Education secretary, Justine Greening has announced plans to remove the role of parent governors will not go ahead.
Earlier this year, former Education Secretary, Nicky Morgan, announced that roles previously reserved for parents, would be given to professionals with the ‘right skills’ in business. The decision was made in line with plans to convert schools into academies. Teaching unions expressed their concerns that this would side-line parents and make it difficult to engage families.
Following the White Paper announcement in March 2016, The National Governing Association (NGA), launched a campaign to keep parents governing. The President of the NGA recognised the diversity parents bring, calling them a ‘vital link.’ And the Executive Director of the Parent-teacher Association (PTA) highlighted the importance of parents holding schools ‘accountable.’
In a U-turn this week, Greening, once a governor herself, told the Commons Education Committee that parent governors will not be ‘scrapped’. She praised parent governors for contributing to the growth and success of schools. As a voice of the community, she said they play a ‘vital role’ in helping to ‘build schools from the ‘outside.’
Was Greening right to take a U-turn? Do parents play a ‘vital role’ in governing schools? Get in touch:
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