Catholic fears at Glasgow

The head of the Catholic church in Scotland met senior Glasgow University staff last week to discuss concerns that the university's education faculty was not meeting the church's needs.

Talks between Cardinal Thomas Winning and Glasgow's principal, Sir Graeme Davies, boosted the church's voice in how the faculty tackles teacher training for Catholic schools.

There have been denominational and academic strains since St Andrew's College of Education, Scotland's sole Catholic teacher training college, merged with Glasgow University last year. A group of senior educationists unhappy with the management resigned but withdrew the resignations after talks with Sir Graeme.

After the meeting, a university spokesperson said: "It was agreed that the concerns would be best addressed by confirming the role of the (university's board of Catholic education) in providing advice on the initial Catholic teacher education provided in the university's faculty of education."