Anti-racism campaign groups have criticised the government guidance on political impartiality in schools.
The Department for Education’s guidance singles out the Black Lives Matter Movement, saying that while teachers should be clear “that racism has no place in our society”, the demands of campaigning organisations such as BLM “go beyond the basic shared principle that racism is unacceptable”.
Nick Lowles, Chief Executive of anti-racism group ‘Hope Not Hate’, told PA: “The fact that the new guidelines being announced for schools in England appear to focus more on stoking up divisions and creating a debate about ‘culture wars’ than ensuring that pupils get the best possible education on racism and discrimination is deeply disturbing.”
Mary Winefride Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, told PA that the guidance was “more likely to decrease students’ engagement with learning than to stimulate it”, and that the Government had placed “warning lights” around important issues.
According to the guidelines, history should be taught with a focus on “factual evidence” about them, and the British empire should be taught in a “balanced” manner.
Dr Bousted told PA: “The losers in the Department for Education’s 34-page game of obfuscation about what is and is not a ‘political’ issue will be the students who are denied the opportunity to engage with the most challenging issues of our time”.