Gove backs cadet forces in schools

10/01/2012

Press Association

Military-style cadet forces could be introduced to all secondary schools in a Government bid to boost standards and discipline.

Education Secretary Michael Gove told the Sunday Express he had met a cadet at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, and learned of the advantages the groups can bring.

Following the conversation, Mr Gove has told Children’s Minister Sarah Teather to work with Defence Minister Nick Harvey on the project.

Schools Commissioner Dr Elizabeth Sidwell also backed the idea of the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph.

Mr Gove told the Sunday Express: “I met this amazing guy, a 17-year-old an Afro-Caribbean lad, who joined the cadet force and told me how it had transformed his life.

“He was the perfect advertisement for what it can do.

“I’ve tasked the Children’s Minister to work with Nick Harvey at the Ministry of Defence to bring this to all schools and they are very keen to roll it out.”

The CCF includes wings linked to the army, Royal Air Force and navy and is made up of youngsters aged 13 to 18.

It uses military orientated training to build self-reliance, resourcefulness, endurance and a sense of service to the community.

There are CCF units in more 200 independent schools and around 60 state schools but Dr Sidwell said they are “not the province of the middle classes, it’s the province of every child”.

See more: cadets, military ethos

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Is pushing the cadets really in pupils’ best interests?

Cadet units are not a social panacea but a recruitment tool. Our article, published in Schools Week, critiques the social impact report being used by the MoD to validate the expansion of cadets in state schools.

The Ministry of Defence has no place in our schools

Children don’t need militarism. They need a decent learning environment, writes Rhianna Louise. Our piece in The Morning Star about the latest announcement of more cadet units in schools and the problematic social impact report that has been published to support this.