Education Follow

Baljeet Ghale this year became the first black president of the NUT teachers' union. In her opening address to conference this weekend she attacked the Labour government's record on education.

As further and higher education have expanded over the last four decades, conditions for students and staff have worsened. Thirty years ago there were nine students for every lecturer. Now there are 21. In further education, workloads are at record level. Casual employment is rife.

While government ministers past and present lament immigrants’ "failure" to learn English and speak it at home, some half a million people have been told that their access to free English language courses is to be ended.

When Gordon Brown appeared at Mossbourne Community Academy in east London last week, it seemed that he was openly endorsing Tony Blair’s programme to undermine comprehensive education by setting up academies across the country.

There is general agreement among lecturers that while many people were happy at the number of UCU Left supporters elected to the executive, the numbers voting were pitifully low.

The left has achieved remarkable success in the national executive elections for the lecturers’ union, UCU.

Sally Hunt has been elected general secretary of the UCU lecturers’ union.

The sight of a queue of around 1,000 students and lecturers winding its way around the houses of parliament greeted MPs on Wednesday morning of last week.

Sheffield City Council is at the forefront nationally of implementing the government's Building Schools For The Future programme. They have invited all comprehensive schools in the city to bid for trust Status.

Dundee University has withdrawn its threat of compulsory redundancies. This is a victory for the UCU lecturers' union after a vigorous campaign.

When Brent's Liberal Democrats and Tories came to form a coalition administration after last year's local elections one of their first acts was to throw out Labour's plan for a new school as a City Academy in Wembley.

Over fifty sixth form students at Riverside College in Runcorn, Cheshire, reacted against the removal of IT facilities from the college and the atmosphere of secrecy in which the ill-disguised asset strip was carried out.