By Gavin Mackintosh-
Britain’s teacher’s union boss says politicians need to return to school and be properly trained about leadership because they are doing a poor job at the moment.
According to the experienced academic unin leader, thepartygate scandal by British ministers is making it more difficult to instill “integrity and honesty” in pupils, a union boss will warn today.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, will also describe claims that schools are trying to indoctrinate children with left-wing ideas as “utter tosh”.
Whiteman is due to address his union’s annual conference in Telford in the wake of the news that prime minister Boris Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak were among those fined for attending parties in Downing Street and Whitehall during a national lockdown
The Eye Of Media.Com has heard that he plans to put the absolute failure of political leadership as one of the challenging tasks of influence school pupils correctly. Other reasons he plans to highlight as contributing the the difficulty of positive directions to pupils leadership is Covid pressures, funding, accountability.
Only last week, Whiteman condemned delays in addressing disputes surrounding pay awards for teachers.in the Uk.
He said:”the failure to commence negotiations in good time is simply unacceptable, and despite your assertions to the contrary, this further delay provides yet more evidence that the employer has failed to make this a priority. It will worsen an already severe recruitment crisis and will actively encourage existing staff to leave teaching in Guernsey.
“The States must simply prioritise the pay award for teachers and lecturers, and commence meaningful negotiations without further delay with a substantial offer. Failure to do so will compound the belief that the employer does not value its leaders, teachers and lecturers, and raises the spectre of industrial action over pay.”
Unforgivable
Whitman plans to say that the rule-breaking parties themselves, given the “offence of having a glass of wine and a slice of cake is minor” , is not what angers him, but the fact the prime minister misled the country.
“But for the prime minister of the country to mislead us about it, repeatedly, is unforgivable, and clearly in breach of the standards of our democratic institutions.
“It matters because young people can see this playing out before their very eyes. And schools’ efforts to make sure young people understand the basics of self-regulation, good behaviour, decency, honesty, and integrity become so much more difficult against that backdrop.”
Whiteman will also take aim at the government’s policy on refugees and immigration.
The union leader will say that young people “see the complete lack of compassion, the complete lack of humanity demonstrated by our government in the way we deal with these issues”, and are “inquisitive” about the “difficult debates” about immigration.
But schools are “not allowed to teach young people about this in a balanced way”.
His comments come after the government published non-statutory guidance on political impartiality for schools, which gives tips on how to teach about issues like climate change, the Black Lives Matter movement and the British empire.
Reference has also been made to criticism directed at a Nottingham primary school this year, after pupils were asked to write letters criticizing Boris Johnson for partygate.
However, this publication has heard that in light of the growing misconduct of Mps this year alone, many schools are being advised by union leaders to use their own discretion and not always trust the judgement of Mps.
In just one week, there have been three shameful stories in the press about Mps. The first involved an unnamed Mp who sold a story to the press that Angela Rayner was crossing and uncrossing her legs to distract Boris Johnson.
Today, it was revealed by Mp Anne Marie Trevelyan that she had been pinned to the wall by a male Mp, and that ‘the wondering hands’ of Male Mps was common place in parliament. It was also revealed this week that an Mp was caught watching porn during parliamentary proceedings.
Misdemeanours of Mps over the years have been multiple, yet these are the bunch of people who make the laws of the land.
“The rhetoric from government wants to portray you as trendy lefties that want to indoctrinate young people,” Whiteman will say. “That is utter tosh.
“Teachers and school leaders will teach young people about how to interrogate these issues well and draw their own conclusions. They have been doing this well for years, and they will do it in a balanced way; I trust them to do that, government should trust them to do that.”
About 30% Mps were privately educated as teenagers and went on to study at redbrick universities in the Uk .
90% of MPs in the House of Commons are graduates and 26 % hold an Oxbridge degree.
Man of them are very bright, but a large number were greatly assisted by highly paid tutors on top of their very strong background of attending expensive private schools.
More action needs to be seen in their practical application of their very high education when it comes to their conduct and sensible predictability of what would likely result from their conduct.
56 Mps are currently facing allegations of misconduct, including 3 on Boris Johnson’s cabinet.