fails to build on offenders' existing skills and what they have picked up previously during their sentences, the report's compilers found on visits to 19 prisons.

"Advice and planning was predominantly focused on what was available in that prison rather than the long-term needs of the offender," says the report.

This tended to be designed around the average sentence in the prison and longer-term prisoners quickly exhausted what was on offer. This is a particular problem in open prisons.

"In one prison the curriculum repeated every six weeks and many offenders on long sentences had attended what was available and were left with few opportunities to develop further," the report notes.

Inspectors found little opportunity for prisoners possessing level 2 qualifications (five good GCSEs or the equivalent) to go further, though in "better prisons" there were some opportunities for them to work as peer mentors or train as guidance workers.

All of the prisons visited offered distance-learning programmes – Open University degrees, for instance – for inmates with the ability and time to do them. But above level 2, these are not usually publicly funded. Offenders need to pay themselves or find the fees from charity.

In each of the prisons visited, between 20 and 50 offenders were on distance-learning programmes. The better prisons gave them effective support, providing a dedicated study room with tutor support and computers.




Working alongside professionals

At first glance you would assume that all the men learning how to install and repair gas cookers and boilers were prisoners, but you would be wrong.

Some of those working in pairs and small groups have come from outside.

In an arrangement probably unique in the prison system, inmates at HMP Spring Hill in Buckinghamshire are able to do training courses alongside professional plumbers and tradesmen who have popped in to update their skills.

"This course has given me a qualification which I can use to get full-time employment as a gas fitter," Paul, one of the first prisoners to be offered a place on the scheme, told the Ofsted in-house magazine. "The future for me now is positive. I am looking forward to coming out of prison and going straight."

Colin Wilson, an engineer based in Watford, only realised he would be training inside a prison alongside prisoners when he turned up to start his course. "It makes no difference to me, I treat everybody the same," he said. "All the guys here get on and we learn a lot off each other."

The prison provides free premises for a training company on the understanding that prisoners can take advantage of its courses, which include training for jobs in the health and leisure industry.

A gym and fitness centre, being built by prisoners using bricklaying skills they have been taught at Spring Hill will be open not just to trainees from outside but also to members of the public. The gas training centre was also built by prisoners, saving public money. There are plans to develop a facility for an agricultural college, enabling prisoners to train for careers in farming and horticulture.

Spring Hill, Britain's first open prison, houses 334 male prisoners, most serving between four and 10 years, but some doing life and preparing to resettle into the community. Every morning, up to half leave the prison for college or to work for local businesses – either on placement or as full-time, paid employees.

Prisoners are encouraged to pursue a range of courses, from cookery to music technology, run by Milton Keynes College.

Ofsted inspectors have commended this "entrepreneurial" approach and "outstanding partnership working" that has enabled Spring Hill to develop its wide range of employability programmes.

"The more ways we can help prisoners to learn, the better," says Andy Woodley, head of learning and skills at the prison.

"Giving prisoners the skills they need to find meaningful employment after release means they are much less likely to reoffend. Our reoffending rate is just 5%, compared to a national average of 70%. We feel we are making a difference."

London Business School celebrates generous scholarship pledge

The FINANCIAL -- London Business School is delighted to announce a donation of £96,000 from the Anno Domini Capital Group.

The gift has been pledged for an initial period of three years and will be used to provide full tuition funding for one full-time Masters in Finance student each year. The first scholarship will be awarded in June 2009 to a candidate starting the programme in September 2009.

The Anno Domini Scholarship has been established to help attract excellent candidates to London Business School's full-time Masters in Finance programme from the Eastern European and former Soviet Union regions. Scholarship applicants must have professional experience in the region, demonstrate a commitment to the region's socio-economic progress and be planning to return to their home country following graduation.

The founder of Anno Domino Capital Group, Vladimir Vendin (MiF98), commented on the gift, saying, "I graduated from the London Business School Masters in Finance programme in 1998 right before the financial crisis in Russia. The knowledge I received when studying at the School helped me to adapt to a new environment and make a successful career and subsequently start my own business. I personally know how important it is to combine practical experience with academic knowledge. In the current times, when all sectors and markets and, subsequently, people, are seriously hit by the global economic crisis, many of the young bright people from the region are unable to finance their education. I believe that only with the help of highly educated young professionals will it be possible to overcome the consequences of the current turmoil. I hope that our scholarship will help those who want to contribute to the future of their countries and the region to receive an education from one of the best business schools in Europe."

Education key to treating hockey head injuries

Warriors in the battle against hockey concussions received a clear message on how to proceed today.

“Education, education, education,” Dr. David Mulder, team doctor of the Montreal Canadiens, told a high-profile London Hockey Concussion Summit panel.

The panel included several of North America’s leading experts on the topic, former NHLers Eric Lindros, Jeff Beukeboom, Alyn McCauley and Marc Moore and former Canadian women’s team star Jennifer Botterill.

“Educate the players; reassure them they’ll be coming back,” said Mulder, an Order of Canada recipient in 1997, and a thoracic surgeon with an interest in trauma.

“Educate management,” Mulder continued. “The financial implications (of injuries) in pro hockey are enormous. “Educate the public. There are only 700 players in the NHL but there are thousands and thousands of young players out there,” he said.

The Canadian Medical Association Journal estimates Canada's annual hockey registration is about 500,000 males and females, and that 10 to 12 per cent of them — more than 50,000 players — will sustain a head injury, the most common being a concussion.

Paul Echlin, a London primary care doctor and chairperson of the one-day immersion course on concussions, said these figures cover only those injuries reported and could be low by 50 per cent.

Among the day’s topics, which ranged from defining concussions and their incidence and treatment to testimonials from the former players, a hot button was when players should be allowed to resume playing.

steve.coad@sunmedia.ca

EDUKEX set to start on Jan 21

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 18: The British Embassy announced Sunday, during a press conference held at the British Embassy, the holding in Kuwait of the British Council’s annual Education UK Exhibition or EDUKEX on Jan 21 & 22. A total of 41 education institutions from across the UK — Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England — will be represented in the two-day education exhibition.
The British Ambassador to Kuwait Michael Aron told newsmen “the high academic quality of education in the UK is widely recognized and as a result, UK qualifications are sought all over the world and offer unparalleled value to those wanting to build their careers or continue their personal development. A UK education is an investment for life for students, as well as those who seek to employ them.”

‘EDUKEX 2009’ brings together a large number of prestigious UK institutions which offer everything from academic and vocational programmes to summer English language courses and A levels, according to Graham McClulloch, Director of the British Council in Kuwait. “It is the perfect opportunity to meet a wide variety of UK institutions under one roof and be able to compare what’s on offer - all with the guarantee of quality that comes with selecting the UK as an overseas study destination,” he said. The UK, according to McCulloch, is a highly cosmopolitan country with a rich and vibrant culture in which to lives a student. “The ease in getting around offer overseas students the opportunity to experience everything from its history and stunning scenery to the latest fashions, music, sports and theatre.


“With the advantage of being near to Kuwait with a flight time of only around 6 hours and the current weakening of the Sterling, it’s comparatively cheaper than ever to study in the UK!” he exclaimed. McCulloch also said EDUKEX 2009 will also explore possibilities of establishing links with Kuwaiti education institutions like the Public Authority for Applied Education & Training who will be able to send Kuwaiti students interested in furthering their studies, to the UK.
He also recommended that those going to the event to register online by visiting http://kw.educexhibitions.org/ to ensure that institutions and the British Council-Kuwait will have their details in advance so as to save them time at the exhibition. Details of the 41 participating institutions in EDUKEX 2009 can also be found upon registering online, or at www.britishcouncil.org/me.kw
Dr Faiz Al Dhafeeri, Cultural Officer at the Kuwait Embassy in the UK, thanked the British Government and the British Council, for providing Kuwaiti students the opportunity to obtain quality education in UK institutions of higher learning.


