BAKER DAY NOUN (PEOPLE AND SOCIETY)

Colloquially in the UK, any one of several days in the normal school year statutorily set aside for in-service training of teachers and mainly intended as a preparation for teaching the national curriculum. Etymology: Named after Kenneth Baker, who was the Education Secretary responsible for introducing them. History and Usage: Compulsory in-service training for teachers was introduced in 1987 as part of a drive towards greater accountability in the teaching profession (see INSET); the five days set aside during the school year 1987-8 to prepare for the national curriculum had already been nicknamed Baker days by children and teachers alike by early 1988. Baker days were popular with children (for whom they meant an extra day off school), but did not meet with universal approval from teachers and parents. A Leeds delegate told the conference...the Baker Days were 'universally hated and resented' within staffrooms. Daily Telegraph 18 Apr. 1990, p. 2