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News & EventsNEWS - 15 May 2007 - Six months paternity leave plan for fathersFathers will be allowed a half share of their partner's year-long maternity leave, the Government said yesterday as it set out new proposals to boost the role of dads. Under the plan, a woman entitled to 12 months off work after having a baby will be able to go back to work after six months, leaving her husband or boyfriend at home full-time with the child for six months. Partners who are not the biological father of the child, or who are civil partners of the mother, will also be able to take the six months leave. The plans were published a year ago but they were only put out for consultation yesterday. The aim of the proposals, said the Government, was to give parents whose babies are due in or after April 2009 greater flexibility and allow men to play a bigger part in the upbringing of their children. But small firms - there are 4.3 million in Britain - expressed concern that the scheme would be an administrative nightmare, and research has shown that many men fear that taking up to six months leave amounts to "career death". At a time when many men go into full "hunter-gatherer" mode, a substantial number also want to bring in more money when a child is born rather than less. More: www.telegraph.co.uk NEWS - Schools under Labour have been turned into "factories" that churn out exam results but fail to educate children properly, according to a leading Government adviser. In a damning indictment of Tony Blair's school reforms, Alan Smithers, the professor of education at Buckingham University, says the Government has "done quite a lot of harm" to children by subjecting them to repeated tests. Addressing a conference today, he will say that the Prime Minister has produced a generation of children regarded as the most unhappy in the western world. Under Mr Blair, there has been a significant increase in funding for schools, coupled with a year-on-year rise in test scores for children aged 11, 14 and 16. But Prof Smithers, an expert on school standards, says there is mounting evidence that children's self-esteem and long-term development is being undermined by the target-driven culture in state schools. This move is driving rising numbers to educate children in the private sector. The comments come days after teachers said five-year-olds were being prevented from playing in water and sand trays at primary school because they were being drilled to pass national tests. More: www.telegraph.co.uk Previous News & EventsFebruary 2010November 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 January 2009 November 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 January 2008 January 2008 November 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 November 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 January 2005 January 2005 January 2005 |
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