‘The government’s Prevent strategy aimed at combating homegrown terrorism is stifling freedom of expression within the classroom and risks being counterproductive, a human rights report warns.’
The Guardian, 13th July 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Alsaifi v Secretary of State for Education [2016] EWHC 1519 (Admin)
‘In August 2013 the appellant was engaged on an hourly paid fixed term contract as a lecturer by a further education establishment. In November 2013 he was suspended from work, pending the outcome of an internal investigation, following a complaint of alleged inappropriate behaviour by the appellant towards a part-time 17-year-old learner in his class. The appellant resigned before the conclusion of the internal disciplinary hearing. In May 2015 allegations of unacceptable professional conduct in relation to the complaint were formally referred to the National College for Teaching and Leadership (“NCTL”) on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education. At that time there was no evidence that the appellant was teaching or engaged to teach anywhere. In February 2016 a professional conduct panel of the NCTL found the appellant guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and recommended that the Secretary of State impose an indefinite prohibition order. The NCTL later became aware that the appellant had worked as a school teacher from January to March 2016, ceasing a few days before he received the prohibition order. ‘
WLR Daily, 29th June 2016
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
‘An investigation by The Independent revealed thousands of children have disappeared from the education system to be taught at illegal schools where they are at risk of abuse.’
The Independent, 4th June 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘There is a rare example of a successful challenge to an OFSTED nursery inspection in R ota Old Co-operative Day Nursery Ltd v OFSTED [2016] EWHC 1126, handed down last week, which can be found here.’
Education Blog, 1st June 2016
Source: www.education11kbw.com
‘Reoffending costs £13bn a year – and giving inmates an education is the best way to prevent it, says a member of the Coates review panel’
The Guardian, 22nd May 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘For those, like me, who keep a close eye on the development of the law on religious rights and freedoms, the decision of the First-Tier Tribunal in Beis Aharon Trust v Secretary of State for Education is certainly eye-catching.’
Education Law Blog, 19th May 2016
Source: www.education11kbw.com
‘The Queen has announced the government’s legislation for the year ahead, at the state opening of Parliament. Here is a bill-by-bill guide to what is in the 2016 Queen’s Speech.’
BBC News, 18th May 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Prisons exist to keep society safer. When we put criminals behind bars we take them off our streets, prevent them from preying on the innocent and uphold the clear bright line between right and wrong. But if we really want to fight crime as effectively as possible, we must do more than just incapacitate criminals for the length of their sentence. We need to ensure that when they leave jail they do not offend again.’
Daily Telegraph, 18th May 2016
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
‘Dame Sally Coates’ report and recommendations following her review of education in prison.’
Ministry of Justice, 18th May 2016
Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice
‘More than 5,000 offenders will be housed in new reform prisons by end of the year as part of largest reform programme since Victorian times.’
Ministry of Justice, 18th May 2016
Source: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice
‘Oliver Wright takes a look at the biggest changes to be expected in Wednesday’s Queen’s Speech – and assesses how controversial they will be.’
The Independent, 16th May 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Technical”, “deeply unattractive”, “disingenuous”, “singularly lacks merit”, “ridiculous”, “inappropriate”, “extraordinary”. All words used by Elias or Vos LLJ to describe the arguments advanced by the Home Office in the course of their judgments in the remarkable case of R (On the Application Of Ufot) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWCA Civ 298.’
Free Movement, 16th May
Source: www.freemovement.org.uk
‘Many more children are hidden from authorities in unregistered schools across England than previously thought, Ofsted’s chief inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has warned.
The Guardian, 16th May 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
‘Undergraduate law students at Oxford university are being issued with “trigger warnings” before lectures containing material deemed too “distressing” – a move which has drawn criticism from academics.’
The Independent, 10th May 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘President McCloskey has firmly rejected the Home Office case against students alleged to have fraudulently obtained English language test certificate from ETS (“Educational Testing Services Ltd”) in the case of SM and Ihsan Qadir v Secretary of State for the Home Department IA/31380/2014. The President finds that the Home Office evidence suffered from “multiple frailties and shortcomings” and that the two witnesses produced by the Home Office were unimpressive. In short, the Home Office failed by a significant margin to prove the alleged fraud.’
Free Movement, 25th April 2016
Source: www.freemovement.org.uk
‘More than 30,000 non-EU students a year have had their visas curtailed by the Home Office in the past three years, figures obtained by BBC News show.’
BBC News, 23rd April 2016
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘In all of the excitement about the proposals in the White Paper for all schools to become academies, there has been little discussion about the Guidance for local authorities and RSCs on Schools causing concern – Intervening in failing, underperforming and coasting schools. Alongside this guidance, the Government has published its response to the consultation exercise, which includes a useful summary of the amendments that the Government made to the Bill during its Parliamentary passage.’
Education Law Blog, 7th April 2016
Source: www.education11kbw.com
‘“What could very easily happen with teaching about human rights is indoctrination…so let’s say someone says that racism isn’t wrong. Okay, so what would happen is that ‘racism is wrong. You have to learn it’. That’s the way it would be taught… Actually, I think a debate around that is needed, because I don’t think you can say that intrinsically racism is wrong. You can say that as a society, we’ve formed a set of values that have concluded that racism is wrong.”
When a primary school teacher says something like this to you as a researcher, it makes you sit up and take notice. Whilst it would be comforting to think that this is simply the isolated perspective of one wayward teacher, my research into teachers’ perceptions of educating primary school children about human rights was punctuated by similarly troubling viewpoints. One teacher found it difficult to talk about the atrocities that happened at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp without telling the children in her classroom that “this is the most heinous crime ever imagined”, following this up with “and you can’t do that, so it’s very difficult.” Another was loathe to teach that democracy was “the right way,” because she didn’t want to influence, but rather to simply “open children’s eyes.” Her final comment on this issue being “who am I to say that democracy is the right way?”’
OUP Blog, 4th April 2016
Source: http://blog.oup.com
‘Home Secretary Theresa May allegedly wrongly deported up to 50,000 international students after an English test cheating scam at one school was used to incriminate all who had sat the test.’
The Independent, 29th March 2016
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘The dust has started to settle on the Government’s education white paper: educational excellence everywhere. After a relatively slow start, the number of newspaper articles and interest on social media has picked up.’
Education Law Blog, 26th March 2016
Source: www.education11kbw.com
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