THE GUARDIAN |
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Black
boys betrayed by racist school
system, says report Hugh
Muir and Rebecca Smithers The
Guardian Black schoolboys have
been betrayed by the education
authorities for almost half a
century and are struggling to
overcome racism from many of
their own teachers, according
to a damning new report out
today. Members of an
influential education
commission say the failure of
the schools system and
individuals within it to
successfully engage with
students of African-Caribbean
origin has severely hindered
them and contributed to
massive underachievement. Last year 70% of
African-Caribbean boys in
London left school with fewer
than five or more GCSE's at
the top grades of A*-C or
equivalent, while
African-Caribbean men are the
least likely of any group to
have a degree. During the research,
which was commissioned by the
London mayor, Ken Livingstone,
and conducted over the past
year, black boys complained of
racism and stereotyping from
teachers. They said chances of
success were also limited by
an archaic curriculum. Their parents told
researchers they felt schools
did not welcome their input.
Black teachers spoke of
discrimination. Only 7.4% of
London's teachers are from
ethnic minorities and 2.9% are
black. The 285-page report,
which represents the most
exhaustive study to date of
the educational
underachievement of black
boys, concludes that:
"The English schooling
system has produced dismal
academic results for a high
percentage of black pupils for
the best part of 50
years." Mr Livingstone, who
has called for action to
ensure that the number of
ethnic minority teachers in
the capital rises to least
33%, said: "The
composition of the teaching
staff, governors and other
professionals dealing with the
education of our children must
change dramatically to fully
reflect the diversity of
London's children." His officials have
organised the London Schools
and the Black Child conference
to be addressed by schools
minister Stephen Twigg on
Saturday. In the study,
conducted under the direction
of the mayor's London
Development Agency and an
advisory board led by Diane
Abbott MP, focus groups
reached a wide degree of
agreement: "The consensus
was that low teacher
expectations played a major
part in the underachievement
of African-Caribbean pupils.
In addition inadequate levels
of positive teacher attention,
unfair behaviour management
practices, disproportionately
high levels of exclusions and
an inappropriate curriculum
took their toll." Pupils were
acknowledged to suffer from
negative peer pressure and
many are said to be
disadvantaged by inadequately
funded schools with a high
turnover of teachers. The
insufficient level of
involvement by some black
parents is also singled out. The commission also
heard evidence of direct
discrimination. "Racism
manifested itself most harshly
in being over looked for
answering questions, verbal
aggression from teachers and
harsher reprimands than for
students from other ethnic
groups for the same
misdemeanour." The report
says that relationships
between black pupils and white
teachers was generally
characterised by
"conflict and fear".
One participant
complained: "When it is
white boys, it is a 'group'
but when it is black boys it
is a 'gang'. I think that's
wrong." The commission found
that in 2002, black boys
started to lag behind from
primary school year two. The
gap widened every year after
that. It plays down the role
of social backgrounds because
working class boys from other
communities outperformed
middle class African-Caribbean
boys. In a series of
recommendations, the
commission calls for
intervention on several
levels. It urges ministers to
give every parent three days a
year paid leave so they can
play a part in the schooling
process. It also says black
teachers should benefit from
fast tracking and "golden
handshakes". The commission calls
for urgent action to reduce
the number of black pupils
excluded. Controversially, it
suggests that heads should not
exclude pupils for a first
serious offence unless the
catalyst is an incident
involving a knife or gun. It
calls for clear procedures
which would allow pupils to
report racism by teachers. But
they also call on black
parents to play a more
proactive role with their
children and schools,
"regardless of
resistance". Last year the
government launched a new
package - Aiming High - backed
with £10m of extra funding to
tackle the problem of
African-Caribbean pupils'
underachievement in both
primary and secondary schools.
A spokeswoman for the
Department for Education and
Skills said: "We
recognise that many pupils,
particularly from
African-Caribbean backgrounds
are not achieving their full
potential. That is why we are
working with parents and
community representatives to
raise the achievement of
minority ethnic pupils." Steve Sinnott,
general secretary of the
National Union of Teachers,
said: "It is grossly
unfair to blame teachers alone
for a phenomenon which is more
complex than the report
appears to make out." · Rampton Revisited, The Educational Experiences and Achievements of Black Boys in London Schools, published by the LDA Education Commission. |