Readers of Mumsnet have savaged education secretary Michael Gove's plea for parents to act as strikebreakers.
Readers of Mumsnet – the “internet behemoth” that attracts more than one million unique viewers per month and courted by leading advisers of Conservatives and Labour – have savaged education secretary Michael Gove’s plea for parents to act as strikebreakers on Thursday during planned industrial action by teaching unions NUT and ATL.
The vast majority of comments on one of the threads, entitled “Parents becoming teachers? Is it me or has Gove totally lost it?”, slammed the minister.
They included:
“How do you feel about going into school to cover for a teacher who is on strike? Is there anyone out there who believes that this is a sound idea…. I think it’s madness!!
“What happened to schools not being allowed to let anyone over the school threasehold without a CRB!!! Oh I guess governments can just change the rules to suit themselves.
“Supervision of unqualified staff in classroom? Expertise and qualifications? Experience of supervising, if not actually teaching, 30 children at once? CRB checks? Health and safety, and safeguarding children issues? Do these things not matter any more?”
And the damning:
“Nothing [about] that man says surprises me anymore :(“
Yesterday’s Independent on Sunday reported that in a letter to local authorities, the Education Secretary:
“…asked heads to consider ‘the full range of local resources available to you from within your school staff and the wider school community to ensure that wherever possible your school remains open’.
“Asked whether ‘wider school community’ meant getting parents to teach lessons, a spokesman for the minister said yesterday: ‘It is up to schools how they want to keep themselves open. If they do that kind of thing, we think that is great.'”
83 Responses to “Gove’s call for parents to act as strikebreakers savaged by Mumsnet”
Karen
The sort of mums that really care about their kids education will support the strike, I guess you don’t.
C-pony
OK Selohesra – So we take a day to stand up and fight to defend ALL OUR children and young people’s education & futures -and we are accused of not caring…
…the Royal family makes us all have a day off -right in the middle of A level prep – just so we can all gawp at the spectacle of them in their riches & privilege – but this is OK with you is it?
littleangel
Teachers really care about kids. Striking isn’t punishing children – striking is drawing a line in not accepting a Maxwell-esque theft from the pensions pot. It’s drawing a line that says simply taking a national agreement, negotiated by unions and government, and signed recently which made the teachers pensions sustainable in the long term and ripping it up is not acceptable. Gove said teachers would have a loss of credibility if they strike – surely he would know, his ideas have lost any credibility and his actions have shown there is no credible reason beyond ideological attacks on socially progressive forces in society. What Gove wants is an education sector run by private companies based on who pays wins. I for one whole heartedly back the strikes.
Len Arthur
RT @leftfootfwd: Gove's call for parents to act as strikebreakers savaged by Mumsnet: http://t.co/rbJSVqc writes @DanielElton
dcannell
Gove’s call for parents to act as strikebreakers savaged by Mumsnet http://zite.to/krNSCQ via @Ziteapp