Youth campaigners oppose physical force in schools

"If a school student is harmed we will organise mass walkouts"

Responding today to Michael Gove's plans to loosen rules over physical force in classrooms, Youth Fight for Jobs Chair Ben Robinson said

"This is an appalling step towards the brutalisationof our education system. If a school student is harmed as a result of Gove'schanges we will organise mass walkouts around the country in protest."

"This is apparently in response to the riots; buthow will introducing the threat of violence into the classroom cut across the rootcauses of the riots? In a country where 1,200 new people signed on every day inJuly, where over 35% of 16-17 year old school leavers are unemployed, racismand poverty are daily features, how will undermining the safety of theclassroom prevent future riots?"

"If Michael Gove really wanted to change the livesof those in school he would start by offering them a future. He would restoreEMA and provide real, paid working opportunities for those one millionunemployed young people. He would cut class sizes and defend teachers' pay,conditions and pensions. He would reverse government decisions on universityfees and listen to the hundreds of thousands of youth who made themselvesperfectly clear during last year's student movement. And the government wouldinvest in creating jobs to give young people a future."

"But we don't have faith in the education secretaryor the Con-Dems learning from young people. That's why Youth Fight for Jobs isrecreating the Jarrow March from 1 October to 5 November and is organisingtogether with students, unemployed and the trade unions to fight for a betterfuture for all."

Youth Fight for Jobs is acampaigning organisation launched in response to the government trying topunish young people for the recession in early 2009.

We have the backing of thePCS, UCU, RMT, CWU, UNITE, TSSA and BECTU trade unions.

ENDS

  |  RSS feed