How About An Enquiry To See If Their Anti-Tyrannosaur Measures Are Effective Too..?

So, while the teachers have been told that they can’t discriminate against political parties they don’t like by banning them from becoming teachers, they can still continue to waste time and money on whinging about private schools:

… a separate inquiry has been announced into whether measures to stop racism being promoted in independent schools are adequate, provoking an angry response from representatives of the private sector.

Unsurprisingly, because even the cretin suggesting the inquiry is forced to conclude that, well, there’s no evidence that it’s even a problem…

He added that no evidence had been brought to the review about problems with racist incidents in private schools.

Still, tea and biscuits and a cracking lunch buffet for the meetings, no doubt! And none of that icky teaching stuff to do for the duration of the report.

Who wouldn’t want that?

The Independent Schools Council (ISC) said it was dismayed to hear about the new review and had not been told of any concerns about the sector by Smith or the department for children, schools and families (DCSF).

I can’t see why they should be ‘dismayed’, they ought to be used to this by now.

Unsurprisingly, this bonkers decision to waste more taxpayer money met with the approval of ‘Blinky’ Balls:

The schools secretary, Ed Balls, said many independent schools belonged to associations that "provide a degree of self-regulation and discipline".

Balls added: "All the available evidence suggests that these associations have high expectations of their members and have their own procedures for handling cases where problems arise.

"However, I remain concerned about Maurice Smith's observations about the independent sector, and therefore I have asked him to explore further whether the current arrangements strike the right balance between allowing independent schools autonomy [to operate] in accordance with their ethos and values, and protecting the young people attending those schools from teachers displaying racist or intolerant views or behaviours that could be harmful."

The perfect NuLabour ‘issue’ – ‘OK, there’s no evidence it’s happening, but we think it must be, because we know what you private sector are like!’

Even this sop didn’t quiet the unions:

The inquiry was branded a "golden opportunity squandered" by the teaching union Nasuwt. Its general secretary, Chris Keates, said its report was "woefully inadequate and littered with contradictions".

Keates said the review failed to provide any evidence about how effective measures already in place had been, and accused it of being "complacent about the dangers schools and children face".

'Dangers'..?

"Maurice Smith seems to have focused, to a point of obsession, on the number of incidents," she said. "One incident is one too many. How many incidents would there have to be before Maurice Smith would be persuaded that further action is needed?

"The idea that a person who signs up to membership of the BNP can simply leave these beliefs at the school gate and behave as a 'professional' when they walk into school is risible."

Yet you’d have no problem assuming that a member of Respect or the Socialist Workers Party could leave their beliefs at the school gate, I suppose?

"A principled stand was required. This is a matter of social justice, staff wellbeing and child protection."

It’s precisely because of that first thing – social justice – that you’ve been thwarted.