Delighted to be starting a new job today as education correspondent for The Scotsman! Please get in touch with any tips and stories - calum.ross
@nationalworld
.com
@Ianblackford_MP
has called on
@grantshapps
to apologise to Inverness Airport after memos revealed the UK Government approved controversial Russia flight
Baby Box ear thermometers were quietly withdrawn and replaced amid concerns about accuracy and their suitabilty for use on young babies. Why were they included in the first place and why did it take so long to make the switch?
BREAKING: Scotland scores have fallen sharply in Pisa tests, down 18 points in maths, 11 in reading and 7 in science.
The drops are larger than those for England, the UK as a whole and the OECD averages.
Scotland falls below OECD average in maths and science for the first time.
Some news... this will be my last week at The P&J after more than 15 years! Thanks to all the incredible people I've worked with during my stints in Aberdeen, Westminster, Inverness and Holyrood.
Secondary school leaders have warned that Scotland’s policy of mainstreaming pupils has “not been entirely successful” and is often leading to a “poorer” outcomes for young people, due to insufficient resources.
International students are more likely than Scots to be offered places to study in most subject areas at the nation’s top universities. In many courses, we found the offer rate for overseas students was double the rate for Scots at Edinburgh University.
From KwaZulu-Natal to Keith: I spoke to
@KirkJTorrance
, the ex
@snp
digital guru who has reunited with
@AlexSalmond
to help launch
@AlbaParty
and try to get himself elected on the Highlands and Islands list. Read the full interview here: via
@pressjournal
I spoke to three Edinburgh University students who say their hopes and spirits have been 'broken' by repeated disruptions to their education over the last four years, with the uni's marking boycott response the latest 'slap in the face'
Former Labour minister Peter Peacock has called on the next Scottish Government to urgently buy-up estates to protect the land from the rise of 'green lairds'… via
@pressjournal
I spoke to St Andrews University lecturer
@MalakaShwaikh
as she tries to rescue her "terrified" family from Gaza. She said she was "overwhelmed" as a fundraising campaign hit £50k within 24 hours and is now at more than £64k.
John Swinney said today he would 'look with care' at a proposal from
@JimHunter22
in his
@PJOpinion
column for the creation of a new body to tackle the crippling housing crisis in the Highlands and Islands via
@pressjournal
At
#PMQs
today,
@RThomsonMP
raised this story from Monday which revealed the UK Government gave the go-ahead to a flight from Inverness to Moscow just hours after banning Russian flights. via
@pressjournal
My full interview with
@andywightman
on the
#SalmondInquiry
, leaving the
@scottishgreens
, his decision to stand in the Highlands and Islands at the upcoming
#HolyroodElection
, (and the role played by Terry Wogan and Hurricane Higgins in sparking his interest in politics).
The first point in Jenny Gilruth's initial five point action plan to tackle school violence in Scotland seems to be to... develop an action plan (as Alex Rowley points out)
Jenny Gilruth was privately warned by senior figures at Scotland's education agency that ongoing 'instability' caused by her delays to the reform programme were denting staff morale and undermining services for teachers and children
Scottish Government officials have been “considering dispersing government workforce more widely across Scotland”, with the Highlands and Islands to be “prioritised as a location” for new departments.
Scottish Land Commission chief exec
@HamishTrench
on the work that is under way to address concerns about the impact of so-called "Green lairds", buying up land in rural areas for carbon offsetting purposes.
Today
@pressjournal
reveals how slave trade profits have been used to give grants to teachers and schools in Moray and Aberdeenshire for almost 200 years. Should the 'tainted' Dick Bequest now be returned to Jamaica? via
@pressjournal
Jenny Gilruth said last year she wanted to hear the views of teachers before responding to the Hayward review. The Scotsman reveals today a majority of Scottish teachers told the Government they were opposed to scrapping exams for S4 pupils.
From the P&J's new columnist,
@DavidRossherald
! Let's not labour the 'modern Clearances' line: but history has lessons for us on land reform… via
@pressjournal
It is now almost 10 years since a police probe was launched into the use of Scottish airports for CIA 'torture flights'.
@sam_raph
and
@ruthblakeley
, the academics whose work prompted the inquiry, have told of their frustration at its lack of progress.
The top 100 landowners in Scotland should be named in a “rich list” which shows how much public money they get, according to a former Labour government minister Peter Peacock. via
@pressjournal
Police chiefs have repeatedly refused to provide any kind of breakdown of local officer numbers in the Highlands and islands.
