New Mums 'Abandoned' During Labour

One in three new mothers is left alone during or just after labour because maternity services are overstretched, according to a survey.

The poll of 3,500 mums found almost half (43%) said they did not have access to a midwife after giving birth.

More than a third (35%) of those questioned by The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) and parenting website Netmums.com said they had been abandoned during or after labour at a time when they felt worried.

Sally Russell, co-founder of Netmums.com, said: "This survey's results should demonstrate to the Government just how stretched maternity services are.

"It shows that our members want, need and deserve one-to-one care from midwives but they are not getting this and are left alone and feeling abandoned during labour, and especially in the vital post-natal period."

    All women can expect individual support from a midwife, supported by a wider maternity team, throughout her labour and birth.

Health Minister Ann Keen

One mother said of her labour: "There were too many people on and off shifts.

"There was no continuity of care, therefore no-one was able to make sound decisions.

"I (had) seven different midwives involved just during labour. I ended up having an emergency Caesarean section."

In 2007, the Government said all women in England should be supported by a midwife they know and trust throughout their pregnancy and after birth.

Ministers promised that "by the end of 2009" women would be able to choose where they give birth and have better continuity of midwifery care.

But the survey found only 68% of women were offered a choice of where to give birth.

Baby buggy

Some mothers felt abandoned

There were some positive responses in the research, including 83% of women saying they had the name and telephone number of a midwife they could contact if they were worried.

And 72% said they had their first appointment with a midwife as soon as they wanted it.

RCM general secretary Cathy Warwick said she was pleased some aspects of maternity services were rated highly but that overall the results painted a "worrying and disturbing picture".

Reacting to the survey, Health Minister Ann Keen said: "There has been record investment in the NHS in recent years including an additional £330m for maternity services.

"All women can expect individual support from a midwife, supported by a wider maternity team, throughout her labour and birth."

NEWS BY:http://news.sky.com

Has this mother of three changed the face of British education?

Furious at her son’s struggle to  get into a grammar school, Sarah Shilling launched a petition to build the first new one for 50 years. Yesterday, the revolution began!


Decrepit and semi-derelict, The Wildernesse School doesn’t have to try hard to live up to its name. Since it was swallowed up by a local girls’ school in 2010 to form a new academy elsewhere, the days when Strictly Come Dancing’s Anton du Beke — a former pupil known back then as Tony Beke — skipped through its corridors seem a very distant memory.

Hard to imagine, then, that this sprawling site on the outskirts of Sevenoaks, in Kent, could soon provide the spark for a revolution in British education.

Yesterday, a petition raised by thousands of parents in Sevenoaks calling for the building of what is effectively a new grammar school — though technically it will be an ‘annexe’ of an existing one — won overwhelming support in a vote taken by Kent County Council.

The petition was started by a mother of three from Sevenoaks called Sarah Shilling, who despaired at the hoops her son had to jump through to gain a grammar school place.

Now, a formal proposal will be drawn up by the council to identify potential sites for the school — with Wildernesse the favourite — and to establish which existing grammar schools may want to run it.

If such a new school opens, it will be the first of its kind in England for 50 years.

For families in Sevenoaks, this is a big deal indeed. They have long complained that because of the lack of local provision, more than 1,000 children from the town must take buses and trains every day to make journeys of an hour or more to schools  elsewhere in the county.

And yet the opening of a grammar in Sevenoaks will have a significance far beyond the purely local, because it forces the controversial issue of selective education — an idea so hated by the Left — firmly back on the national political agenda.

It puts selective schooling back on the agenda

Even before the decision was taken,  the discussion of the Sevenoaks plans provoked howls of protest from all the usual suspects.

Stephen Twigg, the shadow Education Secretary, has angrily accused Government ministers of attempting to expand  academic selection, and vowed that if Labour got back in to power it would reverse any move in that direction.

‘Instead of focusing on a few grammar schools, the Government should be trying to raise standards in all the 24,000 schools in England,’ he said.

Meanwhile, Fiona Millar, partner of former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell and seasoned education activist, was quick to join the fight, furiously peddling the argument that grammar schools limit rather than promote social mobility.

‘The most successful systems in the world are fully comprehensive,’ she claimed. ‘Bringing back selection is the wrong solution to problems that still exist in our school system, most of which can still be addressed in all-ability schools with the right leadership, teaching, curriculum and commitment from central government.’

Their fear is that what is happening in Kent could be just the start of an expansion of the grammar-school system and that Education Secretary Michael Gove is secretly keen to give this the green light.
Government approval: Michael Gove has spoken of his support for the grammar school system - much to the outrage of some education activists who believe they endanger social mobility

Government approval: Michael Gove has spoken of his support for the grammar school system - much to the outrage of some education activists who believe they endanger social mobility

Supporters of grammars argue that these are the schools parents want — and that it is the Government’s duty to deliver them.

‘The areas that have retained selection top the league tables year after year, providing the standards that parents want, and opening opportunities for children from all backgrounds,’ Graham Brady, a Conservative MP and long-time supporter of grammars, told me.

The fact that the latest developments have caught opponents of grammar schools somewhat by surprise is a result of their belief that they had largely won the argument against selection.

Having promised to open new grammars as part of his 2005 leadership campaign, two years later Mr Cameron abruptly changed tack saying that he did not think they were a good idea after all.
This U-turn was interpreted by some as being a carefully-planned ‘Clause Four moment’ — a reference to Tony Blair’s decision to cut ties with Labour’s socialist past when he became leader.


More...

    HYWEL WILLIAMS: A grammar school revolution on the way to Kent

Cameron’s strategists calculated that by ditching an educational policy associated with Tory diehards, it would appeal to voters who had never voted Conservative before. In fact, all it achieved was a backbench rebellion and simmering resentment among supporters of selective education from all political backgrounds.

In an ICM poll in 2010, 76 per cent of respondents said that they would support the creation of new grammar schools.

Instead, Cameron decided to back Michael Gove’s academies programme — the creation of independent state schools, run by head teachers outside of council control.

Opponents have been caught by surprise

But in a separate move, new admissions rules were introduced late last year, meaning that councils can no longer block the expansion of existing schools — be they state comprehensive or grammar.
With school rolls rising across many parts of England as the effects of immigration and a higher birth rate take effect, the rule changes have been jumped on by councils and parents.

Currently, across England there are 164 grammar schools educating some 160,000 pupils. Kent, with 33, has the largest proportion of them, attended by some 28 per cent of the county’s children.
In Year Six, the final year of primary school education, all pupils in Kent have the option of sitting the 11-plus examination. Those who pass the exam can then choose a grammar school to attend.

If they have passed with very high marks, they can apply for a handful of the grammars that are ‘super-selective’ — those which base their intake on performance in the exam rather than a pass and a pupil’s proximity to the school.

In Sevenoaks, a prosperous commuter town half-an-hour’s train journey to the south-east of London, there are two schools.

One is the private Sevenoaks School, whose boarding fees are now a shade shy of £30,000 a year; the other is a mixed-ability state school, Knole Academy, formed just over a year ago from a merger of two struggling comprehensives (one being Wildernesse, whose pupils vacated their old premises). There are no grammar schools in the town.


NEWS BY:http://www.dailymail.co.uk

Top universities 'admitting fewer state school students'

Figures show the vast majority of top research institutions turned more places over to pupils from independent schools in 2010/11 and fell dramatically short of Government admission targets.

Amid an unprecedented scramble for degree courses, it emerged that around two-thirds of universities belonging to the elite Russell Group recruited proportionally fewer state school students.

This includes the universities of Bristol, Cambridge, Imperial College, the London School of Economics and University College London.

At Oxford, Cambridge and Durham, fewer than six-in-10 places went to state school students.

Alternative figures showed just over half of top universities also recruited fewer pupils from the very poorest families.

The disclosure will come as a blow to the Government which has piled pressure on the most selective universities to create a more diverse student body.

Last year, Nick Clegg warned that top institutions had a duty to ensure “British society is better reflected” in their admissions to justify state funding.

But the Russell Group defended the figures, insisting that large numbers of well-qualified students from state schools failed to apply.

Wendy Piatt, director general, said: “These statistics are a reminder of the particular challenges faced by Russell Group universities as we work hard to increase fair access. Every year we pump millions of pounds into our outreach work such as summer schools and access schemes to encourage poorer students to apply and attend our universities.

“But we can only admit students who apply and who have the right grades in the right subjects.”

