Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Foreword
Equality under the law and equal opportunity is at the heart of Liberal Democracy. The preamble to the Liberal Democrat constitution states: Upholding these values of individual and social justice, we reject all prejudice and discrimination based upon race, colour, religion, age, disability, sex or sexual orientation and oppose all forms of entrenched privilege and inequality. This commitment to equality underpinned the agreement that set up the Coalition Government in 2010. As we said in that agreement The Government believes that there are many barriers to social mobility and equal opportunities in Britain today, with too many children held back because of their social background, and too many people of all ages held back because of their gender, race, religion or sexuality. We need concerted government action to tear down these barriers and help to build a fairer society. Our party has a proud history of involvement in the fight against racism and, in earlier years, Apartheid. Indeed, some party members joined the Liberal Democrats and our predecessor parties in order to play a part in this aspect of the partys work. The commitment has been carried out at every level of the party, locally and nationally. It is clear, however, that although 36 years have passed since the 1976 Race Relations Act came into being outlawing racial discrimination in every public function and service and setting up the Commission for Racial Equality race discrimination remains a problem in modern Britain. This report is absolutely right to focus on education and employment. I want to thank all those involved in drawing up this report for their hard work in doing so, and for their heartfelt commitment to race equality. I believe that the Liberal Democrats are the party of education, because just as there can be no freedom without opportunity, so there can be no real opportunity without education. The ideas in this report are not Government policy or Liberal Democrat policy, and I dont necessarily agree with every individual recommendation in these pages. But the questions, challenges and issues that this report raises are important ones for all Liberal Democrats that share my goal of ensuring that we build a fairer society in a stronger economy enabling everybody to get on in life.
Nick Clegg MP Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister
Contents
Executive
Summary
Terms
of
reference
Part
one:
Race
Equality
and
Education
Early
years
9
9
9
12
18
21
24
26
28
31
31
33
36
37
37
39
42
42
43
46
48
51
Section
one:
Pupils,
students
and
their
families
Primary
and
secondary
education
Punishment
and
exclusions
English
as
a
second
language
Further
and
higher
education
Apprenticeships
Section
two:
the
teaching
profession
Primary
and
secondary
schools
Further
and
higher
education
Part
two:
Race
Equality
and
employment
Pay
Occupational
segregation
Race
discrimination?
Skills
and
training
7
4
Contrast between public and private sector progress Equality and Human Rights Commission Conclusion: A new Liberal Democrat approach Appendix: List of recommendations
Executive
summary
The
Task
Force
focussed
on
education
from
the
point
of
view
of
both
the
pupils
and
their
families,
and
the
teaching
staff.
The
Task
Force
acknowledged
the
importance
of
good
quality
childcare
in
aiding
a
young
childs
emotional
and
social
development,
but
evidence
suggests
that
BAME
groups
are
less
likely
to
use
registered
childcare
services.
One
contributing
factor
is
that
46%
of
all
BAME
families
in
the
UK
live
in
London
where
childcare
costs
are
up
to
one-third
higher
than
elsewhere
in
Britain
so
high
that
they
are
unaffordable
for
many.
The
Task
Force
endorsed
the
proposals
to
make
the
free
childcare
entitlement
more
flexible
to
improve
the
chances
of
gaining
employment
for
unemployed
parents.
While
BAME
educational
achievement
has
gradually
improved
and
for
some
ethnicities
the
achievement
gap
on
first
sight
has
disappeared,
Black
Caribbean
and
Pakistani
pupils
remain
below
average.
Gypsy,
Roma
and
Traveller
children
are
a
long
way
behind.
There
are
many
factors
at
play,
including
class
and
poverty,
and
the
Task
Force
is
concerned
about
the
incorporation
of
the
Ethnic
Minority
Achievement
Grant
into
the
Dedicated
Schools
grant
and
the
weakening
of
schools
requirements
to
address
equality
and
community
cohesion
as
a
result
of
changing
the
Ofsted
school
inspection
criteria.
The
Task
Force
believes
that
this
is
allowing
cash-strapped
schools
to
divert
the
money
for
other
purposes.
One
key
recommendation
in
this
section
was
for
the
Ethnic
Minority
Achievement
Grant
to
be
maintained
and
that
schools
should
be
made
transparently
accountable
for
their
EMAG
expenditure
in
order
to
give
schools
the
freedom
to
use
the
money
for
its
intended
purposes,
in
the
manner
the
school
determines.
The
Task
Force
endorses
calls
for
all
communities
to
feel
included
in
the
national
narrative
by
ensuring
that
the
school
curriculum
reflects
the
diversity
of
its
population,
both
to
raise
levels
of
engagement
and
attainment
of
BAME
pupils
and
to
promote
a
positive
view
of
racial
equality
and
cultural
diversity
to
all
pupils.
Parents
are
concerned
that
some
teachers
have
lower
expectations
of
BAME
pupils
and
stereotypical
assumptions
about
their
abilities.
The
Task
Force
was
extremely
concerned
at
the
high
rates
of
exclusion
of
Black
Caribbean
boys,
and
the
Dept
for
Educations
own
statistical
evidence
showing
that
these
pupils
are
more
likely
to
be
excluded
from
schools
where
they
are
a
small
minority,
and
less
likely
when
they
are
in
greater
numbers.
The
Task
Force
noted
that
exclusion
is
used
far
more
frequently
in
Britain
than
it
is
in
mainland
Europe.
The
key
Task
Force
recommendations
here
were
that
the
Department
for
Education
should
implement
the
conclusions
of
the
Childrens
Commissions
report
into
the
prevention
of
and
positive
alternatives
to
exclusion
from
school.
It
should
also
reinstate
the
right
of
appeals
panels
to
order
that
children
illegally
or
unjustly
excluded
from
school
have
the
right
to
be
returned
to
that
school.
4
The Task Force found that in order to address successfully BAME exclusion and institutional racism it requires a focus on cultural diversity and race equality during the training of childcare providers and teaching staff. It also recommended that ethnic monitoring was key to measuring progress and to ensuring accountability. On Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children the key Task Force recommendation was for a new creative national campaign to address literacy and increase positive aspirations, led by these communities with government, local authority and school support, to increase these communities participation in secondary education. The Task Force also recommended that key to delivering successful change within education was the necessity for ethnic monitoring to measure progress and ensure accountability. Turning to higher education, the Task Force found that while there has been a rapid growth in the number of BAME students at university, they are concentrated in the post-1992 universities and very few attend Russell Group universities 8% of all Black university students compared to 24% of all white students. This has a substantial impact on their future employment prospects. In addition students from some ethnic groups are far less likely to leave university with a first or upper second degree in 2008/9 nearly seven out of 10 white students achieved this compared with just under four out of 10 Black students. The Task Force recommends requiring all universities to be fully transparent about all the selection criteria used to evaluate student applications, including for example, which A-level subjects are likely to count for or against a candidate. It recommends that the Equalities and Human Rights Commission ensure that FE and HE institutions are complying with race equality legislation and that colleges and universities should adopt a zero tolerance policy regarding racist behaviour, and increase focus on social inclusion and the student experience both within and outside the classroom. On apprenticeships, in 2009-10 just 7% of all apprentices in England were from an ethnic minority compared with 14% of the total working age population. Again, the Task Force recommended ethnic monitoring of apprenticeships, particularly in relation to application success rates, and action be taken accordingly. The Task Force was concerned at underrepresentation of BAME teachers and that their success in number and career progress was concentrated in schools with very diverse populations, with teachers reporting difficulty in securing posts in less diverse schools. BAME teachers have reported that discrimination was a barrier to career progress. It recommends targets for the recruitment of BAME teachers and, again, equality monitoring undertaken systematically and transparently so that progress can be monitored. The Task Force noted with concern that no matter what progress achieved at school and university, the BAME workforce faces discrimination. Two-fifths of people from ethnic minorities live in income poverty, twice the rate for white people, and nearly all groups have hourly pay less than white British men. Even those groups with higher pay are not free from discrimination: although Chinese men are one of the highest paid groups, they are paid 11% less than would be expected allowing for their qualifications. 5
Further, there is occupational segregation with BAME groups over-represented in some areas and under-represented in others. The Task Force notes that the ONS data showing that out of economically active 16-24 year olds, 55.9% of Black men and 39.1% of Black women were unemployed, compared with 23.9% of white men and 17.2% of white women. The Task Force considers this to be a situation that will devastate that community unless it is addressed with supreme urgency. The Task Force acknowledges a DWP study into whether discrimination was a significant factor affecting labour market outcomes, which concluded that ethnic minorities had to send 16 job applications for one call to interview compared to nine for white applicants. Further, they found that 4% of public sector employers were likely to have discriminated on grounds of race compared with 35% of private sector employers. The Task Force endorsed the commitment of the Coalition equality strategy to lift the barriers faced by ethnic minority businesses in accessing finance. Acknowledging that progress in the private sector lags far behind that of the public sector, the Task Force recommends that government uses contract compliance with private sector companies to promote workplace equality. Further, the Task Force recommends that all companies and third sector organisations in receipt of funding, grants, licences or other benefits distributed on behalf of the public, be required to carry out detailed equality monitoring and send it to their funder, regulator or commissioner which in turn is required to publish this data for each company or licence, by name, annually. The government should ensure that quangos, regulators and other public bodies accept that equality is part of their remit and that enforcement, on behalf of the public, of compliance and real accountability on the part of the recipients is a key part of their role on which they will be measured. The evidence indicated that the adoption of the holistic approach to equality combined with a move away from addressing the particular sets of issues faced by each equality strand has been at a cost to the ethnic minority population which collectively has been and continues to be the target of sustained discrimination on the grounds of their race. Indeed, Labours approach to equality appears to have left ethnic minorities employment situation, particularly in the private sector, little better than it was when Labour took office. The Task Force concluded that there is a long way to go before there could be any justification for proposals to weaken the Equality Act and the budget of the EHRC. The Task Force recommends that Liberal Democrats oppose all proposals that would weaken the Equality Act, and that the party should demand full implementation of the Act, including the adoption of all statutory codes of practice, as envisaged when the Liberal Democrats in Parliament voted for its passage into law. It further recommends that the EHRC maintains its current remit and noting also the concern of the United Nations that Britains national human rights institution is losing its independence that its budget be maintained at 2010 levels, that action is taken to ensure its independence from government, and that meaningful resources are allocated to each equality strand within the EHRC. 6
Terms
of
Reference
The
Liberal
Democrat
Task
Force
on
Race
Equality,
set
up
by
Liberal
Democrat
leader
and
Deputy
Prime
Minister
Nick
Clegg
early
in
2012,
was
charged
with
identifying
effective
measures
to
tackle
inequality,
discrimination
and
under-representation
affecting
Black
,
Asian
and
Minority
Ethnic
(BAME)
communities
and
individuals
looking
for
tangible
outcomes
that
bring
fairness
and
equality
to
BAME
communities.
The
members
of
the
Task
Force
are:
Baroness
Meral
Hussein-Ece
(chair),
Baroness
Floella
Benjamin,
Duwayne
Brooks,
Merlene
Emerson,
Issan
Ghazni,
Lester
Holloway,
Anuja
Prashar
and
Ruwan
Uduwerage-Perera.
