Far more needs to be done to make women visible on the curriculum, says TUC

Responding to news that the government has made a u-turn on its decision to drop feminism from the A-level politics syllabus, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“The government should never have looked to drop feminism from the A-level politics syllabus. We are pleased ministers have finally seen sense and backtracked.

“But there’s still a long way to go to make women more visible across the curriculum. Some exam boards fail to include a single woman composer on the music A-Level syllabus, and women’s achievements are underrepresented and undervalued in a wide range of subjects from history to English literature.

“Far more needs to be done to reflect the contribution women have made to UK culture and society.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- The government was urged to reconsider plans to drop feminism from the politics A-level syllabus in an open letter published last month in the Independent. It was signed by Labour MPs, campaigners and union leaders, including TUC head Frances O’Grady, Laura Bates of the Everyday Sexism Project, Caroline Criado Perez, shadow education secretary Lucy Powell and shadow equalities minister Kate Green. The TUC also wrote to the department of education calling on the government to keep feminism on the syllabus.

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

- Follow the TUC on Twitter: @The_TUC and follow the TUC press team @tucnews