29-05-2025
Children to be taught value of military at school
Children are to be taught the value of the British military in school, The Telegraph can reveal.
A key recommendation within the strategic defence review, which will be published on Monday, will state that school pupils should be educated on the importance of the Armed Forces.
The Telegraph understands that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) will look to work with the education sector so that the military can forge closer links with young people.
It is understood that lessons about the military will be designed to help young people learn about career opportunities within defence.
In recent years the MoD has suffered from a recruitment and retention crisis across all three forces. Officials hope that educating young people about opportunities within defence will go some way to boosting recruitment, particularly as fewer people are growing up with personal connections to the Armed Forces.
A military source told The Telegraph: 'This is about making sure as a society we are more connected with the Armed Forces and the importance of the role they play. In a world where things are growing more insecure, there are fewer people with connections to the military than there were in the post-war generation, meaning many people grow up without a connection to the Armed Forces today. As that wartime generation leaves us, we need to keep the message and spirit of what they fought for alive.'
They added: 'Learning the history of what happened before is important, but it's also about seeing what people do now to keep us safe, while providing young people with an opportunity for careers within the military.'
Under the plans, reservists could be encouraged to travel around schools to do a 'show and tell' about what it means to work in the Army, Navy or Air Force.
Although the review does not suggest that formal lessons on the military should form part of the curriculum, it is thought that they could be taught through PSHE lessons, where pupils are taught about personal, social, health and economic issues.
Not only will they be taught about what it is like to serve in the three forces, but also about other opportunities within defence, such as science, technology and engineering.
The initiative has been likened to how police officers visit schools to explain what they do, which potentially leads to pupils considering associated careers.
While the initiative is in the early planning stages, the hope is that it can be rolled out at a comprehensive national level from primary through to secondary education.
Defence sources stressed that the MoD would look to work 'collaboratively' with schools to factor it in a way that works for both sides, without adding excessive workload onto teachers.
It comes after John Healey, the Defence Secretary, announced that the military would spend £1 billion on artificial intelligence and a hacking attack team to take on Russia in cyberspace.
The offensive operations will be conducted through a new Cyber and Electromagnetic Command, which he said on Wednesday would set 'new standards' in defence.
The role that cyber and space will play in the future battlespace will be a key feature of the strategic defence review, which was launched under Labour to set the pace for defence over the next decade.
In recent years the MoD has been actively recruiting more people with digital skills, such as computer coders and data engineers, in order to have people with skill sets that apply to cyber and space.
The upcoming publication will also reflect how to make the subject of defence a 'whole society' issue, with an acknowledgement that many European nations have a better engagement with young people and the military than the UK.
