18th January 2010
Welcome to this fortnight's roundup of the latest news in the education sector, including issues affecting educational suppliers.
Free Laptops
- Ed Balls announces the national roll out of a new scheme that will give 270,000 low income families a free computer and broadband access
- Following research indicating that GCSE grades are improved by having internet access at home, the DCSF announced "Home Access", a £300m investment in IT provision for low income families
- Grants will be available to families with entitlement to free school meals (for pupils aged 7-14), those with looked after children up to the age of 18 and families receiving income support or jobseekers allowances
- Home Access was trialled in Suffolk and Oldham Local Authorities and received considerable interest from families, with over 12,000 grants awarded to eligible families
DCSF Press Release has further information
New Guarantee for Key Stage 1 Pupils
- All pupils in Key Stage 1 will now receive catch up support if they are falling behind in English or mathematics
- “Falling behind” is defined as “pupils not on track to achieve Level 2 by the end of KS1”
- £50m funding has been allocated for two years which will help provide:
More one-to-one support generally available
Looked after children to get automatic one-to-one support
Specialist training for thousands of teachers (starting this term)
Language learning
- The KS1 Guarantee will come into effect from September 2011
- The new Guarantee will support and help expand the existing “Every Child a Reader” and “Every Child Counts” programmes
DCSF Press Release has further information
CBI Education and Skills Survey 2009
- The CBI (Confederation of British Industry) Education and Skills Survey confirms employers need for foreign language speakers
- The survey provides information on employers' views of education and skills issues
- With the UK competing in an increasingly globalised business environment, the survey shows language skills are becoming more important to prospective employers
- Of the employers looking for staff with a foreign language, the most popular languages were:
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The survey also highlights employers' concerns about basic skills and the remedial training they need to provide for their employees
- Employees with STEM skills (science, technology, engineering and maths) are also difficult to recruit due to lack of individuals with these skills
French (52%)
German (43%)
Mandarin/Cantonese (38%)
Spanish (28%)
Polish (22%)
Russian (21%)
Arabic (15%)
Click here to download the fulll survey
