Tag Archives: education

The Voice

Opinion: UK Border Agency plunges colleges into crisis

By The Voice | Fri 22nd January 2010 - 2:20 pm

I wrote recently about the train-wreck that is happening before our eyes with the new student visa rules.  Well, there has been a new development. The UK Border Agency has abruptly suspended the visa-sponsoring licences of more than 50 private colleges without giving reasons. All over the place, crisis talks are taking place in the colleges affected, as people try to work out what on earth is happening. Is this more of the deep-rooted incompetence that we have all come to expect from the Home Office, or has a political decision been taken to expel lots of dark faces and …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 34 Comments
Helen Duffett

Cameron thinks elitism will fix education

By Helen Duffett | Mon 18th January 2010 - 5:42 pm

The Conservatives think they can improve education in this country by making the teaching profession “brazenly elitist” but it looks like they haven’t done their homework. David Cameron’s latest wheeze would actually exclude Carol Vorderman, the Tories’ own Maths Taskforce chief.

David Cameron made a speech today at a south London school, outlining Conservative pledges:

The Tory leader said he wanted to make teaching the “noble profession” and would bar students with a poor degree from taking government cash to train for the classroom.

And in what was almost certainly a conscious echo of Labour rhetoric, Mr Cameron said: “Good education is the right of the many not the privileged few.”

Michael Gove, the Shadow Education Secretary, went further in confronting head on claims that the Conservatives’ policies favour the better off.

An incoming Conservative government would be guided by a “moral purpose” to make opportunity more equal, he said, adding that it was a ‘scandal’ only 79 boys in receipt of free school meals achieved three ‘A’s at A-level nationwide compared with 175 pupils from Eton alone.

“It’s a scar on our conscience and we are pledged to reverse it,” said Mr Gove.

However, “breaking open the supply of education” won’t be achieved by discouraging graduates with lower classes of degree.

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , , , and | 19 Comments
Stephen Tall

Home schooling: what is the liberal approach?

By Stephen Tall | Sun 17th January 2010 - 10:20 am

It’s an issue that arouses passions on either side. For some, home schooling is an absolute right, for parents to be able to educate their children in the manner of their choosing without interference from the state. For others, the concern is to ensure that children whose parents are not suitable to home school do not suffer for the rest of their lives as a result.

Where, as liberals, do we draw the line between the rights of parents to know better than the state; and the rights of children to achieve the best possible education?

Lynne Featherstone wrote about home …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 43 Comments
Stephen Tall

Poll of teachers puts Lib Dems in third place at 14%

By Stephen Tall | Sat 16th January 2010 - 7:20 pm

Now LDV doesn’t, as our readers know, usually focus on individual opinion polls – but this one’s a little out of the ordinary, as it focuses on the voting intentions of teachers. The survey of nearly 4,000 teachers for the education charity the Sutton Trust by Ipsos MORI revealed the following voting intentions:

  • Labour 25%
  • Tories 18%
  • Lib Dems 14%

Here’s what the Independent had to say about the poll in relation to the Lib Dems:

Today’s poll showed the Liberal Democrats lagging behind the two main parties with just 14 per cent. Traditionally, third parties have done well in polls

…

Continue reading »
Posted in Polls | Also tagged | 16 Comments
The Voice

Opinion: How student visas are creating crime incentives

By The Voice | Sun 10th January 2010 - 11:35 am

I am tired of reading arrant rubbish about student visas in the newspapers. So let me (as someone who helps to administer a small private college) supply an insider’s view of what is really happening.

Most political parties support the new “Points-Based System” of immigration rules as a Good Thing, and maybe it would be, if only the Home Office was fit for purpose. In practice, the UK Border Agency simply cannot keep up with its workload. Therefore the process of licensing private colleges to sponsor student visa applications is running months late and has actually tipped the …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 3 Comments
Sara Bedford

Daily View 2×2: 5 January 2010

By Sara Bedford | Tue 5th January 2010 - 12:43 pm

With the thought that there are only 353 days to Christmas and considerably fewer until the General Election, we launch into today’s Daily View.

