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NEWS • VIEWS • INFORMATION • ADVICE
Teachers want another curriculum review like a hole in the head
The NASUWT has condemned the announcement of yet another review of the primary and secondary curriculum as ‘pointless’.
Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, has launched the review, stating that the Coalition Government wishes to ‘reduce unnecessary prescription, bureaucracy and central control throughout the education system’.
However, the NASUWT contends that such statements ring hollow when the Government has already expressly stated that it wants pupils to follow a ‘traditional’ curriculum in which the number of subjects studied is narrowed down to an academic core.
Claims that the Coalition wishes to ‘free up’ schools to innovate through the curriculum have been exposed as little more than a sham at a time when ministers have sneaked the English Baccalaureate into the latest league tables, measuring how schools perform in this narrow range of subjects: English, maths, science, a foreign language and geography or history.
Mr Gove has also repeatedly set out in detail the books, topics and subjects he expects pupils to study – hardly ‘freedom to innovate’, in the NASUWT’s view.
The Union expects that this review of the curriculum will do little more than validate the Government’s opinion of what should be taught in schools.
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, said: “Teachers want another curriculum review like a hole in the head.
“This is a pointless review when ministers have already determined that children should have a 1950s-style curriculum.
“The Coalition Government has already dismissed a whole raft of current core subjects as unimportant. A review is unlikely to change this prejudiced and elitist view.”
Mr Gove has stated that RE will not be considered as part of the review as the Government does not intend to make any changes to the teaching of this subject. It also plans to exempt personal, social and health education (PSHE) from the review and conduct a separate review of this subject at a later date. The NASUWT believes that PSHE is a critically important part of the curriculum and plays a vital role in helping young people understand and deal with the wider issues facing them and will fight any intent to water down or devalue this subject in schools.
The Coalition Government intends to introduce the revised curriculum from September 2013 in English, maths, physical education and science, with the new programmes of study for other subjects coming into force the following year.
The NASUWT will be submitting evidence to the curriculum review and will be arguing for the retention of a broad and balanced curriculum that supports all young people to make the most of their range of talents and skills.
"This is a pointless review when ministers have already determined that children should have a 1950s-style curriculum."
"The Coalition Government has already dismissed a whole raft of current core subjects as unimportant."
Send My Sister to School
The Send My Sister to School campaign, organised by the Global Campaign for Education (GCE), aims to highlight the barriers to education for girls and women in the global south. The GCE is inviting UK pupils to become global active citizens and speak out for girls’ education.
Each year the GCE invites parents, teachers, children and young people from around the world to call on governments to work to keep their promise to provide education for all by 2015. With girls lagging behind boys in access to education, this year’s campaign aims to boost the push to get girls into school.
By using girls’ stories as the basis for their activities and events, pupils in the UK will learn about the reasons why it is often the girls that are the ones who are denied their basic right to an education. Free resources are available to support teachers in getting their class or whole school involved.
In 2000, world leaders promised universal quality primary education by 2015; over that time the number of children out of school has dropped by over 40 million, but with just four years to go there are still 69 million children missing out on school and more than half of them are girls.
It is estimated that an extra year of primary school boosts girls’ eventual wages by 10 to 20 per cent and an extra year of secondary school by 15 to 25 per cent.
This year, Send My Sister to School is asking UK pupils to:
• create a ‘sister’ figure and add their voice for girls’ education by decorating it with messages on Education for All;
• make sure that these ‘sisters’ get to your local MP by 30 June, asking them to pass on the message to world leaders;
• hold a class or school-wide event to make sure that as many people as possible get to hear girls’ stories and the challenges they face in getting a quality education. Invite in your MP, local celebrities and the media to help you spread the word.
Get your pupils involved in Send My Sister to School. Sign up now to receive a free resource pack, including a DVD, posters, stickers, lesson plans and films. Lots more information is available on the website at
www.sendmyfriend.org.
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