From the horse's mouth – what the vice-chancellor of Cambridge said

CAM, the Cambridge Alumni Magazine, carried an interview with Alison Richard, the university vice-chancellor. She had something to say about student fees, private versus state schools, the science/arts balance, and a mention of the Cambridge Schools Classics Project. Here are some of her answers.

Will the University commit itself to admitting a certain percentage of state-school pupils? Absolutely not. But we will certainly have our own goals, because we're committed to recruiting talented students from right across the socio-economic spectrum. …

When it comes to access, isn't Cambridge still on the back foot? Private schools educate only 6 per cent of the school-age population, but commandeer almost half the University's undergraduate places. That's no longer true. Last year 48 per cent of our undergraduates educated in this country came from state schools and 39 per cent from private schools … the relatively low proportion of British students coming from [state] schools is a distressing reflection of the performance of state schools compared to the private sector. That said, in my view the state/private divide is a crude way of thinking about socio-economics, because children who attend private schools are not just the offspring of the well-heeled. Some are on scholarships; some have parents who have scrimped and saved to get them there.

Should Cambridge's top academic and administrative staff continue to send their children to private schools? I don't know where the staff of this university send their children to school. What is clear is that state schools are highly uneven in quality. There are excellent state schools but they are fewer in number than they once were. … Fixing the problems of secondary education cannot be a primary mission for us, but we have a responsibility to help. And that's what we're doing, nationally and locally, through a wonderful array of initiatives such as the Millennium Mathematics Project, the Cmabridge Schools Classics Project, the Multikultur@ language learning scheme and the Cambridge Science Festival.

The magazine ends the interview with this notice: For daily updates on Cambridge news, and links to all colleges and faculties, access www.cam.ac.uk/ For admissions interviews, see the film at www.cam.ac.uk/cambuniv/undergrad/interview/film/

Come to sunny Manchester for the JACT annual get-together

There may be one or two people in the Classics world who still are unaware of JACT, the Joint Association of Classics Teachers, that excellent body set up by ARLT along with the Classical Association and the now defunct Orbilian Society way back in 1963.

The JACT logo shows the three founding organisations as interlacing circles within the enfolding JACT circle.

Anyway, JACT is holding its annual general meeting – no, don't click your back button at the dry sound of AGM; it's far more than that – on Saturday 14th May in Manchester Grammar School. Between 10.15 and 4.15 you'll get two fine lecturers,

Jeremy Paterson of Newcastle on “Rome: City and Palace” and Professor David Langslow of Manchester, two option groups (choose from four, on new directions in the criticism of Greek tragedy, attracting students to the Classics by online Latin, interactive whiteboards, and a discussion on exams), coffee, buffet lunch and tea. Oh, and that 35 minute business meeting. And it's all for £18, or only £12 for PGCE students.

Did I mention the the Hellenic Book Service is going to be there? Thought not. But it is. I guess Monica will be only too happy to bring with her any special books or teaching materials that you like to ask for in advance – phone her on 020-7267-9499 or fax on 020-7267-9498 on e-mail info@hellenicbookservice.com.

You can see the complete programme on the ARLT Calendar, and there is an application form to print out and post on the JACT site.

A constructive suggestion:

You may be thinking: The JACT AGM is more than a little like the ARLT Refresher Day. And you'd be right. Now here's a thought: This year both events are in the north of England. Why don't ARLT and JACT put their heads together and arrange for one event to be in the south and one in the north, each year – and then swap around the following year. That way, southerners like me, as well as northerners, could get to at least one of these excellent days each year.