Cooking 'vital' on curriculum; EDUCATION: Pupils 'should learn simple, healthy recipes'.Byline: By Tim Ross TEENAGERS will be given compulsory cooking lessons at school for the first time, under government plans to ensure all pupils know how to make a healthy meal. Schools Secretary Ed Balls is asking the public to come up with ideas for the classic English dishes and international cuisine Cuisine (from French cuisine, "cooking; culinary art; kitchen"; ultimately from Latin coquere, "to cook") is a specific set of cooking traditions and practices, often associated with a specific culture. that children should learn to cook. But the emphasis will be on making sure pupils can master simple, healthy recipes using fresh ingredients, the Department for Children, Schools and Families The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) is a British government department created on 28 June 2007 on the disbanding of the Department for Education and Skills (DfES). It is responsible for all issues affecting people up to the age of 19 including education. said. From this September, every 11 to 14-year-old in the 85 per cent of schools currently offering food technology classes will be taught practical cookery. The remaining 15 per cent of secondaries will be expected to teach the compulsory classes by 2011. Mr Balls wants members of the public to suggest the dishes to be taught. They must be healthy, easy to prepare and the kind of meals that teenagers will want to eat. He is asking anyone with suggestions to e-mail the Government. The announcement comes as part of the Government's obesity strategy which Mr Balls will launch tomorrow. Mr Balls said: "Teaching kids to cook healthy meals is an important way schools can help produce healthy adults. "My mum was passionate about all this and bought me my first Delia Smith Delia Smith OBE (born 18 June, 1941) is an English television chef, known for her interest in food and teaching basic cookery. She is the UK's best-selling cookery author, with more than 18 million copies sold. book." The 15 per cent of schools that do not offer food technology classes tend to be all-boys' schools and former boys-only schools. But ministers believe this is an unacceptable throw-back to the days of gender stereotyping. The new secondary curriculum strongly emphasises practical cooking skills, and will also include diet and nutrition, hygiene and safety and wise food shopping. From 2011, this will be introduced for all children in state state secondary schools. Cookery is already compulsory in primary schools and ministers have announced an entitlement An individual's right to receive a value or benefit provided by law. Commonly recognized entitlements are benefits, such as those provided by Social Security or Workers' Compensation. for all pupils to learn cooking from September 2008. OUR SAY: PAGE 36 What do you think? What dishes should kids cook? Write to YOUR SAY, Birmingham Mail The Birmingham Mail is a tabloid newspaper based in Birmingham, UK but distributed around Birmingham, The Black Country, Solihull, Warwickshire and parts of Worcestershire and Staffordshire. , PO Box 78, Weaman Street, Birmingham, B4 6AY, call 0800 138 2555 between 8am and 5.30pm, email our letters editor paulfulford@mrn.co.uk or leave your opinion at www.birminghammail.net/ forums Include your full name and address. CAPTION(S): PLEA... Ed Balls. |
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