@CalumA_Steele
says their reasons are "spurious nonsense"
We have a full breakdown today of the amount of taxpayers money being spent by the Ministry of Defence on fees to help send the children of military personnel to Scotland's top private schools
Looks like more big cuts on the way for Scotland's colleges and universities. Budget papers show a £107.4m reduction for the Scottish Funding Council, with resource funding for colleges going down by £58.7m and universities by 48.5m
Surely more could be done to help students like Emma MacKenzie? She planned to stay in Scotland but as things stand must now return to Canada in just two weeks because the
#markingboycott
means she can't graduate and get the visa she needs to stay
EXC: British academic Matthew Hedges, who was jailed after being accused of spying in the United Arab Emirates in 2018, has questioned Edinburgh University’s decision to offer a platform to a man he claims is a “mouthpiece” for those who detained him.
The Scottish Government could resurrect a policy of moving civil service jobs from the central belt to the Highlands and islands – and has been urged to start with CalMac and the new National Care Service. via
@pressjournal
@ucuedinburgh
emphasising that the marking and assessment boycott remains ongoing. The strikes were called off after management agreed to halt salary deductions.
People who have read this will know it was the Scottish Government that said it hadn't delivered or funded any of these devices since April 2021, when the SNP pledge was made. As is made clear, some councils have been rolling out their own programmes without specific funding.
Documents show how transport officials have privately admitted that long-awaited plans to dual the A96 between Inverness and Nairn - including the Nairn bypass - could be scrapped or shelved amid a capital spending squeeze.
Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney were warned of "concerns" about the ear thermometers in Scotland's Baby Box programme nine months before the digital devices were eventually removed.
@KirstySNP
on the talents of
@MiriamBrett
: “It has always been clear that Miriam’s passion and dedication will ensure she goes far, but she is also one of the smartest, hardest working people I’ve ever had the opportunity to work with."
#ScotGenNext
Close to 500 Edinburgh University academics have signed an open letter accusing management of showing 'cavalier disregard' for students, staff and degree standards in their response to ongoing industrial action
🟢 Edinburgh University bosses condemned by 496 academics over 'cavalier disregard' for students, staff and standards |
@CalumRoss23
➡️ "We are appalled that our degrees and the welfare of our students...should be treated with such a cavalier disregard."
Bosses at a Scottish university have been jetting back and forth to a campus in Qatar. One claimed expenses for at least 34 nights in Doha hotels last year. And a total bill of close to £20,000 was racked up by senior managers in four months last summer
In today's Scotland On Sunday, the country's largest teaching union
@EISUnion
delivers a damning verdict on the Scottish Government's delay to school qualifications reform
🇬🇧 A 'Betrayal' Of Pupils If Exam Reform Is Sidelined
▫Scottish education at risk of falling further behind rest of world, teaching union warns Scottish Government
▫
@CalumRoss23
🇬🇧
#frontpagestoday
#UK
@scotonsunday
Congrats to
@Gillian_Mac11
, who has just become the first Green MSP for Central Scotland. Here's our Generation Next interview with her from last year: via
@pressjournal
@drewhendrySNP
: “That this latest additional energy penalty is down to yet another UK government mistake, one that has punished northern Scots for years, is a disgrace and must be urgently rectified.” via
@pressjournal
£4.2m was due to be spent between 2016/17 and 2019/20 on FFP3 respirator masks for Scotland's PPE pandemic supplies, but it didn't go ahead after a last minute policy change by the UK Government. Instead, stockpiles were depleted and expiry dates on the masks were extended.
Ongoing parent and pupil anxiety since the pandemic has been put forward as one reason why the proportion of pupils regularly missing school remains way above pre-Covid levels, as well as a shift in attitudes among some families in the wake of lockdowns
Pro-UK groups including These Islands, Our Scottish Future, Scottish Business UK and the Centre for the Union are among those accused of lacking financial transparency, as is the pro-Yes Scottish Independence Convention and non-partisan Reform Scotland.
Former First Minister
@LordMcConnell
has called for a 'firm commitment' from SNP ministers that they will order a return to his policy of relocating civil service jobs away from Edinburgh, to places like the Highlands and Islands. via
@pressjournal
A Moray Council spokesperson said: “We appreciate and accept that everyone has differing views on drag queens but believe our fun, lively and joyous celebration of reading and self-expression is a suitable way to encourage confidence in our young readers."
Universities expected the funding for 1,200 extra places for Scottish students to end. It was linked to the pandemic and the SQA exam results fiasco. But removing that funding will not come close to covering the cut in the higher education budget.