TEACHERS should take more children on school trips and stop worrying about the risk of being sued over accidents, MPs said today.
Also, the Government must step up efforts to promote the benefits of fieldwork trips, outdoor activities and visits to the theatre, said the Commons Education Select Committee.
The committee - chaired by Huddersfield Labour MP Barry Sheerman - said all pupils should have a new right to an education outside the classroom, to stop the decline in this vital area of young people's development.
Mr Sheerman criticised the NASUWT union for advising members not to take pupils on trips because of the risk of being sued if anything went wrong.
"We want to ensure that all children benefit from a rich and diverse education, not just the well off," he said.
* Mr Sheerman clashed with Children's minister Margaret Hodge over asylum seekers who take children begging on the Tube.
He challenged Mrs Hodge to leave her chauffeur-driven car and travel on London Underground to see the "child abuse" herself.
Mrs Hodge said that she did not like the practice but would not take these children away from their parents.
She said it was up to British Transport Police to deal with begging.