On this day in 1918, the Free Committee for a German Workers Peace, which would become the Nazi party, was founded. In 1941, the aviator Amy Johnson, disappeared over the Thames Estuary and was never found. And 28 years ago today, Peter Sutcliffe, a 35-year-old lorry driver from Bradford appeared in court, charged with 13 murders of women in West Yorkshire.

Happy birthday to the second most famous son of Abbots Langley, footballer, actor and current Celebrity Big Brother ‘inmate’ Vinnie Jones, who is 45 today and to former US Vice President Walter F. Mondale, who is 82.

2 Interesting Stories

With the thought that some of you may have already noticed other parties’ pronouncements in the news yesterday, here are two more slants on the coming election.

 We’re being outgunned by slick Tory machine, says Labour’s Andrew Slaughter

The Labour MP for Hammersnith believes that his chances of re-election are being hampered by a lack of funding compared to his Conservative opponent. Slaughter said;

“People should be concerned that money is being poured into seats like this and the consequences of that for democracy,”

Funny how Labour never saw this as a problem when they were the ones bringing in large donations?

Continue reading »
Posted in Daily View | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , and | Leave a comment
Helen Duffett

Daily View 2×2: 1 January 2010

By Helen Duffett | Fri 1st January 2010 - 1:40 pm

Happy New (General Election) Year!

On this day in 1973, the UK joined the European Community, along with Denmark and the Republic of Ireland. On January 1, 2002, Euro coins and banknotes became legal tender in twelve of the European Union’s member states.

It’s a quarter of a century since Britain’s first mobile phone call was made. In a seemingly random intersection of the Fates, comedian Ernie Wise was calling from St Katherine’s Dock to a room above a Newbury curry house – the then office of a little company called Vodafone.

2 Interesting Stories

Is a Labour-Tory coalition unthinkable? Only until you think about it
Martin Kettle muses in the Guardian on a hung Parliament:

It seems innocent to assume that either Labour or the Tories would automatically turn first to the Liberal Democrats in those circumstances – or that the Lib Dems would necessarily deliver. The big parties could calculate that they would be better off in a marriage of convenience with a historic enemy they respected, from which they could withdraw with dignity when the moment was right, rather than to embark on a more permanent entanglement with a Lib Dem party which at bottom they each despise.

The more one looks at the evolutionary dynamics of British politics, the more serious the grand coalition option may one day become. Is a Labour-Conservative deal really unthinkable? Only until you start thinking about it.

At least the next government won’t be decided on the toss of a coin… or will it?

Coin tossing through the ages

The Telegraph has an interesting history, including this:

Continue reading »
Posted in Daily View and Europe / International | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , and | 5 Comments
Layla Moran MP

Opinion: Cameron tries to woo Lib Dem supporters – should we be worried?

By Layla Moran MP | Mon 28th December 2009 - 3:35 pm

I write this after watching the 6 O’Clock news on Sunday. After the usual sick feeling that I invariably feel when I hear Cameron speak subsides, I am left in a state of mild shock at what he just tried to do: make the public believe that there aren’t many differences between the Lib Dems and the Tories and scaremongering our supporters into voting for them under the pretence that a hung parliament would be ‘bad for Britain’.

I start by addressing the latter point first. There is an argument that decisive action is needed in facing the economic crisis. As I am not an economist and have heard this from many noted sources I will take this as read. However, the idea that the Liberal Democrats would, through a hung parliament, have a say in how and what is done is fantastic news to Lib Dem supporters. I hear the Tories want to set up some sort of “getting out of the recession” committee to work out what to do. Well who would the nation rather have steering this committee than Vince Cable MP? I’m sorry we don’t say this enough: he was right! And he’s consistently right. Over and over again. It beggars belief that this could be twisted into something bad for Britain.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 9 Comments
The Voice

