“Left, right. Left, right. March!” Brown wants the Armed Forces to run state academies

This is not about teaching pupils to shoot people. The Armed Forces can be a force for good in our schools

Government ministers are in talks with defence chiefs in an attempt to draft in the Armed Forces to run state schools. The aim is boost discipline and regain respect in the classroom.
Initially, only a small number of schools would become military academies and the first two are tipped to be in Portsmouth and Colchester, two areas where there is a concentration of military families. If successful, the scheme would be rolled out across Britain.

Alongside the usual lessons, pupils would participate in drills, uniformed parades, weapons handling and adventure training. This aspect has drawn criticism from teaching unions, however, who fear that the academies would be glorified recruitment centres or ‘boot camps’.

A government source emphasized that no pupil would be forced to take part in any activity against their will, stating: “This is not about teaching pupils to shoot people. The Armed Forces can be a force for good in our schools and teach important skills including teamwork and respect.”

This move follows the granting of academy status to the independent Duke of York’s Royal Military School in Dover, Kent, which offers MOD-subsidised places for 500 pupils, aged 11 to 18 years. The school provides an education for £550 a term and, under academy status, it would receive £37m from the government to become a military academy. The school would then be able to increase its intake from 500 to 720 pupils.

Headteacher, Charles Johnson, said he hoped fees would come down and more children of service personnel would be able to benefit from an education at the school.

The prime minister supports the military’s involvement in schools, and ministers believe that children would benefit from a military-style education because it would give them role models and a more structured existence. David Laws, Liberal Democrat education spokesman, called the policy “yet another Labour gimmick”.

Is this the way forward?

Do you think that the military should have more involvement in our schools? Will this boost discipline or could it produce a boot camp atmosphere? Have your say by posting a comment below.