Illiterate students a business ‘nightmare’

Employers have claimed that they face a “nightmare” scenario as they try to deal with teenagers who are unable to read or write properly.

Many school-leavers were more technologically literate than their bosses, but more than half of employers were unhappy with the basic literacy and numeracy skills of 16-year-olds, according to a survey by the CBI. Many businesses said that they were training employees in skills that should have been learnt in the classroom.

“Basic literacy and numeracy problems are a nightmare for business and for individuals, so we have to get these essentials right,” Richard Lambert, the CBI’s director-general, said.

Workload breaches

Civil servants are breaking the working time regulations by putting in more than 49 hours a week because of “excessive workloads”. The Public and Commercial Services union said that more than half of staff in Whitehall departments were working in excess of their contracted hours.

Homeowner debts

Homeowners aged under 24 with unmanageable debts owe an average of £20,290 in unsecured debt. Those who are renting owe £12,113, according to the Consumer Credit Counselling Service. The average person under 24 having counselling owes £16,351. Credit crunch, pages 42 and 43

Fatal stabbing

Police began a murder investigation after a young woman was found stabbed to death. The body of Stacey Westbury, 23, was found in Fulham, West London on Friday evening. A 21-year-old man was arrested yesterday and taken into custody. Officers are still searching the scene.

Bond girl protest

More than 50 people invaded the actress Jane Seymour’s country manor in a protest against allnight parties there. The former Bond girl caused furore after getting a 24-hour entertainment and alcohol licence for her home near Bath. The protesters gave a petition to her estate manager.

Pop festival arrests

Police made at least 67 arrests at the V Festival in Staffordshire. Thirty-two people were held for possession of drugs, nine for possession with intent to supply, and 17 on suspicion of theft. The V Festival is held over two days - at Weston Park, and Hylands Park in Chelmsford, Essex.

GCSEs go modular

Teenagers will no longer be required to sit all their GCSEs after two years of study, under plans from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority to break courses into “bite sized” modules, in the way that A levels are. But Professor Alan Smithers, of the University of Buckingham, said: “The breaking up of the course can mean that pupils may not have an integrated understanding of the subject.”

Woman dies in fire

A 23-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman died in a house fire. The 36-year-old victim, who has not been named, was killed after the fire engulfed her hyome in Tredworth, Gloucester, on Friday afternoon. A man was also seriously injured and was seen leaping out of a ground-floor window. The arrested man is under police guard in hospital.

Travellers’ regret

More than half of people aged over 35 wish they had travelled more, while one in four would like to set up their own business, according to a survey for the Bradford & Bingley. About 21 per cent of over35s said that would like to work abroad and 30 per cent would like to embark on a different career altogether. The same survey suggested that 58 per cent were happy with the person they had married.

Colourful remedies

Compounds that colour fruits and vegetables could provide a new generation of effective cancer drugs, new research suggests. Experiments on rats and human cells have shown that anthocyanins, found in red, purple and blue plant foods, including grapes, radishes, and elderberries, can significantly slow the growth of colon cancer, say scientists from the Ohio State University in Columbus.

Dressing the part

Wearing the right clothes is a part of good leadership, according to a team of psychologists. They argue that successful leaders shape themselves around those they want to influence, including wearing different clothes or adopting a new hair style. Writing in the journal Scientific American Mind, the psychologists challenged the traditional view that good leaders must have a specific set of desirable qualities. A senior Sinn Fein figure is to be named in Parliament as a security force spy who conspired in the murder of a former police officer in Northern Ireland, the Democratic Unionist Party said.

David Simpson, MP, said that he would use parliamentary privilege to name the alleged mole, a move that could destabilise the Province’s power-sharing executive.

The politician under suspicion is well known. The victim in question was Frederick Lutton, 40, Mr Simpson’s cousin, a former part-time member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary reserve who was shot dead on May 1, 1979, in Co Tyrone.

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