COOKERY LESSONS

22 January 2008

Commenting on Ed Balls’ announcement to make cooking compulsory, Steve Sinnott, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, Europe’s largest teaching union said.

“At long last cooking has been made a core part of the curriculum. It is an essential life skill and should have been recognised as such in the recent secondary curriculum review.

“Ed Balls’ welcome decision must be accompanied by a costed plan not only for in house training but providing new trained staff to teach cooking. Many schools need their equipment and facilities updating.  Teachers’ judgements about how to include cooking in the curriculum must be respected”.