According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency, some 88.7 per cent of university places were awarded to pupils from state schools last year, down slightly on 88.8 per cent a year earlier.

It coincided with a record rise in the number of students applying to university in 2010.

Figures show that fewer state school students were admitted by 16 out of 24 Russell Group universities. The group expanded from 20 to 24 earlier this month.

Those witnessing a drop were Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Exeter, Imperial College, King's College, Leeds, the LSE, Manchester, Newcastle, Southampton, UCL, York, Cardiff, Glasgow and Queen's University Belfast.

The propotion of state school students at Birmingham dropped from 77.6 to 76.1 per cent. It meant 3,235 were admitted to the university last year compared with 3,420 a year earlier.

The LSE turned over 70.8 per cent of places to state pupils in 2009/10 compared with 66.5 per cent 12 months later. It represented a drop from 515 to 445. Cambridge fell from 59.3 to 59 per cent, taking 1,560 state school pupils, down by 30.

Only Oxford, Durham, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Queen Mary College and Warwick saw their proportion of state school students rise, while Sheffield and Liverpool remained unchanged.

Statistics also reveal the number of universities that are failing to meet centrally-set "benchmarks". Targets cover areas such as how many state school pupils are admitted and numbers from the poorest homes.

The statistics show that 51 universities – around 41 per cent – failed to meet their benchmarks for recruiting state school pupils. This included 16 out of 24 Russell Group institutions.

From next year, universities could be stripped of the power to charge up to £9,000 in tuition fees for consistently falling short of admission targets.

A spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said: "Demand for higher education remains strong, but we want to ensure that background is not a barrier to university. Our reforms expect institutions to do more to attract applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds.”

NEWS BY:http://www.telegraph.co.uk

Top Uni Says A-Levels Not Good Enough

One of the world's top universities is to trial its own entrance exam because A-level "grade inflation" has made it impossible to tell one straight-A candidate from another.

Sir Richard Sykes, Rector of Imperial, announced the move as he called for extreme action to "save" bright children from underperforming state schools.

He wantsgovernment money used to pay for them to go private.

Sir Richard said it was "frightening" that 40% of students at Imperial - recently ranked fifth in a global university league table - came from private schools, which teach just 7% of all pupils in the UK.

Speaking at the Independent Schools Council's annual conference in London, he said "grade inflation" had "destroyed" the role of A-levels in selecting undergraduates.

"Top institutions have great difficulty separating out the best students," he said. "Even if you interview all the students you still have a problem."

The university is trialling a new entrance exam for all students taking subjects other than medicine, where a separate test exists.

He said: "We are doing this not because we don't believe in A-level but we cannot use A-levels any more as a discriminatory factor.

"They have all got four or five A-levels."

The new exam will assess candidates' general intelligence and creativity and could be brought in from 2010, with other top universities said to be keen to follow Imperial's lead.

But Sir Richard warned the brightest children still stood a far better chance of getting into top universities if they were educated privately.

"We have got to do something radical if we are going to save children in 93% of our schools that somehow are just not getting the education they deserve," he said.

"We have in this country some of the best secondary education in the world but only a few percentage of people benefiting from it.

"Why don't we make it available to those kids who are really going to benefit.

"If the Government have got some sense they would allow that to happen. Just as we used to run scholarship schemes in the past, why don't we do that today for those bright kids?"

However, Schools Minister Lord Adonis insisted that educational standards were being maintained.

"The rise in numbers achieving higher grades is due to the increasing success of schools and should be celebrated," he said.

"To further underpin the quality of the qualifications system we have established the new independent regulator, Ofqual."


NEWS BY:http://news.sky.com

Britain Has 'Underestimated' Flood Threats

For the last 50 years we have been concreting over our countryside, neglecting our drainage systems and busily building on flood plains.In other words; living as if flooding is a problem that happens elsewhere.

Now, a new report from scientists at Durham University says the UK has been lulled into a false sense of security, when weshould have been preparing for a period of floods on a scale "beyond most people's living memory".

The scientists looked at rainfall and river flow patterns over the last 250 years, since 1753.

They found that the UK's weather fluctuated between very wet and very dry periods, each lasting for a few years at a time, but also between very long periods of a few decades that can be particularly wet or particularly dry.

They discovered that from the late 1960s to the late 1990s, the UK was relatively flood-free.

Now, they say records show we can expect a period of increased flooding, similar to that experienced before the 1960s.

Professor Stuart Lane from Durham's Institute of Hazard and Risk said: "We are now having to learn to live with levels of flooding that are beyond most people's living memory.

"More than three-quarters of country's flood records - on which risk estimates were based - started during the 1960s.

"We have not been good at recognising just how flood-prone we can be. We have probably underestimated the frequency of flooding much more often than we are used to."

May, June and July last year saw their highest level of rainfall since British records began.

A second report out today from the cross party Environment Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee says the infrastructure set up to deal with last summer's floods is in chaos and the eight hundred million pounds funding pledged by the Government is "inadequate."

The MPs said at the moment, no organisation has overall responsibility for surface water flooding at a national or local level, nobody was responsible for issuing flood warnings and it was unclear who was responsible for overflowing drains.

They also recommended that the Environment Agency should take a strategic role in dealing with surface water flooding nationally, providing advice and guidance to local authorities who should have a statutory duty to deal with surface drainage.

Chair of the Committee, Michael Jack MP said: "The public will not forgive the Government if it is not seen to be responding to the lessons learnt from the floods of last summer.

"Our report has shown how confused and chaotic was the infrastructure when it came to preventing and dealing with surface water flooding.

"The Government must bring clarity to this situation so that the public, wherever they live, can have peace of mind that every effort is being made to avoid a repeat of the fiasco of last summer."

The Local Government Association too has waded in.

In response to the EFRA Committee's report, they agree that under the current system, it is often unclear who has responsibility for managing flood risk and maintaining drainage systems.

They say that in some parts of the country a myriad of different bodies - including the Environment Agency, councils, private landowners and water companies - have these powers but often do not share information with each other.

They recommend that water companies should be forced to co-operate with local authorities to prevent a repeat of last summer's floods, council leaders said today.

For once, then, the MPs and the scientists are in firm agreement: rather than dismissing last summer's floods as a one off event, they say we must be prepared for worse to come.

NEWS BY:http://news.sky.com

Entertainment news: Revel Horwood to star in Swan panto

THE High Wycombe Choral Society heard their music played across the airwaves on Classic FM as part of a drive to celebrate some of the best amateur choirs across the UK. One of the tracks, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, by Felix Mendelssohn from their Christmas CD was played on December 9. The station is joining forces with the charity, Making Music, and encouraging choirs to send in carol recordings. Ten choirs were chosen by John Brunning.

IF you fancy a wintry walk between Christmas and New Year to walk off all the turkey and mince pies, head over to Waddesdon Manor. The grounds, shops, restaurants and plant centre will be open daily from Tuesday, December 27 until Monday, January 2. And for those who just can’t get enough of Christmas the trees and displays inside the Manor will be still be open too. For more information, opening times and prices please see

CRAIG Revel Horwood will be playing The Wicked Queen in the Wycombe Swan's panto next year. The Swan have announced their panto next year as Snow White and The Seven Dwarves with the Strictly Come Dancing judge. The panto will run from December 7 until January 5. To book call 01494512000 or go to www.wycombeswan.co.uk. Lesley Joseph is currently playing the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella until January 8.

FOLLOWING the successful production of A Midsummer's Night Dream in Beaconsfield in 2011, which raised more than £9,000 for The Gardens Players nominated charity, they will be staging a new production of Twelfth Night in Beaconsfield from June 27-30, in aid of The Child Bereavement Charity. Read-throughs will take place at The United Reform Church hall in Beaconsfield Old Town on Wednesday, January 4 and at the Performing Arts Hall, Tennant Building, Davenies School, Beaconsfield on Tuesday, January 19 both commencing at 7.45pm. All are welcome. For further information, please contact Steve McAdam.

NEWS BY:http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk

Dakota Fanning's perfume ad banned in the UK for being 'sexually provocative' - Poll

A perfume ad featuring "Twilight" actress Dakota Fanning clutching a bottle of perfume has been banned in the United Kingdom after the country's Advertising Standards Authority found it to be inappropriate and "sexually provocative" because of the 17-year-old actress' age and appearance, according to the BBC.

The board said in a statement that the ad "could be seen to sexualize a child."