In
determining
the
focus
of
its
first
report,
the
Task
Force
shared
the
view
of
Liberal
Democrat
leader
and
Deputy
Prime
Minister
Nick
Clegg
that
exclusion
begins
at
the
earliest
age.
It
also
agreed
with
Equanomics
UK
that
there
can
be
no
social
inclusion
without
economic
inclusion;
no
social
integration
without
economic
integration
and
no
justice
without
economic
justice.
The
Task
Force
concluded
that
the
first
focus
of
its
work,
tying
in
with
the
social
mobility
strategy,
should
be
education
and
employment
two
crucial
areas
of
life
that
are
intrinsically
linked.
This
report,
therefore,
begins
with
preschool
education,
reviews
the
education
system
and
key
issues
associated
with
it,
also
studying
the
situation
facing
BAME
teachers,
and
then
moves
onto
the
career
path.
The
Task
Force
took
evidence
and
consulted
widely
both
inside
and
outside
the
party.
It
also
took
account
of
the
policy
paper
on
broader
socio-economic
inequality
drawn
up
by
a
working
group
chaired
by
David
Hall-Matthews
and
adopted
by
the
partys
annual
conference
in
September
2012.
This
resulting
report
will
be
presented
to
the
Federal
Policy
Committee,
Parliamentary
Party
and
Federal
Executive.
It
is
hoped
that
a
motion
arising
from
this
report
will
be
debated
at
the
Spring
2013
Federal
Conference
and
accepted
by
conference
as
party
policy.
The
members
of
the
Task
Force
would
like
to
thank
the
following
organisations
and
individuals
for
their
time,
support
and
suggestions
throughout
this
process:
o Dr
Nicola
Rollock,
Visiting
Research
Associate
&
Associate
Editor
UK
Race
Ethnicity
and
Education,
Educational
Foundations
&
Policy
Studies,
Institute
of
Education,
University
of
London
o Professor
Augustine
John,
Chairman
and
Principal
Consultant,
Global
Development
Strategies
UK
Ltd,
Honorary
Fellow
and
Associate
Professor,
Institute
of
Education,
University
of
London
Director/Team
Leader,
Global
Development
Strategies
Ltd
o Jane
Lane,
Advocate
Worker
for
Racial
Equality
7
The Task Force also wishes to thank Adam Pritchard, Beth Yamamoto-Knight and Janice Turner for their assistance with research and preparation. We were unable to incorporate all the evidence provided to us in this paper, but it all informed our thinking and was gratefully received. The aim of this paper from the beginning was to implement actions which will achieve not only equality of opportunity but also fairness of outcomes.
o Patrice Lawrence, Leader on Equality for the Early Childhood Unit of the National Childrens Bureau o Meryl Shepherd, Visiting Lecturer, Roehampton University o Dr Brian Alleyne, Senior Lecturer, Goldsmiths, University of London o Barbara Nea, ROTA Race on the Agenda o Anita Bey, Early Years Trainer and Former Practitioner o Claire Herbert, Senior Policy Adviser, Equality Challenge Unit o Karen Chouhan, Director, Equanomics o Professor Ian Law, Director, Centre for Ethnicity and Racism Studies, University of Leeds o Gary Loke, Head of Policy, Equality Challenge Unit o Dr John Coxhead, the European Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Research Cluster (EGRTRC), University of Derby o Jamie Saddler, Political Adviser and Parliamentary Researcher o Vicki Butler, Public Affairs Manager, Runnymede Trust
Professor Augustine John, Chairman and Principal Consultant, Global Development Strategies UK Ltd, Honorary Fellow and Associate Professor, Institute of Education, University of London
seeker
pupils,
can
benefit
most
from
access
to
childcare
and
support
during
the
early
years
of
a
childs
life.2
The
Early
Years
Foundation
Stage
profile
looks
at
the
percentage
of
children
in
England
who
are
reaching
a
good
level
of
development
at
the
age
of
five.
It
covers
childrens
physical,
intellectual,
emotional
and
social
development.
The
proportion
achieving
a
good
level
of
development
on
this
measure
varies
between
different
ethnic
groups:
Irish,
Indian,
White
British
and
mixed
white/Asian
pupils
were
above
the
national
average
compared
with
all
pupils,
while
those
from
Black
and
Pakistani
ethnic
groups
did
not
perform
so
well.
Pupils
eligible
for
free
school
meals
used
as
a
rough
measure
of
parental
low
income
and
social
class
did
not
perform
as
well
as
those
who
were
ineligible
(35%
to
55%).
The
Task
Force
believes
that
access
to
high
quality
childcare
is
a
key
issue.
BAME
groups
are
less
likely
to
use
registered
childcare
services.3
While
it
must
be
acknowledged
that
some
women
actively
choose
not
to
work
when
their
children
are
very
young,
the
cost
of
childcare
is
nevertheless
a
major
factor:
46%
of
all
BAME
families
in
the
UK
live
in
London,
where
childcare
costs
are
up
to
a
third
higher
than
elsewhere
in
Britain,
so
high
that
they
are
unaffordable
for
many
parents.4
The
Task
Force
heard
evidence
that
the
Sure
Start
programme
had
had
a
positive
impact
in
deprived
communities.
It
had
been
set
up
to
deliver
better
childcare,
early
education,
health
and
family
support
in
those
areas
that
most
needed
it.
There
was
an
emphasis
on
outreach
and
community
development.
The
Sure
Start
childrens
centres
were
set
up
in
these
communities
and
open
to
all
families
living
in
these
areas,
and
there
are
now
more
than
3,000
in
existence.
The
Task
Force
was
concerned
that
funding
cuts
are
reducing
the
effectiveness
of
these
centres:
some
are
merging
to
save
money
and
services
are
being
reduced.
Staffing
cuts
appear
to
be
reducing
the
effectiveness
of
some
centres
in
reaching
the
families
they
were
set
up
to
assist.
The
Task
Force
heard
anecdotal
evidence
that
in
some
inner
city
areas
middle
class
parents
and
even
nannies
were
taking
children
to
these
centres,
while
fewer
working
class
children
were
participating.
Childrens
Trusts
are
another
positive
development
local
partnerships
bringing
together
the
organisations
responsible
for
services
for
children,
young
people
and
families
in
a
shared
commitment
to
improving
childrens
lives.
The
Trusts
develop
a
strategy
most
appropriate
to
local
circumstances
and
can
focus
on
particular
issues.
Surveys
of
BAME
parents
into
their
experiences
of
childcare
have
indicated
that
they
have
had
negative
experiences
with
childcare
providers
and
been
left
with
a
perception
that
they
were
not
welcome5.
The
Task
Force
heard
evidence
indicating
that
it
is
extremely
important
to
raise
the
standards
and
qualifications
of
those
working
in
the
early
years
workforce.
Early
2
http://www.daycaretrust.org.uk/data/files/Projects/London_project/BAME_briefing_formatted_14910.pdf
The
Experience
of
Black
and
Minority
Ethnic
Communities
with
HMRC
Services.
A
Study
Conducted
for
HM
Revenue
&
Customs
Ipsos
MORI,
2010.
p.10
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/research/report116.pdf
4 http://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Tackling%20childcare%20affordability%20-22%202%20MW.pdf
5 http://www.daycaretrust.org.uk/data/files/Projects/London_project/BAME_briefing_formatted_14910.pdf
3
10
Years Trainer Anita Bey stated that hardly any work was done to prepare people for the international world we are living in, and that equalities training had entirely fallen off the agenda. Patrice Lawrence, Leader on Equality for the Early Childhood Unit of the National Childrens Bureau, voiced support for the Black Voices Network whilst encouraging people to create focus groups so experiences regarding issues could be voiced. Meryl Shepherd, Visiting Lecturer, Roehampton University, felt that training in equality needed to be implemented across all fields and not just in the school curriculum. There have been improvements: early years training has been given professional status which has allowed early years staff to obtain better qualifications, but there needs to be more training and teaching promoting skills and integration skills. Jane Lane, Advocate Worker for Racial Equality, pointed to the work of Lambeth Council in creating groups integrating those with qualifications with those who have experience but not the qualifications. She emphasised that ethnic monitoring is imperative to gauge the success over time of any changes and to do this suggested working with carers and parents. There was a strong view that working groups at government and council level should be representative of those they are trying to assist. Increasing a familys income through employment helps to reduce child poverty: children living in poverty are more likely to be in poor health, struggle at school and live in poverty as adults. It is therefore important that those BAME families that live in inner cities on low to middle incomes are provided the advice and the support necessary to ensure that they have access to childcare and early years education and that childcare provision is accessible in these localities. In particular the Task Force welcomes the recent announcement by Nick Clegg of changes to the free entitlement to childcare, particularly that the entitlement can be taken over a minimum of two days per week rather than three, as this could offer a better solution for working parents and those prevented from working by current childcare hours. The Task Force also welcomes Nick Cleggs announcement of 100m to support the extension of free childcare to 130,000 of the most disadvantaged two-year-olds from September 2013, rising to around 260,000 (about 40% of two-year-olds) in September 2014. Recommendation 1 Noting that the first five years of a child's life shapes his or her future, it is essential to ensure adequate provision of affordable and accessible childcare including through: Further training for those wishing to enter the Early Years Workforce, this training should include a clear focus on cultural diversity and race equality and on the need to ensure that the more disadvantaged communities have equal access. Supporting changes to the free childcare entitlement to create a more flexible offer that in turn could improve the chances of BAME parents of obtaining employment.
11
12
15.4%
of
White
students
achieve
the
measurement
11.2%
of
Black
African
and
11.1%
of
Pakistani
pupils
achieve
the
English
Baccalaureate
The
rate
is
9.9%
for
Bangladeshi
pupils
and
7.6%
for
Black
Caribbean
pupils
Traveller
and
Roma/Gypsy
pupils
have
the
lowest
attainment,
with
2.2%
and
0.5%
respectively
achieving
the
measurement.9
Data
from
the
Equality
and
Human
Rights
Commission
found
that
Achievement
is
higher
for
those
pupils
whose
first
language
is
English
when
compared
to
pupils
who
have
English
as
an
additional
language.
54%
of
pupils
whose
first
language
is
English
achieve
a
good
level
of
development
compared
to
42%
of
pupils
for
whom
English
is
an
additional
language.10
Poverty
The
EHRC
also
reports
that
the
gap
between
students
from
different
socio-economic
backgrounds
remains
wide,
with
students
eligible
for
free
school
meals
only
half
as
likely
to
have
good
GCSE
results
as
those
who
are
not.
The
combination
of
being
eligible
for
free
school
meals
and
being
part
of
another
group
with
a
lower
probability
of
obtaining
good
qualifications
leads
to
extremely
low
results.
The
Task
Force
welcomes
Nick
Cleggs
establishment
of
a
Child
Poverty
and
Social
Mobility
Commission.
