Fewer 14-year-olds have met the required standards in maths, new test results show.

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Business leaders feel educational standards have not improved in the last 10 years, despite official figures.

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Bursaries of £1,000 could help recruit more students to science courses at university, says the CBI.

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Pupils who fail to make progress when they begin secondary school are being identified for extra support.

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England's qualifications chief says many schools spend too long drilling children to pass tests.

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The government denies it is planning to replace A-levels with a qualification combining vocational and academic elements.

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The government is urged to take time to get its plans to rebuild England's schools right by an MPs' committee.

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A scheme giving primary pupils in England fruit each day improves their diet, a study of 5,000 found.

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Primary school test results in England have shown a slight improvement in English, maths and science.

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August 6, 2007

OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria (Mexico) was appointed by its 30 member countries in mid 2006. His feet hit the pavement running as he espouses his tremendous support for education. The educational community and all communities who nurture the dreams of students should stand shoulder to shoulder with this man who speaks with his heart and his head.

The OECD Forum 2007 with the theme of Innovation, Growth and Equity was held at the Palais Brongniart in Paris, France/14-15 May 2007. We listened very carefully to this man of courage and were able to be part of some of his big dreams for education. The Secretary General of OECD dreams of providing laptop computers for every young child in the World. (I believe the ages were 6/7 to 11 years of age. The dream of communications, computations and raising the literacy level throughout is excellent. After talking briefly with the Secretary General about his dream, I was cornered by computer chip manufacturers who were most interested in his dream. The contrast of the altruistic Secretary General to the dollar signs of the computer chip manufacturers was chilling. Yet, as I thought it over, we do need both to make this dream happen.

A question to our forum is: What are your thoughts about supplying laptop computers to all the young children in the world. Approx. 6/7 to age 11. What are the pros and cons? What are the literacy benefits and constraints and what are the on-gong financial implications of such a project.

Since this is a real life question and does have far reaching implications in many areas mentioned in the above paragraph, please pause to give great attention to these question(s).
Thank you,
Rob Harriman, Ed.D.
http://www.segarama.com