Powerful women

13 most powerful women in Britain

In comparison to the number of men working in Britain, there are clearly not an equal number of women working within this country. Furthermore of those women who do work, only a minority of them are actually asian, which is why when I come across articles like this, it makes a nice change.

Changes in the school curriculum

ARTICLE:

Twitter may join primary curriculum

Primary school pupils could be taught to master Twitter and Wikipedia instead of learning about history, it has been reported.

Former Ofsted chief Sir Jim Rose will present recommendations for revamping the primary curriculum to ministers next month. His interim report in December said that primary age children need a greater understanding of information technology and Sir Jim's proposals may say children should be familiar with blogging, podcasts, Wikipedia and Twitter by the time they go to secondary school.

Under the proposals, schools will no longer be required to teach Victorian history or the Second World War but can still opt to include them, The Guardian reported. Children will be expected to be able to place historical events which they have studied in date order under the new proposals.

Schools Minister Jim Knight said: "Sir Jim Rose's report has not been completed let alone published yet - but we are already getting stories about dropping this or removing that from the curriculum.

"The bottom line is that we are working with experts to free up the curriculum in a way that teachers have asked us to do but British history has, and always will be, a core part of education in this country. Of course pupils in primary school will learn about major periods including the Romans, the Tudors and the Victorians and will be taught to understand a broad chronology of major events in this country and the wider world."

Ministers will formally respond to Sir Jim's proposals when they are published next month. Sir Jim has said his aim is to create "a primary curriculum which is challenging and constantly enriches children's understanding, where they can apply knowledge and skills learnt in one subject to better understand another".

Hmm… good thing or a bad thing?

And now I know why…

ARTICLE:

Laser eye clinics ‘underplay risks’

Leading laser eye clinics are potentially endangering people's sight by underplaying risks and pushing customers into treatment, it has been claimed.
Optical Express, Optimax and Ultralase gave poor patient advice and encouraged customers to spend more during consultations, a panel of experts said.
The chains also 'played down' the risk of long-term complications, which can include permanently poor night vision or even loss of sight.
And in almost half of their undercover consultations, Which? researchers were not warned they would probably need glasses when they were older.
The consumer group said about 80 per cent of people seeking laser eye surgery used the three high street chains. But of the 18 clinics visited, more than half gave unsatisfactory advice.
'Clinics must give accurate information and ensure customers are fully aware of the risks, the benefits and the likely price tag,' said Which? editor Martyn Hocking.
Steve Schallhorn, of Optical Express, said: 'This is poorly researched and very misleading.
'It does not do justice to the quality and calibre of care we provide.'

Damn, now I know why I didn’t feel comfortable with my laser eye consultation. Just been reading some comments from people who’ve had eye surgery and I’ll tell ya, it don’t sound too good! I guess I should really trust my gut instinct a bit more :)