A woman and a teenager believed to be linked to a banned Islamist militant group blew themselves up during a police raid on a two-storey house in Bangladesh's capital.

Security officials were searching for clues and criminal masterminds who might have set in motion the bloody hostage crisis that left 28 dead, including six attackers and 20 of the hostages, in the diplomatic zone of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.

High-speed internet, training for teachers and accessible technical support will be key features of a government plan to make technology more a part of daily classroom activity.

Parents are now providing over 30% of funding in voluntary contributions to help run secondary schools.

All three groups representing second-level schools say they support delays to some assessment by teachers of their junior cycle students — to help resolve an ongoing dispute.

A new appeal system for children refused school enrolment is still planned, but Education Minister Ruairi Quinn is to consider concerns raised about his idea to restrict it within schools.

School managers have told Education Minister Ruairí Quinn his plan to replace the Junior Certificate will fail if he does not give schools the time and staffing supports to implement it.

Opposition to the handover of Catholic schools to new patrons often comes as much from politicians as from parents, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has claimed.

Hundreds of schools set to be hit with industrial action by teachers have been told they should postpone meetings already rescheduled as a result so the impact on students can be reduced.

The replacement of the Junior Certificate by schools assessing their own students will bring major benefits, says the head of the organisation leading the changes.

Fee-charging schools have warned that further cuts to their funding in next month’s budget will cost the taxpayer money.

The problem of schools having more children seeking enrolment than it has staff or space to teach is a strong sign of the value that Irish families place on good education.

A look behind the shroud and spin in Ruairi Quinn’s statements, those of the NCSE, and of Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore’s pontificating in the Dáil last week on the special needs education cuts casts some light on what happens inside the Department of Education.

Secondary schools fear that from November, students may lose out on subjects because of legal stipulations that only qualified teachers may take classes.

The planned overhaul of the Junior Certificate is doomed to failure without the proper time, training, teachers, and technology for schools, boards of management claim.

Plans to give legal backing to new rules on enrolment will impose unnecessary restrictions on the majority of secondary schools, management representatives have warned Education Minister Ruairi Quinn.

Students are losing out, personally and educationally, because frontline services in schools have not been protected, as claimed by Education Minister Ruairi Quinn, it has been claimed.

Any more cuts to teacher numbers will leave second- level schools unable to provide the 28 hours of weekly classes all students must receive, management has warned.

The Data Protection Commissioner is investigating the alleged ability of non-staff to access schools software and view confidential student information because of shared login codes.

Confidential information on thousands of students could have been breached after a teenager revealed that a software programme used by schools had a shared login.

Government funding cuts, inability to reclaim Vat and restrictions on bulk buying force schools to rely more on parents to stay open, school managers have said.

The continued €95m-a- year government funding of fee-paying schools will not be decided until the budget, according to Education Minister Ruairí Quinn.

Changes to the curriculum and increasing availability of ebooks are making secondary schools reluctant to start book rental schemes.

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn wants schools to stop insisting on expensive uniforms that are adding huge burdens to struggling families, but says he does not have the power to make them change their policies.

SCHOOLS fear cuts to career guidance and counselling, which may be forced on them by Budget 2012, will put them at risk of legal action from parents.

ONE-THIRD of people teaching maths at second level schools are not fully qualified to do so, but schools fear the situation could get worse instead of improving.

SCHOOLS face planning nightmares trying to arrange important exam-related and other activities as there is no certainty over funding for substitution cover after Christmas.

PRIMARY principals claim they cannot find qualified substitute teachers at short notice despite the unemployment crisis facing recent teaching graduates.

PUPILS with special needs are to lose 10% of the resource teaching they need under the latest education cutbacks imposed because of EU/IMF staffing limits.

CHILDREN with severe learning difficulties face delays getting vital teaching supports due to a staffing review ordered by the Department of Education.

SOME second-level schools could face closure because of the last few years of cuts to staff and funding, a management leader will warn Education Minister Ruairí Quinn today.

PARENTS could be left with no choice of a Catholic secondary school in parts of the country within 20 years because they face near-elimination by other education models, a school management leader has warned.

A former British Airways computer expert was convicted today of conspiring with a wanted terrorist to blow up a plane.

SOME schools could be forced to close after the latest cut to their day-to-day funding by 5% next year, a management group has warned.

EDUCATION Minister Mary Coughlan has said she has no plans to issue guidelines or direct schools to make uniforms less expensive despite the pressures on some families to meet the costs.

SCHOOLS could be left short of teachers in essential subjects because of an employment law guaranteeing permanency, after four years for contracted staff.

SCHOOLS need to constantly update their own behaviour rules to discourage and punish bullying, but are wary of over-regulation by Government on the issue, a second-level schools organisation said.

TÁNAISTE Mary Coughlan was accused of insulting principals last night after telling them they were lucky their jobs will continue to be filled when they retire while other management posts are left vacant.

SCHOOLS are not fully assessing risks of accidents for staff or students and fail to report all incidents, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) believes.

ALMOST 1,500 schools have been approved to have crucial repairs carried out during the summer holidays, it has been announced.

SCHOOLS will have to foot the bills for teacher absences where staff are unable to return for classes which are resuming earlier than expected this week, according to Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe.