Far fewer in Scotland have ‘serious’ or ‘very poor’ literacy problems than across the UK

The appearance of Prof Lindsay Paterson on Reporting Scotland today is, once more, fraught with the kind of misunderstandings this statistician with zero experience of teaching regularly brings. Prompted by the numbers-obsessed prof’s strop on the fact that Scotland doesn’t take part in an international study of no use, like Pisa, to compare our adult illiteracy with theirs, they claim: The last Scottish government survey was in 2009 and put the number of people in Scotland who have problems with literacy at around 26%. As with drug deaths, they desperately hope they have found the only kind of whitabootery that … Continue reading Far fewer in Scotland have ‘serious’ or ‘very poor’ literacy problems than across the UK

US ferry service to extend lives of six ferries to 55 years!

From the Island Sounder, today: Washington ferries awarded $4.8 million to extend lifespan of six aging vessels by up to a decade. Washington State Ferries (WSF) has received $4.8 million in federal funding to refurbish passenger areas on six aging boats in its ferry fleet. The grant will pay for upgrades on all six of WSF’s Issaquah Class Vessels, originally constructed between 1979 and 1982 and currently serve travellers in Fauntleroy, Vashon, Southworth, Mukilteo, Clinton, Anacortes and the San Juan Islands. https://www.islandssounder.com/life/ferries-awarded-4-8-million-to-extend-lifespan-vessels/ The Washington State Ferries, Issaquah class are 328 feet long and 2 477 tons and serve 90 mile … Continue reading US ferry service to extend lives of six ferries to 55 years!