The
Task
Force
also
recognises
that
the
Coalitions
flagship
policy,
the
Pupil
Premium,
which
brings
a
school
a
specific
additional
amount
of
annual
funding
per
child
on
FSM,
is
a
crucial
intervention
given
the
link
between
class
and
the
lower
achievement
of
some
ethnic
groups.
The
2012-13
allocation
per
child
is
600.
Schools
are
free
to
use
this
money
as
they
see
fit.
The
Task
Force
notes
that
Ofsted11
has
criticised
some
schools
for
failing
to
disaggregate
the
Pupil
Premium
from
their
main
budget:
in
some
schools
it
was
clear
to
inspectors
that
the
spending
was
not
all
focussed
on
the
needs
of
the
specific
groups
for
whom
it
was
intended.
The
Head
of
Ofsted,
Sir
Michael
Wilshaw,
has
said
it
was
a
real
worry
if
cash
was
being
diverted
to
tarmacking
playgrounds.
A
further
Ofsted
report
published
in
February
201312
was
more
upbeat.
While
the
same
criticism
was
made
of
school
that
were
less
successful
in
spending
the
funding,
the
report
also
highlighted
many
examples
of
where
well-thought-out
targetted
approaches
were
making
a
difference.
Ofsted
stated
that
many
of
the
success
stories
were
concentrating
on
the
core
areas
of
literacy
and
numeracy
to
break
down
the
main
barriers
to
accessing
the
full
curriculum.
This
situation
has
been
made
more
difficult
by
ending
the
ringfencing
of
the
Ethnic
Minority
Achievement
Grant
(EMAG),
the
origins
of
which
date
back
to
1966,
and
which
has
provided
an
important
incentive
for
schools
to
buy
back
resource-intensive
Ethnic
Minority
Achievement
and
English
as
an
Additional
Language
services
from
local
authorities.
Local
authorities
have
taken
a
leading
role
in
the
provision
of
these
services.
9
13
The
decision
by
the
Dept
for
Education
to
incorporate
the
EMAG
funding,
from
2011/12,
into
the
Dedicated
Schools
Grant
has
given
schools
complete
freedom
to
decide
the
use
of
this
money
and
ended
the
requirement
on
schools
to
ensure
that
the
funding
is
in
fact
used
for
supporting
the
needs
of
BAME
pupils
or
those
for
whom
English
is
a
second
language.
This
new
method
of
disbursement
direct
to
each
school
instead
of
via
the
local
authority
has
also
in
practice
resulted
in
less
local
coordination
of
action
under
the
EMAG.
For
example,
one
school
could
have
a
substantial
number
of
non-English
speaking
pupils
speaking
the
same
foreign
language,
and
a
school
nearby
might
have
just
one
or
two
such
pupils.
Under
the
previous
system
the
local
authority
could
employ
teachers
which
both
schools
could
hire
in
to
supply
appropriate
amounts
of
tuition.
Under
the
current
system,
the
first
school
may
have
enough
EMAG
funding
to
support
a
teacher
to
address
the
pupils'
needs,
but
the
second
school
would
be
unable
to
do
this.
The
Task
Force
was
concerned
at
reports
from
the
organisation
Show
Racism
the
Red
Card,
the
UKs
anti-racism
educational
charity,
that
these
local
authority
support
structures
for
teachers
and
schools
in
promoting
equality
and
tackling
racism
have
been
abolished
or
are
rapidly
being
dismantled.
SRRC
reported
that
local
authorities
Ethnic
Minority
Achievement
Service
teams,
able
to
provide
expert
advice
and
resources
for
schools,
are
now
rapidly
disappearing
partly
due
to
local
authority
cuts
but
also
due
to
the
changes
regarding
the
EMA
grant.
Further,
as
the
Task
Force
was
preparing
this
report,
it
noted
that
a
consultation
on
the
future
of
the
EMAG
itself13
had
not
yet
presented
its
conclusions.
Another
factor
is
the
change
in
Ofsted's
school
inspection
criteria
which
has
weakened
the
requirements
to
address
race
equality.
Under
the
arrangements
from
2009
school
inspectors
had
to
give
particular
priority
to
"assessing
how
well
schools
promote
equality
of
opportunity,
and
how
effectively
they
tackle
discrimination".14
Inspectors
were
to
make
eight
main
judgements
relating
to
the
effectiveness
of
the
leadership
and
management
of
the
school,
and
the
framework
stated:
"Where
a
school
is
judged
to
be
inadequate
in
relation
to
the
quality
of
the
schools
procedures
for
safeguarding
and/or
the
extent
to
which
the
school
promotes
equality
and
tackles
discrimination,
inspectors
treat
these
as
limiting
judgements
and
the
schools
overall
effectiveness
is
also
likely
to
be
judged
inadequate."
Another
of
the
eight
judgements
was
the
effectiveness
with
which
the
school
promotes
community
cohesion.
This
changed
with
the
new
framework
from
September
2012.
There
is
no
longer
any
priority
given
to
assessing
how
well
schools
promote
equality
of
opportunity.
Inadequacy
in
promoting
equality
is
no
longer
a
limiting
judgement
it
would
no
longer
result
in
the
likely
judgement
of
a
school
as
inadequate
and
there
is
no
longer
a
judgement
on
the
effectiveness
of
the
school's
promotion
of
community
cohesion.15
13
http://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/ca/digitalAssets/200053_brief_summary_of_Government_policy_i n_relation_to_EAL_Learners.pdf 14 The Framework for School Inspection in England under Section 5 of the Education Act 2005, from September 2009, Ofsted 15 The Framework for Inspecting Schools in England under Section 5 of the Education Act 2005 (as amended) Dec 2012, Ofsted
14
This
means
that
in
practice
a
school
could
be
judged
good
or
outstanding,
with
greater
numbers
of
pupils
achieving
five
good
GCSEs,
even
if
its
black
pupils
were
falling
further
behind.
The
Task
Force
is
concerned
that
all
these
changes,
at
a
time
of
severe
pressure
on
funding,
will
undermine
the
progress
on
closing
the
achievement
gap.
The
Task
Force
noted
that,
due
to
the
efforts
of
Liberal
Democrat
peers
during
the
passage
of
the
Education
Bill,
there
remains
a
duty
on
schools
to
cooperate
with
their
local
authority
and
act
in
accordance
with
the
Local
Children
and
Young
People's
plan
drawn
up
by
the
local
authority.
Recommendation
2:
The
Task
Force
recommends
that
Ofsted
continue
to
monitor
expenditure
of
the
Pupil
Premium
to
ensure
that
it
is
used
for
the
purposes
for
which
it
was
intended
and
that
all
schools
are
properly
and
transparently
accountable
for
its
use.
The
Task
Force
further
recommends
that
in
order
to
prevent
a
reverse
of
the
progress
made
in
recent
years
towards
closing
the
ethnic
minority
achievement
gap,
the
Ethnic
Minority
Achievement
Grant
is
maintained,
that
schools
are
held
transparently
accountable
for
its
expenditure
and
that
the
Ofsted
inspection
framework
be
revised
to
reinstate
the
requirement
to
judge
schools
on
their
promotion
of
equality
of
opportunity
and
community
cohesion.
The
Task
Force
believes
that
local
coordination
of
action
is
essential
and
in
the
best
interests
of
children
in
local
communities
with
regard
to
the
use
of
the
Ethnic
Minority
Achievement
Grant.
It
therefore
recommends
that
if
this
inter-school
coordination
is
lacking
then
local
authorities
utilise
their
powers
under
the
Local
Children
and
Young
People's
plan
to
ensure
that
proper
coordination
takes
place.
Other
issues
We
all
want
the
best
for
our
children,
and
want
to
make
sure
their
education
experience
is
as
enjoyable
as
possible
while
ensuring
they
are
able
to
reach
their
full
potential.
Evidence
shared
with
the
Task
Force
suggests
that
BAME
parents
have
several
concerns
regarding
the
mainstream
education
experience
of
their
children.
Research
by
Ian
Law
and
Sarah
Swann16
states:
The
UK
experience
shows
that
despite
significant
achievements
in
developing
integrated,
non-discriminatory
educational
systems
persistent
patterns
of
hostility,
segregation
and
inequality
remain.
This
research
also
challenges
any
connection
between
ethnicity
and
low
educational
aspirations,
apart
from
the
case
of
Gypsies,
Roma
and
Travellers
where
high
dropout
and
high
levels
of
disaffection
with
school
are
particularly
marked.
16
Law, Ian and Swann, Sarah Ethnicity and Education in England and Europe, gangstas, geeks and gorjas, Ashgate 2011
15
Inclusion
of
all
communities
in
the
curriculum
The
Task
Force
discussed
the
role
of
the
curriculum
in
ensuring
that
children
from
all
communities
feel
a
part
of
the
national
narrative.
The
Dept
for
Education
itself
has
published
a
report
on
good
practice
which
underlines
the
effectiveness
of
such
teaching,
and
the
Black
Manifesto
2010
also
calls
for
the
school
curriculum
to
reflect
the
diversity
of
the
school
population,
both
to
raise
the
levels
of
engagement
and
attainment
of
minority
ethnic
pupils
and
to
promote
a
positive
view
of
racial
equality
and
cultural
diversity
to
all
its
pupils.
Recommendation
3
In
line
with
the
policy
outlined
in
Black
Manifesto
2010,
the
school
curriculum
should
properly
reflect
the
ethnic
diversity
of
the
country.
In
order
to
promote
understanding,
an
impartial
teaching
of
the
history
of
cultural
diversity
in
the
UK
as
well
as
Britains
historical
global
role
should
be
taught.
Stereotyping
A
study
by
the
Institute
of
Education
at
the
University
of
London
found
that
one
of
the
major
concerns
for
middle
class
Black
parents
was
that
teachers
generally
had
a
predetermined
view
of
the
kind
of
pupils
who
were
capable
of
academic
success.
The
study
suggested
that
some
teachers
had
lower
expectations
of
BAME
students.
The
identified
that
there
were
signifiers
that
teachers
used
to
ascertain
whether
a
pupil
would
succeed
academically;
some
of
these
signifiers
are
contained
in
the
table
below:
More
likely
to
succeed
Less
likely
to
succeed
17
Girls
Boys
Conforming
to
Uniform
Standards
Adapting
Uniform
Doesnt
partake
in
Black
Culture
Partakes
in
Black
Culture
Middle
Class
Working
Class
Two
Parent
Home
Single
Parent
Home
The
report
by
the
Institute
for
Education
found
that
52-53%
of
newly
qualified
teachers
(NQTs)
did
not
feel
qualified
to
teach
BAME
pupils.
Members
of
the
Task
Force
echoed
these
sentiments
and
confirmed
that
they
themselves
had
also
been
subjected
to
low
expectations
from
their
teachers.
Studies
have
shown
that
preconceived
notions
of
how
different
ethnic
groups
and
genders
are
likely
to
perform
can
influence
marking:
when
Leeds
University
introduced
name-blind
marking
the
scores
of
Black
students
and
women
increased
by
12%.
This
level
of
difference
affects
whole
careers.
The
Runnymede
Trust
states
that
there
is
a
range
of
evidence
suggesting
that
school
decision
making
and
selection
processes
about
access
to
course
and
qualification
routes
in
schools
work
against
the
interests
of
Black
students.
