Summer break

Dear readers,

Thank you for visiting this blog, which will be up and running again in September.

I wish you all a great summertime!

Fear of rape at University

A recent survey released by the National Union of Students (NUS), has revealed a worrying rape culture among university undergraduates.

Figures show that one out of seven female students have been seriously sexually assaulted, 16 per cent have been molested and a high 68 per cent have been victim of sexual harassment on campuses.

Universities are turning into dangerous environments and still there is no policy in place to stop such attacks.

A more specific survey conducted by Cambridge University is in line with the NUS shocking results. More than one in thirteen women at the prestigious campus has been assaulted, as 8.4 per cent of the female students who responded to the online survey said they had experienced attempts to seriously sexually assault them.

The fact that  most of the attacks took place inside the university’s colleges makes the whole picture even more disturbing.

However, 88 per cent of the victims did not report the assault to the police and most of them contacted university staff, instead. Their main concern is that of not being believed.  

A RapeCrisis spokeswoman said: “We need to shift the emphasis from educating women on how to protect themselves, to educating boys from a very young age about respect for women”.

Referring to the White House, that has implemented a task force to stop sexual violence at university as soon as the campus rape issue has exploded, the spokeswoman added: “What the White House is doing is very admirable. We would like to see the UK government doing the same, as taking the issue of sexual violence at university as seriously as that”.

Universities are institutions of higher education where something like ‘rape culture’ should not take place and they are expected to create a strategy to tackle the issue accordingly.

The Health and Wellbeing committee is currently examining the impact of rape and sexual assault at Cambridge campus.

Let's look at the economic recovery in perspective

The number of people in employment across the country has reached a record high of 30.64 million, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The report, which was released last week, shows how Britain’s economic recovery is generating hundreds of thousands of new jobs. The number of people in work during the three months to May has increased by 254,000, compared to the previous trimester.

Figures shows that during the same period the number of unemployed people dropped by 121,00 and the number of those not in the labour force aged 16-64 years fell by 67,000.

“People have had  a tough time since 2007, but if we really look at what has been happening during the last two years, that imbalances significantly pre-2010. Even though it is still a tough time for people, what they can see now is the journey that we are on, the projection that we are on, growing faster than other developed nations”, the Employment Minister Esther McVey said.

Even according to the economists, there are encouraging signs that the six-year squeeze on living standards may soon be at an end. 

Some people, however, are not feeling the recovery, with average base pay rising just 0.7 per cent, which is well below the 1.9 per cent rate of inflation. As if this was not enough,  the number of those in part-time work is higher than a year ago and the more flexible-hours culture is here to stay. 

But Ms McVey said: “The recovery is giving hope, confidence, optimism and we see that specifically now, within businesses who are taking on more people because they can see the journey we are on”.

“The priority is to make sure that we get more people into employment and more importantly, we have to look at progression in the workplace, look at our labour force, make sure people are getting their career path to get the economy as strong as possible”, she added.

Rocketing NHS costs hit foreign patients

Patients from non EU-countries will be charged 150 per cent of the cost of NHS treatment, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has announced yesterday. 

 

The plan, that will also apply to visitors on temporary work visas, is meant to get back the over £500million lost every year to treat people who are not entitled to free NHS care.

Non-EU nationals patients are currently charged 100 per cent of the cost of their surgery or treatment, however, only a minimum percentage of the amount is actually recovered.

According to Mr Hunt, there is an awful lot of pressure on the frontline because the NHS does not chase up these money, which could pay for thousands of extra doctors and nurses and that would make a massive difference to members of the staff who are working very hard.

Mark Porter, chairman of the British Medical Association Council, questioned the new plan by highlighting that doctors are only supposed to treat patients, not to act as border guards.

But the Health Secretary answered: “Anyone who is in need of emergency treatment, whether at a GP surgery or at an A&E department,  should get it without delay and that will not change at all. We have also made it clear that we don’t want to turn GPs into bodyguards, but want to make sure that we have a system where if someone isn’t actually entitled to free NHS care, they don’t automatically get a full NHS number, because one of the abuses at the moment is that anyone at all can go to a GP surgery and register and get a full NHS number, which is a passport to complete free care”.

Under the new scheme, foreign patients will pay over £2,200 for having  a baby, £2,800 for cataract and nearly £12,900 for a hip replacement.

Hospitals which fail to charge these patients, will face fines.

“We don’t mind international visitors  using the NHS but if they’re not making a contribution through the taxes, then they should  make a fare contribution through charges”, Mr Hunt said.

He added that the plan does not imply collecting every single penny of it but as much as possible to make a real difference to people working very hard on the frontline. 

Let's be flexible at work!

Most UK workers can now apply for flexible working.  

The right came into force yesterday and millions of employees with more than six months’ service are expected to opt for a working schedule that is actually suited to their family or study responsibilities. They will be allowed to work from home and/or reduce their hours, as well.

The legislation, which previously applied only to parents and carers, is meant to help people balancing the different aspects of their lives, boosting motivation, productivity and  improving staff retention rates.

According to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, flexible working increases staff morale and helps companies keep their top talent so that they can grow.

In our 24/7 society where most things are available at all times, a modern approach to work can only improve the lives of everyone.  Many businesses can continue making profits with members of the staff  altering the way they work.

“It is about time we brought working practice bang up to date with the needs and choices of our modern families”, Mr Clegg said.

Bosses are expected to handle the flexitime requests in a reasonable manner, according to their specific circumstances and requirements, while the process is being simplified with a detailed code of practice.

However,  the new rights are expected to be resisted by some companies that cannot see the benefits of a flexible working schedule, yet.

Is the British education system still unequal?

The British education system is still stratified and unequal, despite efforts to break the link between poverty and performance.

According to the Ofsted annual report from last academic year, in fact, private schools have achieved better results than state schools.

Education Secretary Michael Gove has answered to the inspectors of schools in England by saying:

“We have looked at those schools that have been inspected under a new, tighter inspection regime and teachers in state schools are more qualified than ever before.

“The reason why we are changing the education system by taking independent, fee-paying schools and making them state schools is because we need to make our society more equal”.

The same report has also highlighted that schools located in particular regions of the country, like rural and coastal areas, are under-achieving.

According to Ofsted inspectors, those schools are not doing well because of a lack of challenge from teachers, head teachers, governing boards and local authority in those specific areas.

“The unlucky child goes to a school with low expectations, where governance is poor and local authority does not know its school particularly well,” said Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw.

Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools in England also declared:

“I won’t accept and our Country should not accept leaders of our schools, governing bodies and leaders of our schools  to have low expectations on children just because they are poor or come from a particular culture. That is wrong”.

“We got to particularly focused upon the achievement levels of white British children from low income backgrounds who are doing poorest of all. What we have got to do is to highlight those areas which are stuck and are not improving at a rate that others are. (...) Ofsted itself will ensure that we focus on those areas more than we’ve ever done,” he added.

Education has been one of the busiest ministries of the last four years, introducing free schools, reforming the exam system and the curriculum. 

The great challenge now, is to ensure that the good leadership is spread more widely throughout our country.