MPs are voting today on amendments to the education bill which comes up for its third reading - and the Lib Dems are coming under pressure to stand up to the Tories on this one. Labour is tabling amendments on admissions codes, teacher accreditation, and careers guidance in schools.
Teachers' union Nasuwt is campaigning hard for MPs to stop the bill in its tracks, with leader Chris Keates saying:
"The health and social care bill has been put on hold because of a recognition that it will irreparably damage the NHS. The provisions of the education bill will have the same damaging impact on the lives of children and young people.
"We want MPs to pause, rewind, and eject these proposals."
Keates summarises @nasuwtunion's main objections:
"Do parents really know that the proposals could mean schools charge for subjects outside the national curriculum? The measure has barely seen the light of day, but it's there in black and white in the bill.
Removing safeguards about admissions codes could mean that schools will introduce elitist selection criteria, creating a two-tier system.
We know that parents are extremely hostile to the idea that their child will be educated by someone who isn't qualified as a teacher. Yet here it is, in the bill, opening the floodgates for academies to use teachers without qualified teacher status.
And while the duty to provide independent careers guidance remains, there is no money to do it properly."
More education stories from the Guardian
• David Willetts has been forced into a climbdown on his plan for "off-quota" university places for those who can afford to pay higher fees upfront.
"Access to a university must be based on ability to learn not ability to pay," the universities minister said yesterday, a mantra taken up by David Cameron later in the day. I'm not going to link to any more comment on the subject (everyone is saying pretty much the same thing), but I can't resist popping in Steve Bell.
Mike Baker points out in his blog that next month's higher education white paper is still being finalised:
"This was an interesting case of floating an idea in the media to see how it plays. It will need many more safeguards around it if it is to make it into the final report."
• Top universities are patronising teenagers from comprehensives by admitting them with lower A-level grades than richer peers from private schools, says Sir Michael Wilshaw, head of the Mossbourne academy in Hackney, east London. He reckons bright pupils from poorer backgrounds want to get into Oxford and Cambridge by competing fairly with those from fee-paying schools.
• Jessica Shepherd is interviewing Sarah Teather next week - do you have questions you'd like her to ask, particularly about special needs?
• And David Starkey has been in headline-grabbing mode once again. He's told a conference of headteachers in Brighton that millions of pounds spent on state education might as well be burned because of its ineffectiveness. Good teachers and tougher discipline would be more useful than extra resources and expensive facilities, he says:
"It's arguably our greatest national crisis, that half of the population of state schools emerges wholly unqualified and wholly unable to work."
On the Higher Education network
Notes on 21st century education from 20th century educators: Tamson Pietsch asks if alternative models of education from the 1900s could help universities ensure the health of their balance sheets and the prestige of their courses.
Education news from around the web
• The Independent reveals that ministers have have been forced to turn down nearly nine out of 10 applications to set up free schools - 40 out of 323 proposals have been accepted for consideration. The rest have been told to go away and reapply under a new, tougher applications process.
Writing for the Local School Network (@localschools_uk), Fiona Millar says the education secretary has some explaining to do:
"Clearly there isn't a stampede of parents wanting to start their own school, and the department itself is now tacitly admitting that some of those groups who did put in bids are not suitable candidates anyway.
In the meantime it would be good if Mr Gove could tell us how much these schools are costing, why it needs 100 civil servants to open four schools in 18 months, and when he is going to inform the remaining 20,000-plus schools in this country how their increasingly pressing need for capital investment is going to be met?"
Headteacher @suerobinson2 tweets:
"I've yet 2 speak 2 a head/teacher/academic who thinks that free schools are likely to be anything other than slow 2 catch on & niche market."
If you've not read it yet, take a look at Stephanie Northen's piece in the Guardian on the problems awaiting free schools moving into listed buildings.
• People with fewer qualifications are prone to age more quickly, says the BBC, reporting on a study which looked at 400 men and women.
"DNA evidence suggests cellular ageing is more advanced in adults with no qualifications compared with those who have a university degree. Experts think education might help people lead more healthy lives."
• There's unhappiness among staff and students at Goldsmiths over the university's decision to charge the full £9,000 tuition fee from 2012, the Evening Standard reports. Des Freedman, reader in media and communications, says:
"The remit of our institution is to think and behave differently and promote diversity and trebling fees makes that problematic.
"A lot of universities have gone with a herd mentality when choosing fees. We are disappointed. The increase in fees will be disastrous for access."
• Durham's Palatinate student newspaper reports that a Durham PhD student, Ehsan Abdoh-Tabrizi, has been temporarily released from his five-year sentence in a Tehran prison for six days. In January, Ehsan was sentenced for insulting the president, conspiracy against the regime and collaborating with foreign agents.
"He believes that the foundation for his arrest was his presence at a street protest in December 2009."
(Thanks to @ones_to_watch, which aggregates student media.)
• Viral video of the day is the one of Scottish teachers giving their pupils the shock of their lives by breaking into a dance routine in the canteen. If you like Glee, you'll love it.
• But my hero of the day is Chris Whitehead, 12, who wore a skirt to school at Impington village college, near Cambridge, to protest against a school uniform policy that bans boys from wearing shorts during the summer months. He addressed 1,368 pupils at morning assembly:
"In the summer girl students are allowed to wear skirts but boys are not allowed to wear shorts.
We think that this discriminates against boys. I will march in a skirt with other boys waving banners and making a lot of noise."
Two top blogs
• @SusanYoung_, writes her regular blog for the NAHT, on a weird week in education.
• Laurie Penny (@PennyRed) in the New Statesman, argues that the rich already buy themselves places at universities.
Education seminars from Guardian Professional
Getting the best education for children in care
The Guardian's one-day seminar in association with Tact (the UK's largest fostering and adoption charity) will provide an overview of the UK education system and strategies for dealing with the challenges faced by looked-after children and their carers.
26 May, London.
Making the most of media opportunities to enhance your school's profile
Whether it's sharing good news or handling a crisis, headteachers and school management teams need to be able to handle the media in all of its forms. This one-day seminar in association with the NAHT is essential for new and aspiring heads as well as established school leaders who wish to update their knowledge. It includes a session on social media.
13 June, Birmingham and 20 September, London.
Distinctiveness and branding in higher education
Higher education institutions will struggle in the marketplace unless they stand out from competitors and make sense to stakeholders. The Guardian's half-day seminar in partnership with the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education will explore what it takes to develop and maintain a distinctive brand that attracts students, staff and funders. Participants will hear from experts, examine case studies and have the opportunity to network with peers.
28 June, London.
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