State pupils 'should join cadets' - News in brief - Evening Standard
       

State pupils 'should join cadets'

Pupils in state schools should be encouraged to sign up for military training with the cadet corps under plans to boost support for the armed forces, a Government-backed review is expected to recommend.

Reports suggest a national Armed Forces Day could also be proposed in the report into civil and military relations by MP Quentin Davies.

The National Recognition of the Armed Forces study aims to identify ways of encouraging greater appreciation of the military by the public.

A Sunday newspaper reported last month that the study would say that an expansion of cadet training would improve both discipline among teenagers and the public perception of the armed forces.

Mr Davies told the Observer that the proposal had the enthusiastic backing of Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Mr Davis quit the Tories to join Labour last year.

Currently there are only 60 cadet forces in the comprehensive school system in England and Wales compared with 200 in the grammar and independent sector.

However the proposal to expand them, which would see pupils who sign up given weapons training, is likely to prove highly controversial. In March teaching unions denounced schools-based cadet forces as a questionable recruiting tactic.

Mr Davies is also said to be calling for a re-examination of the way that the military is portrayed in the school curriculum.

Elsewhere, the review is said to encourage the wearing of military uniform by troops when they are off duty.

Leading football clubs are expected to be called on to host parades by troops as part of the plans.

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