He also announced that in view of the growing interest among Kuwaiti students to study overseas to obtain higher education — the bulk of which is to the UK — the Kuwaiti government has recently increased the number of scholarships slots from 350 to 1,500.
Dhafeeri also said that there is a need for working professionals such as those in learning institutions, to be given the opportunity to work or take up further studies in the UK to broaden their experience and see things from a Kuwaiti perspective and to apply what they have learned, in their jobs on their return, and vice versa, for those from the UK, in a sort of exchange program.
Denise Waddingham, British Council Asst. Director said that the council’s work is about building relationships through various aspects. She said that a group of Kuwaiti musicians have been invited to take part in an upcoming music festival in the UK and for a similar arrangement for UK musicians to come to Kuwait.


The purpose of the visit is to explore ways for Kuwaiti and British musicians to work together in a musical collaboration.
Rafat Abu Taleb, the British Council’s Project Manager for Education, explained a number of advantages in studying in the UK by using the experience to prepare for their future by getting valuable work experience, improving their language skills and enhancing their CVs.
International students can also use their study visa to get part-time work up to 20 hours a week during term time, work full-time during holidays and work full-time at the end of their studies after their course has finished up until their immigration permission to stay in the UK expires.
Abu Taleb also said that in addition, most graduates, under the new Post-Study Worker category of visas, will likely be able to work in the UK for up to two years after the successful completion of their course.


“International students in the UK any member of their family who travels with them to the UK are also entitled to free or subsidized treatment in the UK under the National Health Service or NHS,” he concluded.
Abu Taleb also recommended visiting www.educationuk.org to read up an information sheet advising how to check whether the institution being considered and the qualifications it offers are recognized and accredited. This ensures that it will meet a minimum, threshold standard for quality. The sheet also gives some advice on how to compare the quality of institutions. The participating institutions:
Bangor University, Bath University, Brunel University, Cambridge Regional College, Cardiff University, Coventry University, David Game University, EF Brittin College, Heriot-Watt College, Keele University, Leeds Metropolitan University, Liverpool John Moores University, London South Bank University, Middlesex University, Newcastle University.


Nottingham Trent University, Queen Mary, University of London, Queen’s University Belfast, Swansea University, the University of Hull, The University of Liverpool, The University of Manchester, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, University of Bradford, University of Central Lancashire.University College of London, University of Derby, University of East Anglia, University of Exeter, University of Glamorgan.
University of Glasgow, University of Cloucestershire, University of Greenwich (London), University of Huddersfield, University of Kent, University of Leeds, University of Plymouth, University of Portsmouth, University of Southampton, University of Sussex, and University of Teesside.
The British Council works in 110 countries worldwide to build engagement and trust for the UK through the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people worldwide, through the arts, education and training, science and technology, sport, good governance and human rights. It is a non-political organization, registered as a charity in England and Scotland, which operates at arm’s length from government.

Green ICT in education: practical advice from JISC now available

Further and higher education establishments across the country could save thousands of pounds – and thousands of tonnes of CO2 emissions – just by introducing simple measures, according to a report issued by JISC.

A strategic overview and briefing paper presents the findings of JISC’s Green Technology report, and outlines ways in which the intelligent use of technology can create savings of cost, energy or carbon output, and shows how Liverpool University’s self-developed ‘PC PowerDown’ software is already saving the institution £64,000 a year and over 500 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

The paper also offers guidance for ICT staff and senior managers within FE and HE to make informed decisions concerning the sustainability of their current and projected technology provision.

Commenting on the report Peter James, Professor of Environmental Management at the University of Bradford, and head of the JISC-funded SusteIT project, said,

“The sector must do more to make its ICT use more sustainable, and this report raises awareness of the issues facing ICT planners and senior institutional management. It also highlights a range of cost-effective measures that are already being taken in some institutions that could easily be introduced in others.

“These include switching off PCs, better management of cooling in data centres and the increased use of video-conferencing via the JANET network. The SusteIT project also provides a tool to prepare a footprint of ICT-related energy and carbon consumption – the first step to improvement – and inspiration in the form of over 20 case studies.”

JISC commissioned the SusteIT project to help educational institutions meet the increasingly stringent environmental demands placed upon them by government.

Tom Watson MP, Minister for Digital Engagement and Civil Service Issues believes this new research to be of extreme importance, especially considering its legislative context. “As the Minister responsible for our Greening Government ICT strategy, I believe this is exactly the kind of knowledge that IT strategists and policy makers need to have to hand. More broadly, these publications will also be relevant to directors of estates, tasked with designing educational institutions' technology-rich buildings of the future.

“The government aims to work more closely with initiatives like this, whose outputs will benefit UK education as a whole,” he said.

The Climate Change Act (2008) sets a legally binding target for reducing UK CO2 emissions by 26 per cent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050, compared to 1990 levels. It also sets up the Carbon Reduction Commitment), requiring medium to large electricity users to monitor their consumption – with incentives for good performance, and penalties for bad.

Other directives giving legal obligations on institutions with regard to their use of ICT include:
> The ‘Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment’ directive
> The ‘Restrictions on Hazardous Substances’ directive
> The ‘Energy Using Products’ directive
> The ‘Energy Performance of Buildings’ directive.

The SusteIT website contains many case studies of greener technology in action, for example:
> The University of Edinburgh is using measures such as ‘free cooling’ to save over £500,000 per annum in energy costs at the Hector supercomputer facility
> Sheffield Hallam University’s replacement of 120 actual servers with 300 virtual ones is reducing energy consumption by 80 per cent;
> University of Gloucestershire’s ICT Managers role in the institution’s environmental improvement initiative has stimulated actions for greener procurement, print management, and virtualisation.

Children's Minister: Home education 'may be cover for abuse'

Parents educating their children at home could face tighter controls under new plans.

Ministers have launched a review of standards for up to 55,000 young people taught by mothers and fathers outside school.

It will investigate current procedures for monitoring home education – as well addressing concerns over the safety and welfare of children.

Baroness Morgan, the Children's Minister, said home teaching could be a "cover for abuse" in extreme cases.

But parents' groups were infuriated by the comments.

Ann Newstead, spokesman for the charity Education Otherwise, said claims that children were safer in the hands of the state than parents was "offensive" and "not born out by an increasing number of families in the UK".

Annette Taberner, member of EO's policy group said "No other community would be expected to suffer the prejudice and discrimination which our community has to endure. Our community will be infuriated by these latest statements."

The review – being led by Graham Badman, former director of children's services at Kent Council was launched following a public consultation on the issue of children missing education.

Some local authorities and children's organisations raised concerns about their ability to properly monitor children's welfare under existing guidance.

Under current rules, parents do not have to formally register their child as "home educated".

No official statistics exist on how many children are taught at home, but it is thought the number could be as high as 55,000.

The Education and Inspections Act 2006 placed a duty on all local councils to make arrangements to identify children not receiving a proper education, but they have no power to inspect the quality of lessons for youngsters taught at home.

Baroness Morgan said: "I'm sure the vast majority do a good job. However, there are concerns that some children are not receiving the education they need.

"And in some extreme cases, home education could be used as a cover for abuse. We cannot allow this to happen and are committed to doing all we can to help ensure children are safe, wherever they are educated."

Mr Badman said: "Legislation affords every parent the right to choose to educate their child at home but with those rights go responsibilities, not least being to secure a suitable education.

