Day: June 6, 2008 Articles

Despite the very real improvements in education during the last 10
years, many teenagers still switch off at 14 and fail to achieve their
potential. Sadly, some young people decide that academic subjects are
not for them because they can’t see the relevance to the world of work.

Surbiton’s premier seat of learning and place of my day-job, Kingston
University doesn’t normally hit the headlines. However the recent furore when two psychology staff were covertly taped urging students to rate the institution highly an on-line survey has put us on the map.
Crucially, the whole sorry tale is much more than a case of lazy
lecturers caught red-handed fiddling the figures. It speaks volumes
about the marketisation of education, staff-student relations and a
sector that many argue is at an all-time low in terms of morale, pay
and conditions.

Russia has received a lot of attention in the past month. This was mainly due to two events: Dmitry Medvedev succeeding Vladimir Putin as President, and Moscow hosting the Champions League
final between two English clubs, Manchester United and Chelsea.

Ok, it would be churlish not to mention a third event: the triumph of Russia’s Dima Bilan in the Eurovision song contest. The
‘Karachay-born heart-throb’ wiped the floor with Britain’s Andy Abraham
– who came joint last – amid widespread complaints of politically
motivated back-scratching among the former Soviet bloc. Our beloved
Terry Wogan has gained something like infamy in Russia for threatening to give up commentating on Eurovision.