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State primary schools 'lack freedom' suggests teacher

Posted on 23rd July 2008

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Schools bound by the national curriculum are producing children who have become 'little robots', a teacher has argued.

Speaking to the Evening Standard, vice president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers Lesley Ward suggested that primary school children no longer have the freedom they once had.

Maths, science and English now dominate classroom time as a result of the focus on national assessments, taken in state schools around England.

Ms Ward's comments come following a statement from Childline founder Esther Rantzen, who argued that state schools fail to give their pupils the freedom to have fun due to fears about moral or legal reprisals.

It is only private schools, she argued in a Daily Mail article, which really give their children the freedom to play competitive games.

Ms Ward added: "We need to recognise the value of taking time to enjoy and create freedom in the curriculum."

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