British values won’t defend themselves, schools must do the hard work

They are much harder to defend in practice. Democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect, and tolerance do not survive because we occasionally invoke them in speeches.

They survive because each generation is taught what they mean, why they matter, and how to live by them.

That is why schools and colleges matter so much. They are not simply places of instruction. They are places where citizenship is formed.

Yet, across the country schools are finding themselves drawn into wider cultural and political tensions. Teachers can face criticism not for teaching badly, but for teaching honestly.

Lessons in history, politics, philosophy, and citizenship are challenged not because they lack academic value, but because they ask students to engage with complexity and to understand the reality of modern Britain. We should be frank about that.

But we should be equally frank about something more hopeful. Schools remain one of the strongest answers Britain has to division.

As someone who has spent decades in education, and who now serves more than 15,000 students, many from families who came to Britain in search of opportunity, I see every day what happens when young people are given high expectations and a strong sense of belonging.

They rise. They do not lose confidence because they are taught to question. They gain the confidence to think for themselves.

That is why I welcome the government’s new National Youth Strategy – a ten year strategy that was shaped by the experiences of more than 14,000 young people in England.

Our students contributed towards this project by engaging with the government and the community, and helped come up with solutions.

We see the difference that listening to young people makes in our own institutions. One of our students recently founded a youth organisation to steer young people away from crime, drugs, and gang violence and towards opportunity.

We have seen students recognised for celebrating cultural identity with pride and confidence. These are not side stories. They are what happens when education is allowed to do its full job.

Government has a role to play. If ministers are serious about social cohesion, then schools and colleges must be seen as central to that mission, not incidental to it.

The government’s recent cohesion action plan argues that there is more that unites us than divides us, and that building stronger communities requires practical action, not just rhetoric.

That is the right instinct. But it must be matched by clear public backing for schools that teach the curriculum with honesty and rigour.

No teacher should feel exposed for presenting evidence based perspectives on British history, immigration, diversity, or democratic life.

So yes, British values are under pressure. But they are also alive. Alive wherever young people are taught to think rather than simply react.

Our schools are not therefore merely on the frontline of defending British values.

They are among the very best places in the country to renew them.

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Dr Nikos Savvas OBE DL, Chief Executive of Eastern Education Group

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