From today, July 1, schools and teachers will have a legal duty to “prevent people from being drawn into terrorism.”
The regulations, under the Counter Terrorism and Security Act, set out new responsibilities for “frontline workers” in public bodies, including schools, to challenge extremism.
It follows high profile cases in which young people have left the UK to join extremist groups in Syria and Iraq.
The counter-extremism requirements, applying to primary and secondary, state and independent schools, include warnings against “non-violent extremism”.
“Being drawn into terrorism includes not just violent extremism but also non-violent extremism, which can create an atmosphere conducive to terrorism and can popularise views which terrorists exploit,” says the government guidance for schools.
The regulations set out a definition of extremism as “vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs”.
Teachers will have to assess the risk of pupils being drawn into extremist ideologies. There will be training for staff to identify children at risk and “to challenge extremist ideas”. And schools will have to ensure that pupils do not access extremist material online.
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Russell Hobby, leader of the National Association of Head Teachers, said schools should “see their duties on radicalisation as another safeguarding duty.”
“Schools are used to keeping their students safe from harm and this is a version of that. This means looking out for students rather than conducting surveillance on them.
“It means understanding the risk and acting proportionately. And it does mean reporting serious concerns so that any danger can be prevented before it materialises.”
But Christine Blower, leader of the National Union of Teachers, said the “jury is out” on whether such regulations are the best way to get young people to “reject engagement with groups who advocate violence.”
She said that the Prevent counter-extremism strategy was already causing “significant nervousness and confusion among teachers”.
Ms Blower warned that concerns over extremism could “close down” the classroom debates which could encourage democracy and human rights.
There are two sets of guidelines – one for England and Wales and another for Scotland.