"We noted that the model [Fanning] was holding up the perfume bottle which rested in her lap between her legs and we considered that its position was sexually provocative," the statement said. "We understood the model was 17-years-old but we considered she looked under the age of 16. We considered that the length of her dress, her leg and position of the perfume bottle drew attention to her sexuality."

"Because of that, along with her appearance, we considered the ad could be seen to sexualize a child," the statement continued. "We therefore concluded that the ad was irresponsible and was likely to cause serious offence."

The ad was for the Oh Lola! perfume by Marc Jacobs and it can be seen above. Coty UK, the company behind the perfume and the ad, said they had not received any complaints about it, despite the fact that it had appeared in several fashion magazines in the country.

The ad first began appearing in print on August 5, 2011. According to the ASA report, Coty UK "did not believe the styling in the ad suggested the model was underage or that the ad was inappropriately sexualized because it did not show any private body parts or sexual activity. They believed the giant perfume bottle was provoking but not indecent."

In August it was reported that Fanning had graduated from high school and was set to attend New York University in the fall.

She is enrolled at NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, a college spokesperson told OnTheRedCarpet.com on Thursday, August 25.

The Georgia native rose to fame as a child actress when she appeared alongside Sean Penn in the 2001 movie "I Am Sam."

In 2002, she starred in the romantic comedy "Sweet Home Alabama," which featured Reese Witherspoon in the main role, and played Allie Keys in the mini-series "Taken" in 2002. Fanning starred in the 2005 reboot of "War of the Worlds" with Tom Cruise and in the 2006 film "Charlotte's Web." In 2009, Fanning starred in the movie "Push" and played the vampire Jane in "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," the second film in the hit series starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson.

In 2010, Fanning co-starred with Stewart in the music biopic "The Runaways" and reprised her role in the third "Twilight" movie, "Eclipse." Fanning plays the same part in the fourth and final installment, the two-part "Breaking Dawn." Part 1 is set for release on November 18.

Fanning recently filmed the independent film "Now Is Good" and has several more movies in the works - "Effie" with Emma Thompson, "Mississippi Wild" with Mickey Rourke and "Very Good Girls" with Dustin Hoffman." All films are due out in 2012.

NEWS BY:http://www.ontheredcarpet.com

Overseas students 'to increase in UK universities'

The number of overseas students in UK universities will rise by a further 10% this decade, says a study for the British Council.

Only Australia is set to have a bigger increase in overseas students.

It forecasts that India rather than China will send the most students in this lucrative global market.

Jo Beall, the British Council director of education, says the "next 10 years will be critical" if the UK is to take advantage.

Speaking ahead of the British Council's Going Global conference, Dr Beall says there is a "decade of opportunity" for the UK to benefit from an increasingly-mobile international student population.

Shifting power
"In an increasingly connected and inter-dependent world, a willingness and ability to collaborate internationally and to respond to changing trends are vital," said Dr Beall.

By the end of the last decade there were 3.5m students studying overseas - and even though the rate of increase will slow, the overall number is expected to continue to rise.

Setting out global trends in higher education until 2020, the British Council study forecasts an increasing importance for Asian countries, challenging the longstanding domination of the United States.

By 2020, China will have almost twice as many students as the United States.

But the British Council predicts that it will be India rather than China that will be key player for sending students overseas.

Figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show that currently China is by the far the biggest provider of overseas students to the UK -with 67,000 students in the UK, compared with 39,000 from India.

The figures from 2011 show that about 12% of students at UK universities are from overseas - which is categorised as being outside the European Union.

In terms of the potential market for higher education, the British Council highlights that by 2020, just four countries will account for more than half of the world's 18 to 22 year olds - India, China, the United States and Indonesia.

The British Council says that the biggest single expansion in overseas students is likely to be Australia, which it predicts will be teaching an extra 50,000 by 2020.

But it says that the UK could be the second-biggest in terms of increasing overseas student numbers, predicting a rise of 30,000.

The British Council also highlights how university research has become internationalised - with more than a third of research now involving international collaborations.

The forecasts are issued in advance of this week's Going Global conference in London, examining university globalisation, which will bring together 1,300 higher education leaders from around the world.

NEWS BY:http://www.bbc.co.uk

Madonna's heart is in the UK

Madonna plans to move back to the UK.

The Celebration singer - who moved back to her native US following her divorce from British film director Guy Ritchie in 2008 - plans to head back to Britain because she "feels her heart is" in the country, but she will have to apply to move back as she is no longer married to a UK citizen.

"Madonna has loved being back in the States since the divorce but England is where she feels her heart is now," a source said.

"She is deliberately focusing on work that will keep her in Britain.

"She has had meetings with her London legal team, Mischon de Reya, to arrange a visa that will enable her to move back for good. Now that she is no longer a British citizen by virtue of being married to Guy, she is having to apply like everyone else."

Madonna's eldest son Rocco, 10, is able to stay in Britain because he is Guy's son, but her other children - Lourdes, 13 and adopted kids David Banda, five and Mercy James, four - will need their mother to complete her visa application before they can live in the UK.

"The other children will automatically gain visas as Madonna's dependents as long as she can get past the paperwork," the source told the Daily Mail newspaper.

"The past couple of years have been the breath of fresh air Madonna needed after her divorce, but she is now ready to embrace the British lifestyle again."

Madonna is not the only star to be planning on a move to England - Lady Gaga is also said to be keen to uproot her life to the UK and purchase a castle in the country.

NEWS BY:http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news

The Naked and Famous set to get more famous

Kiwi band The Naked and Famous are in the running for an influential music honour in the UK.

The five-piece band from Auckland features on the longlist for the BBC's Sound of 2011 along with 14 other rising stars of music.

With their synth-rock sound, the band burst onto the underground scene in 2008 with EPs This Machine and No Light. Last year they supported Nine Inch Nails and their pulsating single All of This got major airplay.

They followed up with Young Blood written for noisy album Passive Me, Aggressive You released in September, proving they were more than electro synth-rock band.

The band is made up of producer, singer and co-founder Thom Powers, producer Aaron Short, singer and co-founder Alisa Xayalith, bass player David Beadle, and drummer Jesse Wood.

The BBC list is put together by more than 160 UK tastemakers, including radio DJs and producers, TV presenters and producers, newspaper critics, magazine and website editors and respected bloggers, who were asked to name their favourite new acts.

The Sound of 2011 winner and top five are out in January.

Sound of 2011: The Longlist

James Blake
Anna Calvi
Daley
Esben & the Witch
Jessie J
Clare Maguire
Mona
The Naked & Famous
Nero
Jai Paul
The Vaccines
Warpaint
Jamie Woon
Wretch 32
Yuck .

NEWS BY:http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news

Susan Boyle plans for musical

Susan Boyle plans to star in a musical about her life.

The Scottish singing sensation, who shot to worldwide fame after appearing on UK TV talent show Britain's Got Talent in 2009, is in talks to have her meteoric rise to fame chronicled in a new stage production and even hopes to take the lead role in the show.

She said: "I'm definitely going to be on stage. I'd rather that than having to sit watching people up there looking like me.

"I want to be doing the music parts, so I'll be coming in and out of the show. I'm looking forward to doing some live work. It'll be really nice to see so many of the people who have supported me in person."

Producers are reportedly planning to take the show - which will chronicle the 49-year-old star's modest upbringing in Blackburn, West Lothian, her period living alone with her cat and her rise to stardom - on a huge UK tour late next year as they believe it will be extremely popular.

A source told The Sun newspaper: "Susan has incredibly loyal fans. People will be travelling from all over the world to see her perform in her own musical.

"I wouldn't be surprised if some of them book tickets to watch it five nights in a row."

NEWS BY:http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news

U.K. to back Innovation Universities project

The United Kingdom is committed to supporting India as it develops 14 world-class Innovation Universities, said David Willetts, British Minister for Universities and Science.

Addressing academics at IIT-Madras Research Park, Mr. Willetts said eight U.K. universities – Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, Essex, Birmingham, Newcastle, Exeter and the Open University – are eager to forge links during the design and eventual creation of the new Innovation Universities.

“We are keen to identify 14 British universities that can work alongside from the beginning. After talks with Kapil Sibal, I will go back to Britain to identify the 14 British universities to match up with the universities here,” the British Minister said.

