'Tone-deaf' ministers reject BAME review of English curriculum
A Guardian article exposes the rejection of proposal by cross-party MPs for more black input into history syllabus by the UK government. Nick Gibb, the schools minister, said there were no plans to hold a review of the syllabus after 30 cross-party politicians wrote a letter demanding that black historians and leaders be asked to offer revisions to what is taught, as well as new topic ideas.
Lucy Stephens, Founder and Co-Headteacher of The New School responded, “To not think it’s necessary to include BAME history in the UK curriculum because ‘a broad curriculum can include the voices and experiences of BAME people’ highlights the government’s lack of understanding of why a white centric curriculum taught by predominantly white teachers upholds institutional racism and inequality.”
The current UK education system upholds systemic racism.
“If it doesn’t *have* to be in there, you are relying on teachers doing the personal work to understand why it is *vital* it is in there. And as the school system has never addressed race literacy, racism and anti racism it is unlikely that this will happen in a joined up, cross societal way to drive social change.”
New topics backed by the politicians could have covered the Windrush generation and the positive contribution people of all ethnicities have made to Britain.
Dr Mary Bousted, the joint general secretary of the National Education Union, has said that the curriculum must be improved. The Black Curriculum, a social enterprise, suggests that black history be taught through topics such as the pre-colonial black presence in Britain and 21st-century geopolitics, including migration patterns and deportation.