Dear madam: letters to the editor 24/7/20

In this week’s postbag of letters to the editor, Tes readers discuss what schools can do to help challenge racism
24th July 2020, 3:17pm

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Dear madam: letters to the editor 24/7/20

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/dear-madam-letters-editor-24720
Tes Readers' Letters 24/7/20: What Schools Can Do To Tackle Racism

How to tackle racism in education

In the brutal murder of George Floyd, millions of people, in the US, in Britain and across the world, have seen a manifestation of the racism that permeates their own societies.

The global scale of protest, involving millions of people, should be a turning point in the fight against racism. Now is the moment, when awareness is at a new height, that we should work collectively to eradicate racism in all its forms. This task is incumbent on every member of society, and every institution, not least in education.

In demonstrations, Zoom meetings and social media, arguments made by previous generations are taking on a new force: the struggle to change our schools, colleges and universities is central to challenging endemic racism.

We welcome the rising demands for change, made by campaigners, unions and MPs. We call upon the government, the Department for Education and all university, college, school authorities and bodies engaged in education to begin a review that results in the introduction of changes that address the racism that exists in the education sector, blighting the curriculum and contributing to inequalities of outcome.

We call on all educational institutions to:

  • Conduct a thorough and rigorous review of every aspect of the structures and practices of institutional life with the aim of eradicating racism from them.
  • Provide time for an examination of the curriculum, formal and “hidden”, in every subject area.
  • Provide time to discuss, agree and publish an explicit anti-racist policy and to monitor its implementation, involving the whole school - staff, pupils and parents.
  • Provide time to undertake a rewriting of material and the introduction of practices to address concerns identified.
  • Examine the employment practice of institutions towards teaching and non-teaching staff.

 

Niparun Nessa
Secondary teacher, North West

Kauser Jan
Assistant headteacher, Leeds


Bernard Regan 
Visiting research fellow, St Mary’s University

Plus 1,000 others, including Miriam Margolyes, Julie Christie, Art Malik, Derek Jacobi, Frances de la Tour, Timberlake Wertenbaker, Susan Wooldridge, Andy de la Tour, David Lan, Tariq Ali, Terry Eagleton, Nur Masalha, Sudhir Hazareesingh, Ilan Pappe, Gilbert Achcar, Adam Hanieh, Claire Norton, Dave Hill, Randa Alami, Mary Bousted, Kevin Courtney, Louise Regan, Paul Mackney, Andy Bain, Kiri Tunks and Sam Gurney

 

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