The Education Secretary has told schools to root out activist teachers after claims that ‘concerning’ race theories were being taught in classes and pupils as young as 10 were urged to write critical letters about the Prime Minister.
Nadhim Zahawi will this week issue guidance for schools to ensure teachers make a ‘balanced presentation of opposing views’ when discussing political issues with their students.
He said it was to ensure the ‘complexity of many of these important questions is understood’.
It comes after Mr Zahawi was forced to investigate a council over reports that ‘concerning’ race theories are being taught in schools and staff at a Nottingham Primary School were blasted for allegedly pushing children as young as 10 into penning notes attacking the PM and calling for him to resign.
Today, Mr Zahawi said: ‘Children must be given the opportunity to shape their own views on political issues, without being swayed by what others think.’
Writing in The Sun ahead of his announcement, the Education Secretary said it is ‘part of a democracy’ for children to shape their own political views as they grow up.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi, 54, has told schools to root out activist teachers after claims that ‘concerning’ race theories were being taught in classes and pupils as young as 10 were urged to write critical letters about the Prime Minister
‘The new guidance I will issue clarifies the requirement for teachers to make a balanced presentation of opposing views on political issues, so that the complexity of many of these important questions is understood’, he wrote.
‘It is not for teachers to tell people what they should think on political issues or how they should vote. The next generation is more than capable of making their own decisions.’
He said it was important for parents and carers to trust schools to be impartial so their children can ‘form their own independent opinions’.
‘It means education not indoctrination’, he added.
Last week, Mr Zahawi shot a direct warning to the Labour-run council which oversees Welbeck Primary School in Nottingham and insisted ‘no school should encourage young people to pin their colours to a political mast’.
Teachers at Welbeck Primary School in Nottingham have been accused of ‘indoctrinating’ 10-year-old pupils by getting them to write letters criticising Boris Johnson over ‘Partygate’
Its Twitter account shared a picture of the children brandished documents addressed to a local Labour MP, who supports the headmistress
Welbeck Primary’s Twitter account shared a picture of the children brandishing documents addressed to a local Labour MP, who supports the headmistresses.
Another showed a pupil scowling next to a whiteboard which said ‘lies, mistrust and selfish’ next to ‘Boris Johnson’ in an adult’s handwriting.
And one zoomed in on a letter allegedly written by a year six student using the phrase ‘PMQs’ and breaking down the UK economy and pandemic response.
Meanwhile the headteacher has tweeted a series of left-wing messages and used the phrase ‘Tory scum’ online.
It came just days after Mr Zahawi was forced to investigate Brighton and Hove Council over reports that ‘concerning’ race theories are being taught in schools run by the Green-led local authority.
More than 5,000 people signed a petition slamming the council for allegedly telling primary school children they are ‘racists’ or ‘victims of their classmates’ in lessons.
Children as young as seven are being taught that they are not ‘racially innocent’, because they view ‘white at the top of the hierarchy’, according to the Sunday Telegraph, who were leaked slides from race training given to teachers in Brighton and Hove schools.
Staff at Welbeck Primary School in Nottingham were blasted for allegedly pushing the youngsters into penning the note attacking the PM and calling for him to resign
Mr Zahawi said: ‘Every day in schools across the country, brilliant teachers are teaching sensitive issues in a balanced and inclusive way – which is why reports like this one are so concerning.
‘These issues can be divisive if covered the wrong way, and I am clear – as is the law in the country – that any contested theories and opinions must not be presented to young people as facts.’
The PM has been subjected to weeks of claims of parties in Downing Street during the pandemic, in a scandal dubbed ‘partygate’.
Mr Johnson has sought to move beyond the scandal by changing his top team, with several senior aides departing and a new chief of staff and communications chief.
He is awaiting the outcome of a Met Police probe into the numerous Downing Street gatherings and whether lockdown rules were breached.
The under-fire leader could face being fined by police – an outcome likely to prompt a flurry of no-confidence letters.
He is also heading into UK local elections in May with Labour enjoying a double-digit lead over the Tories on the back of the partygate scandal.
