Lord Stoddart of Swindon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Stoddart of Swindon on 2015-11-17.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action, if any, they plan to take to ensure that sections 406 and 407 of the Education Act 1996 are complied with between now and 2017 to ensure that lessons and discussions relating to the UK membership of the EU are balanced and impartial.

Lord Nash

My earlier response to Lord Stoddart‘s PQ HL 521 refers:

‘Schools are aware of their duties regarding impartiality and treatment of political issues. Sections 406 and 407 of the Education Act 1996 require maintained schools to prevent political indoctrination and secure the balanced treatment of political issues. This duty is reflected in the model funding agreement for academies and free schools.

In Citizenship education, pupils are taught about local, regional and international governance and the United Kingdom’s relations with the rest of Europe, the Commonwealth, the United Nations and the wider world. Pupils will be equipped with the skills to think critically and debate political questions.’

School governing bodies and academy trusts are responsible for considering if a member of staff has acted improperly in presenting their own views or beliefs to pupils.

The Department’s ‘Teacher Misconduct: the prohibition of teachers’ advice is used by those involved in the teacher regulatory process, professional conduct panels and NCTL officials, to identify factors that should be taken into account when considering whether prohibition is appropriate. This advice makes clear that in considering the seriousness of a teacher’s behaviour it is important to consider the influential role that a teacher can play in the formation of pupils’ views and behaviours. A teacher’s behaviour that is judged to promote extremist political or religious views or actions should be viewed very seriously in terms of its potential influence on children and young people and as a possible threat to the public interest, even if no criminal offence is involved.

This advice can also be used to indicate to teachers the sorts of behaviour that could constitute serious misconduct, and so lead to prohibition and to help employers make a judgement on which cases should be referred to the NCTL.