Keen on flow of postgraduate and research students and academics between the two countries, Mr. Willetts said he would encourage the British academics to come to India. “There is scope for PG and Ph.D students to study in both countries to obtain a single award. Twinning arrangements between universities sharing staff and resources is beneficial,” he said, outlining the broad contour for collaboration.

The UK already has more than 80 university-related collaborations up and running in India, making it the most active international partner here.

To move things on substantially, Mr. Willetts said he would be visiting India again in November with leading UK university vice-chancellors to establish a framework for collaboration as India and the UK have a solid base to build on.

Recent commitments on co-funded research projects are worth about £60 million. Indeed, funding pledged by the UK bodies for collaboration with India this year has already approached 1 per cent of its science budget, a level that some argue should be the budget set aside for international collaboration, Mr. Willetts said. Jointly funded and administered research programmes will concentrate on priority areas for both countries – food security, water resources and sustainable energy. The UK has offered to commit up to £6 million for research in areas such as off-grid power generation technologies and ICT to improve services in, and the economic capacity of, rural communities in both countries. In the area of civil nuclear energy, the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and India's Department of Atomic Energy are collaborating on five new projects, including areas such as plant safety and nuclear waste management, the British Minister said.

Mr. Willetts held discussions with IIT-M officials led by its Director M.S. Ananth, and then visited facilities at the TeNet Laboratory and Research Park on the campus.

NEWS BY:http://www.thehindu.com

Universities say students may face earlier loan payback

Graduates could pay higher interest rates on their student loans and pay them back earlier to help avert a funding crisis, a report says.

The Russell Group of top universities says it faces a £1.1bn black-hole in its finances by 2012-13.

The claims are in its submission to England's official review of student finance and fees.

The National Union of Students said students already paid "more than their fair share".

President-elect Aaron Porter said: "These are elite universities that are simply turning around to students saying they have to foot the bill for cuts in government funding - but they should have anticipated this and thought about their provision".

The Russell Group represents the 20 most research-intensive universities in the UK, and includes the likes of Oxford, Cambridge and University College London.

It says that without extra income its members will be forced to make significant cut-backs.

The group has suggested the £900m-worth of cuts planned by the Labour government for the next three years would bring the UK's higher education sector to its knees.

But it kept its submission to the independent review of higher education funding and student finance secret until now.

The review will report to the government in the autumn.

Under-investment
Although this submission stops short of suggesting higher tuition fees for UK students, it appears to indicate that other solutions may not be fully workable.

It also argues that one way to make the student finance system more sustainable would be to charge students a real rate of interest on their loans.

This could be linked to the cost of government's overall cost of borrowing. It also suggests the threshold at which students start paying loans back could be lowered from the present £15,000.

The Russell Group says: "The lack of a real rate of interest on student loans" is a "subsidy which imposes high costs on the Government, and which exceeds the requirements of ensuring fair access to higher education".

It is set to make a number of submissions to the review in the next few weeks.

The group says variable tuition fees have enabled top universities to maintain high standards and widen access.

Future cuts
This funding, together with the package of loans covering the fees - now at £3,225 a year - has allowed many more students to attend universities, it says.

It adds that much of the increased funding has been used by universities to compensate for a backlog of under-investment.

But it also claims the financial sustainability of the sector as a whole is severely at risk, with universities facing rising cost pressures, particularly related to salaries and pensions.

It says research intensive universities face particular pressures because of low staff-student ratios and high equipment and resource costs.

One Russell Group university loses an estimated £3,620 per chemistry student per year, it adds.

And figures like this lead the group to predict top universities will be £1.1bn in the red by 2012-13.

Russell Group director general Wendy Piatt said: "With funding reductions and the prospect of future cuts to manage, without clear means of increasing their income, meeting these challenges begins to look like an impossible task.

"There is now a real risk that we could lose academics who have been responsible for discoveries that have changed the lives of millions of people for the better."

Knowledge economy
The report says there are only three ways in which universities could reduce their annual deficits.

These are reducing costs by cutting staff; increasing income by recruiting more overseas students; or increasing income through domestic tuition fees.

It also suggests that graduates could pay back their loans earlier and at a higher interest rate.

Under the current system, students begin to pay back their loans when they start earning £15,000 a year or more, and at a low interest rate.

The public costs of funding the student finance system could be reduced by lowering the threshold at which graduates begin paying back loans, it adds.

A spokesman for the review of fees said it would consider the submission along with all the others. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said it would respond to the review when it reported in full.

University and College Union general secretary Sally Hunt said: "We desperately need to overhaul how universities are funded and move away from the idea that the current review of student funding is merely a question of how much student fees go up by."

NEWS BY:http://www.bbc.co.uk

UK 'behind' on grandparent childcare provision

The UK is lagging behind other European countries by failing to recognise the role grandparents play in looking after children, a study claims.

The report by Grandparents Plus claims one in three mothers in the UK rely on grandparents to provide childcare.

It says the state gives little financial recognition for this caring role, unlike other European countries.

Grandparents should not be taken for granted as cheap childcare, says the report.

The study - written in partnership with the Beth Johnson Foundation and the Institute of Gerontology at King's College London - said many grandparents struggled to juggle work and childcare, without financial support.

It said that a number of EU countries had taken steps to help grandparents.

This included measures to allow parents to transfer parental leave to grandparents, letting working grandparents take time off if their grandchild is sick and, in some circumstances, paying them for the care they provided.

Flexible working
The report acknowledged that from April next year, grandparents in the UK would be able to claim National Insurance credits for the care they provided.

But it said they did not currently have a right to request flexible working and parental leave could not be transferred to them.

Parents also could not use childcare vouchers, which are taken from their salaries before they pay tax and National Insurance, to pay grandparents, the report said.

Research carried out for the report found that seven out of 10 grandparent carers thought they should be paid through tax credits or childcare vouchers for childcare.

Nearly half of all grandparents who looked after their grandchildren said they would opt for flexible working if they were allowed.

And 53% of grandparents aged between 45 and 54 thought grandparents should be given time off work when a grandchild is born.

Grandparents 'crucial'
Dr Karen Glaser, a specialist in ageing who helped write the report, said there needed to be a system in place whereby parental leave from work could be transferred to grandparents.

"There are more women in employment and grandparents are absolutely instrumental in terms of child care," she said.

"And lastly there have been significant changes to family lives, so in terms of increasing levels of divorce and one-parent families and a lot of research has shown that grandparents are absolutely crucial, especially at times of family crisis."

Sam Smethers, chief executive of Grandparents Plus, said: "National Insurance credits from April next year will certainly help to protect their [grandparents'] pension entitlement, but this won't help them now.

"We have to match it with steps towards transferable parental leave and flexible working if we really want to make it easier for them to combine work and care."

'Cheap childcare'
The Family and Parenting Institute also warned that poorer grandparents were at risk of being exploited by the state as a "cheap safety net for childcare".

Dr Katherine Rake from the institute said grandparents were not just expected to care for their grandchildren, but they were also increasingly having to support their adult children as well, as many were divorced and financially vulnerable.

The group said poorer grandparents were especially likely to feel the strain of helping care for their grandchildren, as they were more likely to become grandparents before they retired, while their own children were also more likely to be single parents and need extensive childcare support.

Dr Rake said: "These working-class women, who have attempted to juggle their family and their careers for decades, now find that grandmotherhood offers no relief.

"They will always want to contribute to the welfare of grandchildren - but they don't want it foisted on them by a state that either ignores or assumes their assistance.

NEWS BY:http://www.bbc.co.uk

Books: final chapter yet to be written

Printed works aren't about to be killed off by digital readers just yet, says global publishing expert

The reassuring news about printed books - for those who devour them - is they are not ready to surrender to the digital tide.

That's the perspective of a book lover who reads ebooks and who sits at the top of the world's publishing industry.

Jens Bammel, a German lawyer and secretary general of the International Publishing Association, watches the business of books from Geneva. He likens its condition to surfing an avalanche, given that the irresistible momentum of digital publishing is sweeping all before it.

In areas like trade publishing and highbrow scholarly works, the revolution is complete. Articles go directly online and users subscribe to a database.

The digital market for mainstream fiction, paperbacks and self-help works is big and getting bigger. Erotic titles are popular too. Bammel thinks the attraction might be that "no one sees what you're reading on screen when you're on the tube."

A standout space in bookshops, much to the delight of an industry under pressure, remains filled with cookbooks.

It's the same in Britain, where Jamie Oliver sells titles by the trolleyload, or New Zealand, where self-published Annabel Langbein had two titles in the top 10 last year.

