Tantrics, who claim mystic powers, consider the eclipse particularly important. But visible or not, many Indians laid preparations for the event that some believed would herald some form of disaster. The most curious made their way to Bhuj in the western state of Gujarat in the “totality belt”, where the chances of a clear sky were greatest. MONSOON RAIN clouds blanketing most of India put paid to the hopes of many longing to see the eclipse as it moved across the country from the Arabian Sea to the Bay of Bengal. A spokesman for the US and British forces said that Western aircraft patrolled northern Iraq as usual.
Muslims in Iraq and Iran performed the namaz-e ayat, a special prayer offered at times of extraordinary natural phenomena to celebrate God’s glory and power – although many Iraqis obeyed the Ministry of Health’s warning that they should stay at home to avoid the dangers of looking at the Sun..

Despite United States and British rejections of an Iraqi appeal to halt their patrols over the no-fly zone, observers at the camp at Dair Matti, 30km from the country’s second biggest city, Mosul, reported clear skies. IRAQI ASTRONOMERS were given unimpeded views of the last solar eclipse of the century yesterday as Western warplanes skirted their camp. What we are seeing in the current panic about boys’ underachievement is the strategy of single- sex teaching being used to counteract the poorer results of boys in English.”These initiatives are, however, being carried out with no supporting evidence that such strategies in themselves actually improve performance.”Both the authors of the review have recently moved from the Institute of Education to other jobs.. But the separation of boys and girls for some subjects has become more popular during the past decade.The report says that there is some evidence of the positive effects of such separation but warns against “quick fixes. In addition, girls at single-sex schools are more likely to choose to study maths and science and boys in single-sex schools are more likely to continue studying music and languages.The number of single-sex state schools in this country has fallen from about 2,000 in the late Sixties to around 400 now.

By contrast, boys-only schools are unpopular with parents.The researchers say that the evidence supports parents’ views that single- sex schools and classes both do improve girls’ self-esteem.An Australian research project found that girls in co-educational schools were much more likely than boys to rank themselves in the bottom half of the class.In single-sex schools girls were as likely as boys to put themselves among the high-flyers. Most studies in Australia, the United States and Ireland have reached similar conclusions.However, many parents are enthusiastic about single-sex education for their daughters for other reasons. “Parents preferring single-sex education tend to believe that, in the absence of boys, girls develop more self- confidence, are more likely to encounter female role models in leadership and traditionally male subjects and are less likely to choose stereotyped subjects,” the report said. The findings, drawn from an Equal Opportunities Commission study in the early Eighties to a recent important study by Professor Alan Smithers and Dr Pamela Robinson, suggest that single-sex education has little impact on girls’ academic performance. The findings of researchers at London University’s Institute of Education come just before the publication of A-level and GCSE results tables, in which girls’ schools have excelled for many years.
Since the introduction of league tables, girls’ schools have used their exam results to argue the case for single-sex education.But Jannette Elwood and Caroline Gipps found that social class, ability and the history and tradition of the schools had a much greater impact on the results girls achieve.They concluded that “girls’ schools in both the independent and state sectors are well-placed in the performance tables because girls do better than boys generally in examinations at the end of compulsory schooling.”Nor, they argue, is there any conclusive evidence that the popular practice of teaching boys and girls in separate classes for some subjects raises achievement.They reviewed research evidence on single-sex education for the past 20 years both in this country and abroad. GIRLS’ SCHOOLS do well in exam league tables because they have clever pupils, not because they are single-sex, according to a new review of research evidence. If the scheme is successful it could be extended across the country.
Grants will be directed at young people from deprived backgrounds.

But all teenagers whose parents earn less than pounds 30,000 a year will get some money under the pounds 100m education maintenance allowance scheme. Teenagers from households with pounds 13,000 or less will receive full grants.Bonuses, ranging from pounds 50 to pounds 140, will be paid as students complete each term and pass exams at the end of the course.The 15 local authority pilot areas will be Bolton, Nottingham, Cornwall, Doncaster, Gateshead, Leeds, Middles- brough, Oldham, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Walsall, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark and Greenwich.. But pupils aged 16 to 19 who fail to turn up for lessons or do not complete homework could lose the grants of up to pounds 40 a week, under the government project, to be tested in 15 areas. NEARLY 60,000 teenagers stand to gain up to pounds 140 if they pass exams, under a pilot scheme starting next month to encourage them to stay on at school or college. In addition to the Premier League rights, Sky will cover the home fixtures of England clubs in the Uefa Cup.BSkyB declined to comment yesterday on reports that it was seeking to buy a 9.9 per cent stake in Leeds United..