For
example,
evidence
suggests
that
Black
pupils
are
more
likely
to
be
entered
for
lower
tier
exams,
meaning
that
these
students
17
Rollock, N. (2007) Legitimising Black academic failure: deconstructing staff discourses on academic success, appearance and behaviour. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 17:3, 275-287
16
are only able to able to achieve a maximum grade of a C or D, and other evidence has found that Black Caribbean and African students are less likely to be indentified for gifted and talented programmes. Evidence also suggests that Chinese and Indian students are more likely to be entered into higher sets. Setting can be problematic given that a pupil's set is decided at a young age, and evidence suggests that teacher assumptions that Black students will achieve poorly and Chinese/Indian students highly may result in children being put in an inappropriate set, and thus effectively pre-determine how high a grade it is possible for them to achieve. There is also a phenomenon in inner cities for some schools to have a far higher proportion of BAME pupils than would be expected from the diversity of the catchment area the Task Force heard of a school with 90% BAME pupils in an area where the BAME community was 30% due to white parents sending their children elsewhere. It is clear that there is a long way to go before race equality in schools is no longer a problem. It is therefore a mistake for the government to have decided not to proceed with the statutory code of practice on the Public Sector Equality Duty and statutory codes of practice for schools and the further and higher education sector, and instead have the Equality and Human Rights Commission issue non-statutory guidance which in practice can be widely ignored. The Task Force agrees with the EHRC that rather than creating a regulatory burden, statutory codes have a valuable role to play in making clearer to everyone what is and is not needed in order to comply with the Equality Act. Recommendation 4 That teacher training should be improved in order to equip teachers to deal with issues of race and help them recognise their own potential unconscious biases. Failure to address issues of race The Task Force regrets that up to this point, the opportunity has not been grasped to address issues surrounding race as a fundamental component of teacher training and that many NQTs are under-prepared to deal with issues involving race. One case highlighted by the IoE report gives the example of a mother whose son was victim to overt racism by his peers at a private school. The school was unresponsive to the situation and fearing for the childs wellbeing, his mother took him out of the school. The report explains that the schools senior management refused to give the mothers complaints any legitimacy, only becoming more entrenched in their position when she explicitly named racism as the cause of her sons problems. 17
http://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/client/downloads/CSJ_Educational_Exclusion_WEB_12.09.11.pdf http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/uploaded_files/triennial_review/how_fair_is_britain_ch10.pdf 20 They never give up on you - Office of the Childrens Commissioner School Exclusions Inquiry http://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/content/publications/content_561
18
employment.21
Being
excluded
from
school
has
a
massive
impact
on
a
pupils
attainment
levels.
For
example,
research
by
David
Gillborn
and
David
Drew
found
that
excluded
pupils
are
four
times
more
likely
to
finish
their
education
without
having
gained
academic
qualifications.
Subsequent
access
to
higher
education
and
employment
is
therefore
limited.
Furthermore,
if
a
child
has
lower
academic
achievement
they
are
more
likely
to
become
involved
in
criminal
activity.
A
problem
exists
within
the
education
system
where,
too
often,
punishment
and
expulsion
are
seen
as
the
only
course
of
action.
The
Centre
for
Social
Justice
states
that
the
use
of
referrals,
part-time
time
tables,
managed
moves
and
dual
registration
should
all
be
taken
into
account
when
estimating
the
exclusion
rate
as
these
are
not
counted
in
official
figures,
however
they
can
be
used
as
a
proto-exclusionary
tactic.
The
Childrens
Commissioners
report
also
states
that
while
exclusion
is
a
sanction
used
in
England,
it
is
not
used
much
in
mainland
Europe.
The
inquiry
found
evidence
of
illegal
activity
by
some
schools
in
their
use
of
unofficial
exclusion,
and
heard
accusations
that
academies
are
attempting
to
avoid
scrutiny
of
their
exclusions
by
external
independent
appeal
panels,
and
refusing
to
hear
appeals
from
parents.
The
inquiry
also
set
out
alternatives
to
exclusion
currently
in
use
in
schools
which
included
implementing
the
restorative
justice
approach,
dealing
with
underlying
behavioural
issues
rather
than
simply
parking
them,
ensuring
curriculum
continuity
and
allowing
students
to
be
more
easily
reintegrated
into
the
mainstream
when
their
issues
have
been
addressed.
Belinda
Hopkins,
the
Director
of
Transforming
Conflict,
also
made
the
Task
Force
aware
of
the
work
of
the
Pan-London
Back
On
Track
Project
and
its
successful
pilot
of
restorative
approaches
in
Pupil
Referral
Units.
The
evidence
presented
to
the
Task
Force
showed
strong
opinions
on
the
rights
given
to
children
who
has
been
unjustly
or
illegally
excluded
from
school.
The
Task
Force
heard
a
number
of
examples
of
children
who
had
essentially
been
illegally
excluded
and
had
no
right
to
appeal
or
to
challenge
this
decision.
The
Task
Force
felt
that
it
is
entirely
against
natural
justice
for
Independent
Appeals
Panels
to
be
debarred
from
returning
to
a
school
a
child
who
is
found
to
have
been
unjustly
or
illegally
excluded
by
that
school.
While
in-school
centres
are
better
than
sending
children
to
Pupil
Referral
Units
elsewhere,
there
remains
a
concern
that
ethnic
minority
pupils
could
be
disproportionately
referred
to
these
centres
just
as
they
already
are
to
the
units.
Recommendation
5
Noting
that
exclusion
of
pupils
from
school
is
used
far
more
widely
in
England
than
it
is
in
mainland
Europe,
the
Task
Force
recommends
that
the
Department
for
Education
implement
the
Childrens
Commissioners
report
into
the
prevention
of
and
positive
alternatives
to
exclusion.
It
should
also
develop
guidance
on
this.
The
Task
Force
further
recommends
that
the
Education
Act
should
be
amended
to
reinstate
the
right
of
appeals
panels,
when
they
find
that
a
school
has
unjustly
or
illegally
excluded
a
21
Joseph Rowntree Foundation. School exclusion and transition into adulthood in African-Caribbean communities. http://www.irr.org.uk/pdf/JRF_exclusions.pdf
19
child, to have the power to order the childs return to the school from which they were excluded. The Task Force also recommends the introduction of a Schools Ombudsman to deal with issues of discipline and to enforce a proportional response by schools when dealing with all pupils including those from BAME backgrounds. This could be accompanied by more advocates for children in general. Expelled students should also be afforded access to a trained advocate to ensure that they are properly represented. Peer group pressure A study into ethnicity and education in England and Europe stated that more than 70% of pupils from all ethnic groups strongly recognise that education is a key means of improving life-chances and despite widely varying home backgrounds and school experiences aspirations were high. However over a quarter of pupils did not take this view and this educational disaffection across all groups needs addressing.22 There is pressure within certain peer groups for young people to shun the overt prestige of academic achievement and the plaudits that come with it and to instead seek covert prestige by distancing themselves from academic achievement and those that seek it, in favour of being seen to be cool instead of a geek.23 Currently it seems that in some cases peer groups are having more of an influence than teachers on the attitude of children to school: boys are often balancing the desire to do well and satisfying the expectations of peer pressure to be seen as cool and popular, with the epitome of hegemonic masculinity involving hardness, sporting prowess, coolness, casual treatment of schoolwork and being adept at cussing.24 Some young working class people in urban areas harbour daily fears for their safety and even their lives. The national education system has to recognise that attendance and behaviour, to say nothing of future prospects, are secondary concerns to young men and women in this situation. Within the catchment area for some inner city schools there may be several postcode boundaries which serve as indicators of the turf of rival gangs, many of whom are or have been extremely violent. Thus it is important to recognise that where members of rival gangs are attending the same school, the potential for antagonism and conflict must be something teachers are made aware of and trained to deal with.25
22
Law, Ian and Swann, Sarah Ethnicity and Education in England and Europe, gangstas, geeks and gorjas, Ashgate 2011. p. 140 23 Law, Ian and Swann, Sarah Ethnicity and Education in England and Europe, gangstas, geeks and gorjas, Ashgate 2011 24 Sarah Finney, Ian, Law and Sarah Swann Searching for autonomy: young Black men, schooling and aspirations 2012 25 Home Office, 2011. Statutory Guidance: Injunctions to prevent gang-related violence. http://www.official- documents.gov.uk/document/other/9780108511288/9780108511288.pdf
20
http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/uploaded_files/triennial_review/how_fair_is_britain_ch10.pdf
21
high
proportion
of
those
identified
being
in
need
of
support
are
women
with
children
living
in
areas
already
facing
significant
cohesion
challenges.29
The
Task
Force
welcomes
this
funding.
Positive
action
in
schools
The
Task
Force
heard
much
evidence
that
positive
role
models
are
vital
in
a
pupils
journey
through
the
schooling
system
and
that
mentoring
can
be
a
valuable
support.
Role
models
can
provide
a
valuable
service
to
children
from
BAME
backgrounds:
A
longitudinal
study
of
young
adolescents
revealed
that
students
who
reported
having
at
least
one
race-
and
gender-matched
role
model
at
the
beginning
of
the
study
performed
better
academically
up
to
24
months
later,
reported
more
achievement-oriented
goals,
enjoyed
achievement-relevant
activities
to
a
greater
degree,
thought
more
about
their
futures,
and
looked
up
to
adults
rather
than
peers
more
often
than
did
students
without
a
race-
and
gender-matched
role
model.30
The
Task
Force
was
also
made
aware
of
a
number
of
good
mentoring
schemes
for
ethnic
minority
children
currently
operating
throughout
the
UK,
assisting
pupils
with
their
schooling
and
generally
raising
the
level
of
aspiration
amongst
pupils
from
a
BAME
background.
Organisations
like
Mosaic
are
setting
the
standards
which
other
mentoring
programmes,
nationwide,
should
follow.
The
Task
Force
further
welcomes
the
announcement
by
Nick
Clegg
of
further
funding
to
secondary
schools
to
enable
them
to
provide
intensive
catch-up
tuition
for
all
Year
Seven
pupils
who
start
secondary
school
without
having
achieved
the
required
levels
in
English
and
maths.
Only
30%
of
those
not
achieving
Level
4
in
reading
at
the
end
of
primary
school
go
on
to
achieve
5
A*
to
C
at
GCSE.
For
pupils
on
free
school
meals
this
drops
to
7%.
The
new
catch-up
premium
is
likely
to
assist
almost
110,000
pupils
this
year.
Recommendation
6
Schools
should
maintain
links
with
ex-pupils
and
invite
successful
ex-pupils
from
across
all
ethnicities
to
visit
and
talk
to
students.
Recommendation
7
The
Department
for
Education
should
establish
a
central
database
of
the
mentoring
programmes
operating
nationally
and
create
the
conditions
for
communications
between
the
programmes
to
share
examples
of
best
practice.
Best
practice
for
mentoring
programmes
of
this
nature
should
stress
the
importance
of
providing
race-
and-
gender
matched
role
models
for
BAME
children
in
the
education
system.
