Single mothers have created generation of 'uber-chavs' who are costing taxpayer a fortune, claims deputy head



A deputy head who sat on a Government taskforce aimed at improving behaviour in schools yesterday condemned a generation of modern parents as 'uber-chavs'.



Ralph Surman said the parents of today's pupils were themselves the children of the 'first big generation of single mothers' from the 1980s.



He claimed they - and in turn their children - have been left with no social skills or work ethic and may be impossible to educate.



Mr Surman spoke out in response to figures unearthed by the Conservative Party, which show that the number of 16 to 24-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training - known as NEETs - is rising across Britain.



Uber-chavs: Deputy headteacher Ralph Surman believes that a new generation of modern parents are fast becoming a drain on the state

'We must talk about a class of uber-chavs,' he said.



'They are not doing anything productive and are costing taxpayers a fortune.



'It is very difficult, almost impossible, to take these people now and provide basic social and work ethic skills.



'The offspring of the first big generation of single mothers were children in the 1980s.



'Now they are adults with their own children and the problems are leading to higher crime rates and low participation in the labour force.'



Mr Surman, 43, a national executive member of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, has taught at Cantrell Primary School in Bulwell, Nottingham, for 20 years.



Bulwell has been identified as an area of socio- economic deprivation and the proportion of children entitled to free school meals is higher than average at the school, which is rated good by Ofsted.



Ralph Surman has coined the new phrase 'uber-chav'

Mr Surman was a member of the Practitioners' Group on School Behaviour and Discipline, a group of experienced heads and teachers set up four years ago, which helped enshrine in law a teacher's right to discipline a child.



As a result of its conclusions, the Government introduced legal powers giving teachers the right to discipline children beyond the gates.



Mr Surman, a father of three, was unavailable yesterday to comment further on his claims, made in a local newspaper.



It is not clear if he was referring to the parents of children at his school, in Nottingham as a whole or to modern parents generally.



But his attack was criticised by David Mellen, portfolio holder for children's services on the Labour-run Nottingham City Council.



He said the number of young NEETs in Nottingham had bucked the trend and fallen.

The councillor, who is also a teacher, said: 'We are talking about young people here and (uber-chavs) is an irresponsible term to use.



'The comments are illinformed in light of the reducmatchingtion in crime in the city and the reduction in young people who are NEET.'



But Norman Wells, from the Family Education Trust, said that, while many single mothers do an 'excellent job' raising their children, 'we cannot close our eyes to the evidence which shows that, on average, children fare better in terms of health, education and future career prospects when they are brought up by a mother and father who are committed to each other for life in marriage'.



Official figures obtained by the Tories last month showed that the number of people aged 16 to 24 not in employment, education or training had leapt by 94,000 to 850,000 between 2003 and 2007.



'Chav' was a new entrant in the Collins English Dictionary in 2005. A chav was defined as 'a young working class person who dresses in casual sports clothing'. Uber means greatest or most extreme.



The Association of Teachers and Lecturers said Mr Surman's comments did not reflect the view of the union.

