Category: news

The association claims the new baccalaureate means vocational courses are being scaled down

Head teachers are planning to make large-scale redundancies, the Association of School and College Leaders has warned.

A dozen schools a day are calling the association’s helpline to ask for advice on redundancies, as schools face a squeeze on their budgets.

It claims the new English Baccalaureate means many schools are scaling down on staff who teach vocational courses.

The ASCL is offering training to head teachers faced with shedding staff.

A seminar – Managing staffing reductions – at the ASCL’s annual conference in Manchester at the weekend was attended by 60 delegates.

Richard Bird, ASCL’s legal specialist, said: “The last time we’ve had to do this sort of thing was when Kenneth Clarke was Chancellor of the Exchequer in the 1990s.

“Most heads have never had to face a redundancy situation. ‘Do you know where your redundancy policy is?’ we’re asking them.”

Mr Bird warned that many schools had a redundancy policy that related only to teachers, not to support staff.

He said many heads were not prepared for the “rougher negotiations” of some of the non-teaching unions.

Also, some schools were not clear whether they were covered by the local authority’s redundancy policy or needed their own.

ASCL general secretary Brian Lightman said: “It’s an unprecedented time for them [head teachers] and we’ve seen a massive demand for advice on how to deal with it.

“And of course our members are very vulnerable too because they’re more expensive, if they’re deputy or assistant heads and so on.”

The association said the issue had become even more pressing with the introduction of the English Bac, where schools in England are ranked on how many pupils get a GCSE grade C or above in English, maths, two sciences, a language and either history or geography.

Mr Bird said the “dreaded” English Bac meant some teachers were in a precarious position.

“If you have plunged deeply into the sorts of vocational courses that Mr Gove [the Education Secretary] says you shouldn’t be teaching, you’re going to have to restructure.

“If there’s a shift in the curriculum, it will quite likely cause restructuring and inevitably cause redundancies.”

ASCL is campaigning for a “better Bac” and wants a debate on which subjects should be included in it.

The association issued badges to eligible delegates at its annual conference in Manchester at the weekend, saying “I failed the English Bac”, to highlight its concerns about what is sees as the narrow and prescriptive nature of the government’s new benchmark.

The Department for Education defended the English Baccalaureate. In a statement it said ministers had been clear that “special recognition should be given to those students who secure good passes in a balanced range of rigorous qualifications”.

It added: “This is because these are the courses which best equip young people to succeed.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Some groups claim the government is too close to the drinks industry

Six leading health groups have dealt the government a blow by refusing to sign up to its new “responsibility deal” on alcohol in England.

The deal covers voluntary agreements with the drinks industry on issues such as promotions and labelling, aimed at tackling alcohol abuse.

But the organisations, including Alcohol Concern, accused ministers of not being tough enough on the industry.

The government said the deal was just one strand of its public health policy.

The groups, which also include the Royal College of Physicians and the British Liver Trust, were asked to sign up to the alcohol part of the deal to show a united front between industry, health and government.

The full details of the responsibility deal have yet to be unveiled, with an announcement expected shortly, but under it, the drinks industry would be expected to sign up to a number of alcohol pledges.

These reportedly include ensuring 80% of products on the shelf are labelled for unit content, raising awareness of the unit content of drinks in pubs and clubs and taking action to reduce under-age drinking.

There would also be a pledge to commit to action on advertising and marketing by promoting responsible drinking and keeping alcohol adverts away from schools.

The health groups said they had lost confidence with the approach because of the lack of clarity over what would happen if industry did not meet the commitments.

They said the pledges were neither specific nor measurable, they lacked scope and there was no evidence they would even work.

They also said there was not enough being done to make alcohol less affordable and said the drinks industry had used the process to dictate government policy.

Don Shenker, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said: “It’s all carrot and no stick for the drinks industry and supermarkets.

“By allowing the drinks industry to propose such half-hearted pledges on alcohol with no teeth, this government has clearly shown that, when it comes to public health, its first priority is to side with big business and protect private profit.”

Professor Vivienne Nathanson, of the British Medical Association, another of the groups which have pulled out of signing up to the deal, added: “The government has talked the talk, but when it comes to taking tough action that will achieve results, it falls short.”

Shadow health secretary John Healey said the move was a “damning criticism” of the government’s policy.