29 30
http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/communities/pdf/2092103.pdf http://www.mills.edu/academics/faculty/educ/szirkel/02tcr.pdf Sabrina Zirkel, Is there a place for me? Role models and academic identity among white students and students of colour, Teachers College Record, (Vol. 104, No. 2, 2002).
22
Recommendation 8 The government should talk to pupils and students about their education experience, they should use these conversations to produce standard language regarding what pupils can expect and are entitled to with regard to their educational experience. This Learners Charter will be the basis by which all pupils can expect to be treated and will have direct feed in from those learners consulted. This document should be updated every couple of years. Recommendation 9 The Government to set aside a certain amount of research funding, from the general education research budget, for research specifically of race issues. Recommendation 10 Monitoring be employed on a national scale to track the success of policies designed to bring about racial equality. Monitoring enables us to identify inequalities in educational practice and to target support appropriately. Recommendation 11 We should celebrate every aspect of British culture and not just the diverse aspects. Being British and celebrating that means celebrating traditional British culture on an equal level as diverse British culture and BAME culture within the UK, creating an equal platform and an area in which all of British culture can engage and communicate. Supplementary schools The Task Force has welcomed the growing acknowledgement by Childrens Trusts, the Dept for Education and other agencies, of the value of supplementary schools31. These schools, set up by voluntary groups, run in the evenings or at weekends and offer a range of learning opportunities, including national curriculum subjects (English, maths, science and others), religious studies, mother-tongue classes, cultural studies and a range of extra activities, such as sport, music, dance and drama. While the roots of the supplementary school began with the traditional Sunday school, many such schools have been set up by minority communities who have felt that the regular school system has let down their children or because they want to ensure that their children maintain linguistic and cultural ties with their heritage. These schools have enabled children to be fluent in their communitys mother-tongue language and culture which has enhanced their identities in positive ways. Bilingualism has also been shown to help childrens learning as it allows them to think about ideas in two different languages. It also gives them an advantage in an increasingly global employment market. These schools can be a very positive influence within communities, particularly when other institutions engage positively with them. Frith Manor Primary School in Finchley, for example, has about 70 Japanese families in the school. It hosts the Japanese school at weekends and its positive and imaginative approach to diversity has led to Frith Manor
31
http://www.continyou.org.uk/what_we_do/supplementary_education/
23
putting Japanese language learning on the curriculum which not only fosters a more closely knit community, but also enhances the education of all pupils. The Task Force welcomes the shift in the approach that the authorities, including childrens trusts, are now taking to supplementary schools and further welcomes the growing partnerships between mainstream primary and secondary schools with supplementary schools.
McNamara, O et al (2009) The leadership aspirations and careers of Black and ethnic minority teachers TDA/NASUWT: Nottingham 33 Rollock (2009) School Governors and Race Equality in 21st Century schools Runnymede Trust: London www.runnymedetrust.org 34 Source: Dept for Education http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/pupilsupport/inclusionandlearnersupport/mea/improvingachievement/ a0012528/gypsy-roma-and-traveller-achievement 35 Law, Ian and Swann, Sarah Ethnicity and Education in England and Europe, gangstas, geeks and gorjas, Ashgate 2011
24
many of the problems affecting this group, particularly in the area of education. We welcome the Coalitions resolve to tackle some of these issues, in particular tackling bullying, exclusion and poor attendance.36 The Virtual Headteachers Pilot Scheme is an innovative project which has potential to be rolled out more widely, and we strongly support the recognition of the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller Community as a vulnerable group under the Ofsted Framework. However, we believe there is still much more work that needs to be done. Recommendation 12 Launch a new creative national campaign to address literacy and generate aspirational capital amongst these communities, led by these communities with government, LEA and school support, in order to increase the participation of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) children in secondary education as they feel particularly disenfranchised from the education system. Recommendation 13 It is vital, when teaching children about tolerance and racial diversity, that Gypsy, Roma and Irish Travellers are included. Any teacher training aimed to improve understanding of cultural diversity must also give a holistic view of the issues surrounding GRT children. The Department for Education should commission a study to see what outreach programmes, for example home visits, have been shown to be the most effective interventions.
36
http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/pupilsupport/inclusionandlearnersupport/mea/improvingachievemen t/a0012528/gypsy-roma-and-traveller-achievement
25
http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/uploaded_files/triennial_review/how_fair_is_britain_ch10.pdf ibid 39 Runnymede Trust, 2007 40 http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/uploaded_files/triennial_review/how_fair_is_britain_ch10.pdf 41 ibid 42 Race for Equality: a report on the experiences of Black students in further and higher education - NUS
26
student
population
is
a
highly
heterogeneous
group,
our
research
identifies
and
highlights
common
concerns
among
Black
students,
which
are
clearly
linked
to
their
attainment
and
overall
satisfaction
yet
often
overlooked
by
institutions.
However
the
NUS
survey
of
almost
1,000
BAME
students
concluded
that
institutional
racism
was
a
key
factor,
that
many
students
felt
alienated
and
excluded,
and
felt
as
if
they
were
invisible
to
lecturers.
34%
stated
they
felt
unable
to
bring
their
perspective
as
a
Black
student
to
lectures
and
tutor
meetings.
A
running
theme
through
both
the
survey
and
focus
group
data
was
a
frustration
that
courses
were
designed
and
taught
by
non-Black
teachers,
and
often
did
not
take
into
account
diverse
backgrounds
and
views.
The
report
also
found
that
schooling
and
college
education
had
a
direct
impact,
with
BAME
students
commented
that
being
from
a
low
socio-economic
background
meant
that
they
did
not
have
access
to
a
high
standard
of
education
in
their
school
years
and
that
they
did
not
have
the
same
academic
skills,
such
as
study
skills
and
understanding
theoretical
debate,
as
their
white
peers.
As
reported
in
the
earlier
section
on
schools,
some
respondents
also
reported
that
they
had
encountered
widely
held
stereotypes
based
on
race
and
attainment
from
teachers
while
at
school
and
college.
The
Task
Force
discussed
the
work
of
the
group
Aimhigher
in
assisting
students
from
ethnic
minority
backgrounds
to
attend
higher
education.
Dr
Brian
Alleyne,
Senior
Lecturer
at
Goldsmiths,
University
of
London,
told
the
Task
Force
that
he
felt
more
effort
should
be
focussed
on
engaging
the
BAME
community
with
science
education.
Careers
in
this
field
have
not
historically
been
undertaken
by
people
from
BAME
backgrounds,
resulting
in
young
people
from
these
communities
not
viewing
those
careers
as
realistic,
regardless
of
whether
or
not
they
have
the
necessary
qualifications
and
falling
back
into
careers
they
see
as
more
in
line
with
their
culture.
Which
university?
A
study
by
the
ECU
found
that
post-graduation
employment
showed
wide
margins
between
ethnicities.
The
study
found
that
in
2009/10,
12.6%
of
BAME
students
leaving
university,
particularly
Chinese
(14.7%)
and
Black
(14.3%)
leavers,
were
more
likely
to
be
assumed
to
be
unemployed
than
white
leavers
(6.2%)43
The
study
explained
that
Post-graduation
employment
may
be
linked
in
part
to
the
institution
students
attended
(some
institutions
are
more
prestigious
and
appealing
to
employers
than
others)
and
the
degree
classification
that
students
are
awarded.
Many
graduate
jobs,
and
often
funding
for
postgraduate
courses,
have
criteria
that
applicants
should
have
a
2:1
or
above,
which
impacts
on
BAME
students
as
they
are
less
likely
to
be
awarded
a
2:1
or
above.
As
stated
earlier,
the
Runnymede
Trust
has
also
reported44
that
whilst
the
proportion
of
Data
source:
ECU
publication
Equality
in
higher
education:
Statistical
report
2010.
Runnymede
Trust
submission
to
the
Work
and
Pensions
Select
Committee
Inquiry
into
Youth
Employment
and
the
Governments
Youth
Employment
Contract
43 44
27
university places taken by minority ethnic students has increased from 13% of students in 1994/95 to 23% in 2008/09, a figure broadly proportionate to their size in the young population, these students are more likely to attend less prestigious institutions which have lower employment rates. For example, at least 44% of all Black, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Indian graduates attended post-1992 universities, or former polytechnics compared to 34% of other ethnic groups. In addition, 8% of all Black university students attend Russell Group universities compared to 24% of all White students. In 2009 only one Black Caribbean student was accepted to study on a course at Oxford University. These trends have an impact on graduate employment prospects and earnings. Minority ethnic graduates are more than twice as likely to be unemployed after graduation compared to White students. Many of the universities with the highest minority ethnic populations have the lowest employment rates, and given the currently poor prospects for graduates generally, this is likely to have an adverse effect on minority ethnic employment. Studying at a Russell Group University has been found to boost a graduates earnings by between 3 and 6% compared to studying at a new university. Recommendation 14 Require the Equality and Human Rights Commission to ensure that institutions of further and higher education are enforcing compliance with race equality legislation in further and higher education. Recommendation 15 Require all universities to be fully transparent about all the selection criteria used to evaluate student applications for places, including for example which A-level subjects are likely to count for or against a candidate. Recommendation 16 Colleges and universities should adopt a zero-tolerance policy regarding racist behaviour, incorporate race awareness more effectively into staff training, and increase focus on social inclusion and the student experience both within and outside the classroom. Recommendation 17 The Russell Group universities should improve their outreach to BAME students in order to improve their under-representation in these institutions.
Apprenticeships
The Ethnic Minority British Election Study (EMBES) estimates that unemployment was a key election issue for minority voters. The report points out that half of young Black people are unemployed, as well as 31% of young Asian people45 (See later section on employment). Members of the Task Force are concerned that if unchecked these trends will persist,
45
http://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/EMBESbriefingFINALx.pdf
28
thereby
creating
an
ever-increasing
racial
segregation
within
the
working
populations
of
young
people.46
To
stamp
out
discrimination,
Liberal
Democrats
have
pledged
to
ensure
that
every
company
that
employs
more
than
100
people
should
have
its
pay
arrangements
examined
with
a
Diversity
audit
and
an
Equal
Pay
Audit.
Under
these
proposals,
companies
would
be
required
to
compare
the
pay
people
doing
equal
work.
Any
pay
gaps
identified
that
cannot
be
satisfactorily
explained
would
require
the
company
to
produce
plans
to
eliminate
them,
giving
everyone
a
fair
deal.
The
Runnymede
Trusts
report
also
found
that
students
who
do
not
have
parental
connections
to
industry
were
less
likely
to
be
able
to
get
a
work
placement,
which
was
essential
to
progress
in
a
given
career.
The
research
found
that
there
are
deeply
embedded
notions
of
the
ideal
student
and
ideal
work
placement
candidate,
which
favour
middle- class,
white,
male
and
non-disabled
students47
The
Trust48
has
also
noted
that
ethnic
minorities
are
under-represented
on
apprenticeship
schemes.
