STOP CLIMATE CHANGE BEING DROPPED FROM THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM

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STOP CLIMATE CHANGE BEING DROPPED FROM THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM


A government adviser reviewing the school national curriculum is
recommending that climate change be excluded from the science
curriculum.

* We think that all young people need to learn about one of the
biggest issues facing the planet.

ACTION 1
If you agree please sign the email petition set up by People and
Planet: http://peopleandplanet.org/navid12439*

ACTION 2
Also, if you are a Headteacher, College leader, Educationalist,
Employer, Trade Unionist or represent an organisation, please would
you co-sign the below open letter we are writing to David Cameron,
Chris Huhne and Michael Gove by simply sending an email to
educ...@foe.co.uk with the same subject line as above, giving your
permission:

As Headteachers, College leaders, Educationalists, Employers, Trade
Unions and third sector organisations we are extremely worried by the
proposal to drop climate change from the national curriculum.
(Guardian: 13 June, Climate Change should be excluded from curriculum,
says adviser).

Climate change is crucial science.
It appears to us entirely contradictory for a government that aspires
to be the “greenest ever” and sees climate change as “one of the
gravest threats we face” to actively remove the issue of climate
change from the national science curriculum. Climate change is based
on science and cannot be completely covered in other subjects.
Removing it from science would mean many more young people leave
school without an understanding of the facts about climate change and
so would be less able to tackle it.

The Green Economy depends on this science
This also threatens to undermine the Government's Green Deal and the
country’s 'green industrial revolution' which promises to create a
quarter of a million jobs over the next 20 years, according to Chris
Huhne, the Energy Secretary. Colleges and training providers are being
encouraged to create the green skills that will satisfy the demand for
these green jobs but this will be undermined if learners do not have
an understanding of the issues underlying the Green Economy.

This is education for the future
It is absolutely crucial that young people are taught how human
activity and natural processes can lead to changes in the environment
and about ways in which living things and the environment must be
protected.

We call on David Cameron, Climate Change and Energy Secretary Chris
Huhne and Education Secretary Michael Gove to ensure that climate
change and sustainability remain prominently in the national
curriculum, to be taught in a balanced way by professional educators.


*http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2011/jun/12/climate-change-
curriculum-government-adviser?CMP=EMCGT_130611


Thanks,
Rachel Gibbons
Friends of the Earth Youth and Education Network


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