Letter from the Chairman to Mr Don Touhig
MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence
The Committee was very grateful to you for giving
oral evidence yesterday regarding the education of Service children.
Defence Committee staff will be in touch with your office about
the further information you undertook to provide to the Committee
in writing.
As you know, we are hosting a web forum as part
of the inquiry. The web forum provides an opportunity for families,
teachers, and young people, to tell the Committee about their
experience of the education of Service children and make suggestions
for improvements. The forum, which runs until 12 May, can be accessed
from http://defcom.tellparliament.net/
Participation in the forum by teachers employed
by Service Children's Education (SCE) and by SCE schools has to
date been disappointing. I heard today that SCE teachers have
been told not to contribute to the site without prior clearance
from SCE. If true, this instruction is both unhelpful to our inquiry
and contrary to assurances made by David Wadsworth during the
Committee's visit to SCE schools in Germany. I should be very
grateful for your reassurance that this does not reflect Ministerial
policy and that you have taken immediate steps to encourage participation.
It would also be helpful if you could arrange
for the web forum to be publicised to Service personnel through
the chain of command in all three Services.
3 May 2006
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