PROPOSALS TO UPDATE THE CURRICULUM

5TH  FEBRUARY 2007

Commenting on the new proposals to update the school curriculum Steve Sinnott General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, Britain’s largest teaching union said.

“The secondary curriculum is desperately overloaded. It constrains schools from tackling the needs of youngsters fresh from primary schools.

“Any reform, however, must include the message to teachers that their judgements about when and what to teach are respected. 

“Mixed messages are the last things schools need. The worst thing ministers should do is to proclaim a new flexible curriculum on the one hand but add a new set of non negotiable requirements on the other.

“Only one thing matters. Does the curriculum help maintain youngsters’ enthusiasm for learning? Cooking, Shakespeare and Mandarin are all important but at the moment they look like ministers’ bright ideas rather than part of a coherent curriculum
that will enthuse teachers and youngsters alike.

“The best message schools could receive from ministers is that Government has decided to remove the politicisation of the curriculum and conduct a genuine consultation with teachers, parents and indeed young people themselves”.

Decisions to strip the clutter from the secondary curriculum must be followed with a similar review for primary schools.