The world in 2009 is set to be gloomy be you poor or well-off, a C2 or A1, employed or self-employed. Except if you're a teacher in the stat system or working as a startup in the online creative sector.
The former will see growth as rich kids from the private schools transfer to the comp as mummy and daddy-the-former-investment-banker can't afford to pay the fees any more, the latter enjoying a good part of a £1 billion (or $1b or €1b) innovation fund from the UK Government, and 4iP in Scotland continuing to attract proportionally more investment and potential spend than any other area in the UK.
For the rest of you, many of whose place in a web-driven world will only become more fudged unless significant change occurs soon, the Rev IM Jolly sums it up. Happy New Year indeed.
For the hard of understanding, this is meant to be wry, as in 'Scotch and'.
Ewan, how about doing your own spin on IM Jolly's schtick? From an education perspective?
8->
Posted by: Miguel Guhlin | January 01, 2009 at 03:00 PM
Ricki Fulton was a comic genius, something I definitely am not. I'm sure a few teachers, though, would know exactly what and how they would say it if they were to emulate I M.
Posted by: Ewan McIntosh | January 01, 2009 at 04:07 PM
HMIe Jolly perhaps?
Posted by: Ian Stuart | January 01, 2009 at 04:17 PM
Done it, got the t-shirt (or at least the borrowed clerical collar and gelled hair). The hardest bit wasn't keeping a straight face: it was the accent (even though it was so close to my roots)
Hmm.
Posted by: chris | January 01, 2009 at 07:42 PM
Many of us in the private sector are looking forward to a good new year, innovating and creating value without the aid of state handouts :)
Happy new year, indeed.
Posted by: John Findlay | January 03, 2009 at 10:05 AM
Hi John,
It's not intended to be flippant, merely a statement of fact in the current climate:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7790161.stm
I think the private sector has indeed created a lot of value for education, and I'm not one to slight the values of the sector (indeed, I don't here). It's just that an increasing number of people are going to have to rely on the state for their education in the coming years.
Posted by: Ewan McIntosh | January 03, 2009 at 10:59 AM
Did you know Ewan that 1 in 4 pupils in Edinburgh are educated privately? The figure is 1 in 7 in London. Joe
Posted by: Joe Nutt | January 05, 2009 at 04:12 PM