Our children get good lessons in French and biology but that’s it

Our children get good lessons in French and biology, but that’s it Teachers lose their work, and are always absent. But the head has always stuck up for staff and made us feel that we or our children were in the wrong. Cherry and Richard Cunningham, SurreyA few years ago our primary school governors managed to get rid of a teacher. But it took so long, and caused so much tension and unhappiness that one governor said he wondered if it had been worth it.

He said they should have been more careful in appointing her. But he also said it was hard to believe the low calibre of many teaching applicants. Harriet Lee, HampshireAs a head, I would like to point out that not all parents’ complaints are justified, and it can be less than straightforward to work out if a teacher is failing. I had a maths teacher who had difficulty with younger pupils but was first-class with A level students. Should I have sacked him after complaints from parents of younger pupils? Or kept him because of his brilliance with older ones? He moved on before I had to decide. John Petersham, LondonNext week’s quandary ‘My daughter is coming up to take her GCSEs.

Many of her friends are being booked into Easter revision courses in their weakest subjects at a local independent school, so we are wondering if we should do this, too. The problem is, she hasn’t got an obvious weakness, although she could probably use help across the board But that would be incredibly expensive. What should we do?’ Send your letters or quandaries to Hilary Wilce, to reach her by next Monday, 3 March, at The Independent, Education Desk, Second Floor, Independent House, 191 Marsh Wall, London E14 9RS; or fax 020-7005 2143; or send e-mails to h.wilce btinternet Please include details of your postal address. Readers whose letters are printed will receive a Berol Combi Pack containing a cartridge pen, handwriting pen and ink eraser. Staff from other higher education institutions can now join Edge Hill College of Higher Education’s Postgraduate Certificate in Research Degree Supervision to explore and improve their practice. Whereas an undergraduate student is exposed to a significant number of teachers or lecturers, research students have only one or two If they are bad, they’re pretty stuck. You need someone who is aware of the nature of the research process, who can help students develop independent learning and support them through what is actually quite a difficult process.”Dr Olatunji Ogunyemi, senior lecturer in journalism at the University of Lincoln, sees the course as integral to his professional enhancement.

“It enables me to share and observe good practice in research degrees supervision across a range of disciplines, and is making me more confident as a supervisor. It gives a deep understanding of the problems research degree students face and how they grapple with them, and also gives the skills to manage the process and motivate students to fulfil their potential.”¿ The European Union has given the thumbs up to Coventry University’s MSc in European Construction, by selecting it to become part of a Europe-wide network to develop and disseminate best practice in European joint masters degrees. Coventry’s School of Science and Environment uses seven other European partners to teach and develop the programme, which has students spending their first term in Coventry, their second in Valencia, and their dissertation period in any one of the partner institutions in Germany, Denmark, Italy, Portugal or Spain.”There’s considerable interest in joint degrees like ours, with education ministers seeing them as a means towards European integration,” says Keith Chapman, course director, “And with 60 applications from courses to join this project, it’s something of an accolade to be chosen to participate.”His students get the best of European departments and their specialisms, he says. “The construction industry is becoming more European, with more cross-border work and integration of construction companies, and this course enables them to work within that European arena.”¿ Women scientists strapped for cash should visit the Research Success website, designed to help female scientists win the race for research funding.Launched by the East Midlands Local Academic Women’s Network (LAWN), the website was conceived at a one-day conference at Loughborough University, at which women scientists discussed how to tackle funding proposals productively, find the best avenues for funding opportunities, and put together creative research teams. Ken Livingstone should be put in charge of higher education: he is an excellent economist.