Closed petition Do not include language about protests in any DfE strategies

Closed on 6 June 2022

A draft DfE strategy on sustainability and climate change has stated that "it would not be appropriate to encourage pupils to join specific campaigning groups or engage in specific political activity, such as protests." We call on the Government to remove this statement.

This language is unnecessarily proscriptive and denies students access to key learning opportunities. Campaigning and protesting are key parts of a functioning democracy and provide rich and valuable learning opportunities. Children have had their education enhanced by such activities as school trips to Fridays for Future demonstrations or persuasive writing activities in support of charity campaigns.