Industry News
'Teaching time taken' by government drives
Posted on 16th November 2007
Schools are under pressure to teach a variety of government initiatives and there is a risk core subjects will be neglected, an expert has said.
Judith Gillespie, development manager of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, told the Headteachers' Association of Scotland that drives to improve pupil understanding in subjects such as safe sex and money took valuable time from other areas of the curriculum.
She said: "We should do traditional school work at some point, and that is almost crowded out by these demands from government," the Scotsman reported.
Recently, several private school bodies have expressed concern over the national curriculum, claiming it is too taken up with fashionable initiatives.
Bernard Trafford, chairman of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, told the Times schools were being asked to solve society's problems.
He said taking time away teaching and learning could have a negative affect on standards of education.
Several organisations have said they intend to create a rival curriculum, stripped of the government's "social agenda".
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