Schools and colleges are failing in their legal duty to prevent and address racism, say campaigners who are calling for the national curriculum in England to include an explicit anti-racism focus with Black history as a compulsory subject.
A coalition of organisations representing young people’s voices has written to the prime minister, warning that “racism is holding all young people back” and calling for urgent action to “address the impacts of this growing crisis”.
The letter says the government’s review of the national curriculum, which is due to report next year, offers an opportunity to explore ways “to embed diverse, anti-racist content to ensure young people receive a more well-rounded and inclusive education”.
It also warns that the existing legislative framework to support schools in adopting anti-racist practice is “insufficient” and calls for a meeting with Keir Starmer to discuss how to better support young people affected by racism.
The letter makes a number of recommendations, including that a whole-school approach to tackling racism be implemented. It says upcoming race equality legislation should require all schools to have an action plan for addressing race inequality. It calls on the Department for Education (DfE) to treat racism as a safeguarding issue and for anti-racism guidance to be published for all schools and colleges to ensure a consistent approach.
The letter says: “There is longstanding evidence of the harmful outcomes caused by bias and a lack of racially inclusive practice. We have seen far too many young people’s lives held back by their experiences of racism, which not only affects their health and wellbeing, but also limits their opportunities for a happy, fulfilling and successful life.
“Racism in schools not only harms the individuals who racist abuse is directed at, but negatively impacts the wider school community, undermining the sense of belonging and cohesion within the school environment.”
The organisations signed up to the letter include the Diana Award, Everyday Racism, the Centre for Mental Health, Not So Micro, the Black Curriculum, UK Youth and the African Caribbean Education Network. It also has the support of well-known figures including the singer Jade Thirlwall, the author Nels Abbey and the chemistry teacher and TikTok star Shabaz Says, who said: “As a teacher I’ve witnessed this first-hand so it’s incredibly important for change to happen.”
The letter highlights a 23% increase in the number of pupils (11,619) suspended for racist abuse in 2022-23 compared with 2021-22. It also flags school suspension rates, which are higher among students of Black Caribbean ethnicity (11.74) and those of mixed white and Black Caribbean ethnicity (13.62), compared with white British students (7.9).
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It says 95% of respondents to the Black and British Survey last year said they believed the curriculum neglected Black lives and experiences, while fewer than 2% thought educational institutions took racism seriously and 41% said racism was the biggest barrier to young Black people’s educational attainment.
Naomi Evans, a teacher and the founder of Everyday Racism, said: “I have seen first-hand how racism affects our young people in schools and how teachers are not equipped to address it. Racism should be explicitly treated as a safeguarding issue, and teachers should be equipped to deal with it.”
A DfE spokesperson said: “Racism and discrimination have absolutely no place in our schools, nor in our society and that means making sure pupils can learn in a safe, calm classroom. We will always support our hard-working and dedicated teachers to make this happen. We have launched an independent curriculum and assessment review aimed at delivering a curriculum that reflects the issues and diversities of our society, ensuring all children and young people are represented.”
