"If you don't attend the lesson you'll lose points and won't be allowed to do your Out of School Education,” I warned Jamie. It is a policy that this threat is made to students who refuse to attend lessons.
“Don't be f***ing stupid,” he replied, “I've already got my two quid for today and I've got a right to Out of School Education so you can't stop that.”
He was right, of course. The truth is that the threat is often made but never carried out. Out of School Education is booked in advance and has to be paid for whether or not the students attend.
But what is Out of School Education anyway? It consists of a whole range of activities. Ten pin bowling, skating, orienteering, quadbiking, paintballing, snooker, rock climbing, caving, sea fishing, trout fishing, golf, the beach and a host of other activities. These occur maybe two or three times a week and all paid for by the taxpayer.
The students are chauffeur driven in school and care home cars to the various activities. To ensure that they behave, students are promised a MacDonalds after the session. As might be expected, good behaviour is not guaranteed and they always get the MacDonald's regardless.
The justification of Out of School Education is that these are deprived children who would not otherwise take part in such activities. How many children in 'normal' families get so many similar activities in a week?
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