admin

Time to give peace education a chance in schools

by

This Guardian article refers to our report on Peace education and the promotion of the armed forces in UK schools, November 2015.

“Has anyone seen that before?” asks peace educator Jac Bastian as a big CND sign flashes up on the screen at the front of the hall.

“Hippies,” calls a year 12 student from a seat at the back.

“Anywhere else?”

“More hippies,” comes another voice, to laughter.

This is University College school (UCS) in north London, a boys’ independent school that takes girls in the sixth form, and Bastian, who works for the charitably funded education arm of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, is here to talk to year 12 about Hiroshima and Trident.

There is some muttering, and a few jokes about North Korea and Iran as well as hippies, but the students can name all the places where nuclear weapons have been tested, and someone even knows the most up-to-date figure for the number of nuclear warheads in the UK (215). A clip from Keiji Nakazawa’s animation Barefoot Gen, in which he remembers his childhood experience of the Hiroshima bomb, is received in respectful silence.

At the end Bastian announces a blind vote – where students raise their hands while covering their eyes – as to whether Trident should be replaced, and the room divides roughly evenly.… Read more

Government funding for ‘military ethos’ in schools

by

Government figures indicate that, since the Military Ethos in schools projects were announced in 2012, over £38 million of new funding has been awarded to them. Most of this new funding comes from the Department for Education. A further £50 million was pledged by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the July 2015 budget for expanding cadet units in state schools to 2020.

Government figures indicate that, since the Military Ethos in schools projects were announced in 2012, over £38 million of new funding has been awarded to them. Most of this new funding comes from the Department for Education. A further £50 million was pledged by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the July 2015 budget for expanding cadet units in state schools to 2020 with another £0.5 million for expanding cadets in Scottish Schools in March 2016. Both of these sums come from Libor fines.

These figures are compiled from a variety of sources including government announcements (links provided in table) and may not be complete.

Total since 2012:  £88.985 (including £50.5m pledged from Libor fines for Cadet Expansion Scheme up to 2020)

Cadet Expansion Programme: £64.65m 
Alternative provision with a military ethos (direct grants to provider agencies): £13.69m
Troops to Teachers: £10.65m

N.B. These… Read more

Fears over Army targeting deprived schools debated by AMs

by

Concerns over how many visits army officers make to schools in deprived areas will be debated by assembly members on Wednesday.

In June, a cross-party committee suggested visits to schools in poorer areas were “disproportionate”.

Plaid AM Bethan Jenkins said young people should have “fair access to all different career opportunities”.

The Ministry of Defence said the Armed Forces did not “recruit” in schools, but did visit if they were invited.

Ms Jenkins, a member of the assembly’s Petitions Committee, told BBC Wales: “I think it’s a concern because we have to allow for young people to be given the opportunity to have fair access to all different career opportunities.

“I think that focusing on one particular employment should be worrying for anybody, because we should be encouraging our young people to aspire to the best they can do, and not everybody will suit a career in the army.”

Not binding

The committee held an inquiry after receiving a petition from a group promoting peace. Cymdeithas y Cymod, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, called for the practice of army officers visiting schools to end.

The committee’s report recommended that the Welsh government “considers whether further research is needed into the reasons for the apparently disproportionate number of visits to schools in areas of relatively high deprivation”.… Read more

ForcesWatch welcomes Welsh Government stance over military visits to schools

by

The Welsh Government has been praised by ForcesWatch over a “groundbreaking” decision to support in principle more research into how the armed forces operate in secondary schools in Wales.

The Welsh Government has been praised by ForcesWatch over a “groundbreaking” decision to support in principle more research into how the armed forces operate in secondary schools in Wales.

The formal response in Cardiff was the result of an investigation and report by the Assembly’s Petition’s Committee which called for further scrutiny ‘into the reasons for the unevenness of the armed forces visits to schools in Wales’ (2)(3).

The Welsh Government acknowledges ‘the unique nature of the armed forces as a career’. Other recommendations – also accepted by the Government – called for:

  • Ensuring ‘guidance in relation to inviting the armed forces into schools take account of their unique nature as a career and the need to encourage an open and honest exchange of views with pupils about their role’.
  • ‘That a diverse range of business and employers visits schools to provide pupils with information about the career opportunities they offer’.

Submissions to the Petitions Committee came from a wide range of individuals and organisations including a number raising concerns about the nature and purpose of armed forces visits to schools in Wales such as the former Children’s Commissioner for Wales, Keith Towler.… Read more

Cadet units in state schools to increase five-fold with £50 million budget boost

by

The number of cadet units in state schools is to increase five-fold by 2020, George Osborne announced today in the Summer Budget.

Mr Osborne said the government will pledge £50 million to create cadet forces in 500 state schools and said these would be prioritised in “less affluent areas”.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer said: “We are committing £50 million to expand the number of cadet units in our state schools to 500, prioritising less affluent areas.”

Currently there are about 275 cadet units in the UK. Of these, only a third are in state schools.

According to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), as of April 1 last year there were approximately 131,000 cadets in the UK. The number is almost evenly divided between the Combined Cadet Force (42,950), a scheme run through schools, and the Army Cadet Force (41,000).

The Department for Education confirmed that a request for the extra funding had been made by the MoD.

The MoD has faced criticism recently after Schools Week revealed it had put in a request to access sensitive pupil data in the National Pupil Database. It wanted to “target its messaging” around military careers.

And a Treasury spokesperson told Schools Week the money would come from fines levied on banks.… Read more

Welsh Gov told to review the way British military recruits in Welsh schools

by

The Welsh Government has been told to review of the way the British Armed Forces are allowed to recruit in Welsh schools.

