Cooking to become compulsory part of school curriculum
Cooking lessons will become a compulsory part of the school curriculum, with children as young as eight learning how to cook nutritionally balanced food.
Those are the plans under the new draft national curriculum, which would also see secondary school pupils learning a range of cooking techniques.
Although "food technology" is part of the design and technology syllabus at the moment, it is not an independent part of the national curriculum.
The move is designed to tackle obesity among adults and children. One-in-three children in the UK is now overweight by the age of nine.
A spokesman for the Department for Education said: "For the first time ever cookery will be a compulsory part of the curriculum from Key Stages 1 to 3. The new design and technology curriculum is about giving pupils the knowledge needed for their daily lives. Given the obesity issues that face our children today, it is vital that they know as much as possible about healthy eating and what constitutes a balanced diet.
"It's also important that they can develop an interest and understanding of good food. By bringing this into the curriculum, we want to encourage children to develop a love of food and cooking that will stay with them as they grow up."
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By Neil Gerrard
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