Labour has rejected an attempt to give parents in England a legal right to see what their children are being taught in school.
An amendment had been proposed to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill which would have allowed parents to see teaching materials upon request.
The Bill is being examined at Committee Stage, but the amendment was voted down by ten votes to three, with Schools Minister Catherine McKinnell among those arguing against its inclusion.
‘Bizarre materials’
McKinnell said: “The new clause is a sledgehammer to crack a nut. There is no evidence of a widespread problem that would justify the extra burden and bureaucracy it would create for schools.”
She agreed it is “right that parents and carers should be able to access and understand what their child is taught at school”, but said this “should be achieved in a way that does not increase school and teacher workload”.
But Conservative MP Neil O’Brien refuted her claims of a lack of evidence, saying that in recent years a number of extreme groups “have been pumping all kinds of bizarre materials into sex education classes and other lessons”.
He also noted that when parents ask to see the materials, companies providing the materials often “hide behind copyright law to deny access”, despite former Education Secretary Gillian Keegan’s assertion in January 2023 that schools “can show resources to parents in person without infringing an external providers’ copyright in the resource”.
‘Kafkaesque’
The Shadow Schools Minister added he was “appalled” at Labour for voting down the amendment, stating that certain Labour backbenchers “argued that parents should not be allowed to see the materials because they might be angry”.
“This is a Kafkaesque argument and underlines exactly why we must end secret lessons and let parents see what their children are being taught.”
It comes as the Government continues to delay implementing guidance drawn up by its predecessors on sex education and transgender issues and safeguarding in schools.
In September, well over 100 teachers and other education professionals – including headteachers, safeguarding leads, and lecturers working in teacher training – signed a letter organised by The Christian Institute to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, calling on her to “finalise all three items of draft guidance and issue them without delay”.
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