"By the same token, local authorities are charged with ensuring that all children are safe, well and receiving an education that is both enjoyable and allows for the expression of all aptitudes and abilities.

By Graeme Paton, Education Editor

2 Pinoys picked for UK education grant

Two Filipino government officials have been chosen to participate in a prestigious fellowship grant in the United Kingdom.

Reynaldo Saludares and Lucita Rodriguez are the recipients of the Chevening Fellowship granted by the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

“Chevening Fellowships are prestigious and highly sought-after awards with stiff competition from thousands of applicants in many countries. I am delighted that yet again Filipinos are among the successful. This reinforces the growing education links between our two countries," said British Ambassador Peter Beckingham.

The award sponsors studies on short courses focusing on particular subjects aligned to the FCO’s strategic framework. The distinction of Chevening Fellow is offered only to professionals in a position of leadership and influence in their home country.

An assistant solicitor general at the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), Atty. Saludares said he is slated to participate in a short course on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Security at the University of Birmingham. The program aims to provide an insight on how to balance the need to ensure national and international security with the promotion and protection of human rights.

"I am excited to learn new and sophisticated concepts on how to promote co-operation to achieve harmony, which I believe is the key to a Global Village that is peaceful and prosperous. I believe that my course on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Security is very relevant to the pursuit of the dream for co-operation to have harmony," Atty. Saludares said.

Rodriguez, on the other hand, is a deputy commissioner for tax reform in the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). She will be attending a short course on Reform, Regulation and Public Service Provisions at the University of Bradford. The program focuses on the role of economic institutions and policy frameworks in public sector economic reform and the promotion of sustainable growth.

Chevening Fellows undertake an intensive 12-week program that offers dynamic training and professional development opportunities in the UK.

Courses consist of high-quality content, with contributions from leading academics and experts in the field. Upon completion it offers the opportunity for successful candidates to maintain international policy dialogue with UK Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates.

Each year, there are only about 200 recipients of the Chevening Fellowship award worldwide.

The last VLE ever?

Hope this is the last time I write about blessed Virtual Learning Environments and Learning Platforms in UK education. I am so sick of them, but not so sick that I hold back from sharing the rant with you dear reader :)

It's been 8 years now, during which time VLEs have been massively promoted by Becta (the UK education quango) there are now loads of them, the best is the free software called Moodle but hardly anyone uses any VLE at all let alone the best one!

No doubt at this week's massive BETT show (British Education Tec.. something) I'll see another tranche of this year's highly resistible offerings.

You think I am being overly negative? Read what Oftsted, HM Inspectorate has to say...culled from the BC news online..

...It highlights that a 2005 government strategy report called on the educational technology agency, Becta, to ensure that a majority of institutions made effective use of technology.

In most places surveyed by Ofsted, the use of such VLEs was "not widespread" and where it was in place it was often the result of the enthusiasm of individual teachers.

"We found that the exploitation of VLEs at curriculum level resembled more of a cottage industry than a national technological revolution," inspectors concluded.

In which case can we just stop now please?

If virtual learning environments are a 'good thing' then in a free society they will be adopted by schools, students and teachers if, and only if THE inviolable 'equation' is met:

'Is the gain worth the pain?'

The 'gain' in this context is of course improved educational outcomes for children. These are of necessity hard to quantify without a large amount of data which we don't have because no one is using them.

The 'pain' is the cost, the teacher training ovehead, the time involved, the content provision and the access overheads.

Clearly as reported by Ofsted, in the teaching profession only nutters (sorry, 'enthusiasts') in cottages think the 'gain is worth the pain'.

Given Oftsted's unequivocal verdict above, pushing VLEs at schools is just giving ICT a bad reputation and building up teacher resistance to all ICT 'innovations' good or bad. VLE's are now in the same unfortunate and much hated category of Interactive Whiteboards (Ed. Ssh! you are not yet allowed to raise dissenting voices against IWBs).

These kinds of product are just Luddite-fodder. Don't be surprised when overselling of technology looks a bit too like the overselling of debt and enjoy the backlash with all its vendor bankruptcy that accompanies it.

Meantime, a small plea, can we jump one way or the other?

BECTA..can you either quietly drop your sponsorship of VLEs or persuade your political masters to force teachers to use them?

By John Spencer

British eduaction industry to bring economic boost for uk in 2009

TQ,the leading UK provider of training and education services to Governments and private clients around the World, is predicting 2009 to be a record year for the sector as the popularity of apprenticeships and the demand abroad for training provision from UK firms both continue to see strong growth.

The firm, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in January, has itself seen a 60% increase in the size of its order book over 2008, and is seeing unprecedented interest across the industry from key global markets, keen to provide British education expertise, knowledge and standards to their domestic markets.

“In the 50 years the company has been in operation I don’t think we’ve ever seen such a breadth and scope for positive market growth like this”, commented Vic Keyworth, CEO of TQ.

“Despite the economic downturn, and I suspect because of it, the quality of a ‘British education’ remains a strong selling point for firms in our sector and we are seeing unprecedented interest from firms across the Middle East, North Africa, China and Russia in particular.”

TQ has helped lead the international popularity of UK education and has built its reputation and market standing through the provision of first-class education of personnel in a wide range of industries around the world over its 50yr history.

The firm has unique experience in working across a wide range of industries around the globe, with clients across the military, oil, Higher Education and electronics sectors in particular.

In the UK, the firm will launch an apprenticeship training scheme for military engineers in January as part of a 30yr MoD contract

“In times of increased market competitiveness there is a recognised need for well trained and knowledgeable employees to help maintain a company’s competitive edge. If there is one ray of hope at the moment it’s that so many firms are recognising this, as is the UK Government and we welcome recent figures showing record numbers of apprentices starting courses in 2008”, added Keyworth.

Recent Government figures showed that 224,800 people started an apprenticeship this academic year, compared to 184,400 in 2006/07 - a rise of 22%.

The numbers finishing apprenticeships now stands at 112,600 for 2007/08, up from 111,800 last year.

In total, more than six in ten (63.7%) of people now complete the training schemes, compared to just under six in ten (58.9%) last year.

The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) has a target of 250,000 people beginning apprenticeships by 2020, and 190,000 completing apprenticeships by this date.[1]

This is just part of an estimated £40bn skills training sector in the UK alone. TQ estimate the foreign demand for UK skills training to be £300-£400bn.

A new champion for white working-class boys

Asha Khemka left school at 13, and aims to show young people that education can be a route out of poverty

She dropped out of school at 13 and was married within a year. At 25, she arrived in the UK from India unable to speak English and with three small children in tow.

Asha Khemka has come a long way since then: soon she will be going to Buckingham Palace to receive the OBE she was awarded in the New Year honours list, in recognition of turning an average further education college into one of the best in the country.

Last July, West Nottinghamshire College, where she has been principal for less than three years, was rated outstanding in all areas by Ofsted inspectors, achieving the top grade in all six main categories. This result puts it in the top 5% of colleges nationally.

In her short time there, its turnover has nearly doubled, from £28m in 2006 to in excess of £50m today. "We are now probably the biggest college in the East Midlands," she says.

Tackling underachievement

Being the biggest and best is not her only ambition, however, and she harbours a desire to tackle the white working-class underachievement that is all too prevalent in Mansfield and Ashfield, the towns her college serves. Both have been hit hard by the collapse of the mining, textile and manufacturing industries. Just 4% of the local population are from ethnic minority backgrounds.

"I believe in empowerment, in releasing people's energy and creativity, and leading by example," she says. "Not just the leadership of the college - I want to provide a leading role for the regeneration of the whole community by raising aspirations, improving attainment, and tackling worklessness."

