Council and unions in bullying strategy clash

THE council has been accused of failing to protect pupils and school staff from homophobic bullying and abuse.

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) says that the local authority has walked away from a joint initiative to tackle the problem.

The union explained that the two had worked closely on the issue, which included holding a successful conference.

This relationship followed two NUT surveys on the prevalence of homophobia in Oldham’s school.

However, the council stopped attending the joint working group and NUT branch secretary Tony Harrison said: “If we are to create a more tolerant and fair society we need to be demonstrating to our young people that fear, ignorance and bigotry have no place in our community.”

The unions says that the council is wrongly stating that no schools came forward to take part in the project to tackle homophobia. Mr Harrison added: “It is less than two years since we sat down with the council and agreed a very effective strategy to make our schools safer and more respectful places to learn.

“Sadly, we now appear to be witnessing the unedifying spectacle of pass the blame while, at the same time, the real issue of the widespread hurt and damage visited on our children and teachers every day demands attention.”

A letter written to the union on behalf of Michael Jameson, Oldham’s assistant executive director children and young people, explains: “Our anti-bullying strategy group meets regularly but has not commissioned more homophobic bullying work.

“The focus has been on the anti-bullying week theme of the role of the bystander. This of course is relevant to all forms of bullying.

“I must point out that we have not walked away from the joint initiatives. No schools came forward to take part in the curriculum development project.”