NASUWT: Ofsted inspections “crude spectacles designed to cause fear and panic”
Commenting on the reports that Ofsted is to target certain local authorities for no notice inspections, Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the largest teachers' union, said:
"These 'dawn raid' inspections have nothing to do with raising standards or tackling inequality.
"These are crude spectacles organised to create a climate of fear and panic.
"As this announcement by HMCI comes only a short time after the Secretary of State declared war on local authorities resistant to his ideological reform of school structures, it would be understandable if the conclusion was drawn that Ofsted was being used by the Secretary of State to settle political scores against those who have had the temerity to challenge or criticise his policies.
"Today's announcement confirms what has been increasingly apparent over the last two years, that Ofsted is no longer an independent body operating in the public interest. It is now merely the Secretary of State's hit squad.
"It is yet another example of the distasteful and unacceptable culture of bullying that the Secretary of State is fostering across the education system.
"The idea that these inspections will reveal any robust data about the performance of local authorities by questioning headteachers about the support they receive is risible.
"The punitive high stakes inspection regime means that any school involved in these inspections will understandably seek to protect itself from criticism by deflecting blame onto its local authority.”
ENDS
Lena Davies
Press and Media Officer
NASUWT
0121 457 6250 / 07867 392 746
lena.davies@mail.nasuwt.org.uk
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