Six months ago, she launched a charitable foundation, the Inspire and Achieve Foundation. Its main objective is to raise the aspirations of young white people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

"Among those achieving five A*-C grades at GCSE, it is white working-class boys who are bottom of the league," she explains. "I do believe that there has been a lot of work done to raise the aspirations of minority ethnic groups for some time. Now there is clear evidence that white working-class young people are being left behind, while their counterparts from ethnic backgrounds are forging ahead.

"When we look at the Neet group [teenagers not in education, employment or training], we find significant numbers of white working-class young people who don't really have a strong family infrastructure behind them. We find they are from three or four generations of worklessness and a poverty of aspiration. There are high levels of teenage pregnancy and low levels of progression to higher education."

Family support

Khemka was a young mother herself. "My first child was born when I was 21 and I had two more children within three years," she says. "The difference is that I had support from my family and it was part of my culture. Often, teenage pregnancy here is the result of low self-esteem among our young people."

The foundation aims to change that by sending youngsters from low-achieving, white working-class backgrounds to India and China to learn how young people in those countries value education as a route out of poverty. "We want them to see what it is like to be hungry to be successful," she says.

Focusing on this group has been a priority in her time at West Nottinghamshire. A vocational workshop has been set up for Neets, which this year has 120 students. "Most of these youngsters have not been near any form of learning since they were 12," she says. "We offer them a free cooked breakfast, which for many is their main meal of the day. They do hands-on vocational courses in hair and beauty, motorbike repair and fashion design, and the majority progress to full level 2 courses and apprenticeships."

She left school after passing her exams, which were the equivalent of 10 GCSE passes in high grades. "It was the custom at the time to leave school when you became engaged," she explains. Her marriage to a 19-year-old first-year medical student had been arranged for her by her parents. Her husband is now a consultant orthopaedic surgeon in Staffordshire.

"We started our romance after we were married," she says. "He has been my pillar of strength, my greatest admirer, my biggest critic, and a proper guide."

She taught herself English by watching children's television and talking to the other young mothers at her children's playgroup, while her husband worked at a hospital in Birmingham.

She also devoted her time to teaching her own children. "By the time they were five they all knew their times tables up to 20," she says. This enabled them to gain scholarships to private prep schools, from which her two sons went to Harrow and her daughter to Moreton Hall in Shropshire.

With her children away at boarding school, she concentrated on pursuing her own education and obtained a business degree from Cardiff University. She then became a lecturer at Oswestry College and rose through the ranks to become deputy principal at New College Nottingham before taking her current job.

Receiving the OBE is just one item on her busy agenda. Her next focus is on driving forward the college's ambitious plans to replace its main campus with a £96m "super-college".

"Everywhere I have been we have had good inspection results," she says. "When I came to this college, it was my dream to take us through to an outstanding inspection performance."

University of Edinburgh launches million pound Centre for Diaspora studies

Institution aims to examine the role of Scots emigrants throughout the world

The University of Edinburgh has officially launched a £1 million centre of study with a promise to shed new light on the role of Scots throughout the world.

The Centre for Diaspora has been billed as the first centre in the world for the advanced research of Scottish emigration, and university chiefs have expressed hopes that it will become the eminent school for analysis of the impact of Scots worldwide.

The project will be headed by leading Scottish history Professor Tom Devine, who has said that he believes that the centre will help to open the “wider intellectual envelope” of Scottish history.

Speaking at a public debate which coincided with its launch, Prof. Devine said that the centre builds on the domestic focus of Scottish history in the past 40 years, providing a fuller understanding of Scottish influence elsewhere in the world.

Prof. Devine said: “The effect of the Scottish Diaspora was total—economic, political, cultural, social, scientific and educational—and on a massive scale from the medieval period onwards.

“From the 1850s to the Second World War, Scotland was one of the top three nations in Europe in terms of emigration. Paradoxically, this massive outflow of people was from the second most industrialised nation on the planet.”

He continued: “Because Scotland in the 18th and 19th centuries had a disproportionate number of semi-skilled, skilled and professional emigrants, they tended to have a disproportionate impact on the countries of settlement.”

The new centre will provide a number of postgraduate students with funding to complete theses on the various elements of the Scottish diaspora, and plans are in place to create a new one year MSc course on Diaspora Studies at postgraduate level.

Those spearheading the project have also set a five year timescale for the centre to become the prominent school in its field of study.

The centre was established through a private donation of around £1 million from Alan MacFarland, managing director of equity investment firm Walter Scott and Partners, and his wife Anne.

The donation is believed to be the largest contribution to such a project in the UK.

Mr MacFarland said: “It is important that Scotland as a nation has a full and proper appreciation of its place in the world, especially at a time when we’re turning inwards and debating issues of our constitution.

"That debate, I think, needs to be informed properly by an understanding of the Scots nation's and individuals' role in the wider world.”

Among those contributing to the public discussion at the launch event were leading historians from both Lancaster and Strathclyde universities, as well as Professor Susan Manning from the University of Edinburgh’s English Literature department.

First Minister Alex Salmond, despite his being unable to attend, also expressed his admiration for the project.

Studies at the centre will look beyond typical studies into Scottish influence in the Anglophone world, and will also provide insight into the role of Scots in countries such as Sweden, Poland, France and Asia.

More South Indians choosing UK for study

Figures show an increased number of South Indians are choosing the UK for their international studies destination, reports The Times of India.

According to the British Council, the number of Indians who applied for a UK student visa in 2007 rose by 63 per cent, and in September, the number of visas issued reached 11,126 for those from the southern states of India.

According to the figures, around 44 per cent of applications for UK student visas come from the south of India.

"The number of student visas issued from South India in September 2007 was 6,846. The number has shot up by almost 5,000 this year. Almost 31,000 Indians are studying in the UK," L Dhanasekaran, head of Education UK (South India), said.

MBA, IT, engineering, biotechnology, microbiology, pharmacy, physiotherapy, social science, law and journalism have proven the most popular courses.

Experts predict 2009 would see further 20 per cent increase in the number of Indian students moving to Britain on a student visa. Students are particularly attracted to the new UK law allowing international students to apply for a two-year work permit after the completion of their studies. This means that those students who apply for a one-year post-graduate programme can incur lesser fees and associated costs of living, and still have the opportunity to live and work in the UK after graduation.

The UK Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in UK visa and immigration services.

Article by Jessica Bird, UK Visa Bureau.

Scottish Disney executive awarded honourary degree from QMU

Disney executive Andrew Mooney returns to his Lothian roots to collect his qualification

When Andrew Mooney grew up in Whitburn, a mining village in West Lothian, he couldn’t see the point in college. He wanted to go to work and get a head start over his colleagues.

30 years later, the influential Scot has returned to the Lothians as one of the senior figures in the Disney enterprise to collect an honorary degree from Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.

Mooney began his career training as an accountant, taking an apprenticeship with Nike in Leeds. At the age of 27 Mooney switched from accounting to marketing. By 1994, Andy Mooney was living in the United States as Chief Financial Officer of Nike.

At Nike, Mooney excelled, reorganising the marketing strategies of the company with great success. However, the $3bn Global Apparel division he headed was soon to be dwarfed by his next job. In December 1999, Andy left Nike and joined The Walt Disney Company.

Mooney, having been headhunted from Nike, was promoted to Chairman of Disney Consumer Products, the merchandising side of the company. Here, he was given power over lines including Disney Toys, Disney Publishing and Disney Store.