"With cookbooks you are buying something that you can't replicate on a screen," says Bammel.

But publishing cannot survive forever on titles churned out by celebrity cooks. The industry remains under siege on several fronts, nervously watching the next move of Amazon.com and Apple, which typically has a dazzling new piece of technology called iBooks Author - now the target of much online heat.

Author Jonathan Franzen thinks ebooks are fouling the shelves of printed works. The bestselling novelist fears that as "a literature crazed person" the prospect of bound books giving way to letters on a screen means "it's going to be very hard to make the world work if there's no permanence like [the printed book]."

NEWS BY:http://www.nzherald.co.nz

Genetic Data Nix Folate Role in Heart Disease

The final nail may have been placed in the coffin of homocysteine-lowering therapy as a preventive measure for coronary heart disease.

The overall result from large, unpublished datasets shows lifelong moderate homocysteine elevation has little or no effect on coronary heart disease.

A comprehensive analysis -- including published and unpublished research that involved more than 236,000 participants -- suggests that even lifelong exposure to elevated homocysteine "has little or no effect," according to Robert Clarke, MD, of the Clinical Trial Service Unit at the University of Oxford, in Oxford, England, and colleagues.

The key finding is that, in several large unpublished datasets, genetic variation that increases or decreases natural homocysteine levels did not significantly affect the risk of coronary heart disease, Clarke and colleagues reported online in PLoS Medicine.

That was coupled with a null effect in an updated meta-analysis of 10 clinical trials testing the effect of folic acid, a homocysteine-lowering compound.

Taken together, that evidence suggests that a significant but modest benefit of lower homocysteine in an updated meta-analysis of 86 published case-control studies was an "artifact of publication bias," the researchers argued.

Clarke and colleagues noted that a common genetic variant -- named C677T -- in the methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase gene (MTHFR) markedly affects homocysteine levels.

Specifically, people with the TT genotype (individuals in whom both copies of the MTHFR gene have the nucleotide thymine at position 677) of the C677T polymorphism have natural levels that are about 20% higher than those with the CC variant. The CT variant has an effect that is intermediate but closer to CC than TT.

That suggests the possibility of a natural "Mendelian" experiment, and luckily the increasing use of large scale-genomics analysis has led to the creation of 19 large datasets -- with a total of more than 100,000 participants -- in which variation in the MTHFR gene was analyzed, although not as a primary focus.

Clarke and colleagues designated those studies as "unpublished" because odds ratios for coronary heart disease were not the primary aim and have not been reported. The studies had a total of 48,175 coronary heart disease cases and 67,961 controls.

If the associations seen in the earlier case-control studies were causal, the researchers argued, the 20% higher homocysteine in those with the TT variant should imply about an 8% increase in coronary heart disease risk, compared with CC carriers.

But a meta-analysis of the effect of the TT variant in the 19 studies showed a non-significant odds ratio of 1.02, with a 95% confidence interval from 0.98 to 1.07, they reported.

Even in the sub-population of participants who had not been given folate supplements in food, where the effect of the TT variant might be expected to be stronger, it remained non-significant, with an odds ratio of 1.01.

On the other hand, Clarke and colleagues reported, the updated analysis of the 86 biochemical studies -- with 28,617 cases and 41,857 controls -- suggested that having the TT variant increased the risk of coronary heart disease by 15% (odds ratio 1.15, 95% CI from 1.09 to 1.21).

The results of the two analyses are "discrepant," the researchers noted, and the discrepancy "is too extreme to be plausibly dismissed as a chance finding."

Instead, they argued for a "substantial" effect of publication bias.

To bolster the argument, they noted that their analysis of the 10 intervention studies, with a total of more than 50,000 participants, found that lowering homocysteine for at least five years had no significant effect on the risk of coronary heart disease. The odds ratio was 1.02 (95% CI from 0.96 to 1.08).

"Both the genetic studies and the trials argue against the use of (homocysteine-lowering agents) as a means of reducing coronary heart disease risk," they concluded.

NEWS BY:http://www.medpagetoday.com

Scottish childcare among the UK’s costliest

PARENTS in Scotland are facing some of the highest childcare costs in Britain with some paying annual bills of nearly £12,000, according to a new report.

Scotland’s out-of-school clubs have the second highest average costs in the UK, while childminding charges are the highest outside of the south of England.

Costs also vary across local authoritieswith the average weekly prices in Scotland for nursery care for children under two ranging from £67.50 to £142.50, according to the report by the Daycare Trust and Children in Scotland charities.

A parent using 25 hours of care over 50 weeks of the year in Scotland’s most expensive nursery would face a bill of £11,688.

Individual authorities were not identified in the report.

Meanwhile, the survey also found that only a fifth of Scottish local authorities said they had enough childcare for parents working full time, while just one in ten had sufficient for those working outside normal office hours or living in rural areas.

The Scottish Government insisted it was committed to bringing down the cost of childcare, but charities have called for legislation to provide universal free childcare.

Daycare Trust chief executive Anand Shukla said: “The high price of childcare faced by many Scottish families is putting significant pressure on family budgets at a time when tax credits have been cut.

“These problems are exacerbated by significant gaps in childcare availability and a postcode lottery in prices.

“Greater management of the childcare market is needed, both at government and at local authority level.

“Today, we are calling on the Scottish Government to take the lead in implementing the Early Years Framework by legislating to provide a childcare place for every child.”

The report also found the cost gap between private and state nurseries was highest in Scotland, at least £20 per week compared with less than £10 south of the Border.

Some costs have improved in the past year in Scotland. Nursery places for children aged two and over dropped by 3.1 per cent and out-of-school clubs decreased 1.9 per cent. But childminding costs for children aged two and up climbed 5 per cent – more than English or Welsh averages.

The report’s authors urged the Scottish Government to put pressure on Westminster to amend regulations to allow self-employed parents to claim childcare vouchers. They also said Scottish local authorities should be forced to collect better data on childcare provision.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said it was committed to expanding and improving the quality of early learning and childcare provision, focusing on those who were most in need.

She added: “Since 2007, we have delivered real increases in free pre-school provision, benefiting around 100,000 children each year.

“In addition, we’re providing £4.5 million over the next three years to local authorities to deliver additional early learning and childcare for all looked after two-year-olds; and a further £4.5m to promote community-based solutions to family support and childcare.

“This government is committed to tackling the high cost of childcare through changes to the welfare and tax systems. Having control over our tax and benefit systems would undoubtedly help deliver this.”

A total of 26 of the 32 Scottish local authorities took part in the survey, carried out between November 2011 and January 2012.

• Glasgow mother of two Steffi Keir, 41, who works in the charitable sector, pays about £600 a month for three days a week of childcare for her daughters, aged five and 17 months.

She said to go private would cost far more and there should be a system of universally subsidised childcare, except where parents can really afford it.

“We got our oldest into a local authority nursery at the age of three, so before that we paid a childminder £500 a month,” she said. “I could be a stay-at-home mum, but it would be difficult for me not to even work part-time, because it’s a very fulfilling job.”

NEWS BY:http://www.scotsman.com

Live Commentary: England vs. Wales

Good afternoon and welcome to Sports Mole's live coverage of this Six Nations clash between England and Wales at Twickenham.

England, despite winning both of their games so far this tournament, go into this match as underdogs. With Owen Farrell moving to fly-half and Manu Tuilagi coming in at centre, England could be dangerous in midfield.

Wales are favourites but have not won at HQ for a long time. Sam Warburton and Alun Wyn Jones return to the pack, giving Wales a slight advantage upfront. England will not want to let this one slip, but there is nothing the Welsh love more than beating England, especially at Twickenham. This could be the match of the Championship so far.

(Please refresh this page to see the latest updates)

00mins No controversy over the anthems today as the teams line up.

01mins Here we go! Steve Walsh blows and Farrell delivers wide. Toby Faletau takes. Early penalty to Wales as England fail to release after a tackle. Priestland kicks to touch.

02mins George North breaks down the middle and looks to be on but falls to an ankle tap. Priestland tries the chip on but it goes too long. England restart and North tries again, this time down the line but is bundled into touch.

04mins Wales maul down the wing but Ian Evans is adjudged to be offside. England kick back and Wales gather at half-way.

05mins England win a penalty on the half-way line. Farrell finds touch.

07mins Wales win a scrum after two restarts. They attempt the dink-on but it goes into touch.

