Second group of workers very keen for education (8)
I believe the answer is:
studying
'education' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how one could define the other.
'second group of workers very keen' is the wordplay.
'second' becomes 's' (common abbreviation).
'group of workers' becomes 'TU' (Trade Union).
'very keen' becomes 'dying' (dying for something means being very keen for it).
's'+'tu'+'dying'='STUDYING'
'for' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for studying that I've seen before include "Reading carefully with the intention to remember" , "Doing what a student should" , "Acquiring knowledge" , "In education" .)