By Nikki Greener-
School staff in the Uk have been warned not to use school resources for party political purposes, and “act appropriately” when expressing political views.
The Department for Education issued its staffing and employment advice for schools in a guidance today, setting out its instructive warning to teachers and heads about politics. The warning comes after allegations against headteachers for unprofessional conduct during last year’s general election in which several leaders wrote to parents over the state of school funding.
The new paragraph in the guidance insists that “all staff have a responsibility to ensure they act appropriately in terms of their behaviour, and the views they express (in particular political views)”. The warning also instructs staff not to be appropriate in their use of school resources, and “should not use school resources for party political purposes”. In the last Uk elections, a coalition of education and support staff unions, proactively laid increased focus on school funding and controversial policies like the move to scrap universal infant free school meals, in the process influencing education to become the third most important issue on the doorstep. The stipulation by the British government confirms the sensitivity of political discussions in schools because of the potential for influential political ideologies.
The warning also appears to weaken the probability of politics ever being taught in schools as proposed to the ministry of education early this year by The Eye Of Media.Com in order to increase the knowledge and education of both primary and secondary school pupils about politics. Although the suggestion was promised to be taken up for consideration, there will now be doubts that this will happen given concerns that school staff might take the opportunity to influence pupils opinions, which could then be passed on o their parents. The suggestion remains a useful one, but may be dumped over the wider concerns of party politics, as the Department of Education stated in its latest warning to schools.
Organisers of the campaign, which also ran a popular website ,were accused of influencing parent’s political orientation by informing them how much their local school stood to lose in funding, claim it helped change the minds of 795,000 voters. The practise was unpopular with politicians, who value the votes of every single voter, and could not dismiss the value of parent’s vote, or even those of teachers. Countless heads wrote to parents about funding during those elections, some using “official letterheads and Twitter accounts”.
The funding campaign was supported by Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green politicians, and forced Conservative MPs to criticise their own government. It was seen as instrumental in securing an additional £1.3 billion in funding for schools, announced by former education secretary Justine Greening last summer.The funding campaign was eventually supported by Labour, Liberal Democrat, and Green politicians in a collective bid to discredit and oust the Conservative government. The funding campaign was instrumental in securing an additional £1.3 billion in funding for schools, implemented by former education secretary Justine Greening last summer.
Edward Timpson, Former children’s minister who lost his seat to a school funding campaigner, was mocked for claiming to fight school cuts despite working in the very department that enacted them. School funding or lack of funding will always rank high on the political agenda for as long as funding is an issue for schools. However, the Department of Education has injected millions of pounds into schools this year, making it a reasonable outcome that most schools should have enough to do effectively run their schools.