A Welsh Assembly report raises concerns about the high level of visits made to Welsh secondary schools when compared to other parts of the UK.

It also questions whether the regular visits are providing pupils with a fair and balanced view of military life.

An investigation was carried out in response to a Welsh Assembly petition from a group called, Cymdeithas y Cymod (Fellowship of Reconciliation).

The petition highlighted the fact that Britain is the only state within NATO or the European Union to allow the military into schools.

Britain is also alone within the Europe in recruiting 16-year-olds into the armed forces.

The petition states:

“We call on the National Assembly to urge the Welsh Government to recommend that the armed forces should not go into schools to recruit.”

The Petitions Committee, the cross-party team of AMs which compiled the report, received written evidence from campaign group, Forces Watch.

Their research showed a disproportionately high number of visits to Wales when compared to other parts of the UK.

They said that during 2010-11 and 2011-12 the army had visited 163 (74 percent) of state secondary schools in Wales.… Read more

War veterans call for rethink on recruitment of 16-year-olds

by
Featured Video Play Icon

Former professionals condemn recruitment of teenagers by ‘pushing the notion of a noble military career to children’.

A group of British war veterans will launch a campaign this week against enlisting 16-year-olds into the military.

Britain is the only state in Europe or Nato that still enlists minors, a policy criticised by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, the parliamentary joint committee on human rights and other groups including Child Soldiers International and British Quakers. The organisation Veterans For Peace (VFP) is demanding change, but the MoD says it depends on 16-year-olds for a quarter of the intake needed to sustain UK forces.

After a six-month trial, 16-year-olds are locked in to the forces until they reach 22, meaning a life-changing decision is made at a brutally young age, says VFP co-ordinator Ben Griffin, 37, who served in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan in the SAS and the Parachute Regiment. He said his experiences gave him an “obligation” to tell teenagers the truth.

There is provision for “unhappy juniors” to be discharged at the discretion of their commanding officer but no guarantee it will happen.

“There’s no clear, uniformed enemy any more,” he said. “Basically,in war, you’re fighting a civilian population: you’re breaking down doors in the middle of the night.

… Read more

Arms companies are making money by taking over UK schools

by

Europe’s largest arms manufacturer, BAE Systems, has applied to sponsor the failing Furness Academy. The reason is profit.

Andrew Smith, Campaign Against Arms Trade in Open Democracy

Corporations have already established a growing foothold in many UK schools, but the idea of Europe’s biggest arms company running a school still seems like something out of an Orwellian nightmare.

However, it may be about to happen in Barrow, Cumbria, where BAE Systems is on the verge of taking over the faltering Furness Academy. The proposal is currently going through due diligence before being opened to a consultation with stakeholders, parents and staff, where it is expected to be supported. If it is agreed, BAE will become the school’s sole sponsor later this year. They will also take responsibility for the ‘strategic direction’ of the school.

Education isn’t just about grades, it’s also about promoting values, informing perspectives and expanding minds. Could a weapons manufacturer ever act in the best interests of school children? How can a company that profits from international hostility ever be trusted to teach about areas like conflict resolution or the human cost of war?

BAE has a shameful, inglorious history of corruption and deals with dictators. It has been the subject of investigations across a number of countries and was fined $400 million in the US for bribery.… Read more

Quakers go to war over ‘bellicose’ school pack that promotes ‘pro-military values’

by

The Government has been accused of helping indoctrinate children with pro-military values through a new schools pack aimed at promoting the armed forces.

The 58-page British Armed Forces Learning Resource –which was published by David Cameron’s office – is a “poor quality learning resource” that appears to have been drawn up with to boost military recruitment, according to a report by the Quakers and human rights group ForcesWatch.

By promoting the pack, the Department for Education is failing in its legal duty under the 1996 Education Act to safeguard schools from politicisation, the authors of the report claim.

They are particularly critical of some of the rhetoric used to describe the armed forces in the pack. For instance, the resource quotes Defence Secretary Michael Fallon as saying: “The military ethos is a golden thread that can be an example of what is best about or nation and helps it improve everything it touches.”

There is also a foreword from Mr Cameron himself, who is quoted as saying: “Around the world, the Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Marines stand for freedom, fairness, tolerance and responsibility… There is not a single person in this country who is not a direct beneficiary of their sacrifices and bravery.”… Read more

Government accused of military propaganda in the classroom

by

The Government’s material for schools about the armed forces has been criticised today by the human rights group ForcesWatch (1) and Quakers in Britain (2).

In a written report and a graphic animation, the organisations explain why the British Armed Forces Learning Resource (published in September 2014 by the Prime Minister’s Office (3) (4)) is a poor quality educational resource, and expose the resource as a politically-driven attempt to promote recruitment into the armed forces and “military values” in schools.

The document is framed as a History, English and Citizenship resource for children and teenagers from as young as 5 years old. Endorsed and promoted to all schools by the Department for Education, its stated aim is to ‘to educate children about the work of the UK armed forces’.

The critique (see report and animation details below) includes responses from a number of educationalists worried about Government and the armed forces producing materials for schools inappropriate for use in education. Don Rowe, Citizenship Education consultant and former Director of Curriculum Resources at the Citizenship Foundation, stated that the Resource is ‘demonstrably biased’ and has called for its withdrawal. He says,

Culturally, this is the kind of resource one gets in countries with less-than-democratic structures where civic education is used by governments to manipulate citizens into an uncritical attitude towards the state.… Read more