Education: Citizenship Studies

Lord Cormack Excerpts

Monday 30th June 2014 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Cormack]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to increase the emphasis on citizenship studies in the school curriculum.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools (Lord Nash) (Con)]

My Lords, I am delighted to be able to say that this Government have retained citizenship education as part of the new national curriculum. From September this year it includes an improved programme of study for citizenship education at key stages 3 and 4. This new programme of study will equip young people with the skills and knowledge to explore a range of issues and help them to take their place in society as responsible citizens.

[Lord Cormack (Con)]

My Lords, I am grateful for that reply. Can my noble friend assure me that citizenship will have a central place in the curriculum, particularly in the last two or three years before children leave school? Will he ensure that, whether it is busking or otherwise, they have the opportunity for community service during that period? Will he give further thought to the idea that I have put to him on many occasions that there should be a citizenship ceremony when pupils leave school so that they can acknowledge publicly their responsibilities as well as their rights?

[Lord Nash]

I absolutely agree with the noble Lord that citizenship is important and I know that he is a passionate supporter of it. Many schools have ceremonies for awards and the new citizenship programme of study requires active participation. I would certainly encourage schools to consider adopting the noble Lord’s idea if they do not already reward good citizenship. Certainly it will help them demonstrate that they are promoting British values. However, it is not this Government’s style to mandate such a thing. In addition, the Government’s National Citizen Service for 16 and 17 year-olds gives young people a chance to develop skills such as volunteering and social action projects. I was delighted to see that the IPPR report published at the weekend was so supportive of the National Citizen Service and that we seem to have achieved cross-party support for it.