But Health Secretary Andrew Lansley rejected the criticism, saying progress was being made and tough action was being taken where necessary.

He pointed to the recent announcements about plans for a new tax on super-strength beers and a ban on below-cost alcohol, whereby drinks are so heavily discounted they are sold for less than the tax paid on them.

However, he added: “We have made clear from the start that the responsibility deal is just one strand of the government’s public health policy. It explicitly excludes cost and price competition to avoid conflicts of interest.”

The full list of organisations which are refusing to sign up is: Alcohol Concern, the British Association for the Study of the Liver, the British Liver Trust, the British Medical Association, the Institute of Alcohol Studies and the Royal College of Physicians.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The committee said there was no room for complacency in Scottish education

MSPs have said head teachers should be given more freedom to boost the quality of teaching and leadership in schools.

The education committee report emanated from inquiries into education funding and the structure of state schools.

It rejected radical suggestions like the introduction of more fee-paying schools, Swedish free schools and the English academy programme.

It said head teachers should be given more scope to provide an “appropriate level of challenge for staff”.

The committee said continuous improvement in teaching and leadership quality was central to raising attainment and achievement in Scottish schools.

It said there was no room for complacency and welcomed a further inquiry into the issues.

Committee convener Karen Whitefield MSP said: “These short inquiries were an opportunity for us to ask fundamental questions about what kind of education and children’s services Scotland wants and needs and how they should be structured and funded.

“Our evidence demonstrated there is little appetite in Scotland for any of the more radical alternatives such as those currently available in England, Swedish free schools or the US charter schools.

“However, we also heard that real improvements could be made by concentrating on maximising the quality of teaching and of leadership in schools. We hope that our successor committee will pursue this with the next Parliament.”

The report argued that the interests of children should be the main factor in considering any proposals for structural change.

The committee also called for a wider debate in the next session of the Parliament about the role of local authorities in education and children’s services.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Abdul Karim was one of Queen Victoria’s closest confidants despite efforts by royal circles to suppress their relationship before and after her death

Previously undiscovered diaries have been found by an author based in the UK which show the intense relationship between Queen Victoria and the Indian man employed to be her teacher.

The diaries have been used by London-based author Shrabani Basu to update her book Victoria and Abdul – which tells the story of the queen’s close relationship with a tall and handsome Indian Muslim called Abdul Karim.

The diaries add weight to suggestions that the queen was arguably far closer to Mr Karim than she was to John Brown – the Scottish servant who befriended her after the death of her beloved husband Prince Albert in 1861.

They show that when the young Muslim was contemplating throwing in his job, soon after his employment started, because it was too “menial”, the queen successfully begged him not to go.

Mr Karim was just 24 when he arrived in England from Agra to wait at table during Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee in 1887 – four years after Mr Brown’s death. He was given to her as a “gift from India”.

Watch: Shrabani Basu talks about the relationship between Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim

Within a year, the young Muslim was established as a powerful figure in court, becoming the queen’s teacher – or munshi – and instructing her in Urdu and Indian affairs.

Mr Karim was to have a profound influence on Queen Victoria’s life – like Mr Brown becoming one of her closest confidants – but unlike him, was promoted well beyond servant status.

“In letters to him over the years between his arrival in the UK and her death in 1901, the queen signed letters to him as ‘your loving mother’ and ‘your closest friend’,” author Shrabani Basu told the BBC.

“On some occasions, she even signed off her letters with a flurry of kisses – a highly unusual thing to do at that time.

“It was unquestionably a passionate relationship – a relationship which I think operated on many different layers in addition to the mother-and-son ties between a young Indian man and a woman who at the time was over 60 years old.”

Ms Basu hints that it is unlikely that the pair were ever lovers – although they did set tongues wagging by spending a quiet night alone in the same highland cottage where earlier she and John Brown used to stay.

“When Prince Albert died, Victoria famously said that he was her husband, close friend, father and mother,” Ms Basu said. “I think it’s likely that Abdul Karim fulfilled a similar role.”

A LOVING RELATIONSHIP

In pictures: Victoria and Abdul’s ‘deep friendship’

Mr Karim’s influence over the queen became so great that she stipulated that he should be accorded the honour of being among the principal mourners at her funeral in Windsor Castle.

“The elderly queen specifically gave this instruction, even though she knew it would provoke intense opposition from her family and household,” Ms Basu said.