Data
highlighted
from
the
Black
Training
and
Enterprise
Group
last
year
showed
that:
Of
all
apprentices
in
England
in
2009/10,
7%
were
from
an
ethnic
minority;
1.6%
were
of
mixed
ethnicity,
2.9%
were
Asian,
2%
Black
and
0.5%
Chinese
or
other
ethnic
minority
(The
Data
Service,
2011).
In
comparison,
14%
of
the
working
age
population
in
England
is
from
an
ethnic
minority.
In
addition
there
remains
a
gap
in
the
information
about
how
many
applicants
for
apprenticeships
are
from
an
ethnic
minority,
and
what
proportion
of
these
are
successful
in
comparison
with
overall
success
rates.
The
Task
Force
shares
the
Trusts
concern
that
government
action
is
not
been
taken
quickly
enough
to
address
these
concerns
and
that
statements
from
Conservative
ministers
appear
to
be
taking
a
colour-blind
approach
which
in
effect
means
failing
to
address
race
issues.
For
example
there
appears
to
be
the
view
that
the
"Get
Britain
Working"
measures
which
provide
support
to
all
eligible
unemployed
job
seekers
according
to
their
needs,
irrespective
of
ethnicity,
are
an
adequate
response
to
the
fact
that
half
the
economically
active
black
population
between
18
and
24
are
unemployed.
No
targeted
intervention
is
deemed
to
be
necessary.
Recommendation
18
The
government
should
undertake
more
ethnic
monitoring
of
apprenticeships,
particularly
in
relation
to
application
success
rates.
46 47
http://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/EMBESbriefingFINALx.pdf Data source: ECU publication Equality in higher education: Statistical report 2010. 48 Runnymede Trust submission to the Work and Pensions Select Committee Inquiry into Youth Employment and the Governments Youth Employment Contract
29
The government should provide an update on findings and next steps following the completion of its diversity pilots, and should act in response to embed the learning from the pilots to apprenticeships nationally. The governments apprenticeships review should include a focus on increasing the numbers of under-represented groups on apprenticeships schemes. Mentoring and careers advice Some sectors, such as the legal profession, have been taking advantage of mentoring schemes with varying degrees of success for some years. Fields like science and engineering on the other hand have not exploited mentorship to its full and mutually beneficial capacity. Mentorship schemes, especially in areas of misrepresentation are needed, but this needs long-term investment and after potentially exploring the options for local pilots the Task Force believes such a scheme should be rolled out nationally. There has been little research into effective independent careers advice and guidance that young people from BME communities need in order to access a wider range of universities or the labour market on graduation. Work to explore whether careers advice is resulting in some ethnic groups (such as Indian students) choosing less prestigious universities or low paid/over-competitive careers, is needed. Recommendation 19 Create a well structured and financed national mentorship and/or shadowing scheme.
30
The leadership aspirations and careers of black and minority ethnic teachers, Prof Olwen McNamara, Prof John Howson, Prof Helen Gunter and Andrew Fryers, NASUWT and National College for Leadership of Schools and Childrens Services 50 House of Commons Education and Skills Committee. Secondary Education: Teacher Retention and Recruitment. Fifth Report of Session 2003-04. p.18 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmeduski/1057/1057.pdf 51 http://www.sec-ed.co.uk/cgi-bin/go.pl/article/article.html?uid=42649;type_uid=2
31
with
around
20%
in
London
schools.52
There
are
studies
which
show
that
whilst
those
trained
in
England
can
find
posts
in
areas
with
ethnically
diverse
populations,
BAME
teachers
are
deterred
from
seeking
teaching
posts
in
other
parts
of
the
country
and
in
higher
achieving
schools,
by
real
or
perceived
racist
attitudes
towards
them.53
However,
NASUWT
consultations
with
BAME
members
have
found
that
BAME
teachers
do
apply
for
jobs
in
schools
with
low
BAME
representation,
but
often
report
difficulties
in
securing
posts
in
these
schools.
Another
concern
that
was
raised
by
the
evidence
gathered
by
the
Task
Force
was
the
lack
of
support,
training
and
funding
for
BAME
teachers.
In
past
years,
much
of
this
had
been
tied
to
organisations
and
quangos,
some
of
whom
have
ceased
to
exist
or
cut
down
their
activities
due
to
changes
in
Government
policy.54
Dr
Nicola
Rollock55,
previously
the
Head
of
Education
for
the
Runnymede
Trust
as
well
as
the
developer
of
a
training
programme
on
engaging
with
cultural
and
ethnic
diversity
in
teaching,
highlighted
statistics
about
the
number
of
NQTs
who
felt
prepared
to
teach
students
from
BAME
backgrounds.
Dr
Rollock
raised
her
concerns
that
over
50%
of
people
did
not
feel
prepared
to
teach
students
from
BAME
backgrounds.56
A
report
by
Show
Racism
the
Red
Card,
supported
by
the
National
Union
of
Teachers,57
included
a
questionnaire
in
which
83%
of
respondents
indicated
that
they
had
witnessed
racist
behaviour
amongst
their
pupils
and
many
felt
there
were
strong
racist
attitudes
amongst
the
pupil
cohort.
Racist
behaviour
was
also
evidenced
amongst
teachers,
the
report
stated,
from
the
use
of
racist
terminology
and
telling
of
racist
jokes
to
lower
expectations
of
BAME
pupils.
However,
less
than
two-thirds
of
respondents
had
received
training
on
how
to
tackle
racism
and
only
about
a
third
had
had
training
in
relation
to
support
the
needs
of
travellers,
refugees
and
asylum
seekers.
In
the
2000-
2001
intake,
6%
of
primary
school
teacher
trainees
and
8%
of
secondary
school
teacher
trainees
were
from
minority
ethnic
communities.
This
is
equivalent
to
7.8%
in
total.
The
national
target
set
for
the
2005-2006
intake
was
9%.
From
the
ethnic
monitoring
data
collected
by
various
Universities
and
the
Teacher
Training
Association,
it
can
be
estimated
that
graduates
from
Black
and
minority
ethnic
communities
are
around
three
times
less
likely
to
enrol
in
teacher
training.
58
52 53
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6055206 https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/RB853.pdf 54 ibid 55 Visiting Research Associate & Associate Editor UK Race Ethnicity and Education, Educational Foundations & Policy Studies, Institute of Education, University of London 56 ibid 57 The Barriers to Challenging Racism and Promoting Race Equality in Education in Englands Schools, Show Racism the Red Card, supported by the National Union of Teachers 58 Runnymede Trust. Black and Minority Ethnic issues in teaching and learning. Briefing Paper. p.5 http://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/projects/education/BMEissuesDiscussionPaper.pdf
32
The NASUWT 2009 research found Discrimination, my ethnicity, recruitment policies / procedures and attitude of senior colleagues all featured in the overall top ten barriers and were almost all cited by all groups of respondents. Male BAME teachers perceived discrimination as their greatest barrier compared to their female counterparts who ranked it sixth.59 BAME senior leaders were also found to be disproportionately concentrated in urban schools with high proportions of BAME pupils and BAME staff. 70% of BAME teachers and school leaders said they believed it was harder for BAME teachers to secure leadership posts than for other teachers.60 Since 1997 there have been efforts made to attract teachers from BAME backgrounds into the teaching profession. Underlying official discourse in this sphere is the assumption that the targeted recruitment of male or ethnic minority teachers will provide much-needed role models in schools for those groups most likely to experience educational failure and disaffection.61 There is anecdotal evidence to indicate that some BAME teachers feel pigeonholed into working in diversity-related areas rather than having the choice of working in other fields instead. The key message from the NASUWT research was that the profession as a whole is not perceived by the majority of BME teachers to be inclusive. Further concern has been expressed that many academies or free schools out of local authority control which now form the majority of secondary schools have a false understanding of their obligations under the Equality Act, for example assuming that the public sector equality duty under the Equality Act does not apply to them. The NASUWT study reports that ethnic monitoring of the teacher workforce is haphazard and should be undertaken at a more systematic fashion at school, local authority and national levels.
59
33
wider,
54.5%
of
BAME
staff
were
on
fixed-term
contracts
compared
with
41.2%
of
white
staff.62
As
described
above,
there
was
concern
expressed
by
many
who
submitted
evidence
to
the
Task
Force
on
the
lack
of
teacher
training
and
awareness
of
issues
around
race,
culture
and
identity.
As
Anuja
Prashar,
a
member
of
our
Task
Force,
explained,
it
is
a
matter
of
what
she
termed
cultural
dexterity.
There
remain
persistent
concerns
that
teacher
training
focuses
too
heavily
on
punishment
as
the
best
way
to
deal
with
unruly
pupil
behaviour,
rather
than
confronting
and
engaging
with
the
root
causes
of
that
behaviour.
Concerns
were
raised
within
the
University
of
London
Institute
for
Educations
report
that
Black
parents
are
reluctant
to
raise
issues
of
race
with
teachers
as
experience
tells
them
that
the
term
racism
is
likely
to
be
met
with
resistance
and
antagonism
by
teachers,
tutors
and
school
staff.
Recommendation
20
That
equality
monitoring
be
undertaken
at
a
systematic
level
at
school,
local
authority
and
national
levels.
Particular
monitoring
should
be
carried
out
of
BAME
teachers
progress
on
the
leadership
scale.
Recommendation
21
Future
early
year
worker
and
teacher
training
programmes
should
ensure
that
there
is
proper
training
on
how
to
deal
with
students
from
different
ethnic
backgrounds
and
are
comfortable
with
issues
such
as
cultural
identity
and
equal
opportunities.
The
ability
to
display
an
understanding
of
the
issues
surrounding
cultural
diversity
and
race
equality
should
be
essential
in
order
to
pass
teacher
training.
Ensure
that
the
continued
professional
development
of
teachers
is
geared
towards
creating
a
better
understanding
of
issues
associated
with
pupils/students
from
different
ethnic
backgrounds
and
further
issues
like
cultural
identity
and
equal
opportunities.
Recommendation
22
Based
on
evidence
submitted
by
the
Runnymede
Trust,
the
Task
Force
recommends
that
the
Teaching
Agency
should
conduct
a
widespread
audit
of
the
needs
of
all
teacher
training
institutions
in
the
area
of
race
equality.
The
audit
should
include
the
assessing
of
the
needs
of
those
involved
in
teacher
training,
including
trainers,
lecturers
and
trainers.
The
Teaching
Agency
as
well
as
Ofsted
will
be
responsible
for
oversight
of
the
race
equality
teacher
training.
Both
bodies
will
appear
before
the
Education
Select
Committee
to
discuss
the
success
of
the
training
programme
and
to
identify
areas
for
improvement.
In
order
to
encourage
more
BAME
students
to
consider
a
career
in
teaching,
a
programme
should
be
developed
in
which
successful
BAME
educational
professionals
are
encouraged
to
visit
neighbouring
schools
to
tell
pupils
what
it
is
they
love
about
teaching,
how
they
got
into
it
and
the
levels
of
success
they
have
achieved.
