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State schools 'are creating an amoral generation': Private headmaster says staff are too busy chasing exam results to teach children right from wrong

Richard Walden, private school headmaster, argues state schools create amoral children because they don't have time to teach right from wrong
Says private school children do better because of 'value-rich' education
Dismisses argument that success is down to privileged background

By Laura Clark

Published: 01:01, 15 May 2014 | Updated: 01:02, 15 May 2014

Schools are producing a generation of �amoral� children because staff are too busy chasing exam results to teach pupils the difference between right and wrong, it is claimed today.

A private school head will claim that teachers - mainly in state schools - are under so much pressure to meet exam targets they are failing to equip pupils with basic values.

Richard Walden, chairman of the Independent Schools Association, will say that private schools, in contrast, are turning out �well-rounded� pupils with �moral understanding�.
Richard Walden, a private school headmaster, has said state school teachers are so busy getting children to pass exams they don't have time to teach right from wrong
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Richard Walden, a private school headmaster, has said state school teachers are so busy getting children to pass exams they don't have time to teach right from wrong

In provocative remarks, Mr Walden will claim that many state school teachers �operate in a climate of fear�.

He will suggest that the Government�s regime of testing and league tables is the modern-day equivalent of the birch, which was used to cane pupils until corporal punishment was outlawed in 1986.

But parents are increasingly �buying in� to the idea that only exam scores matter and are demanding �quick-fix results�.

Mr Walden, head of �6,867-a-year Castle House School in Shropshire, which caters for two to 11-year-olds, will make the claims in a keynote speech to fellow heads at the association�s annual conference in Warwickshire.

Too many teachers in state schools are �overwhelmed by the pressure to achieve results� and devote too much time to �teaching the basics�, he will argue.

�Schools are turning out too many amoral children because teachers cannot find the time to teach the difference between right and wrong,� he says.

�It seems that the only results that matter are those which have created added value in terms of raising a pupil�s statistical level from one stage to the next, and parents are increasingly buying in to this notion.

�This focus on league tables and attainment levels distracts teachers and effectively disables them from providing children with a more rounded and enriching education - one that will give them the moral compass they need for life.�

Mr Walden will say that the �formation of character is fundamental in education� and done �so well� in independent schools, which offer a broad curriculum and range of lunchtime and after-school activities.
Mr Walden will dismiss the idea that privately educated children do better because they are from privileged backgrounds and argue their success is based on a rich education
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Mr Walden will dismiss the idea that privately educated children do better because they are from privileged backgrounds and argue their success is based on a rich education

He will dismiss the argument that privately-educated only succeed in life because they are from �elitist or privileged� backgrounds.

�They do well because they have received a value-rich education, provided with love in our independent schools.�

Learning values allows pupils to �distinguish the good from the bad and the true from the false�, Mr Walden says.

�The very nature of our schools, with their respect for discipline and academic seriousness, sport and culture, citizenship and community, service, environmental awareness, spiritual life and personal responsibility, sends out into the world young people with emotional intelligence, developed moral understanding and a willingness to make a contribution to society,� he says.

These qualities cannot be measured by �inspectors� tick-charts�.

Mr Walden goes on to say: �We cannot measure the growth of maturity in a young person grade by grade.

�It takes time, but if we hold our nerve as educators and as schools - and that may mean resisting the demands of parents who want quick-fix results, or the pressures of external statistical grading systems, not to mention the difficult financial situations that we can face - if we hold our nerve, we will continue to turn out well-rounded individuals who make a difference to society, as we have for many years.�

He will say it is important to discuss �values� since education �does not seem to be enough�.

He will refer to a Muslim scientist who held extremist views while studying at Cambridge, before renouncing them in the wake of the 2005 London bombings.

�Education is the mark of a civilised society; we believe it should prevent barbarism. But it does not seem to be enough. Indeed often it is the educated who perpetrate wicked acts.�

Pupils need to learn how to �think for oneself and choose wisely� to help them grapple with ethical issues in future, Mr Walden will say.

He adds: �We are gaining the potential to improve the human gene pool, for a good end, the eradication of many diseases - but at what cost?�

Teachers----------we have no teachers today they cannot teach right from wrong because they dont know themselves