Article for ConservativeHome by John Bald, a former Ofsted
inspector who is Vice President of the Conservative Education
Society.
Most scoops come from a leak, or from being in the right place at
the right time. The Daily Mail’s devastating exposé of
the thinking of the National Education Union on arrangements for
resisting a return to work was in plain sight on the union’s
YouTube channel and could more or less be copied out.
Joint General Secretary, Kevin Courtney, said, “We’ll be talking
about putting things on social media saying, This school is
putting lives at risk – and we’ll be threatening heads with
that.” His colleague Dr Mary Bousted cautioned, “I am going to
trust you to keep what is obviously going to be confidential,
confidential. If we are going to tell you what’s going on, we
have to trust your sense not to spill the beans – when it is
clearly a negotiating position.” Oops…
The NEU’s largest predecessor, the National Union of Teachers,
had a history of closed and secret meetings at which the hard
Left could accuse governments and moderate members of whatever
came to mind. At annual conferences they would move to exclude
the press. The tactic was in frequent use at the time of the
union’s notorious 1995 conference, where intimidation forced
– who is blind – to
take refuge in a cupboard.
Dr Bousted’s contribution to free and frank exchange included
reference to “…reception and Year 1 pupils, who are mucky, who
spread germs, who touch everything, who cry, who wipe their snot
on your trousers or on your dress…” True, children of this age
have no concept of social distancing – how can they? – some are
indeed unhygienic, and there are accidents.
But to describe the whole population of five and six year olds in
these terms is unrealistic and an insult to parents. Teachers’
postings on social media show that they are honestly, and
justifiably, worried about the risks to them and their families
of an unsafe return to work. These are not the caricatures
invented and insulted by the likes of Katie Hopkins, but
hardworking people who are rightly concerned about their and
their families’ health. Cold War rhetoric “… no negotiation is
negotiation…” – does not represent these people. I expected
better from Courtney, but congratulations to the Mail.
In the meantime, the hit to education from the pandemic gets
worse. Cancelling exams has led to many secondary pupils simply
giving up, and my usually busy schedule of free teaching has been
reduced to helping the pupils of a Spanish friend with phrasing
and pronunciation in English. A home tutor told me last week that
they had had to call police to take three children into emergency
care due to neglect. One, who had not been able to get out of
bed, was taken straight to hospital. The government’s forced
relaxation of local authority responsibilities for care – forced,
because it is impossible to meet them – shows that the system is,
at best, on the verge of collapse. Holding out for another ten
days will be a challenge.
As I write, I see that the Mail has an admission from Dr
Bousted that she “gets it wrong sometimes.” Putting it down to
northern bluntness, but returning to the attack with a statement
that the Prime Minister should “reap the whirlwind”. The person
she should be dealing with is , who has not put a foot wrong so far, and has
shown himself to be open to constructive discussion to find a way
out of the crisis.