He pioneered the Disney Princess line, a huge success which is now worth a massive $4bn. Retail sales have rocketed from $13bn to $30bn, with the division now reaching over 90 countries.

Andrew Mooney returned to Scotland last week to collect his D.B.A. (Doctor of Business Administration) degree at Queen Margaret’s new campus, on Edinburgh’s eastern fringes, to his mother’s delight: “He was a good scholar, his dad and I wanted him to go to college, but you can’t force anybody.”

Mooney, had words of encouragement for Scotland, describing it as a “hotbed of creative talent”. However, he also warned that there is “a lot more opportunity than Scotland is taking advantage of.”
Philip Close

Skip the preaching - Girl Guides just wanna have fun

Every girl needs time for water fights, chocolate tasting and gossip

How very depressing. Girl Guides are to be given lessons on how to survive the credit crunch. Forget about tying knots, judo lessons and making Mother’s Day cards. Girlguiding UK is organising a leaflet for its senior section about money management, including tips on avoiding the debt trap, getting work experience and shredding documents. Don’t misunderstand me – I’m all for young women learning about money. But is the Guides the right place for it?

Having been involved with a Brownie and Guide pack for two years as a volunteer leader (in other words, walking around a mushroom as a Brown Owl), I can say that teenage girls don’t regularly turn up at Guides hoping to brush up on their grasp of store cards. Neither do they wish to be instructed on world affairs, neo-feminist policy or university selection.

The main purpose of the organisation, founded a century ago by Robert Baden-Powell, still holds. On a variety of age levels, Guides provides an enjoyable evening in a safe, relaxed environment which, thanks to its women-only tradition, is not necessarily about winning competitions, shoving one another out of the way or eyelash-batting at the boys. It’s more about eating biscuits and making friends. And at £1 an evening it’s cheaper than a packet of HobNobs, so anyone can join in.

In my experience, Guides – at least, the 2nd South Islington pack – enjoy gossiping, texting and comparing their Ugg boots. Last year our lot made papier-mâché vases (with varying degrees of sogginess), got up on stage and sang, did a bit of tae kwon do and won several badges.

No, none for managing the APR on a Visa card. They were for caring for animals (my pet dog, conveniently) and the history of chocolate from Montezuma to Bournville (via quite a lot of “tasting tests”). It’s slightly more organised than a youth club and slightly less organised than school, has dropped the insistence on Christianity and is multi-faith, without the pressure of having to be coed.

Yes, a Guide pack might be a handy group for the Financial Services Authority to instruct, but that’s not the point. “Learning about the credit crunch is fine,” says Ranger Jackie Johnson, 17, from a neighbouring London pack, “but we are getting that at school. We get lectures on student loans when we are still in year 11.”

Jackie, whose guiding career has included raising £1,000 to go camping in Peru (where she built a wall and redecorated a school), is clear about what she gains from the movement: “Guides is about having friends and having fun. It’s not about sitting down and being lectured at. Discussing money matters, perhaps in terms of planning what to buy on a camping trip, is fine – but not as a serious topic.” Indeed, her treasured guiding moments would probably thrill Baden-Powell to the ends of his plus-fours: “My favourite times include the moment when I once bivouacked in a thunderstorm. And then burnt the breakfast. Or maybe the time in Windsor Great Park when we were all camping during a heatwave and ended up in a giant water fight.” How many were there? “Oh, about 1,000. Lots of overseas packs, you see.” Water is clearly a great leveller: “Basically, if you couldn’t find a friend to soak, you would just jump out from behind a building and soak someone else.”

And for all the sophistication of the Heat generation, there’s no escaping the fact that the old Baden-Powell formula seems remarkably resilient. Girl guiding is still the country’s largest female movement, involving more than half a million girls and women. Some 125,000 girls aged 10-14 go to a Guide meeting every week in this country; there are 20,000 Rangers (14-25) and 250,000 Brownies (7-10), not to mention 80,000 Rainbows (5-7) and the 100,000 volunteers who help to run the packs. There’s no sign of lassitude, either; 48,000 are on the waiting list to join.

Jackie Johnson’s mother Mary, involved with Brownie and Guide packs for more than 30 years, concurs: “Given that education has become so target and exam-driven, Guides is the only way some young women can get into doing other things. It is not an offshoot of school – it’s about extending your own self. Even if you put an effort into stamp collecting, it’s acceptable.”

In Mary Johnson’s view, the crucial point about guiding is that its members enjoy a level of self-determination: “Girls choose what they want to do. So if they want to sit and chat with their friends, that should be fine. The adults need to provide a safe environment. I don’t think financial skills is something I would want in my programme.”

Denise King, chief executive of Girlguiding UK, says this latest development does not mean abandoning the water fights: “The financial guide is more a commonsense prompt, if you like. Girls in our senior division said good money skills were the single most important thing to focus on in preparation for independent living. Having fun together is the methodology.”

Ging gang gooly gooly wotcha!

2 Pinoys picked for UK education grant

Two Filipino government officials have been chosen to participate in a prestigious fellowship grant in the United Kingdom.

Reynaldo Saludares and Lucita Rodriguez are the recipients of the Chevening Fellowship granted by the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

“Chevening Fellowships are prestigious and highly sought-after awards with stiff competition from thousands of applicants in many countries. I am delighted that yet again Filipinos are among the successful. This reinforces the growing education links between our two countries," said British Ambassador Peter Beckingham.

The award sponsors studies on short courses focusing on particular subjects aligned to the FCO’s strategic framework. The distinction of Chevening Fellow is offered only to professionals in a position of leadership and influence in their home country.

An assistant solicitor general at the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), Atty. Saludares said he is slated to participate in a short course on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Security at the University of Birmingham. The program aims to provide an insight on how to balance the need to ensure national and international security with the promotion and protection of human rights.

"I am excited to learn new and sophisticated concepts on how to promote co-operation to achieve harmony, which I believe is the key to a Global Village that is peaceful and prosperous. I believe that my course on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Security is very relevant to the pursuit of the dream for co-operation to have harmony," Atty. Saludares said.

Rodriguez, on the other hand, is a deputy commissioner for tax reform in the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). She will be attending a short course on Reform, Regulation and Public Service Provisions at the University of Bradford. The program focuses on the role of economic institutions and policy frameworks in public sector economic reform and the promotion of sustainable growth.

Chevening Fellows undertake an intensive 12-week program that offers dynamic training and professional development opportunities in the UK.

Courses consist of high-quality content, with contributions from leading academics and experts in the field. Upon completion it offers the opportunity for successful candidates to maintain international policy dialogue with UK Embassies, High Commissions and Consulates.

Each year, there are only about 200 recipients of the Chevening Fellowship award worldwide.

Do the maths

Experts say we’re getting worse at maths and science. But now we have shiny new labs and cutting-edge teaching methods, were we really better off in the past? John Cornwell joins two leading scientists at their former schools to find out

”Five out of six applicants I interviewed recently for Cambridge entrance for engineering couldn’t do a simple maths calculation: two to the power of 10.” The tense, fast-talking professor has been complaining like this since we left Cambridge for Birmingham. “That’s why,” he goes on, “students doing university science and engineering spend their first and even second years catching up on the maths my generation did at school.”

It’s typical of the catalogue of woes I’ve been hearing from university teachers up and down the country. So I am driving Professor Roberto Cipolla back to his old school in Solihull to find out how science and maths are being done now compared to his day.

At Langley state comprehensive, the head teacher conducts us into the school’s specialist maths area. The walls and an arch in the corridor are covered in decorative graffiti — mathematical formulae, equations and Einstein quotes. But how good is their maths? “So, what is two to the-power of 10?” the professor asks the class of 24 teenagers up to the age of 16.

