Sponsored by
Encouraging news at last
AT last some good news for this axe-weary city. A £40 million project to upgrade IT facilities at 10 Sheffield secondary schools has been reprieved.
This comes just days after it was announced that Sheffield's Building Schools for the Future programme was also saved.
Of course the latter decision probably had more to do with an awareness of penalty clauses in contracts already negotiated rather than a change of heart by the new coalition government.
But the ruling that IT improvements linked to the rebuilding schemes can still go ahead is encouraging.
We were beginning to feel that the cuts imposed by central government were not being targeted but that every area was to suffer as the work went on to cut the spiralling national debt.
However, here is a sign that there remains some degree of concern with nurturing today's children to face tomorrow's challenges. And there is no more pressing area of need for this to be made possible than by raising a generation which is capable of harnessing the new technologies for the benefit of tomorrow's society.
We also believe that the Government is morally bound to return to the question of providing new schools where they are needed. Their current method of dealing with the problem of overspending does not address the much more pressing problem of providing decent conditions in which our children can complete their education.
Cases should be dealt with on their merit, not judged by how far down the contractual road they had travelled.
If a new school is needed, it is the Government's duty to leave no stone unturned until it has been provided.
Protect vulnerable rural communities
WHEN you talk about rural bus services, it is quite easy to fall into the trap of imagining rickety old charabancs trundling leisurely through Heartbeat country. Reality couldn't be further from the truth.
Rural bus services are to be found much closer to home - in fact right on the threshold of the city and neighbouring towns.
And that is why Sheffield MP Angela Smith is up in arms over the suggestion that cost-cutting plans may target bus services to some of the more outlying corners of her Stocksbridge and Penistone constituency.
She fears that her constituents could be stranded after the Campaign for Better Transport let it be known that rural areas, which rely on unprofitable services, would be most vulnerable to further cuts being imposed by the coalition government.
Any cuts in these services, or withdraw of operating grants, should only be considered as a last resort. Otherwise, vulnerable people in isolated communities will suffer.
Got a view? Leave a comment below.
Follow The Star on Twitter and Facebook:
For breaking news and sport follow The Star on Twitter at www.twitter.com/sheffieldstar and Facebook at www.facebook.com/sheffieldstar.
JOIN THE STAR READER PANEL: The Star is YOUR newspaper, so tell us what you think about it and what you want to see - CLICK HERE.
Don't miss our daily pull-outs - only in the The Star: Monday Star Sport, Tuesday Class Act; Wednesday Business; Thursday Grassroots; Friday Time Out; Saturday Retro. Subscribe to The Star - CLICK HERE
READ MORE
Join the Star reader panel
Main news index
Your letters
Features
South Yorkshire's environmental news
Kids Zone
More business news
More Rotherham news
More Doncaster news
More Barnsley news
Latest sport
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sheffield
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -3 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light sleet
Temperature: 1 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
