Ei-iE

A teacher at Hackney College, UK, has refused to accept the Silver award for Lecturer of the year, in opposition to the involvement of the private sector in education.

Rose Veitch, a teacher at Hackney College and member of the trade union UCU, member of Education International (EI), recently refused to accept a prize granted by edubusiness Pearson to teachers in the UK.

The awards, which according to Pearson’s website “recognise and celebrate the outstanding?work of exceptional teachers across the UK.”, are granted to winners selected by the company’s panel of judges for the Silver Teaching Awards.

In her letter to Hackney College’s governing board, Veitch states that, while being grateful for the recognition, she regrets that she cannot accept the award on the grounds of being “opposed to the involvement of the private sector in the provision of education at every level”. She explains that she disagrees with the idea propagated by Pearson and similar organisations that privatisation best increases the efficiency and effectiveness of public service education delivery. "I believe that the involvement of for-profit organisations can only damage education,” the letter concludes.

You can read the whole letter by clicking on this link.