Parents will lose their guarantee of a place on the governing bodies of schools in England and Wales under Government proposals.
Current rules dictate every state school must reserve at least one-third of their governing board places for local parents, but under the proposals unveiled by education secretary Nicky Morgan in a White Paper, published on Thursday, those rules look set to be abolished.
Instead, an emphasis will be placed on individuals with the "right skills", rather than their position as a "stakeholder", for example as the parent of children in a school.
Parents will still be able to sit on governing boards, but the requirement to have parent governors would be removed for Academy Trusts.
Of particular concern are the government’s recently announced plans for all schools to be converted to academies, meaning there is a potential for all schools to remove parental representation from their board of governors.
'Symbolic representation'
Nicky Morgan described the current roles only offered "symbolic representation", and a voice to "informed parents", that wasn’t representative of the "real parental voice".
The White Paper said: "We will expect all governing boards to focus on seeking people with the right skills for governance, and so we will no longer require Academy Trusts to reserve places for elected parents on governing boards.
"We will offer this freedom to all open and new academies, and as we move towards a system where every school is an academy, fully skills-based governance will become the norm across the education system."
'Silenced'
The proposals have faced heavy criticism. Responding to the announcement, Christine Blowers, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said:
"Voices of parents, governors and the local community are being silenced by a Government that does not believe in proper democratic accountability in our schools.
"We need an education system in place in which parents and communities can have confidence. If the Government were serious about the important role of parents, they would value parental voice on governing bodies."
Gillian Allcroft, deputy chief executive of the National Governors’ Association called on the government not to change the current rules. She said: "Parents of children and young people studying at a school bring an important perspective to the governance of schools that others are unlikely to bring."
Education Journalist Warwick Mansell writing for The Guardian noted that: "No parent got to vote on this plan as a whole, as it wasn’t in the Tory manifesto. This seems a strange form of parental and governor control."
National database
In other changes a national database of school governors will be established to allow the barring of "unsuitable individuals". This follows the Trojan Horse scandal in Birmingham, where a report revealed there was a coordinated, deliberate and sustained action to introduce an intolerant and aggressive Islamist ethos into some schools in the city.
Christian Concern chief executive Andrea Williams commented: "Parents should have primary responsibility over their children's education, not the state."
You can read the White Paper here, and a breakdown of some of the other proposed education changes here.
Related Links:
Report reveals 'aggressive Islamist agenda' in Birmingham schools
The Education Excellence Everywhere White Paper: Everything you need to know (Schools Week)
White Paper: Educational excellence everywhere (GOV UK)