Minister secures education and skills windfall
Education and skills secretary Estelle Morris has secured an extra £195 million for her department, it emerged today. The windfall includes £100 million in private finance initiative credits for building projects, £50 million for re-equipping teachers and £45 million for other measures.
Natfhe condemns FE principals' pay rise
Pay increases of more than 4 per cent for principals at further education colleges were today condemned as "disgraceful" by Natfhe, the lecturers' union. A new survey by the Association of Colleges showed the average pay rise for principals was 4.48 per cent while lecturers saw increases of 3.7 per cent.
Faith in God puts Northern Irish in a quandary
A survey by Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University has found that 2 per cent of Catholics and members of the main Protestant churches in Northern Ireland, and 5 per cent of other Christians, are atheists. But a fifth of people with no religion believe in God.
Argentina vows to keep education free
Argentina's new education minister says she will maintain free education at the country's public universities. Graciela Giannettasio formally took over today from Andrés Delich, who resigned three weeks ago.
Tehran academic suffers rights 'violation'
An Iranian law lecturer due to go on trial before a revolutionary court in Tehran today was interrogated once for an uninterrupted 24 hours and three times for more than 18 hours, Human Rights Watch claimed today. Reza Raeis Toussi, 65, a professor at Tehran University, is one of 15 members of the National Religious Alliance facing prosecution in what HRW condemned as a violation of their basic rights to freedom of expression and of association.