Cribsheet 15.12.10

Billy Bragg hails his heroes

We had gremlins in the system yesterday, which prevented us from emailing out the Cribsheet of the week, but you can read it here

Tuition fees latest

Attempts to block the rise in tuition fees hit the buffers last night as Labour peers were defeated in a House of Lords vote that allowed the government plans to clear parliament.

While protesters consider their next move in the campaign, Billy Bragg has hailed them as his heroes of the year:

"Instead of giving up on politicians who failed to deliver their promises on tuition fees, the students have been galvanised into action. Their demonstrations and occupations are the antidote to the cynical bile that is spewed out on internet forums against anybody who dares challenge the notion that free-market capitalism is the answer to all our problems."

And John Harris reckons he's found the musician to soundtrack the protests, Derek Meins, the 24-year-old frontman of three-piece the Agitator.

A great coup for the Independent today as it launches a new blog from Jody McIntyre, the 21-year-old wheelchair user filmed being dragged to the side of the road by a police officer at last week's demonstration in London:

"To those trying to veil a three hundred percent increase in tuition fees and the abolition of the EMA (educational maintenance allowance) as a progressive measure, it's deceitful and dishonest. It is the EMA that keeps students like my 16-year-old brother in college. Let the crumbling coalition government desperately clutch for straws of support but they'll find them few and far between."

Meanwhile, for those who have been so busy protesting that they've neglected their studies, university lecturer Matt Shoard has this advice on last-minute essay writing:

"Temporarily block Twitter, Spotify, Group Hug, YouTube, 4od and anything else that distracts you. Constantly updating your word count on Facebook may feel like fun, but to everyone else you'll look like you're constantly updating your word count on Facebook."

Quote of the day

"We've been told for years that young people don't care about politics and that they don't care about anyone but themselves.
To see kids who are too old to claim EMA or students who the tuition fee raise won't affect come out in support of those that it will affect is heart-warming.
In my mid thirties I feel old compared to this lot, yet they are becoming more politically aware and engaged than people my age. That can only be a good thing."

LeopardPrint on comment is free

Tweet of the day

"Wishing luck to all taking part in protest day, stay safe, and remember kettles are only for boiling water! #cuts #demo2010 #solidarity"

@crimsoncrip

More education news from the Guardian

• The Student Loans Company has overcharged graduates and ex-students by £15m, according to research published today by consumer organisation Which?.

• Labour has accused David Cameron and senior ministers of misleading MPs and the public over the controversial decision to end £162m a year of dedicated school sport funding.

• Universities can get the best from bright students if they keep the number of people attending any one lecture to under 100, research reveals.

• The government is considering abolishing a £20m grant that has helped the poorest pupils afford the cost of travelling to school, it has emerged.

• Universities have been accused of limiting the future prospects of thousands of teenagers by shrouding their admissions decisions in mystery, says Isabel Nisbet, chief executive of exams regulator Ofqual.

Education stories around the web

• Teachers at the Royal Clitheroe grammar school in Lancashire are staging a walkout over plans to convert it into an academy, according to the BBC. Members of the NUT and NASUWT unions claim academies have negative effects on the education system and endanger pay and conditions.

• The BBC is also reporting that publisher Pearson - which also owns the Edexcel exam board - looks set to be given degree-awarding powers, as the government seeks to open up the university sector to more private providers. Pearson plans to start by offering four vocational degrees with a further education college, but wants to award degrees itself, which would require a law change.

• Thousands of youngsters taking science, languages and religious studies at GCSE face being written off as ineligible for the government's new English baccalaureate, claims the Independent.