Received from: NAHT
Congress recognises the growing threat posed by the far right. Far-right politics feeds on insecurity and division, scapegoating migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, while offering no serious answer to underfunded public services, insecure work, poverty or inequality.
Education is central to this struggle. Schools, colleges and early years settings are civic institutions and bastions of community life, where children encounter equality and inclusion, families turn for support, and communities remain connected in periods of challenge and division. They provide safe, inclusive spaces for children and families exposed to hostility, exclusion or fear.
Congress is concerned these spaces are increasingly under pressure. Far-right narratives seek to undermine confidence in education and educators, attack an inclusive curriculum, intimidate education workers, target migrant and refugee children and families, and present equality and human rights education as political threats rather than democratic responsibilities.
The trade union movement must be clear: defending education from the far right is central to defending workers, children, communities, democracy and the future of public services.
Congress calls on the government to reject far-right narratives which attempt to portray educators as a threat to patriotism and commit to defending education as a space for learning, inclusion, and community.
Congress applauds the work of TUC campaigning so far but wishes to see explicit reference to the attacks on public education, to defend education and educators from xenophobic and hate-fuelled narratives, support education workers facing intimidation, stand with refugees and migrants, and defend the trade union rights needed to resist attacks on public services.
National Association of Head Teachers