Education Follow

What a spectacle. At his first prime minister’s question time as leader of the opposition, David Cameron demanded that Tony Blair push forward with the implementation of the education white paper, despite a backbench revolt.

Everyone associated with education will have felt an enormous sense of loss last week on hearing of the untimely death of Ted Wragg, aged 67.

Jane Coles explodes the myths behind the government's rhetoric about 'diversity' and 'parental choice' in schools.

A recent conference discusses alternative ways of learning.

'Another School Is Possible', or so believes Milwaukee-based teacher Bob Peterson from the Rethinking Schools collective who led both a seminar and workshop at October's European Social Forum on this theme. This has already spawned some promising initiatives.

Mike Tomlinson's report on education provision for 14 to 19 year olds in England and Wales is timely.

To New Labour, schools are factories churning out workers, but how could education be run in an equal society, asks poet Michael Rosen.

Scottish nursery nurses ballot on all-out strike More than 4,000 of Scotland's nursery nurses still in dispute with local councils are to ballot on an all-out indefinite strike.

University teachers and support staff in the AUT union are balloting for strike action against a background of a national debate on fees and the future of higher education.

TONY BLAIR claims that top-up fees will make the education system fairer and less elitist. He tries to appeal to ordinary people, asking why low paid hospital workers who did not go to university should pay for "middle class" students to study.

"Posh vice-chancellor types". That was how the Guardian this week described the people behind Blair pushing for top-up fees for university students.

Education minister Charles Clarke was forced to begin a climbdown over top-up fees within days of the Queen's Speech that announced their introduction.