How can exam bosses ask kids to study Gary Glitter?

A FURIOUS Deputy Head last night blasted exam chiefs who recommended a Gary Glitter song to kids – calling it “completely inappropriate”.
The Assessment and Qualification Alliance, Britain’s biggest exam board, listed the paedophile’s 1970s smash I’m The Leader Of The Gang as “related listening” for GCSE music coursework.

But parents and child abuse campaigners insisted vulnerable students should not have been directed towards the pop pervert’s songs.

And they were angry he could rake in more royalties from additional sales.
The Deputy Head – a dad of two – said he was horrified to see Glitter’s name on the exam paper, sent to thousands of teenagers, including his own daughter, this month.

He said: “He’s a convicted paedophile jailed for sexually abusing kids. It’s completely inappropriate to recommend him as listening material.

“Boys and girls of 15 or 16 who select this song will go straight to the internet to find Glitter’s music. I dread to think what they may find searching online for him.”

The teacher, from Windsor, Berks, asked AQA to withdraw the paper, but was told that it was too late. A spokesman even told him Glitter’s hit was a “really good” example of a popular song.

The Deputy Head, who asked not to be named in case his daughter is penalised in the exam, added: “A national exam board should have the basic common sense not to recommend past works of a paedophile to teenagers.”

Glitter’s No 1 appears among suggestions for related listening alongside a GCSE music assignment which asks students to compose a song that relies on “changes of tempo and/or style for its effect”.

Papers were sent to students on November 1 and coursework must be handed in by May for marking by AQA.

But Dr Michele Elliot – director of children’s charity Kidscape – insisted the papers be reissued.

She said: “AQA need to get Glitter off there. It sends totally the wrong message to paedophiles’ victims. Thousands of children take this exam. If they buy his song it could be a nice earner for him.

“One way to show we dislike his abuse of children is to cut off the money he lives on. It’s in the hands of AQA to do that.”

Anti-child abuse campaigners Shy Keenan and Sara Payne called use of Glitter’s song “disgusting”.

They said in a statement: “This stonking great child molester should crawl back under the rock he came from, not be celebrated for his music. We’ll campaign to have any reference to him taken out.”

Glitter – real name Paul Gadd – was deported from Vietnam this year after serving nearly three years of a prison term for molesting two girls. Now 64, he got a four-month sentence in the UK in 1999 for downloading child porn images. He is currently in hiding here and on the Sex Offenders Register.

He enjoys an annual income of about £200,000 from his ’70s back-catalogue.

AQA’s website states they are the largest of the three English exam boards. They are responsible for setting exams and marking. They even have a Child Protection Policy which states it offers “guidance” to ensure kids are safeguarded from inappropriate study material.

Spokesman Simon Buck said: “We have only just become aware that there are complaints and as a result are reviewing whether it is appropriate to have Gary Glitter in the coursework. Until the situation is reviewed we are unable to say what decision will be made.”

Conservative Shadow Minister for Children Tim Loughton said: “I can’t believe AQA could not find a song from an alternative musician.”
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1911914.ece