Campaign for Real Education

The Campaign for Real Education (CRE) is a right-wingDenis Lawton (2003) Education And Politics For The 1990s: Conflict Or Consensus? p63 pressure group and non-profit organisation in the United Kingdom that advocates traditional education, greater parental choice in schooling, and less state regulation of subjects that children study.Dictionary of British Education, Peter Gordon and Denis Lawton (2004) Routledge, p34

History The CRE was established in 1987 by a group of 14 parents and teachers,"About Us" Campaign for Real Education although it was effectively a one-man organisation led by Nick Seaton, who ran it from a bedroom in his home near York."Obituary – Nick Seaton, 1936–2012" Times Educational Supplement, London. 4 January 2013 It gained national attention after intervening in a dispute at Lewes Priory School over whether pupils should sit O Levels or GCSEs. Two teachers who pressed for students to sit the O Level were redeployed, with one of them, Chris McGovern, later becoming a headteacher in the independent sector and the CRE's chairman.

Aims The group campaigns to "press for higher standards and more parental choice in state education".School heads in Perthshire told to stop punishing badly behaved pupils The Courier, 21 May 2016 It opposes the teaching of sociology and politics.Sally Tomlinson (2014) The Politics of Race, Class and Special Education: The selected works of Sally Tomlinson p108 It has been critical of anti-racism and anti-sexism campaigns.Roberta S. Sigel, Marilyn B. Hoskin (2013) Education for Democratic Citizenship: A Challenge for Multi-ethnic Societies, Routledge, p41 In 2021, the group said a mock trial held by Welsh schoolchildren about a Conservative MP's ancestral links to the slave trade was "brainwashing".

See also Campaign for State Education – seeks to promote comprehensive schools.

References

External links Official website