62
34
Recommendation 23 The Teaching Agency should reintroduce targets to recruit ethnic minority teachers (previously organised by the Training and Development Agency for Schools)
35
Employment rates
Their
report
quoted
Labour
Force
Survey
2007
data
showing
that
there
was
a
16
point
gap
between
the
chances
of
ethnic
minority
workers
having
a
job
and
those
of
the
white
workforce:
60%
is
the
ethnic
minority
employment
rate;
76%
is
the
white
employment
rate.
The
report
also
shows
that
there
are
distinct
variations
between
ethnic
groups
and
gender
The
situation
had
changed
little
since
1999:
a
Cabinet
Office
report
stated
that
80%
of
white
men
were
in
employment
in
1999
compared
with
65%
of
non-white,
while
for
women
it
was
70%
to
49%64.
This
is
shown
in
more
detail
in
the
Equality
and
Human
Rights
Commissions
Triennial
Review,
201065
in
which
it
quotes
Labour
Force
Survey
data
showing
that
the
employment
rate
for
men
of
Chinese
heritage
was
64%,
Indian
78%
and
white
British
79%
while
for
women
of
Chinese
heritage
it
was
60%,
Indian
61%
and
white
British
it
was
72%.
The
employment
rate
was
lowest
for
Black
Caribbean
men
(67%),
Pakistani
men
(66%)
and
Bangladeshi
men
(62%).
For
women
the
picture
was
more
bleak,
with
26%
of
Pakistani
women
and
23%
of
Bangladeshi
women
in
employment.
63
The 60/76 report, the Business Commission on Race Equality in the Workplace a report by the National Employment Panel, published by the Department for Work and Pensions,October 2007, www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/buscommissionreport.pdf 64 Improving Labour market achievements for ethnic minorities in British Society scoping note, July 2001, Performance and Innovation Unit, Cabinet Office 65 How Fair is Britain? Equality, Human Rights and Good Relations in 2010. The First Triennial Review (Equality and Human Rights Commission) http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/key-projects/how-fair-is-britain/full- report-and-evidence-downloads/
36
Pay
For
those
in
work,
a
larger
proportion
of
BAME
workers
are
concentrated
in
low
paid
jobs.
A
report
for
the
Joseph
Rowntree
Foundation
in
2007
stated
that
around
two-fifths
of
people
from
ethnic
minorities
live
in
income
poverty,
twice
the
rate
for
white
people.
66
In
particular
Among
those
in
working
families
[families
where
at
least
one
adult
is
in
paid
work],
around
60%
of
Bangladeshis,
40%
of
Pakistanis
and
30%
of
Black
Africans
are
in
income
poverty.
They
state:
Low
pay
is
certainly
much
more
prevalent
among
most
minority
ethnic
groups.
For
example,
up
to
half
of
Bangladeshi
workers,
a
third
of
Pakistanis
and
a
quarter
of
Black
Africans
were
paid
less
than
6.50
an
hour
in
2006
compared
with
a
fifth
of
the
other
ethnic
groups.
Pay penalties
Another measure of inequality is in the difference in pay. The report by the London School of Economics for the Government Equalities Office, titled An Anatomy of Economic Inequality in the UK67, stated that When employed, nearly all other groups have hourly pay less than white British men Women from nearly all ethno-religious backgrounds have pay between a quarter and a third less than a white British Christian man with the same qualifications, age and occupation. This is echoed in the report Pay Gaps across Equalities Areas68 for the Equality and Human Rights Commission, where it states: All groups of ethnic minority women and men, except Indian and Chinese men, experience pay gaps relative to white British men. The LSE report also makes clear that higher pay does not mean that the relevant group is free of discrimination. It states: Although Chinese men are one of the highest paid groups, they are paid 11% less than would be expected allowing for their qualifications.
Occupational
segregation
The
Business
Commission
reports
that
ethnic
communities
are
concentrated
in
particular
fields
of
work.
These
include
public
administration,
health,
distribution
and
hospitality.
Outside
these
sectors
they
are
under-represented
in
both
private
and
public
sectors.
Across
all
sectors
many
ethnic
minority
employees
feel
underemployed
given
their
skills
and
qualifications.
Progress
in
improving
ethnic
minority
employment
rates
is
the
same
for
public
and
private
sector,
although
in
the
public
sector
promotion
prospects
are
better
for
people
from
ethnic
minorities.
66
Poverty among ethnic groups: how and why does it differ? By Peter Kenway and Guy Palmer, New Policy Institute, for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation http://www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/2042-ethnicity-relative- poverty.pdf 67 An Anatomy of Economic Inequality in the UK, The Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, London School of Economics, Report of the National Equality Panel for the Government Equalities Office, 2010, http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/case/_new/publications/NEP.asp 68 Pay Gaps across Equalities Areas, Simonetta Longhi and Lucinda Platt, Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex, Research Report 9, Equality and Human Rights Commission http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/uploaded_files/pay_gaps_accross_equalities_areas.pdf
37
This has been borne out in the audiovisual industries where levels of employment of minority ethnic workers vary depending on sector and on occupation. While there is over- representation in low-paid grades such as cleaners, in other areas there is serious under- representation, particularly in radio broadcast, post-production and film. While this averages out at a figure equivalent to the minority ethnic working age population (7%), half of the industrys workforce is London-based where the percentage of the minority ethnic working age population is 24% and so the disproportionate numbers in the industry are even more evident. 69 Further research70 concluded that minority ethnic-led production companies felt labelled, pigeon-holed or ghettoised into producing programmes and films for minority ethnic audiences or involving minority ethnic writers and actors. BAME actors have left the UK to develop their careers in the USA as they have believed that they would find more opportunity and less discrimination. In the film industry, representation is so poor in film production that at current rates of progress it would take more than a century for the diversity of the London film industry workforce to match that of Londons overall workforce. Management There is a long way to go before Britains diversity is appropriately represented in boardrooms. A report for the Government Equalities Office71 states that only 27 out of the FTSE 100 companies had any ethnic minority directors and there is little ethnic diversity in UK corporations in general. Only 4.7% of FTSE 100 directors were BAME. They find that while disparities are also apparent on boards of directors in the public sector, these boards tend to have better representation. Of about 18,500 public appointments, as of March 2008 about 5.7% were BAME. Overseas-qualified ethnic minority senior staff These figures are however an overestimate of the progress made by the UKs BAME community into top jobs. A further report72 states that a review of the FTSE 100 found that while the 4.7% figure for BAME directorships, an increase, is good news it is heavily dependent on the recruitment of ethnic minority directors from overseas. There are eight BAME women in total on FTSE 100 Boards ... However, all hold non-executive positions and only one woman is a British national. This issue can also be found in the NHS. Health and Social Care Information Centre data indicated that of 39,088 consultants in NHS employment in England in September 2011 about 30% were known to be ethnic minority. But when all those who qualified overseas are
69 70
Move on Up, evaluation, Dr Iona Jones, Imagine Associates Researching the independent production sector: a focus on minority ethnic led companies Emma Pollard, Elaine Sheppard, Penny Tamkin and Robert Barkworth, report produced for PACT and the UK Film Council, http://www.employment-studies.co.uk/pdflibrary/pactukfc.pdf 71 Increasing diversity on public and private sector boards Dr Ruth Sealy, Elena Doldor and Prof Susan Vinnicombe, International Centre for Women Leaders, Cranfield School of Management, for the Government Equalities office 72 Race to the Top: the place of ethnic minority groups within the UK workforce Race for Opportunity, Business in the Community
38
taken out of these figures, the number of UK qualified BAME consultants is under 10%73. Of 1,055 Black or Black British consultants only 197 were UK qualified74. Progress? The comparison of recent research and experiences with those of a decade ago or longer shows that the issues identified then are the same as those identified now, and the statistical evidence indicates that insufficient overall progress has been made. There are ominous signs that not only is progress coming to a halt, but the recession is devastating some communities far more than others. This was emphasised in March 2012 by the publication of data from the Office of National Statistics revealing that out of the economically active 16-24 age group 55.9% of Black men and 39.1% of Black women were unemployed compared with 23.9% of white men and 17.2% of white women. For half of a communitys economically active young people to be unemployed will devastate that community for generations unless it is addressed with supreme urgency.
Is
race
discrimination
really
the
cause
of
this
inequality?
The
Department
for
Work
and
Pensions
commissioned
a
study75
to
collect
factual
evidence
to
test
the
assertion
that
discrimination
is
a
significant
factor
affecting
labour
market
outcomes
for
members
of
ethnic
minorities.
The
study
was
a
field
experiment
in
which
matched
pairs
of
job
applications
were
submitted
in
response
to
job
advertisements
in
the
public
sector
and
private
sector
in
seven
British
cities.
Ethnic
identity
was
conveyed
using
names
widely
associated
with
the
ethnic
groups
included
in
the
survey.
These
names
were
randomly
assigned
to
each
application.
The
employers
responses
were
monitored
with
the
key
positive
outcome
being
a
call-back
for
interview.
The
survey
found
that,
looking
at
the
pairs
of
applications
in
which
either
or
both
were
called
to
interview,
39%
of
BAME
applicants
got
through
compared
with
68%
of
white
applicants.
Put
differently,
10.7%
of
the
987
white
applications
received
a
positive
response
compared
to
6.2%
of
the
1,974
ethnic
minority
applications.
They
concluded
that
ethnic
minorities
had
to
send
16
applications
for
one
successful
outcome
compared
to
nine
for
white
applicants.
The
difference
between
the
public
and
private
sectors
was
even
more
shocking.
The
survey
found
that
4%
of
public
sector
employers
were
likely
to
have
discriminated
on
the
grounds
of
race
compared
with
35%
of
private
sector
employers.
The
report
added:
The
level
of
racial
discrimination
was
found
to
be
high
across
all
ethnic
groups.
Although
there
was
some
variation
in
the
level,
ranging
from
21%
for
73 74
excluding dental specialties excluding dental specialties 75 A test of racial discrimination in recruitment practice in British cities research report no 67 Martin Wood, Jon Hales, Susan Purdon, Tanja Sejersen and Oliver Hayllar, National Centre for Social Research on behalf of the DWP http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2009-2010/rrep607.pdf
39
Pakistani/Bangladeshi names to 32% for Indian, Chinese and Black Caribbean names, the differences between the groups were not statistically significant. There was a high level of discrimination for applications of both genders, though somewhat higher among male applicants 32% to 26% for women. The survey noted that where the employers own form had been used there was virtually no net discrimination, compared to 38% where a CV had been sent. They comment that this may relate to employer forms often being designed so that personal details could be detached before the sifting process. These measures may also be associated with organisations with dedicated HR functions and well-developed procedures. The survey concludes: The random assignment of names to convey ethnicity in applications in this correspondence test means there are no plausible explanations for the difference in treatment found between white and ethnic minority names other than racial discrimination. It continued: Candidates were denied access to a range of jobs in a range of sectors across British cities as a result of having a name associated with an ethnic minority background. Types of discrimination The authors of the report raised the possibility that a great deal of ethnic disadvantage in the private sector is unintentional and unrecognised by senior management. The Business Commission report concurs with this. It states that discrimination takes one of several forms: - Straightforward racial prejudice at the level of individual managers; - Less specific kinds of harassment or victimisation that drive ethnic minorities to resign or prevent their application; - Workplace cultures that unintentionally result in discrimination. In particular informal, word of mouth recruitment practices including hiring who you know rather than casting the net wider. It is a well-researched phenomenon that people prefer to hire others in their own image, so in the absence of any formal application process diversity is not going to progress. - Stereotyping and preconceived notions about ethnic minorities. The Cranfield report for example noted that employers attributed lack of ethnic minorities at board level to a lack of skills or qualifications to be on boards. The researchers found no evidence that any skills or qualification deficit existed. Stereotyping also serves to exacerbate the concentration of the BAME workforce in certain areas and underrepresentation elsewhere. Informal recruitment practices and stereotyping have been widely recognised in the broadcasting industry for example, and the success of media and entertainment union BECTUs industry-wide Move on Up diversity initiative for example has been attributed to its focus on breaking down stereotypes and cultivating personal contacts for minority ethnic professionals with industry executives. In nine events over 10 years BECTU in partnership primarily with the BBC but also with sector skills council Creative Skillset and a wide range of private sector organisations including ITV, Sky and independent production companies has set up more than 5,000 one-to-one meetings between more than 1,000 minority ethnic professionals and 500 industry executives who had been sent their CVs in advance.