Mandelson forcing universities to offer less choice and lower standards, says Stephen Williams

By The Voice | Thu 24th December 2009 - 5:20 pm

As early Christmas presents go, Lord (Peter) Mandelson’s announcement of swingeing cuts to university budgets lacked something of the festive spirit – the BBC reports:

The government is to cut university funding in England by a total of £398m for 2010-11 compared with this year, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said. In a letter to the Higher Education Funding Council For England (Hefce), he also asks universities to protect quality and access to higher education. His letter confirms efficiency savings of £180m and £83m – and makes a further £135m budget reduction.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Universities Secretary, Stephen Williams, is none too …

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged , and | 6 Comments
Stephen Tall

Do university tuition fees deter the poorest?

By Stephen Tall | Thu 15th October 2009 - 7:20 pm

The issue of tuition fees exploded into the Lib Dem conference in Bournemouth, when Nick Clegg appeared to suggest he was rowing-back on the party’s long-established commitment to abolish them.

I’ll state clearly my position: I support tuition fees, and believe they are the only possible way of funding world-class higher education for UK students. As and when extra public money is available, I believe it would be much better invested in early years and adult education programmes if we are serious about combating the real causes of social inequality. I am equally clear that I’m in a small minority in the party, and that bulk of opinion is with our existing policy.

I noticed this article in today’s Independent, Universities finally open their doors to the poor. This shows that, over the past decade – and therefore since the introduction of tuition fees, and then top-up fees – the proportion of young adults reaching university from the poorest backgrounds has increased significantly:

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , and | 22 Comments
Stephen Tall

CommentIsLinked@LDV … An Evan Harris double-bill: embryon research and BNP teacher ban

By Stephen Tall | Mon 5th October 2009 - 5:40 pm

It’s not only Vince Cable who’s been all over the papers – the Lib Dems’ science spokesman Evan Harris also has his say today on two very different issues.

First up, in today’s Independent, animal-human hybrid embryo research which, says Evan equires three things to prosper: legal permission, good scientists and more funding. Here’s an excerpt from his article:

Those of us involved in campaigning for human-animal embryo research to be legal during the passage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill always knew that this was a controversial area of research. But we also knew it was a

…

Continue reading »
Posted in LibLink | Also tagged , , , and | 3 Comments

Opinion: A legacy of mediocrity

By Rich Wilson | Fri 11th September 2009 - 9:45 am

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has just published a report saying the way to combat recession is to up the number of university places. I disagree.

The problem is that while we have a culture where there’s a course for everyone, we have a degree for everyone – smart or stupid, talented or talentless. This has led to a system where only two grades matter – First or Fail. A First sets you out from the majority of candidates for employment, who leave with 2:1s, 2:2s or thirds; a fail means you’re back to square one. Anything in between is simply a blur of the average, and companies have no desire for the average.

But surely a degree should mean something? A degree should mean that someone is clever, whatever the grade. However, with degrees filled up with students who got EEE at A-level, it naturally devalues the system.

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 22 Comments

Opinion: Misinformed populists spoil the exam results debate

By Chris Ward | Thu 20th August 2009 - 9:50 am

It’s that time of year again. (Former) sixth form students walk up to the school gates together for the last time to find out exactly how well they have done in the tedium that is the AS/A-Level examination system, prefaced by the usual yearly whinges from armchair-idiots rubbishing the entire system and associating any positive correlation with “exams getting easier” and any negative correlations with “young people getting thicker”.

I was the first year to take the AS level. “Ah, that system seems so much easier!”, the armchair-idiots chirped. This assumption was based on the one pro the …

Continue reading »
Posted in Op-eds | 62 Comments
Helen Duffett

Sats results: Record fall in English results

By Helen Duffett | Tue 4th August 2009 - 3:45 pm

Figures published today show that fewer 11 year olds have reached Level 4 in English, the standard expected for their age group. A fifth of 11 year olds did not achieve this level, in the tests taken in May.

The drop in results is the first since Sats tests were introduced in 1995.

