BNP Teachers

There is something about this story that I find very troubling – and it doesn’t take a genius to work out what it is:

Teachers in England should not be banned from membership of the British National Party or any group which may promote racism, a review has concluded.

While I have no children, I can understand how many people might feel uncomfortable about having a racist teaching their children. That said, I do think that people shouldn’t be excluded from teaching based on political beliefs, even if those political are (as in the case of the BNP) utterly repugnant.

Because, surely, the idea of a teacher is to teach – not to act as political spokespeople for various parties. The point shouldn’t be to ban those who hold particular views from teaching, but rather to ensure that teachers educate and inform, rather than proselytise and promote their own political views. And that includes all political beliefs, ladies and gents – not just those nationalist, socialist and racist views of the BNP. Just as we should separate church and state, so we should aspire to separate politics from the class room.