09mins Warburton forces a penalty after the tackle as Farrell holds on on the ground. They find touch in the English half. England pinch the lineout.

10mins England clear but not past their halfway line. Wales win the lineout.

12mins Priestland delivers high but Dixon gathers. England go long and Halfpenny glances off two tackles. A risky pass from Alun Wyn Jones is intercepted but knocked on by Strettle.

13mins Penalty to Wales off the scrum. Priestland kicks to the English 22.

15mins Wales creep into the English 22 from the lineout. The English defence looks solid.

16mins England turn over but it goes for a scrum. The ref awards Wales the put-in.

17mins The scrum is resent after some confusion off a Faletau pick.

18mins Wales with a mighty heave from the scrum. England are penalised. Halfpenny will go for the posts.

19mins Halfpenny pushes his attempt wide.

20mins Wales knock on after the restart to award England a scrum in their own half.

21mins England take a quick penalty and burst down the centre. They go wide and into the Welsh 22.

22mins Farrell attemps a drop gaol after penalty adventage is called. He pushes it wide and it goes back for the spot kick.

23mins PENALTY! Farrell puts England on the board. ENGLAND 3-0 WALES

24mins Botha penalised for going off his feet at the ruck. Halfpenny to go for three.

25mins PENALTY! Halfpenny evens the scores. ENGLAND 3-3 WALES

27mins North takes the ball into touch to give England a dangerous lineout. England win and spread wide to get inches from the Welsh try line.

28mins Wales defend extremely well and play is called back for an offside penalty. England try to take it quick but Walsh calls it back. Jamie Roberts is threatened with the bin for offside.

29mins PENALTY! Farrell puts England ahead. ENGLAND 6-3 WALES

31mins England go down the line and look extremely dangerous. This is encouraging for the men in white as they hold on to possession.

33mins A penalty to Wales puts a halt to English momentum.

34mins PENALTY! It's a hard one for Halfpenny but he sends it over. ENGLAND 6-6 WALES

36mins Priestland bounces off Tuilagi as England mount their attack. Wales win it back from a failed chip-on.

37mins England turn over and go down the line. A pass is intercepted but England win a penalty on the floor.

38mins PENALTY! Farrell goes three-from-three. ENGLAND 9-6 WALES

40mins England slow it down to wait for the clock, before Dxon boots it out.

HALF TIME: ENGLAND 9-6 WALES Wales started off well but England have had some great momentum towards the end. It's still too close to call and the second half looks set to be a thriller.

40mins Referee Walsh gets the second half underway.

41mins Wales battle into the English half but England win a penalty.

42mins Farrell boots to touch just outside the Welsh 22.

43mins Wales turn over and Mike Phillips boots long. England gather and restart their attack.

44mins YELLOW CARD! A Priestland kick is charged down and England look to set up a try. Priestland comes in for a late tackle and is sent for a 10 minute cool down.

45mins PENALTY! Farrell sends another one over, ENGLAND 12-6 WALES

47mins Wales slow down play as they advance to the English 22.

50mins Slow, disciplined work from Wales as they hang on to possession. The phases are going well until England win a penalty. Farrell boots for touch and finds the Welsh 22.

52mins England maul from the lineout and are held at the 22. England spill and Wales isolate the English defender. Wales miss touch but England's clearance sets up a Welsh attack. Wales win a penalty at the ruck.

53mins PENALTY! Halfpenny sends it over. ENGLAND 12-9 WALES

54mins Ryan Jones replaces Alun Wyn Jones.

55mins Priestland waits to come back on as England knock on in the Welsh half.

56mins Priestland rejoins play as the teams pack down.

57mins Wales win a penalty for offside from the scrum. They boot for touch but don't find much territory.

59mins England with a series of turnovers on the half way line. They spread wide and advance to the Welsh 22.

60mins Play is halted as the English attack is bundled into touch. All the pressure is on Wales and England are looking extremely hungry for a try.

61mins Youngs is on for Dixon. Tom Croft pinches the Welsh lineout.

62mins England are penalised but Priestland misses touch. England return and win a penalty on the floor.

63mins Farrell misses his kick.

65mins England with a relentless onslaught on Wales. The men in red can't seem to get out their own half. Toby Flood comes on for Farrell.

66mins Wales get into the English half and are awarded a scrum.

68mins Wales burst into the English 22 and come inches from the line. England steal on the floor and clear.

69mins England are penalised for bringing Warburton down from the jump at the lineout. Wales kick for touch and find the English 22.

70mins England penalised for a hand in the ruck. Halfpenny to go for the posts.

71mins PENALTY! Halfpenny levels the scores. ENGLAND 12-12 WALES

73mins England mount a fast-paced attack but get an unlucky offside call. Wales kick for touch.

74mins Priestland sends it high into the English 22 and Foden calls the mark. They send it back to Wales and win turnover.

76mins TRY! Replacement Scott Williams steals ball and hacks on. He wins the foot race and dives over. Halfpenny converts. ENGLAND 12-19 WALES

77mins England come within a whisker as George North knocks an English grubber kick into touch on the five-metre line.

78mins England with a penalty and kick for touch for five-metre lineout. Wales set up their defence.

79mins Wales look to have turned over but England are awarded the lineout. They kick for touch and go for the five-metre lineout.

80mins England spread wide and go over the line, but it looks to be held up. It's going upstairs.

83mins INCONCLUSIVE -NO TRY!

FULL TIME! ENGLAND 12-19 WALES Wales win the Triple Crown! To be fair, though, England were extremely unlucky to lose this match. It's a cliche but it could have gone either way. England will take a lot of positives from this game, but Wales take the 2012 Triple Crown, and their first ever Triple Crown at Twickenham.

NEWS BY:http://www.sportsmole.co.uk

Overnight Alcohol Related Emergency Visits Almost Treble Since UK Licensing Laws Changed

The number of people kept overnight for emergency care because of alcohol-related problems has almost tripled since the UK changed its licensing laws, according to and article in the Emergency Medicine Journal (BMJ).

In November, 2005, UK licensing laws changed so that establishments can sell alcohol virtually 24/7. It was thought that by extending licensing hours binge drinking and crime and disorder related to drunkenness would go down.

This study looked at the number of emergency care visits to an inner-city London teaching hospital during two separate months - one month before the change in law, the other month after. It is a large emergency department, close to several drinking establishments. The study only looked at people over 16 who had been drinking before coming into the emergency department.

The study found that:
(March 2005 was before the change in the law, March 2006 was after the change)

-- March 2005 - over 10,000 emergency department visits were made
-- March 2006 - 3% fewer emergency department visits were made (compared to 2005)
-- March 2005 - 2,700 overnight visits to emergency care
-- March 2006 - 3,100 overnight visits to emergency care
-- March 2005 - 3% of overnight stays were alcohol related (79 total)
-- March 2006 - 8% of overnight stays were alcohol related (250 total)

The authors believe that the new legislation, rather than curb binge drinking and alcohol related crime and disorder, has had the opposite effect. They said "We feel that our findings are likely to be representative of inner city (emergency care departments) in the UK. If reproduced over longer time periods and across the UK, as a whole, the additional numbers of patients presenting to emergency care, with alcohol related problems could be very substantial."

NEWS BY:http://www.medicalnewstoday.com

Education Divisions Boost McGraw-Hill and Pearson Earnings

Two of the biggest players in education publishing had good news to report in their most recent earnings filings, even though McGraw-Hill (MHP) supplied more tangible information than its U.K.-based competitor, Pearson (PSO).

McGraw-Hill Sees Strong Gains in Education Division

For its third quarter, McGraw-Hill's profit rose to $380 million, or $1.23 a share, from $336 million, or $1.07 a share in the year-earlier period -- a 15% increase from the same time last year and way above analysts' expectations of $1.10 EPS. Total revenue grew by 5.5% to $1.98 billion, also beating analysts' projections for the company.

On the education side, revenue jumped 5.5% to $1.1 billion while operating profit grew 19.9% to $357.5 million. That took into account a $3.8 million pre-tax gain on the divestiture of a secondary school business in Australia, while foreign exchange had negligible impact this quarter, a far cry from previous earnings periods.

Looking at specific education segments, revenue for the School Education Group increased by 6.7% to $534.7 million compared to the same time last year, while the higher education side went up 4.3% to $520.0 million. The School Education Group is now on track to capture 30% of the estimated $825 million to $875 million state new adoption market in 2010, owing in large part to substantial orders from the adoption states with the biggest student enrollments, such as Texas, California, and Florida.