It’s as if a rattlesnake has reared its head. But there’s just one lad with unruly black hair frowning hard at the ceiling. His hand shoots up: “1,024!” “Brilliant! How?” The kid has multiplied two by itself, then two by the result, then again and again 10 times in all: two twos are four, two fours are eight, two eights are 16, two 16s are 32… all in his head. The rest of the class look dazed. And it’s “the rest” that worries Professor Cipolla. “There’s always a uniquely bright kid in any school,” he says. “But I’m interested in the 20% doing maths and science to A-level and beyond. When I was in the third year here back in the 1970s, we could all do two-to-the-power-of-10… two-to-the-power of 20, and so on, plus and minus: it’s crucial shorthand when you’re expressing numbers without using loads of noughts.”

Maths and science skills are key to the nation’s technology, commerce, industry, future prosperity. But are they in steep and irreversible decline? The Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), funded by the OECD, calculates a three-yearly league table of standards based on the abilities of average 15-year-olds. Its latest table, which covered 57 countries, shows that the UK has plummeted from 8th to 24th in maths, and from 10th to 14th in science.

Meanwhile key national studies have been ringing alarm bells. Starting back in 1951, says a recent report by the independent think-tank Reform, levels improved up till 1980, but declined rapidly after GCSEs were introduced in 1986. Content in science and maths curricula became broader, less demanding. Exams have been dumbed down: the pass mark for GCSE maths, for example, was lowered in the past decade to 20 out of 100. Teachers, moreover, have become increasingly demoralised by endless testing, including Sats, bureaucracy, and the government stranglehold on curricula, which suppresses initiative.

Professor Cipolla, born in Birmingham, the son of a migrant Italian ice-cream maker, came to Langley school in 1974 aged 11. He won a place at Cambridge in 1981. After taking a double first in engineering, he went to Balliol College, Oxford to do a doctorate before returning to Jesus College, Cambridge as one of the university’s youngest professors. In the mid-1990s he invented an automaton that could move around, discriminating between objects of different shapes. The research won him the top international prize for robotics. The underlying principle was a built-in robust mathematical system known as an algorithm. Maths and engineering, in his view, are inextricable. He is now a world-renowned expert in the fields of artificial intelligence, computerised recognition and automation. Could Langley, or any average British school like it, produce a Cipolla today?

“Based on the national curriculum,” he says, “pupils work in modules — discrete learning segments which give a smattering of popular knowledge across a wide area. This is where the problems begin.” Modules aim to popularise scientific information in a “realist” fashion. How to calculate the carpeting of a room, understand trends in global warning, argue for and against the MMR vaccine, appreciate the reasons for washing hands before meals. When I ask a biology teacher at Langley how many periods they spend on Darwinian evolution, she says: “Typically they get one period in their whole school career.” She adds: “I teach it with a Bible on one side of the desk and The Origin of Species on the other.” Modularisation makes for enjoyable, polemical lessons in science, and lots of problem solving in maths, but as Cipolla observes, “It’s significantly weak in fundamentals.”

I’m bound for York to a different kind of establishment. Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell FRS was a pupil at the Mount School, an independent all girls Quaker school, in the 1960s, where Dame Judi Dench, A S Byatt and Margaret Drabble also spent their girlhoods. Burnell is one of the world’s leading astrophysicists, and arguably Britain’s top woman scientist. As a postgraduate student she was first to discover radio pulsars. She’s passionate about the public understanding of science and the role of women in the natural sciences — not without reason. Her thesis adviser at Cambridge won the Nobel prize for his part in her pulsar discovery, but she was denied the award herself — a circumstance that outraged many of her peer scientists including the late Fred Hoyle.

An 11-plus failure, she came to the Mount aged 13. Like Cipolla, she’s keen on fundamentals.

“I had a great physics teacher who said: ‘You don’t have to learn lots of facts, you learn a few key things and then you can apply and build and develop from those.’” Her physics teacher used to give her the run of a laboratory to do experiments by herself after supper every evening.

We’re in one of the Mount’s six science laboratories with a group of first- and second-year sixth- formers. Burnell has been looking back through physics exercise books from the 1950s. There are pages and pages on magnetism, once a big topic in O- and A-level physics but barely mentioned today. Science at the Mount now includes fields like particle physics, an area nonexistent when Burnell was young. She asks the class what the Cern super-collider experiment is for, and they respond: “To find the Higgs boson particle.” But what’s that? One 15-year-old hazards: “They’re trying to replicate the conditions of the Big Bang.” A discussion about black holes, the Big Bang and radioactive decay leads to a Q and A about neutrinos, unknown back in the 1960s. The head of science, however, admits that their knowledge of particle physics is “qualitative” rather than “quantitative”: in other words it’s not underpinned by the mathematics essential to a true understanding of subatomic science — known as quantum physics.

The Mount, like Langley, boasts excellent maths and science teachers, as well as scope in the sixth form to learn outside and beyond the public-examination curricula. But privileged teaching and resources, even in the top schools, do not translate necessarily into science as a popular career option.

The Reform study claims that Britain is one of the few countries in the developed world where people routinely poke fun at maths and science and their “boffin” image. The girls at the Mount admit there’s peer-group stigma. “They think you’re, like, geeky,” says one girl. Only one pupil from the Mount chose to do maths at university last year. As we discuss this, a pupil from Singapore says: “In southeast Asia doing science is normal; in Britain it seems freakish.”

At lunch Burnell talks about the bad state of things: “We’re 7,000 school physics teachers short in Britain today, which means that the subject is being taught by a lot of unqualified teachers. Whereas we used to get the gold medal every year at the International Physics Olympiad, we barely manage to get bronze now. Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College have just slipped in the world university league tables.”

And yet the perception of deterioration in maths and science for specialists and university entrants hardly tells the bigger story of the improvements in secondary-school maths and science over the past 30 to 40 years.

On a visit to my own old secondary school in east London, I found the contrast between the 1950s and today laugh-out-loud ludicrous. In my time, Canon Palmer school (originally Saints Peter and Paul) was a forbidding Edwardian two-storey building for 11-plus failures behind a high-wire fence off the Ilford High Road. Typical of most “secondary mods” of that era, and well into the 1960s, each year had a single “elementary” teacher for most subjects. There were 40 pupils to a form and the school-leaving age was 15. Maths never went beyond basic arithmetic. There was just one science period a week for each year, taken by a peppery Irishman in the school’s single laboratory. His equipment included an old Bunsen burner with which he revealed the mysteries of boiling water, and a temperamental air-pump that usually failed to demonstrate the effect of a vacuum on a candle flame. Only a handful of lucky ones, myself included, escaped at 13 after getting a second chance at the “scholarship”.

Canon Palmer, which became a comprehensive under the Wilson government’s educational reorganisation in the 1960s, is today on another planet. It boasts an impressive contemporary steel-and-glass building with an intake four times greater than my old school. With 1,200 pupils and a catchment area embracing two east London boroughs, it enjoys average class sizes of 24 and a 320-strong sixth form. There are eight science laboratories, six specialist maths rooms, eight maths and science teachers. Homework schedules (nonexistent in my day) demand 16 hours a week. Ninety percent of the sixth form went to university last year, half of them science students, and there were 43 As and Bs in A-level mathematics. Talk of slippage in A-level standards for maths and science is hardly a big deal for a generation that never even got to do O-levels or GCSEs.

