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The Guardian - UK

National

Judy Friedberg

Cribsheet 02.02.11

Shakespeare bust — Photograph: Eamonn McCabe

It's Ask Shakespeare day on Twitter - and you can ask the bard (well a crack team of Shakespeareanistas) pretty much anything you like.

@mdoness wants to know:

"Were sonnets the form 'wot evry cool dood' used - competitive sonneting? was WS commissioned/sell them? Or all private pomes?"

@sionhillenglish asks:

"Was shakespeare gay?"

Tragic, comic, or much ado about nothing? Check out #AskShakespeare and decide.

Education news from the Guardian

• University vice-chancellors are livid about the government's proposal to curb the number of overseas students, calling it a hostile act against British universities.

They said changes to the student immigration system would "savagely cut" recruitment, lose at least £1bn in fees, and jeopardise the future of Stem subjects in particular.

Anxiety is running high in the Russell Group:

"Proposed changes to make the visa regime stricter could seriously diminish the international attractiveness of our universities. The UK should be clear that its doors are open to genuine international students. Even the perception that the UK does not welcome the very best international students can be very damaging."

Jeevan Vasagar has been looking at the numbers:

"The latest enrolment figures show that nearly 107,000 overseas undergraduates were studying in the UK during the last academic year, a rise of 11% on the year before. The high fees that can be charged to foreign students make them a lucrative source of income, and they are particularly important when it comes to postgraduate study. The number of overseas students on full-time postgraduate courses overtook UK students last year – 132,475 compared with 131,590."

He also reports on the growing trend for universities around the UK to set up outposts in London:

"Not all universities are equally well known to prospective foreign students, and recently a number of institutions have set up outposts in London, partly to raise their profile with this valuable market. The University of East Anglia, Glasgow Caledonian University, and Coventry, Northumbria and Abertay are among those that have colonised the capital."

Jessica Shepherd will be reporting later this morning on how much universities will receive in government funding for 2011-12. We're expecting to hear of a multi-million-pound cut to teaching funding.

• Martin Wainwright reports on a tiny Yorkshire dales primary school that has been saved from closure by passionate campaigning.

• After weeks of Churchill, Latin and Pope, at last a suggestion pupils will love. What kids need is a proper video game education, says a report by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts. And the culture minister, Ed Vaizey, says:

"I'm thrilled this report has emerged. It highlights the importance of video games and special effects to our economy. This is actually a report for the whole tech sector, it's about equipping our children with up-to-date skills. We need to make sure there's the option to do computer programming in schools. It's a vital skill for the 21st century."

• Find out which A-levels universities really rate. Our survey reveals the truth behind the waffle.

Education news from around the web

The Katherine Birbalsingh row burbles on, with this contribution from Nigel Ford today on the Local Schools Network.

"There may be more to this story than meets the eye but one cannot help but think that if this woman had not been employed at the school (for all of five weeks) before her public grandstanding, closure may not have been its destiny."

This is Birbalsingh denying any responsibility. And threatening to reveal "far more information than is already known" about the school that fired her.

• You don't have to be brilliant to be a scientist, Brian Cox reassures Mail readers today.

"There's a perception that it's still very difficult and you have to be Stephen Hawking or Einstein to do it, particularly physics or maths. You don't need to be a genius."

• The New Statesman has a blog defending the EMA from critics such as the Mail's Jan Moir, who says it gets spent on "beer, ciggies and Pret A Manger sandwiches".

• Local government ombudsman Jane Martin has called on government to provide greater clarity on school admission appeals, says Schools & Young People Now.

Insight into journalism seminars for teachers

A unique opportunity for teachers to spend a day at the Guardian, find out how a national news media organisation works and get ideas and resources that can be used in the classroom.

News 11 March Learn about the 24 news cycle; meet news reporters, feature writers, picture and sub editors; understand the role newspaper advertising; go on a tour of the editorial floors and take part in a workshop creating you own news front page which will be evaluated by an editor.

Multimedia 31 March Writing for a news website, web editing, blogging, the use of social media, video production; podcasting.

Places are limited and likely to fill up quickly, so book soon.

Competition

Children aged between seven and 14 can now enter the Young Human Rights reporter of the year competition, run by learnnewsdesk, the Guardian's online news service for schools, and Amnesty International. A winner and two runners-up in the primary and secondary school categories will win a trip to Amnesty International and the Guardian headquarters in London as well as an MP3 recorder. The closing date for entries is 14 February.