Good news also came from the Standard & Poor's side, as that division's revenue increased 9.5% to $697.4 million compared to 12 months ago. The biggest reason? High-yield debt issuance.

As for information and media, Q3 revenue declined by 4.7% to $227.8 million compared to the same period last year, but it would have increased 5.1% if not for lingering residue from the sale of BusinessWeek to Bloomberg. Operating profit for this division also increased by 55.1% to $45.8 million in the third quarter.

In a statement, Chairman, CEO and President Harold McGraw III attributed the earnings jump to a slew of factors, including "surging global high-yield issuance in the bond market, a solid gain at S&P Indices, increases in U.S. elementary-high school and higher education in the seasonally most important quarter of the year, double-digit increases in the sales of digital products and services in higher education and professional markets, and global growth in energy information products."

Looking ahead, the company is bumping up its guidance, now anticipating earnings per share somewhere between $2.60 and $2.65, even with a one-time gain of 2 cents EPS from recent acquisitions.

Pearson Finds Success in Move to Global Learning Technology

As for Pearson, its nine-month trading report was thin on numbers and long on percentage-driven positive news. Overall, the company increased sales by 7% and adjusted operating profit 15% in the first nine months of 2010. Its trade book publishing arm, Penguin, saw revenue grow 5% compared to last year, and the education side increased 7% from 12 months ago. That piece of news caused Pearson to remark that it continues "to accelerate our transformation from book publisher to the leading global learning technology and services company through organic investment and bolt-on acquisitions."

An 11% jump in revenue for the Financial Times came about because of "strong demand for its print and digital content," increased M&A activity and sustained advertising growth. For Penguin, Pearson noted that "physical retail markets are tough," but they were offset "by strong publishing and rapid growth in eBook sales" for 16,500 titles currently available. Industry newsletter Publishers Lunch ran the numbers, and for e-books that means "if Penguin ebooks went from 8.5% of U.S. sales after two quarters to 10% of U.S. sales in the third quarter, that would comprise revenue of approximately $4 million."

In other words, as is the case for almost all big publishers right now, e-books are growing, but the story is still small potatoes compared to larger sectors like education -- and print publishing as a whole.


NEWS BY: http://www.dailyfinance.com

Some U.S. College Students Look to the U.K.

LONDON—When final-year economics undergraduate Robert Rogers transferred from Georgetown University to the London School of Economics, his annual tuition fees plummeted to around $20,000 a year from around $41,000.

"It didn't even occur to me to apply abroad when I was in high school," said Mr. Rogers, on a recent afternoon outside the LSE's Students' Union. "I certainly didn't hear of any of my [high-school] classmates applying to study abroad."

Mr. Rogers said that his reasons for moving to the LSE weren't financially motivated. But finances drive others to follow him. As tuition at U.S. colleges increasingly becomes less affordable for many—and as spots at the most competitive institutions more and more resemble gold dust—some American high schoolers are looking to the United Kingdom to meet their educational needs.
Doing the Math

It is almost heresy to say it right now here in the U.K., what with English students recently taking to the streets in protest at the government's proposal to raise tuition fees to no less than £6,000 a year (just under $10,000) for some domestic enrollees, but the fact remains that, by U.S. standards, universities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland remain a "cheap" place to get an education.

Tuition fees in the U.K. vary from institution to institution, and also from region to region, but the cost for an overseas undergraduate at University of St. Andrews, in Scotland, for the academic year 2009-2010 would be about $19,000.

And if you're lucky enough to be able to claim "home" or "European Union" status, this figure would be just shy of $3,000 a year—though it is set to triple or even quadruple from 2012 onward for some institutions south of the Scottish border under the British coalition government's aggressive overhauls to higher-education funding.

Even to study in the University of Oxford's hallowed halls would cost a U.S. student just over $20,000 for an undergraduate program of study. (The fee would be about $4,700 for a U.K. student.)

Every college that features in the top 20 of the U.S. News and World Report's most recent ranking of best U.S. colleges costs at least $34,000 a year for tuition and fees. Most, in fact, are closer to $40,000 a year, and quite a few top that level.

The downsides of going abroad include: plane tickets, time zones, foul weather and the cultural labyrinth resulting from two nations divided, as the saying goes, by a common language. However, if one is contemplating spending at the higher end of the scale, there is also approximately $80,000 or more to be saved.

More than 3,000 normally U.S.-domiciled undergraduate-level students applied to do just that in 2009, according to UCAS, the organization responsible for managing applications to higher-education programs in the U.K. And while only 1,330 were accepted, according to UCAS, the relatively modest numbers mask a rising trend.

There has been a 27% increase in undergraduate applications from U.S. students since 2006, while the total number of U.S. students studying for full degrees at British higher-education institutions as of 2009—across both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels—stands at just over 14,000, data from the U.K.'s Higher Education Statistics Agency show.

It is "very important that [students] enter the global economy with global competencies," said Allan Goodman, president and chief executive officer of the Institute of International Education, in emailed comments.

Todd Weaver, an education consultant with Strategies for College Inc., a Canton, Mass.-based advisory firm, said that while students and parents in the U.S. are starting to realize that it is relatively inexpensive to study in places such as the U.K., they are also weighing the reduced cost against "the ability to have a network in place after college" when job hunting.

"If you go to school in New England, for example, there's a good chance you will be looking for a job in the local area," said Mr. Weaver.
European Vacation?

Steven Goodman, an admissions strategist with education specialist Top Colleges who has worked extensively placing students at colleges as far afield as Romania and South Africa, said the major difficulty facing U.S. students who want to study in the U.K. isn't necessarily to do with the perceived job market back home, but with "the English secondary-school specialization that is not usually a part of the American high-school curriculum."

NEWS BY:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704563204575641621042415364.html?mod=googlewsj

UK small caps climb higher at midday; Sanatana Diamonds top on Kimberlite find

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - UK small caps climbed higher at midday, reflecting the positive mood of the wider market, with Sanatana Diamonds the top riser after its Kimberlite discovery.

At 12.05 pm, the FTSE Small Cap index was 4.30 points up at 3,792.70, while the FTSE 100 was 33.40 points ahead at 6,533.80.

Sanatana Diamonds gained 4-1/2 pence to 20-1/2 as it announced a discovery of Kimberlite on the Greenhorn Project in the Northwest territories.

It said Kimberlite, a type of rock best known for containing diamonds, was intersected at a 5.5 metre depth during the drilling of a vertical hole on the G14 magnetic anomaly.

The new kimberlite has been named 'Dharma'.

Drilling is continuing in kimberlite at a greater than 145 metre depth and will continue as long as it remains in kimberlite or until the drill reaches the end of its supply of drilling rods at 250 metres, the company said in a statement.

Also buoyed by positive drilling news was Kalahari Minerals, which moved ahead 2-1/2 pence to 25-1/2 as it said it has received further positive drilling results from its Witvlei project in Namibia, prompting Evolution Securities to keep its 'buy' stance on the stock.

Completing the hat-trick was Lithic Metals which stayed higher, up 1 pence to 7, but slipped from an earlier high of 7-3/4 pence, on the back of encouraging nickel reach results from its Mitaba Hills Project in Zambia.

Intercede Group climbed 6 pence higher to 38-1/2, as the smart card and identity management software maker reported 'excellent' progress in the first-half to end September, adding its sales for the period rose more than 20 pct compared with the year-ago period, while provider of educational qualifications and assessment services Education Development International rose 2-1/2 pence to 37 as it predicted group adjusted operating profit of not less than 2 mln stg for the year.

Positive trading news also lifted Redhall Group 10 pence to 250 as the specialist engineering support services group revealed another year of strong growth and confirmed that full-year results are anticipated to be slightly ahead of market expectations.

Each of the group's three operating divisions has seen material improvement in trading year on year.

Elsewhere, on a more modest note Landround ticked up 1 to 17-1/2 after the AIM-listed rewards programme and promotions group disclosed narrowing losses at the half-way mark, while Lighthouse Group, 2 pence higher to 25, said it did not see any reason for the recent movement in the group's share price, but said current trading remains strong, with full-year results expected to be in line with expectations.

Specialty drug company Vernalis ticked up 2 pence to 17-1/2 after its executive chairman Peter Fellner bought 252,000 shares at 16.25 pence each, lifting his stake to 415,888 shares or 0.133 pct of the company's issued share capital.

