Crib sheet 26.01.10

In the most depressing month of the year, here's my entry for saddest story of the day: Jessica Shepherd's tale of the primary school children who are being told to get real – they can't be Spiderman or head of Hogwarts or king of Narnia when they grow up. Children as young as eight are being given lessons in "what employers want", while 10-year-olds are learning to write CVs that highlight their punctuality and PowerPoint skills. The recruitment consultants running these lessons say they're targeting schools in the poorest areas. As if life there wasn't gloomy enough. Report card Where will it end? UUK's Steve Smith is calling on Mandelson to confirm that the cuts he's announced thus far are his final word on the subject. The higher education minister, David Lammy, says one thing's for sure: universities should not expect a funding upturn any time soon Heading off trouble A Manchester headteacher has been given the job of nipping extremism at school in the bud. Will he take a harder line than Malcolm Grant, boss of UCL, where the would-be underpants bomber presided over the student Islamic society? Grant insisted yesterday that radical speakers must be allowed to address students in the interests of free speech: "We must of course ensure that universities are not converted into hotbeds of radicalisation. But this is a long way from reality. There has been so much hyperbole and hysteria whipped up around this." On the margins Who was afraid of Sam Wanamaker? Well McCarthy's America, obviously, and our very own MI5. The security service wrote to warn Liverpool's chief constable about the arrival of the "un-American American". A Warwick academic has done a fascinating study of Liverpuddlian nonchalence in the face of the anti-communist paranioa of the 50s. Quote of the week Harrow's headteacher, Barnaby Lenon, attacked state schools for misleading their students into thinking that "high grades in soft subjects" and going to "any old university to read any subject" were the route to prosperity. "Let us not deceive our children, especially children from poorer homes, with worthless qualifications, so they become like the citizens of Weimar Germany or Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe, carrying their certificates around in a ­wheelbarrow." Lenon also said the schools were producing students like "those girls in the first round of the X Factor" who tell the judges they want to be the next Britney Spears but cannot sing a note. What you said Larrybn thought Lenon was pretty much spot on: "As someone who is taking A levels at a state school and whose dad teaches at a sixth form college I completely agree with these statements. I personally see many students pick subjects such as BTEC drama, media studies etc expecting to do well in those industries, but quite frankly it's not going to happen. So much of school is about jumping through hoops and choosing the right options these days. For example if I wanted to run my own business the last thing I should do is pick BTEC Business Management. It's put there as a red herring. Only those skilful enough at playing the education system will avoid it." Stories of the day Back on track Four young people whose lives were going off the rails talk about how they found a way back through higher education Humanist chaplain Isn't this the right time for a spiritual adviser who doesn't believe in God ? John Crace talks to the guy who does the job at Harvard Sats boycott? Teachers will get a chance to vote in the summer All today's education stories EducationGuardian on Twitter