“If the royal household hated Brown, it absolutely abhorred Abdul Karim.”

During his service with the queen, Mr Karim was bestowed with many honours as the royal party travelled around Europe meeting monarchs and prime ministers.

He taught her how to write in Urdu and Hindi, introduced her to curry – which became a daily item on the royal menu – and eventually became her highly decorated secretary.

He and his wife were given residences on all of the main royal estates in the UK and land in India. He was allowed to carry a sword and wear his medals in court – and was permitted to bring family members from India to England.

“Mr Karim’s father even got away with being the first person to smoke a hookah [water-pipe] in Windsor Castle, despite the queen’s aversion to smoking,” Ms Basu said.

“The queen’s munshi was named in court circulars, given the best positions at operas and banquets, allowed to play billiards in all the royal palaces and had a private horse carriage and footman.”

That Mr Karim inspired the empress of India could be seen not just by her newfound love of curry. Her eagerness to learn Urdu and Hindi because of his teaching was so strong that she even learned to write in both languages – and gave him a signed photo written in Urdu.

She also used his briefings on political developments in India at the turn of the 19th Century to berate successive viceroys, her representatives in India – much to their displeasure – on measures they could have taken to reduce communal tensions.

“At a time when the British empire was at its height, a young Muslim occupied a central position of influence over its sovereign,” Ms Basu said.

“It was a relationship that sent shockwaves through the royal court and was arguably a relationship far more scandalous than her much reported friendship with Mr Brown.”

Such was the level of ill-feeling he generated that barely a few hours after the queen’s funeral, her son Edward VII unceremoniously sacked Abdul Karim.

In addition, he ordered that all records of their relationship – kept at Mr Karim’s homes in India and the UK – should be destroyed.

But remarkable detective work by Ms Basu in India and Pakistan unearthed Mr Karim’s diaries – kept by surviving family members since his death in 1909 – which detail his 10 years in London between Queen Victoria’s golden and diamond jubilees.

The diaries and other correspondence were taken back to India by Mr Karim and his nephew, Abdul Rashid, after their dismissal and were in turn sneaked out of India to Pakistan 40 years later when his family migrated during the violence at the time of partition.

A surviving family member in India read about Ms Basu’s book in a local newspaper and told her that the diaries were being kept by another branch of the family in Karachi, which she duly tracked down.

“I was fortunate enough to have unearthed a truly remarkable love story,” Ms Basu reflected.

Shrabani Basu’s updated book, Victoria and Abdul, is published by the History Press.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Last year more than 13,000 students in Scotland got emergency help of more than £9m

The SNP government is planning swift legislation on the future of Scotland’s universities if it is returned to power in May’s election.

BBC Scotland understands the party will include new proposals on student support and how the sector is run.

It comes as a BBC Scotland investigation found there had been a sharp upward trend in student hardship.

The number of students asking for emergency help has increased by almost 40% in five years.

Last year more than 13,000 students got more than £9m in financial assistance from the hardship fund.

Now that most mainstream parties have pledged not to introduce tuition fees in Scotland, attention is shifting to the long-term shape of higher education.

Education Secretary Mike Russell intends to introduce legislation in the next session of parliament, if the SNP retain power at Holyrood.

He will reveal details to MSPs later this week, but it is understood the proposals will cover areas like governance, access for people from less well-off backgrounds – and financial support for students.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Pervez Musharraf was president of Pakistan from 1999 to 2007

Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has cast doubt on Britain’s public stance that countries should not torture British citizens on its behalf.

He said he was never told that was the policy and this may have been “tacit approval of whatever we were doing”.

His comments raise questions about how much MI5 knew about torture being used in the fight against al-Qaeda.

Former MI5 director general Elizabeth Manningham-Buller denied that “a blind eye had been turned.”

Claims that Britain was complicit in the torture of terror suspects in other countries including Pakistan are to be examined by an independent investigation.

The inquiry, chaired by former appeal court judge Sir Peter Gibson, is expected to start within the next two months.

Mr Musharraf was president of Pakistan from 1999 until 2008 and was a key US ally in its conflict with al-Qaeda.

“We are dealing with vicious people and you have to get information,” he told BBC Two programme The Secret War on Terror.

“Now if you are extremely decent, we then don’t get any information… We need to allow leeway to the intelligence operatives, the people who interrogate,” says Mr Musharraf.