Meanwhile, a contract win for Nasstar lifted shares 2-1/2 pence to 38, as the software supplier said it had won a contract of undisclosed value to provide electronic communications and services to Stelios Haji-Ioannou's easyGroup.

AIM-listed Nasstar said it would supply easyGroup's easyCar, easyBus,

easyHotel and easyCruise businesses with hosted desktop, hosted exchange email,

hosted BlackBerry and hosted sharepoint services.

The contract is for an initial period of 1 year with an immediate

requirement of more than 130 users subscribing for a combination of Nasstar's

on-demand services, Nasstar said.

Meanwhile car dealership group Lookers shifted up a gear, adding 4-1/4 to 142, following the acquisition of rival Dutton Forshaw Group from Lloyds TSB Asset Finance Division for up to 60 mln stg, prompting KBC Peel Hunt to keep

its 'buy' rating on the stock and 250 pence price target.

In a statement earlier today, the company said the deal comprises a payment

of about 28 mln stg for the entire issued share capital of Dutton Forshaw and

the assumption of a maximum of 32 mln stg of debt.

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Tracing musical style through technology

Aberdeen academics will employ the techniques of DNA sequencing to look at how music has changed over the centuries.

They are part of an international team successful in securing a £100,000 grant from the Digging into Data project, which supports researchers using computational techniques to change the nature of humanities and social sciences research.

Dr Frauke Jurgensen, a lecturer in music at the University of Aberdeen, will lead the Aberdeen team, working alongside academics from Canada and the USA, to study changes in musical style from 1300 to 1900.

They will employ computational techniques, including those more commonly used in genetics research, to pinpoint transitions in musical style which could ultimately change the way in which we appreciate and perform music from this era.

Dr Jurgensen will focus on Renaissance music, analysing the changes in musical chords and melodic motions using advanced music information retrieval techniques.

She said: “As a singer I have a strong interest in music from a performance perspective, and if you are going to perform or even listen to music then you have to understand it.

“Modern audiences are not going to be familiar with much of the music we are looking at, since we subconsciously build up an understanding of the music we normally listen to.

“Much of the music we are investigating deserves to be performed, and we hope that by developing our understanding of the way it is constructed, we can help modern audiences and musicians to connect to it.”

Dr Jurgensen will use the digitised collections of several large music repositories, including the music of Palestrina and his contemporaries, to extract answers as to how the styles of the composers differ.

She will work with Professor George Coghill, Head of Computing Science at the University of Aberdeen and Dr Ian Knopke from the BBC, with Dr David Smith, Head of Music at the University of Aberdeen, acting in an advisory role.

“The collections we are looking at extend to thousands of pieces and if you were to attempt this kind of analysis by hand it would take many years.

“By using digitised data we are able to use pattern matching techniques similar to those in DNA sequencing to look at both similarities and differences in the music.

“We will be able to pinpoint the way in which a composer writes a piece of music that makes it different from another composer from the same period.

“This way of looking at music should help us to understand not only how this older music works, but also affects our understanding of newer music, which is underpinned by similar concepts.”




NEWS BY:http://www.abdn.ac.uk/news/details-11607.php

Cambridge University unveils letter from Charles Dickens to his son

It's like any letter written by an affectionate dad to his student son at university: work hard, keep a close eye on your spending, and if you have any problems, let me know.

A revealing missive penned by Charles Dickens to his son Henry nearly 150 years ago has been highlighted by Cambridge University today on the 200th anniversary of the great writer’s birth.

The letter was written while the author of Great Expectations was staying at a hotel in Liverpool, in October 1868. Dickens’ son, Henry, then just 19 and the first of the writer’s 10 children to go to university, had just arrived at Trinity Hall in Cambridge, to study maths.

His message to his son, which begins "Dear Harry", reveals that student debt is by no means just a 21st century phenomenon. It says: "I enclose you another cheque, for £25," and goes on to discuss his allowance, £250 a year ("handsome for all your wants") his requirements for furniture and clothes ("I strongly recommend you to buy nothing in Cambridge") and his decision to send him a consignment of drink, so he can enjoy the undergraduate life – three dozen bottles of sherry, two dozen bottles of port, three dozen light clarets, and six bottles of brandy.

Dickens Senior then exhorts his young son to be prudent when handling money: "Now observe attentively – we must have no shadow of debt." Throughout his life, Dickens was haunted by the memory of his own father sinking into debt, and being sent to prison as a result. Charles was sent to the pawnbroker’s with the family books and much of their furniture, and was later sent to work at Warren’s Blacking Factory, aged just 12.

The letter, given to the Cambridge college in 1957 by Christopher Dickens, one of Henry’s grandchildren, tells the young student: "You know how hard I work for what I get, and I think you know that I never had money help from any human creature after I was a child. If you ever find yourself on the verge of perplexity or difficulty, come to me. You will never find me hard with you while you are manly and truthful."

Dr Jan-Melissa Schramm, fellow in English at Trinity Hall, has written two books for Cambridge University Press about Charles Dickens. She said: "The letter speaks very powerfully to the parents of students today, not only about caring for their children’s spiritual well-being, but also about supplying their material wants.

NEWS BY:http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Education-and-Training/Universities/Cambridge-University-unveils-letter-from-Charles-Dickens-to-his-son-06022012.htm

IBM relies on social business software at Lotusphere conference

At the IBM's Lotusphere conference in Florida last month, Big Blue made several announcements on the future of its enterprise collaboration software.

The theme was social business, and it was evident from the number of sessions with the word "social" in the agenda, that IBM is banking on it to drive growth in businesses (including its own) in the future.

Ultimately, social business is a competitive differentiator," says Alistair Rennie, GM of collaboration solutions at IBM.

Speaking at the opening general session, Rennie says businesses can profit from harnessing the knowledge and skills of its employees by implementing social networking functions into their IT. He says current collaboration tools, like email, are being misused, and companies should focus on a unified and integrated communications platform.

"I would shut off my own email if it wasn't running on Lotus Notes," jokes Rennie.

IBM says it is ready to provide the social business platform of the future, and announced a host of collaboration-orientated changes to its Lotus software to meet that demand. Big Blue demonstrated its much anticipated cloud-based document collaboration tool, IBM Docs.

The software, formerly known as LotusLive Symphony, lets users edit and manage documents with real-time collaboration, and has many of the same features found in competing products such as Google Docs and Office 365. Docs is currently in closed beta, but IBM says it will be available later this year as a part of its new SmartCloud for Business product.

IBM's Sametime also received new features this year. The telephony and communications software will see deeper integration into different Lotus systems, including the ability to start video conferencing from within emails and instant messages, using Polycom's RealPresence technology.

Collaboration software

IBM's social business platform will be tied together with its Connections collaboration software, which IBM says also supports Notes and Domino, Exchange and Sharepoint software.

Children's Hospital Boston is currently using the Connections software to help staff collaborate on cases within the hospital, and also externally through what it calls 'telemedicine'.




NEWS BY:http://www.computerworlduk.com

Asus Talks Refunds for UK Transformer Prime Users

The Asus Transformer Prime got off to a bit of a rocky start, and the fact that the company announced a brand new model just a few weeks after it hit the shops probably didn't help matters. The company has done its best to placate users unhappy with the GPS, supposed WiFi issues and locked bootloader, but the company is now offering another alternative: A full refund. The company today said that extensive checks have confirmed that no units with WiFi issues have been supplied to customers in the UK, it is willing to refund customers that are still unhappy with their device.

"After extensive checks we can confirm that no units have been supplied to the UK with a known WiFi issue. Any customers experiencing WiFi issues specifically are advised to contact our support hotline on 0870 1208 340," Asus UK said. "Any customers who have purchased a Transformer Prime TF201 and are dissatisfied with the performance of the GPS module are advised to return the unit to their point of purchase for a full refund as per standard consumer rights that apply in the UK."

For those that don't want to return their brand new tablet, the company is offering to extend its standard 12-month warranty to 18 months. Users wishing to extend their warranty can do so by calling the number mentioned above.

If you've bought a Transformer Prime but are eager to get the improved version, the TF700, then you should think carefully before returning your TF201. Asus UK says the TF700, announced last week at CES, won't arrive in the UK until June, which means you could be without tablet for as much as six months before the upgraded version becomes available.

NEWS BY:http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Asus-UK-Transformer-Prime-Refund-New-Model-TF700,14516.html