From the Daily Mail:

“The depressing figures come despite Labour investing billions over the past decade in literacy and numeracy drives.
This September alone, around four in ten children – almost 220,000 – are expected to move up to secondary school without sufficient mastery of the three Rs.
They

…

Continue reading »
Posted in News | Also tagged and | 3 Comments
Stephen Tall

LDV readers say: BNP members should be able to be teachers

By Stephen Tall | Sun 5th July 2009 - 11:00 am

Cast your minds back a couple of weeks, and there was a bout of speculation that Labour, under pressure from the NAS/UWT teaching union, is considering a possible ban on British National Party members working as teachers in schools. We asked LDV readers the question: Do you think there should be a change to teachers’ contracts to prevent BNP members from teaching?

Here’s what yout told us:

  • 27% (92 votes) – Yes

  • 69% (235) – No

  • 4% (12) – Other
    Total Votes: 339 Poll ran: 22nd June 2 July 2009

    • Don’t forget, our new poll – asking if you support …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in Voice polls | Also tagged | 4 Comments
    Alix Mortimer

    PMQs: education

    By Alix Mortimer | Wed 6th May 2009 - 12:19 pm

    Some real desperate farce from the House this afternoon. Brown’s answers to Cameron were incredibly poor throughout – “I’m sure that sounded great in the bunker” Cameron said after one particularly otherworldly response. As a further indicator of the standard on the government side, planted questions enable the PM to mention the National Minimum Wage and football, and several involved waving the scary “before 1997” card.

    A sneering question comes from a Tory backbencher about bullying in the workplace (vis, Number 10) referring to reports of  “a Whitehall official” throwing office equipment around. Gordon even manages to

    …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in PMQs | Also tagged and | 5 Comments
    James Graham

    The database state and the true cost of Labour’s free lunches

    By James Graham | Mon 23rd March 2009 - 9:55 am

    During the Unlock Democracy debate at the Convention on Modern Liberty last month, Justice Minister Michael Wills defended the growth of the database state by arguing:

    “We’ve heard a lot of about datasharing today. But that datasharing, that so many here today say is an unacceptable intrusion of privacy by the state, can actually help thousands and thousands of children who are eligible for free school meals but don’t get them at the moment… Look, it’s all very well for you to sit here. You’ve probably all had a hot meal in the last week. One

    …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in Big mad database and Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , and | 7 Comments
    Alix Mortimer

    Conference: Schools paper

    By Alix Mortimer | Sat 7th March 2009 - 4:18 pm

    We’re doing our education papers in timewarped reverse this weekend, opening with the Adult, Further and Higher Education papers this morning, continuing with age 5-19 Education this afternoon and finishing with under-5s childcare tomorrow.

    This paper has had a record number of amendments offered – 16, of which four have gone forward, three of which concern faith schools. The first calls for one critical provision to be removed from the policy paper, the provision which prevents the establishment of new schools which select on faith. Jonathan Davies speaking in support of the motion, stresses that he does not impose his faith …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in Conference | Also tagged | 22 Comments
    Alix Mortimer

    Conference: Higher education paper

    By Alix Mortimer | Sat 7th March 2009 - 12:01 pm

    Breaking news! The Lib Dem Voice cupboard has a WINDOW! Yes, it’s a slightly unnerving black smoked glass internal window which reflects us as well as revealing the outside world, but it’s a window!

    I missed Simon Hughes’ speech this morning, which is a shame as I am extremely hopeful about his capacity to advance the environmental agenda – we’ll bring you that video as soon as we’ve established that it exists.

    Listening now to the motion on the Investing in Talent, Building the Economy paper (Adult, Further and Higher Education policy paper).

    I’ve missed the movement from Stephen Williams, and come …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in Conference | Also tagged , , , , , , and | Leave a comment
    Alex Foster

    Cameron / Clegg yawn

    By Alex Foster | Fri 20th February 2009 - 10:13 am

    The lovely Iain Dale interviewed David Cameron the other day, and has posted extracts of the interview on his blog.