When asked does the end justify the means to extract information from suspected terrorists who are reluctant to talk, former President Musharraf responds: “To an extent yes.”

Rejection of torture

Binyam Mohamed was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 suspected of plotting a terrorist attack and later detained at Guantanamo Bay.

Binyam Mohamed spent four years at the Guantanamo Bay camp in Cuba

In a court action, the Ethiopian, who had lived in the UK for eight years, claimed he had been hung by his wrists, beaten with a leather strap, and subjected to a mock execution – all with the knowledge of the UK Security Services. He says the admissions he later made were false and the result of torture.

Some of the detainees who have since received compensation from the British government claimed they were tortured in Pakistan and forced into confessions by its intelligence agency the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).

Sir David Omand, UK security and intelligence co-ordinator from 2002 to 2005, is unequivocal about the UK’s complete rejection of torture.

He said: “I am very clear we are not and have not been complicit in torture and I’m in no doubt that all the countries concerned, including Pakistan and the United States, were very well aware of what British policy was, which was we don’t do this and we don’t ask other people to do it.”

But Mr Musharraf said he had no recollection of having been told by the British government that the ISI should not use torture on British subjects.

“Never. Never once, I don’t remember it all,” he said.

“Maybe they wanted us to continue to do whatever we were doing; it was a tacit approval of whatever we were doing.”

But former director general of MI5 Baroness Manningham-Buller said: “There was no tacit approval of torture.”

Denying Britain had been complicit in torture, she added: “I think this raises a much broader question. Al-Qaeda is a global threat. To counter it, we need to talk to services throughout the world.

“We have to be careful and cautious in those relationships, but to decide that we are never going to talk to the following 50 countries in any circumstances means that you are deciding deliberately not to try and find out information that you need to know.”

In her first television interview, Baroness Manningham-Buller goes on to talk candidly about the challenges faced by British intelligence after the events of 9/11 as they worked to protect the UK from terrorist attacks.

When asked if she was aware the Americans had been using enhanced interrogation techniques she said: “Not for a quite a long time after they started using them. They chose to conceal it from the allies and indeed from their own citizens.”

An FBI employee sent to observe interrogations at Guantanamo said a TV show had provided inspiration for some of the methods used.

Jim Clemente, of the FBI’s behavioural analysis unit, said one officer told him: “She actually had watched the television show 24 to get ideas on interrogation methods that they would then utilise at Guantanamo.

“It was outrageous, unbelievable that someone would do something that stupid.”

BBC Two’s The Secret War on Terror is broadcast on Monday, 14 March, at 2100 GMT. Catch-up afterwards on BBC iPlayer.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Mr Martelly (right) is also backed by fellow singer Wyclef Jean

Five candidates who were defeated in the first round of Haiti’s presidential election have given their support to pop singer Michel Martelly in the second round run-off.

Mr Martelly will face former first lady Mirlande Manigat in the 20 March vote.

The five candidates said Mr Martelly was the candidate most likely to promote democracy and development.

But they said the best solution would have been to annul the first round because of widespread fraud.

In a joint statement, defeated candidates Josette Bijou, Wilson Jeudy, Genard Joseph, Chavanne Jeune and Eric Smarki Charles praised Mr Martelly for the “spirit of openness” he had shown in his campaign.

“We urge all our supporters in all corners of the country to go out and vote in mass for Michel Martelly to become president on Sunday 20 March,” the statement said.

But the candidates added that the “best solution for democracy” would have been to annul the “mascarade” of the first round.

Mirlande Manigat won the most votes in the first round

Ms Manigat won the most votes in the first round, but opinion polls give Mr Martelly a slight lead ahead of next weekend’s decisive vote.

The election to chose a successor to outgoing Haitian president Rene Preval has been mired in controversy.

International observers said the first round on 28 November was marred by fraud and intimidation.

Violent unrest broke out when Haiti’s electoral authorities announced initial results that put the governing Inite party candidate Jude Celestin in second place.

The second round was postponed, and experts from the Organisation of American States were called in to assess the result

They found there had been large-scale fraud in Mr Celestin’s favour, and recommended he withdraw.

After sustained international pressure, the electoral authority announced new results which put Mr Martelly through to the run-off against Ms Manigat.

