Northern Ireland’s MLAs are being asked to give their backing to UCU’s Make Education Count campaign. At an event at Stormont, the UCU – supported by the Ulster Teachers Union (UTU) and the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) – is presenting statistics that detail how Northern Ireland continues to lag behind the rest of the [...]

Activists in Wales launched the Make Education Count network with a cross-party panel discussion on the future priorities of the first minister-elect Carwyn Jones. Taking place just a day after Carwyn was elected to succeed Rhodri Morgan as leader of Welsh Labour and as the next first minister, UCU activists listened to speakers from all [...]

The Make Education Count Westminster Network was launched on 2 December in the House of Commons. On the heels of the ‘Location, Location, Location‘ report and news that the UK has fewer young people in education and training that the majority of other OECD countries, the launch emphasised social mobility and equality of opportunity. Flanked [...]

In Scotland, UCU used Tuesday’s appointment of Michael Russell as Scotland’s new Cabinet Secretary for Education to demand an independent review of higher education. The news came on the eve of UCU’s Holyrood lobby as part of the ‘Make Education Count’ campaign, which took on extra significance as the first education event with the new education [...]

Ahead of the launch in Northern Ireland, UCU released figures that revealed that Northern Ireland is bottom of UK tables that measure employment rates and people with qualifications. Northern Ireland is the region with the highest percentage of people without qualifications. One in five (21.8%) people have no qualifications, which is a long way off the [...]

UCU this week called on politicians of all parties in the United Kingdom to ‘Make Education Count’. The union took the message to Westminster, Cardiff, Stormont and Holyrood and encouraged everyone who had a passion for education to join the campaign and get the UK back on track. UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: ‘We [...]

Northern Ireland’s MLAs have been pledging their support to the Make Education Count campaign. A letter was sent to all MLAs seeking their support in advance of the 2 December event where there will be a presentation to the DEL committee to sign up to the Make Education Count Northern Ireland Network. Constituency profiles will [...]

Preparations are still underway for our launch event on 2 December. The political team have been busy meeting with MPs and explaining what the network will be about. Good news this month came when we confirmed that Plumpton College would be able to supply wine, rape seed oil and honey produced by students at their [...]

The latest briefing from UCU’s political team is now available at: www.ucu.org.uk/politicsmonthly This month’s edition ncludes the latest on the roll-out of out Make Education Count campaign across the UK and the launch of the Make Education Count political networks on 2 December.