    He’s also, depending on your point of view, EITHER courteously pointed out to the LDV team that Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg is mentioned in passing, OR has engaged in a massive blog link whoring project to stir it within the Lib Dems who will hate what Cameron had to say.

    Here’s what their dear leader had to say about our dear leader:

    ID: Do you think Nick Clegg is in the wrong party? ?

    DC: I don’t really know him well

    …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in News and Parliamentary by-elections | Also tagged , , , , , and | 18 Comments
    Joe Taylor

    Opinion: We must fight the Tories’ plans to privatise the education system

    By Joe Taylor | Tue 10th February 2009 - 4:40 pm

    I couldn’t help but to raise an eyebrow at the Telegraph’s recent front page splash, in which David Cameron unveiled his education plan for the future: “a new generation of comprehensive schools.”

    Say what? Has he at last morphed into Tony Blair, grin and all? Well, no. The truth behind the headline (as usual with the Tories) is more sinister – and a glimpse of this truth could be found in the Telegraph’s leader on the story. It says:

    Charities, private companies and parents’ groups will also be allowed to set up schools – competing with existing primaries

    …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , , , , and | 43 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    Clegg & Cable spell out Lib Dem public spending cuts to fund education priorities

    By Stephen Tall | Mon 9th February 2009 - 8:44 pm

    In his 2008 conference speech, Nick Clegg promised the Liberal Democrats would soon spell out exactly how the party would fund its policy priorities – new spending on Lib Dem policies, including tax cuts for the vast majority of citizens:

    I want this to be the most progressive – most redistributive – tax plan ever put forward by a British political party. Using just a little of the money the government wastes every day. To help people in their everyday lives. That doesn’t mean cutting help for the poorest, of course. It doesn’t mean stopping vital investment in hospitals and

    …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in News | Also tagged , , and | 5 Comments
    The Voice

    The Indy asks The Big Question of Lib Dem class sizes proposal

    By The Voice | Fri 6th February 2009 - 6:28 pm

    Yesterday LDV reported on Nick Clegg’s announcement of the Lib Dems’ radical new education policies to fix inequalities in Britain’s ‘class-based education system’. In today’s Independent newspaper, there The Big Question feature has a very fair and balanced look at the issue, which you can read here – here’s an excerpt:

    Why are we asking this now?

    Because the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has announced that, if elected, his party would dramatically reduce class sizes for children aged five to seven – to just 15. it would be part of a £2bn cash injection into education spending.

    …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in News | Also tagged and | 2 Comments
    Mark Pack

    Nick Clegg announces radical education proposals for England

    By Mark Pack | Thu 5th February 2009 - 1:06 pm

    Today’s the day when the education policy paper going to our Harrogate conference is released to the media.

    The official news release doesn’t hold back on the scale of the challenge or the ambitions for the policies:

    Nick Clegg announced radical new education policies to fix inequalities in Britain’s ‘class-based education system.’

    The plans would narrow the gap between the state and private sector, raising funding for the most disadvantaged pupils to private school levels and delivering extra money to cut infant class sizes to 15.

    The proposals will reverse decades of standardisation and centralisation. In its place, more freedoms would be granted to

    …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in News and Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged | 13 Comments
    Mark Pack

    Why you should Google your suppliers

    By Mark Pack | Tue 27th January 2009 - 9:53 am

    An interesting piece in today’s Guardian with the news that Lord Sutherland, who chaired an inquiry into last year’s Sats test shambles in England, has pointed out that basic checking of the competency of a supplier can including Googling their name – but this wasn’t done when the Sats testing contract was awarded:

    Giving evidence yesterday, Sutherland said: “I don’t know companies that don’t do that kind of probing, whether it’s by telephone or Googling.

