MSPs call for details of Army school visits

A HOLYROOD committee has called for guidance on school visits by the armed forces following fears youngsters were not getting a ‘balanced picture’ of life in the military.

MSPs want the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to publish details of classroom visits on an ‘ongoing basis’.

However, they said that while there are ‘strong feelings’ on the issue, they did not believe there is evidence children from deprived areas were being targeted.

This was a claim made by organisation ForcesWatch, which scrutinises the recruitment processes of the forces and the Quakers in Scotland, who submitted a petition to Holyrood in March 2016.

One of the concerns in the petition was that ‘armed forces visits to schools potentially occurring disproportionately in areas of higher economic deprivation’, the report said.

MSPs have finished an investigation into the petition and published details on their findings. A report states was ‘not possible to conclude’ the visits to schools constitute an explicit act of recruitment.

MSPs said that while they did not consider targeting of pupils in poorer areas was taking place, these fears could not be addressed ‘unless credible and consistent data is available for analysis’.

The committee called for information about forces visits to schools to be collected and published, calling on the Scottish Government to request the MoD ‘publish information about armed forces visits to schools in Scotland on an ongoing basis’.

Public petitions committee convener Johann Lamont said: ‘It is important that armed forces visits should reflect both the opportunities and the risks associated with a career in the armed forces.’

A spokesman for the Army in Scotland said: ‘We do not recruit children in schools. We explain, to older pupils, with the guidance of careers teachers, what a job in the Army entails and how to apply.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We will consider the recommendations from the Public Petitions Committee carefully.’