Industry News
Private school tradition to be introduced to the state sector
Posted on 31st March 2008
Ed Balls has announced plans to introduce combined cadet forces (CCF) - which have traditionally been more common in private schools - into the state sector.
The schools secretary noted that "at the moment, school-based CCF are pretty much universally in the independent sector", according to the Independent.
He suggested that the government could work with private schools to try and introduce CCF into state schools.
The Financial Times has indicated that his proposal could anger teaching unions - the National Union of Teachers passed a motion this week supporting teachers who oppose Ministry of Defence recruitment activities in schools.
Mr Balls has also unveiled plans to give teachers more power to search pupils for alcohol, drugs and stolen goods.
The Charity Commission recently released guidelines for independent schools that encouraged them to have more involvement with local state schools and academies, which the CCF initiative could be part of. 