    “If you Google, first you get the press cuttings and then you say, ah no, that’s so and so but here’s a serious report that maybe we

    …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in Online politics | Also tagged , and | Leave a comment
    Mark Pack

    Labour MP: Dyslexia is a myth invented by education chiefs to cover up poor teaching

    By Mark Pack | Wed 14th January 2009 - 10:35 pm

    The BBC has the story:

    A Labour MP has claimed dyslexia is a myth invented by education chiefs to cover up poor teaching.

    Backbencher Graham Stringer, MP for Blackley, describes the condition as a “cruel fiction” that should be consigned to the “dustbin of history”.

    He believes the reason many children cannot read and write properly is that the wrong teaching methods are used.

    But Charity Dyslexia Action said the condition was “very real” to the 6m people in the UK affected by it…

    Chief executive Shirley Cramer said: “Once again dyslexia seems to be making the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

    “It is frustrating

    …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in News | 19 Comments

    Opinion: Tuition fees are not a panacea

    By Alex Church | Fri 9th January 2009 - 11:50 am

    Those of us who campaign in student-heavy seats can breathe a sigh of relief; the party is keeping its commitment to scrap tuition fees. This will spare us the challenge of having to explain a new and in all probability less snappy policy to students. I am, however, still concerned. I have heard too many activists talking as if tuition fees are a panacea for winning the student vote. That is far from being the case.

    Students are a key part of the Liberal Democrat coalition. Their votes have helped us to win seats like Cambridge, Leeds North West and Cardiff …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 10 Comments
    The Voice

    Key Lib Dem policy committee votes to keep party’s pledge to scrap student tuition fees

    By The Voice | Wed 7th January 2009 - 4:03 pm

    Antony Hook has the story over at his blog:

    Last night the Federal Policy Committee voted 14 to 5 to keep our policy to scrap university tuition fees.

    Posted in News | Also tagged , , , and | 44 Comments
    Stephen Tall

    Laws: Half of children in poverty not getting free school meals

    By Stephen Tall | Tue 16th December 2008 - 7:56 pm

    The Guardian has the story, courtesy of Lib Dem research published by the party’s children and schools’ spokesman David Laws:

    A million children living below the poverty line do not receive free school meals as a result of flaws in the funding system, figures released in parliament show. Half of pupils from families in poverty are not getting a free lunch because the income threshold to qualify is set lower than the current level used to define poverty. It means that a family of two adults and two children struggling to get by on £18,000 a year has to pay

    …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in News | Also tagged | 6 Comments
    Mark Pack

    David Laws on the latest GCSE results

    By Mark Pack | Mon 1st December 2008 - 10:30 am

    From The Guardian:

    Fewer than half of teenagers left school with five good GCSEs including English and maths this summer, official figures revealed yesterday.

    Some 47% of 16-year-olds across England achieved the basic target grades. The government said it was a 0.9 percentage point improvement on last year – and an 11.6-point increase since 1997 – but opposition MPs criticised the lack of progress in closing the achievement gap between rich and poor…

    The GCSE results showed record rises in London, where 49.8% of pupils hit the target, beating the national average. The government claimed it as a success for the London

    …

    Continue reading »
    Posted in News | Also tagged | 1 Comment
    Advert

    Recent Comments

    • expats
      Vince Cable....Gordon Brown introduced formal fiscal rules in 1997 alongside the operational independence of the Bank of England: essentially, a commitment to b...
    • Nonconformistradical
      @Tristan Ward Instead of posting such a long link may I recommend the use of https://tinyurl.com/ ? Which reduced your huge link to https://tinyurl.com/eejs...
    • Tristan Ward
      "‘why can’t social care and NHS spending be treated as ‘investment’’. Of course, that wont wash". It might wash if such spending can wash its face....
    • Tristan Ward
      @ Peter Wrigley "Most of us could live very comfortably even if the government did take, say another 5%-10% of our incomes to repair the public realm" I p...
    • Tristan Ward
      @ Peter Wrigley "Somebody has to tell the truth: that we are not over-taxed, and that Inteligently directed taxation will not impede growth." That is not ...