In the bad old selection days, only those who passed the 11-plus (about 25% of those leaving primary schools) made it to the local state grammar school with a chance of staying on till 18 and making it to university. Professor Geoffrey Raisman FRS, one of Britain’s top neuroscientists (he discovered the principle of brain “plasticity” in the late 1960s and works on spinal-cord regeneration), is typical of a working-class scholarship-boy success of the 1950s. He went to Roundhay school in Leeds, an all-boys inner-city grammar school. “Most of us went to university from the sixth form,” he tells me, “and two of us, including me, got into Oxford in 1958. I was only 17.” Professor Raisman insists that the key to good education is a teacher, of any subject, who stimulates your imagination and desire to learn. He was fortunate, he says, to have had a brilliant history teacher. “He opened up 19th-century European history, and opened up my mind.”

The comment echoes the view of many top scientists I’ve spoken too, including Professor Lord Martin Rees, astronomer royal, president of the Royal Society and master of Trinity College, Cambridge. “I was at Darwin’s old school, Shrewsbury,” he tells me. “As in Darwin’s day, the school was interested in developing character rather than subjects!”

Raisman did chemistry, physics and biology at A-level, but he recollects that the science teachers, while good, were not inspiring. “I found maths very hard… the teacher’s classes were worthless and the subject unpopular: no history, background, application. I gave up maths after O-level out of sheer fear.”

Another familiar aspect of those inner-city grammar schools was the harsh discipline. “The headmaster was a bully,” remembers Raisman. He also recollects anti-semitism on the part of some teachers: 10% of pupils were Jewish. Roundhay today is a comprehensive. Typical of many schools in inner cities of northern England, it is multiethnic. “On a recent visit,” Raisman says, “I saw on the playing fields little girls dressed from head to foot in full Muslim dress. They were running around enthusiastically, playing with boys of all ethnicities, some in western shorts and T-shirts. They now occupy the same poor streets as the Jews in my day. It’s a poignant rerun of the struggles and self-sacrifice of the older parents and grandparents.” Today Roundhay boasts 12 specialist maths classrooms and 14 laboratories. The majority of its sixth form went to university last year, three of them to Oxbridge. Significantly, despite more than a fifth of its sixth form studying science and maths, not a single girl will do natural sciences at university. Three girls, however, are due to study for pharmacy qualifications, an indication of the importance of early job qualifications in deprived areas.

At Langley, Professor Cipolla had asked the class of 24 how many wanted to be scientists after university. Three put their hands up: one boy choosing chemistry, another archeology, and a girl who wants to be a pathologist. When Burnell asked the Mount girls the same question, only one girl volunteered. She said she wanted to do forensic science, and admitted the influence of TV’s CSI.

The issue of women in science, half the population’s pupils and students, has been thorny for generations. Burnell tells me that before she went to the Mount she attended a state school in Ulster where the boys did science and the girls needlework and cookery, so girls never even got started. In the past, there were even perceived gender differences among the sciences. Alan Cuthbert FRS, emeritus professor of pharmacology at Cambridge, tells me that when he expressed an interest in doing biology at his technical college 50 years back, the principal said: “You should have gone to the girls’ school up the road.” Now the opportunities in science for school leavers are said to be at last equal for boys and girls. But Professor Michael Reiss, the education expert who resigned from the Royal Society over the evolution-creationism spat, tells me self-selecting gender biases still exist. “It’s interesting that admissions for chemistry at university are definitely 50/50 for men and women. Yet women still don’t show the same interest in physics, where men predominate. Women, it seems, prefer their science to be tangible.”

The problems for career women scientists are formidable, and discouragement oozes down from the postdoc labs to the undergraduates and into the schools. I’m talking to a 28-year-old research scientist in applied physics at Cambridge who wishes (for obvious reasons) to remain anonymous. “There’s been a steady increase in women opting for science careers, but many start to drop out after the postdoctoral stage. That’s a loss not just for women, but for the country. You do a PhD, which usually follows a first-class honours degree, and you’re lucky to be earning more than £22,000 a year as a postdoc researcher, and there’s still a mountain of student debt to pay off.” Women, she says, are often treated as second-class citizens in the lab by male colleagues. “You work a seven-day week and unlimited hours; but you get rude comments if you dress in a feminine way, wear make-up or jewellery, a kind of soft-blackmailing to conform.” In her own case, she admits, there was a domestic problem too. “If a woman is in a live-in relationship or married, the demanding hours and low salaries can be vexatious to male partners: men often can’t see why we work so hard for such poor pay. They resent the fact that we can’t just drop everything to go out for the evening or be there to cook dinner. If the man moves to take a better-paid job, in London say, they don’t appreciate the woman wanting to stay in Cambridge, which is after all the UK’s top science university, where researchers are proud to be. In my case the tensions ended in divorce.”

Despite tales of demoralisation, poor rewards and unrelenting competition at the top, there are stunning stories of dogged individual triumph against adversity, involving both women and men. Professor Carol Robinson FRS of Cambridge University is a world leader in the field of mass spectrometry and the study of molecules. She left school in Essex at 16 and went to work for six years as an unqualified lab technician at Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company. She spent her evenings and spare time studying for national certificates, then did a degree in chemistry for which she got first-class honours, followed by a PhD at Cambridge. After marrying she took an eight-year break to have her three children and bring them up. Nevertheless, she went back and soared to the top. “Taking time off to raise a family seemed to me the right thing to do,” she says. “Yet it was hard to take that break because of the need to keep up with information technology.”

Peter Atkins FRS, an Oxford professor and one of the world’s leading physical chemists (his textbooks have huge international sales), tells a similar story. “I dropped out of my state school in Amersham at 16 and got an unskilled job. I did my A-levels at night school, but I was turned down by Southampton University when I applied to do chemistry. Leicester accepted me, fortunately, and I stayed on to do a PhD… the rest is history.”

But the concern about overall standards in Britain today, according to Celia Hoyles, professor of maths education at London University, is not for the brilliant few who make it to the top, nor even for the 20% of school leavers who want to do science and maths at university. “Cambridge pure mathematicians are still the crème de la crème,” she says. “But I’m interested in the vast majority of schoolchildren, every single girl and boy in the country, all of whom deserve a good mathematical education for its own sake.” Hoyles taught maths in London for several years before moving into teacher education, eventually fronting her own TV show in the 1980s featuring maths problem solving. She talks of the “infinite beauty” of mathematics for its own sake. She believes that maths is not only fun but crucial for mental development. Hoyles was chosen by Charles Clarke, when he was education secretary, as chief government adviser for mathematics.

When I spoke to Clarke recently he dismissed the “problem” of modularisation: “I don’t think modularisation or the curriculum are at fault, but I grant that demoralisation of teachers is an issue. The problem, it seems to me, is one of enthusiasm, and a need for teachers to come together in groups to swap ideas and generate creativity among themselves. This could be done on a local basis. I think that industry and commerce could also make a contribution. Instead of complaining about standards, they should take a direct hand in supporting maths and science in schools.”

Hoyles refuses to accept that things are getting worse. “Just remember,” she says, “that when I was at school in the early 1960s, only 5% of school leavers went to university. Now it’s 40%.” But she is nevertheless passionate about the need to make maths “normal”, to eradicate its reputation as difficult and boring. “What’s wrong with us? I asked the presenter on a TV show recently to multiply seven by seven, and he freaked out with sheer panic!” Hoyles believes early success at maths is indicative of both numeracy and literacy skills later in education. “Research shows children who achieve a good standard of maths by the age of seven do better later, not only in maths but in literacy too.” Her strategy has involved the creation of initiatives such as the Millennium Mathematics Project and its internet-based maths club Nrich (www.nrich.maths.org ), which anyone can join at their own competence level if they have a laptop: the current programme reveals how biscuit decorations involve mathematical problems; at a higher level it teaches “attractive” approaches to Pythaghoras’ theorem and 3D.

