a waste of money....

[tigerlily11]

Or not.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7687 235.stm

�60000 on this. Can it be justified in any way, shape or form?
Or are the teachers just pulling a fast one?

[jake-the-peg]

This "story" is actually just a press release of the "Tax Payers Alliance".

This is a pressure group closely associated to the Tory party.

They basically grub around for anything they can turn into a "disgusted of Tumbridge Wells" story and spoonfeed it to the press.

I'd be willing to bet that not one of them has kids in Hackney schools - probably not one with kids in state schools.

I too would rather be asking the residents of Hackney - I suspect that efforts to improve education in disadvantaged areas would be rather high up their list.

Certainly higher than tax cuts which I think is what the TPA are after

[youngmafbog]

So Jake are you saying that they are lying?

[rov1200]

It does seem a waste of money. They should have made a trip to the other side of London, the posh area with private schooling to see how well off pupils are taught in small classes, have a one-to-one tuition, more discipline and extra curricular activities. It all boils down to money which their reckless junket proves.

[andy-hughes]

Leaving aside the actual value of financing a trrip like this - which remains to be quantified -

The NUT hits the centrre of the issue - it is insensitive in the extreme to fly teachers of deprieved children several thousand miles to see other deprived children being taught. There is the internet, phones, video cameras ...

Public perception is a vital part of education which is enough of a political football, without suits in charge looking for trouble in this cak-handed way.

[youngmafbog]

Actually I disagree that phone/video etc replace face to face. This is completely wrong. I have to use video conferencing daily and it does not have the same effect as a visit. How can you 'tour a building' or randomly talk to people or get the 'gut feel'. Quite simply you can't.

The main issue here is the number of people sent. Two or three max above that it becomes a junkit. I know as I've been there many times albeit at the expence of banks and not the Public purse. Personally I dont see the difference as the public pay one way or another.

So the answer to teh question is No it cannot be justified in its current form but yes it can be justified if correctly done.

[anotheoldgit]

Yet another jolly for those hard working teachers, similar to the one that was stopped at the beginning of the month.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-106585 3/Back-school-teachers-arrived-suitcases-Marbe lla-jolly--told-cancelled.html

If such people must go abroad on fact finding missions, why not send some politicians to Siberia or like, to find out how their OAPs afford to keep warm during the winter.

Perhaps then they may learn something to the benefit of our old.

[jno]

I agree with youngmafbog. This is about learning personal skills, and you can only learn that properly face to face. Just watching Supernanny isn't going to do it. Whether the cost was justified I don't know. But I see no reason to suppose the experience wasn't important.