Chris Keates, acting general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, at a Labour party conference fringe meeting (TES, October 1), said: “If you work in the state system you have to send your child there, otherwise the message it sends to parents is ‘It’s good enough for your child but it’s not good enough for mine’.”
It is precisely because teachers witness the reality of daily life in many state schools that some choose to fund a private education out of scant resources. They see so much rude and boorish behaviour and resistance to learning that they refuse to impose it on their children.
It is the Government that has caused this meltdown by imposing policies such as the inclusion of the disruptive and an prescriptive curriculum.
Ironically, it was the NASUWT, under Nigel de Gruchy, that provided a voice of sanity in this New Labour world of Newspeak.
It is because teachers know the value of a good education that some are willing to make this sacrifice. Does Ms Keates believe she has the right to tell teachers they must not make this choice?
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