Jennifer Piggott, a former maths teacher in north London, current leader of Nrich, is critical of the modular approaches that fail to promote “fluency” in maths. “It’s no use grasping a particular topic or equation only to then neglect it. You need to do it over and over again. It’s like learning a language… You don’t learn a bit of Spanish grammar then not use it. You have to use it or lose it.”

Cambridge University’s director of admissions, Dr Geoff Parks, endorses the “fluency” problem as the main setback for the current generation of science and engineering entrants. “They’re just too slow. That’s why we have to spend a lot of time priming up their maths in the first and second years. That’s why most science courses are now four years instead of three.” He adds that there is a significant dropout rate from physics, often a result of difficulties with maths, into other subjects.

Michael Reiss, who has returned after the Royal Society creationist row to the Institute of Education as professor of natural sciences, accepts most of the criticisms levelled at science undergraduates. But he rejects the view that everything is in decline. “Take biology, a hugely important subject nowadays: years ago we used to just label things like the ear — it was rigid and static; today the subject is amazingly dynamic and enjoys all the advances in genetics and molecular biology. It’s hugely popular and successful.” Reiss insists that it’s no bad thing to catch up with maths at university: “Most of them achieve this successfully.” Nor is he depressed by the numbers of university students who give up physics in the second and third years, daunted by the mathematical difficulty of the subject. “These students with a basis in physics are making fantastic contributions in other areas — technology, social sciences, medicine, history and philosophy of science.” Reiss is similarly dismissive of the view that Britain’s universities are slipping, according to the Times Higher Education magazine, in the “world’s best 200” league tables. “It’s not surprising that Britain has gone down a bit, when you compare the relative budgets of US and British universities. But 29 of Britain’s universities are still in the top 200, a prodigious achievement.”

England’s Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE), moreover, claims the number of students studying maths, physics, chemistry and engineering is actually on the increase after a period of decline. The number of students doing maths at university rose last year by 8.1% on 2007, chemistry by 4.4% and physics by 3.3%. The turnaround comes after a decline between 2002 and 2006, when 38 university science departments closed in the UK and the number of pupils studying science subjects at A-level plummeted.

The HEFCE claims the reversal is due to a £350m government cash injection channelled to schools, universities and education organisations to stimulate enthusiasm. A crucial focus has been mathematics, regarded as the basis of all the sciences, and peculiarly problematic for the British, according to Celia Hoyles, who has been appointed director of the recently established National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics. “Sadly,” she says, “many people have bad experiences at school that leave them feeling maths is a cold, impersonal set of procedures with little relevance or meaning.” She has spent her career trying to understand this British block. “While children learn how to do algebra and calculations, we ought also to show them the power and beauty of the mathematical perspective. If you look at life through mathematical spectacles, new relationships unfold: spirals on shells, the way water ripples in streams, amazing symmetries in geometry. Raw disconnected facts are not enough.”

Science teachers at every level agree that while maths is the essential underpinning skill, teaching is often uninspiring and irrelevant. A step forward, in the view of many educationists, is the recent decision by the children’s secretary, Ed Balls, to drop the stage-3 Sats tests, which were demoralising many teachers. Celia Hoyles believes, however, that teachers have got to get across an appreciation of the relevance of maths for the 21st century: “We live together in a mathematical world of structure, pattern, sense. It underpins all the sciences, the social sciences and much more… it underpins your laptop, your mobile, your Oyster card, your credit card, your time management, any medication you take and its dosage, your likelihood of living long enough to know your grandchildren: this all absolutely depends on mathematical understanding somewhere along the line.”

As Britain enters its worst recession in decades, while facing a gamut of dire new challenges — from global warming, to water shortages, to energy crises, to financial crunches — fluency in maths, as a prelude to grasping the underlying workings of science and technology, could be the best investment we could make as individuals, as families and as a nation. It’s an investment that is already being made on a vast scale in India and China, where students in maths and science are currently graduating in their hundreds of thousands.

Edinburgh student leads Stansted protest

An Edinburgh student was at the centre of Monday’s Plane Stupid protest at Stansted Airport in London, which saw 57 people arrested for cutting through the perimiter fence and obstructing the runway.

Lily Kember, 21—a third year antropology student at the University of Edinburgh—was part of the group whose actions resulted in 56 flight cancellations, delaying thousands of passengers.

"Being arrested is a terrifying prospect, but not nearly as terrifying as the threat of climate change," Ms Kember told The Guardian after being detained.

Climate change activists Plane Stupid claim that in addition to rasing the profile of their campaign, the protest has had a measureable impact in the fight to reduce carbon emissions, stating that each cancelled flight from Stansted would have released on average 41.85 tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere.

Breaching the airport fence at 3.15am, the protesters—wearing high-visibility jackets emblazoned with the slogan "Please DO something"—carried barriers of the kind used to seal construction sites with them onto the runway.

Using metal security fencing brought for the purpose, they erected a barricade around their sit-in, and unfurled a banner reading "Climate Emergency."

"We're here because our parents' generation has failed us and its now down to young people to stop climate change by whatever peaceful means we have left,” Ms Kember said in a statement published on the Greenpeace website.

“We're afraid of what the police might do to us, we're afraid of going to jail but nothing scares us as much as the threat of runaway climate change.

“We've thought through the consequences of what we're doing here but we're determined to stop as many tonnes of CO2 as we can."

By 9am, police had arrested and removed all the protesters, and flights were able to resume. However, some passengers were forced to wait throughout Monday for replacement flights to carry them onward to their destinations.

The short-haul carrier Ryanair, which relies on Stansted as a connecting airport for its budget European operations, was the worst affected by the protest, with all cancellations affecting the carrier; other airlines were forced to institute delays.

The low-cost airline has called for an inquiry to investigate “why the BAA Stansted security has once again failed to keep Stansted secure and open to the travelling public.”

Plane Stupid has a relatively high profile amongst the numerous anti-climate change activist groups lobbying against airport expansion and low-cost air travel; earlier this year, protesters from the organisation caused a security alert by climbing onto the roof of the Houses of Parliament. The group also participated in last summer’s Camp for Climate Action at London Heathrow Airport.

Speaking during the protest, Ms Kember told ITN News journalists that “it's a bit cold, but everyone is in good spirits.”

Plane Stupid have since alleged that BAA, the operators of Stansted, used a snowplow to ram the protesters, and have published footage on their website to support the claim.

Stansted, in Essex, is the subject of ongoing controversy regarding plans to build a second runway to alleviate pressure at London’s other congested airports.

The Plane Stupid protest was applauded by Hacan, the group opposing expansion at Heathrow. Chairman John Stewart said: "The occupation of Stansted is a clear sign of things to come if the government doesn't back down over its proposals to expand airports.

"There is a great deal of anger at the impact these plans will have on the global climate and on local people's quality of life."

However, aviation industry representatives were quick to respond, citing extensive efforts to limit the effects of air travel on the environment in recent years. Matthew Knowles, spokesman for the Society of British Aerospace Companies, said: "These protesters are ignoring the reality around aviation and climate change.

“Flight numbers have increased at Stansted but noise nuisance around the airport has actually decreased and aircraft are 70 per cent more fuel efficient than they were 50 years ago.

"The industry has also set itself targets for a further 50 per cent cut in noise and CO2 emissions from 2000 levels in new aircraft by 2050. It is time these ill-informed protests stopped."

It is not known whether the University of Edinburgh will seek disciplinary action against Ms Kember; under university rules, any student can be removed for “bringing the university into disrepute.”