Schools in England should not encourage pupils to take part in climate protests or join campaigns, according to a draft strategy paper on sustainability and climate change published by the Department for Education.
The document was published after Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, said students concerned by climate change should consider careers in science and technology, and warned they risked incurring fines if they skipped classes to join protests.
The draft strategy acknowledges that “young people are anxious to create a greener, more sustainable world” but says that “while schools should support pupil’s interest in climate change and tackling both its causes and effects, it would not be appropriate to encourage pupils to join specific campaigning groups or engage in specific political activity, such as protests”.
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It says teachers are not obliged to present opposing views on climate change for the sake of balance.
“Teaching about climate change, and the scientific facts and evidence behind this, does not constitute teaching about a political issue and schools do not need to present misinformation or unsubstantiated claims to provide balance,” it says.
But it warns that “political issues and partisan political views, for example on social and economic reform” should be handled in line with existing legal duties on political impartiality in the classroom.
The document – a draft of proposals to be presented next year – sets out the need for a voluntary “model curriculum” for primary schools to teach about climate change as part of science, while lesson plans will be offered to secondary school teachers wanting to include climate change in subjects where it is not already covered.
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Nadia Whittome, the Labour MP for Nottingham East, said the proposals would not do enough to equip pupils with the skills they need to tackle climate change. “This is not the comprehensive review of the curriculum, with climate change embedded across all subjects, that we have called for. Teaching about the climate will remain voluntary, so many young people will continue to miss out,” Whittome said.
Outside of the classroom, a climate leaders award scheme is to be developed, modelled on the Duke of Edinburgh awards. By 2030 “significant numbers of young people will have graduated from the climate leaders award with the skills needed to enter the green skills economy”, the document says.
The draft strategy named Zahawi as the DfE’s climate change minister, and was published as the education secretary was hosting a panel of education and environment ministers as part of the Cop26 climate summit.
Declining to take part in Friday’s march by young activists including Vanessa Nakate and Greta Thunberg in Glasgow, Zahawi said: “I wish they were doing it on a Saturday and a Sunday, not in school time.”
He said students should “think about their own career in science and technology and innovation” rather than protesting. “I would urge children not to miss school, not to miss class – we don’t want to get into a situation where teachers and headteachers are having to issue fines for missing education,” Zahawi said.