Whoever wins the election face the huge task of rebuilding Haiti after last year’s huge earthquake, which killed around 230,000 people and left the capital, Port-au-Prince, in ruins.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Nerve fibres are ‘message highways’

Scientists say they have discovered a “maintenance” protein that helps keep nerve fibres that transmit messages in the brain operating smoothly.

The University of Edinburgh team says the finding could improve understanding of disorders such as epilepsy, dementia, MS and stroke.

In such neurodegenerative disorders, electrical impulses from the brain are disrupted.

This leads to an inability to control movement, and muscles wasting away.

The brain works like an electrical circuit, sending impulses along nerve fibres in the same way that current is sent through wires.

These fibres can measure up to a metre, but the area covered by the segment of nerve that controls transmission of messages is no bigger than the width of a human hair.

The scientists discovered that the protein Nfasc186 is crucial for maintaining the health and function of the segment of nerve fibres – called the axon initial segment (AIS) – that controls transmission of messages within the brain.

They found that the AIS and the protein within it are important in ensuring the nerve impulse has the right properties to convey the message as it should.

Professor Peter Brophy, director of the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Neuroregeneration, said: “Knowing more about how signals in the brain work will help us better understand neurodegenerative disorders and why, when these illnesses strike, the brain can no longer send signals to parts of the body.”

Dr Matthew Nolan, of the university’s Centre for Integrative Physiology, said: “At any moment tens of thousands of electrical impulses are transmitting messages between nerve cells in our brains.

“Identifying proteins that are critical for the precise initiation of these impulses will help unravel the complexities of how brains work and may lead to new insights into how brains evolved.”

The work was funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Phantom of the Opera sequel Love Never Dies is up for seven awards, including best new musical

Many of the leading lights of the stage community are expected at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane later for the 2011 Laurence Olivier Awards.

Singer Michael Ball and actress Imelda Staunton will host the ceremony, to be broadcast live on BBC Radio 2.

Barry Manilow will sing at the event, which will feature performances from some of the nominated musicals as well as “some very special surprises”.

Phantom of the Opera sequel Love Never Dies leads the pack with seven nods.

The Andrew Lloyd Webber show is up for best new musical, while its stars Ramin Karimloo, Sierra Boggess and Summer Strallen are all in line for acting prizes.

The National Theatre has the most nominations for its productions – 17 in all – while the Royal Court and Donmar Warehouse have nine apiece.

Benedict Cumberbatch, Rupert Everett, Amanda Holden and Sir Patrick Stewart are among the stars set to present awards at the gala.

Others include American TV stars Elisabeth Moss and Matthew Fox, both currently starring in the West End.

US composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim will receive a special prize in recognition of his contribution to London theatre.

Presented annually by the Society of London Theatre, the awards are decided by a panel made up of industry professionals and members of the public.

Full TV coverage of this year’s event can be accessed via the BBC Red Button.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Maria Eugenia Briceno lives in the area affected by the pollution

US oil giant Chevron has launched a legal appeal against a $9.5bn (£5.9bn) fine by an Ecuador court for polluting much of the country’s Amazon region.

Chevron accused lawyers and supporters of the indigenous groups who brought the case of “corrupting” the trial.

It said the judgement contained “numerous legal and factual defects”.

The oil firm Texaco, which merged with Chevron in 2001, was accused of dumping billions of gallons of toxic materials into unlined pits and rivers.

Protesters said the company had destroyed their livelihood. Crops were damaged, farm animals killed and cancer increased among the local population, they said.

An appeal by Chevron had been widely expected. A statement by Chevron said the firm would pursue efforts at an international tribunal and in the US courts to prevent the ruling from being enforced.

No payment can be made during the appeals process, which could drag on for years.

The appeal is the latest twist in the case, which was brought on behalf of 30,000 Ecuadoreans nearly two decades ago.

Ecuadorean Indian groups said Texaco dumped more than 18 billion gallons (68 billion litres) of toxic materials into the unlined pits and rivers between 1972 and 1992.

The plaintiffs said the company’s activities had destroyed large areas of rainforest and also led to an increased risk of cancer among the local population.

The trial began in 2003 after almost a decade of legal battles in the US. At that time, a US appeals court ruled that the case should be heard in Ecuador.

Environmentalists hope the case will set a precedent, forcing companies operating in developing countries to comply with the same anti-pollution standards as in the industrialised world.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.