03.05.16
Parents take children out of school to protest educational policy
The government’s education policies are under attack as parents of Year 2 children took them out of school today in protest against increased testing, an uncreative curriculum and academisation.
Supporters of the ‘Let Our Kids Be Kids’ campaign are sharing pictures of their children enjoying a day of ‘fun learning’ at home instead of a day of preparing for SATs on social media, with the hashtag #KidsStrike3rdMay.
The unprecedented decision is a sign of popular feeling against the government’s education reforms, with the LGA and County Councils Network both voicing their opposition to plans to turn all schools into academies in recent weeks.
In a speech to the National Association of Head Teachers conference last week, education secretary Nicky Morgan called the campaign “damaging” and urged parents to reconsider, adding that the Key Stage 2 assessments were not unreasonable because “virtually all children have the potential to become properly literate and numerate”.
But journalist Steve Rose, whose children are taking part in the ‘kids strike’, wrote in the Guardian: “It’s not a decision any parent would take lightly, especially one who strongly believes in the importance of learning (and spends five mornings a week hurrying their children into school).
“But it’s an act of protest against a government agenda that’s putting undue pressure on children, subjecting them to a narrow, joyless curriculum, shutting out parents’ democratic rights and, ultimately, forcing every school to become an academy, effectively putting all of state education into private, democratically unaccountable hands – or rather, pockets.”
(Image c. Creatas)