40
This has led to many people going on to obtain jobs, programme commissions and other opportunities and boosting their confidence. Hundreds of executives, some of whom had thought that the BAME workforce was very small and overwhelmingly young and underqualified, discovered that the BME workforce has in fact a large cadre of mature, highly experienced and well qualified professionals. The Business Commission also concludes that employers response to this issue has been inadequate. Their survey of 1,000 businesses revealed that 42% could not articulate reasons for their company to take steps to promote race equality; 61% did not recognise a connection between diversity and business performance; 83% did not believe they would face formal investigation of their employment practices or that an employee would ever take them to a tribunal. Among the rationales they heard for why companies were not taking any action was that race equality is not an issue because they do not have any ethnic minority employees; white staff resent measures to tackle race inequality; and that all they want to do is hire the best and in promoting race equality they are being asked to lower standards. Other issues The Task Force endorses the conclusions of the Liberal Democrat working group on inequality which indicate that class is a major factor driving inequality. Class can be seen to be underlying the disparity in employment and income of different ethnic groups: while all minority ethnic groups have been shown (above) to suffer discrimination, the damage is greater, and different, for those where a greater proportion are working class. For example, statistics show that Britains Indian community has higher levels of educational outcome, employment and pay than most other ethnic minority groups. Research76 traces the roots of this to British immigration policy in the mid-20th century and the failure of the education system to train sufficient numbers for the newly expanding NHS. Faced with shortages of doctors, the government recruited professionally qualified personnel primarily from India, which had a health system that mirrored that of Britain and whose qualifications were transferable to the NHS. The emigration of British-trained doctors at one point estimated at 30-50% of medical graduates to other countries where pay was higher than the NHS, increased the inward migration of medical professionals from India and to a lesser extent Pakistan. By 1971 31% of all doctors working in the NHS in England were born and qualified overseas. Half a century later, the legacy for the British-Indian community is to have a larger proportion in the middle class than other minority communities.
76
Immigration and the National Health Service: putting history to the forefront by Stephanie Snow and Emma Jones, Wellcome Research Associates in the Centre for the History of Science, Technology & Medicine, University of Manchester, http://www.historyandpolicy.org/papers/policy-paper-118.html
41
The Task Force has identified three other factors affecting ethnic minority employment:
Research has shown77 that workers in the lowest paid jobs have poor access to training, so BAME workers who are concentrated in these jobs are likely to be disproportionately affected. In addition, earlier TUC research78 showed that employees in non-unionised workplaces were far less likely to ever have been offered training than those in unionised areas. 36% of non-union BAME employees have never been offered training compared with just 16% in unionised workplaces. However, further research into participation in adult learning indicates that overall ethnic minority groups are more likely to participate in taught learning than the white population (as opposed to self-directed learning). Black and mixed origin communities have higher rates of participation in adult learning (54% compared with 34% of economically inactive white people) and are more likely to be benefiting from taught learning, and learning towards a qualification. There is anecdotal and other evidence to suggest that many Black students who feel they have been let down by the school system (see above), on reaching adulthood go back into learning as mature students in order to achieve the outcome they had been denied79.
The
Task
Force
agrees
with
the
feedback
made
to
the
governments
Ethnic
Minority
Advisory
Group
in
201280
which
observed
that
there
is
a
perception
of
discrimination/prejudice
in
decision
making;
many
minority
ethnic
potential
applicants
do
not
believe
they
will
be
successful
at
securing
finance;
and
poor
take-up
of
professional
business
support,
linked
with
a
perception
that
the
business
lack
cultural
understanding.
The
Bank
of
England81
acknowledges
that
some
ethnic
minority
businesses
perceive
that
they
are
treated
adversely,
and
whether
or
not
discrimination
exists,
the
steps
that
need
to
be
taken
by
banks
and
other
finance
providers
to
counteract
either
actual
or
perceived
discrimination
are
the
same
in
both
cases.
The
Task
Force
endorses
the
commitment
in
the
governments
equality
strategy
to
lift
the
barriers
faced
by
ethnic
minority
businesses
in
accessing
finance
and
the
work
of
Liberal
Democrat
minister
Don
Foster
in
taking
this
forward
and
urges
that
this
policy
is
given
full
support.
77
The EHRC Triennial Review: Developing the Employment Evidence Base Deborah Smeaton, Maria Hudson, Dragos Radu and Kim Vowden, Policy Studies Institute 78 Workplace Training: A race for opportunity, TUC 79 Equality and Human Rights Commission Triennial Review: Education (Lifelong Learning), Participation in Adult Learning Peter Jones, School of Education, University of Southampton 80 http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/emag-minutes-190412.pdf 81 The Financing of Ethnic Minority Firms in the United Kingdom: a special report http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Documents/financeforsmallfirms/ethnic.pdf
42
43
the 7,000 responses to the consultation were overwhelmingly supportive of the Equality Act. The proposals are therefore not reflective of the consultation responses. The plans, coupled with the new charges of 250 to initiate a discrimination claim, 950 for a hearing and further fees as the claim progresses, would have the effect of reversing progress towards diversity and integration in the workplace and indeed in society at large and making it more difficult for ordinary people to obtain redress. Of great concern to the Task Force was the plan to review the Public Sector Equality Duty. It should be remembered that the establishment of the Public Sector Equality Duty was the direct result of the Macpherson Inquiry into the Metropolitan Police Services failure to properly investigate and prosecute the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence. The report identified that institutional racism affected the MPS, and it was defined as The collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin. In 2002 a positive duty was placed on public authorities requiring them to have due regard to the need to prevent unlawful race discrimination, to promote racial equality and to foster good relations in all that they do. It meant that organizations had to take a proactive and collective approach rather than merely reacting to individual complaints of discrimination when they occurred and could be proved. The Public Sector Equality Duty, as shown above, has been particularly effective in ensuring that the public sector does not merely try to avoid discrimination but takes active steps to foster diversity. The DWP 2009 investigation has demonstrated that it has indeed changed attitudes. Liberal Democrats are and should remain committed to upholding the Public Sector Equality Duty. Recommendation 24 The Task Force endorses Nick Cleggs statement that Our equalities legislation is considered the best in Europe and has transformed discrimination in the workplace. The Equality Act is a cornerstone of the UKs culture of fairness. It isnt there for employers to pick and choose from. And it is not going away. We recommend that Liberal Democrats oppose all attempts to weaken the Equality Act, and further to demand full implementation of the Act, including the adoption of all Statutory Codes of Practice, as envisaged when the Liberal Democrats in Parliament voted for its passage into law. These include Statutory Codes of Practice on the Public Sector Equality Duty and on Schools and the Further and Higher Education sector, which are currently set out merely as technical guidance. Recommendation 25 The Task Force endorses Nick Cleggs acknowledgement that there has been insufficient progress in the private sector. 44
Further, the Task Force notes the recommendation of the Business Commission in 2009 which stated that the government should assess in 2012 whether the private sector has made enough progress in promoting race equality to support the goal of reducing the ethnic minority gap to 12 percentage points by 2015, reports its findings publicly, and if it finds insufficient progress has been made, brings in legislation that obliges private sector employers to promote workplace race equality. The Task Force recommends that the government, through its position as the UKs major purchaser, uses its leverage over, and relationships with, private sector companies to motivate the private sector to promote race equality. This can be achieved through contract conditions to ensure suppliers improve their practices, and we recommend that government establish a public sector-wide procurement policy to use more robust pre-qualification questions and contract conditions to promote race equality in the workplace. It should do this in a way that does not impose undue burdens on small companies. The Task Force believes that our party through its democratic framework should be given the opportunity to debate whether the Equality Duty currently applicable to the public sector should be extended to the private sector as a duty to promote workplace equality, as envisaged by the Business Commission. The Task Force endorses the commitment in the Liberal Democrat 2010 Manifesto requiring name-blind job applications to reduce discrimination in employment, initially for every company with over 100 employees. Transparency The Task Force applauds and endorses the commitments to transparency in the Government Equality Policy: Shining a light on inequalities and giving individuals and local communities the tools and information they need to challenge organisations that are not offering fair opportunities, and public services that are not delivering effectively for all the people they serve. The Task Force is aware of ample evidence to show that equality monitoring, particularly in relation to private sector recipients of public funding and other benefits, is patchy, and even where it is required there has been a tendency to refuse public access to it. The Task Force believes that the public has the right to know how well those in receipt of public money and other benefits are reflecting the diversity of our society. Recommendation 26 The Task Force recommends that all private sector companies and third sector organisations that are in receipt of money, licences or other benefits awarded on behalf of the public whether funding, broadcasting licences or former public sector contracts be obliged to carry out equality monitoring, send this to the funding body, regulator or commissioner
45
which in turn shall be required to publish this data for each named company or licence on an annual basis. Increase effectiveness at government level The Task Force endorses the Coalitions commitment Embedding equality: leading by example and embedding equality in everything we do in government as an integral part of our policies and programmes. Recommendation 27 The Task Force recommends the implementation and embedding of this policy into the quasi- non-governmental organizations, regulators and other public bodies. In particular they should ensure that these organizations understand and accept that equality is part of their remit and that enforcement, on behalf of the public, of contract compliance and real accountability through transparency on equality of funding recipients, licencees and contractors is a key part of their role on which they will be measured. Recommendation 28 The Task Force endorses the Coalitions work in setting up the Ministerial Group on Equalities. It recommends that the group assign responsibility for each equality strand to ensure that no strand is left behind and that each strand has its own plan of action. Recommendation 29 The Task Force recommends adoption of the long term policy ambition of eradicating the ethnic minority employment gap within 25 years and to have begun to see a closing of this gap by the next election.
The Task Force is concerned about proposals currently making their way through Parliament which make changes to the Equality Act and the EHRC. They would remove the EHRCs specific duty to foster good relations in society; end its grants programme without which thousands of victims of discrimination will find it more difficult to obtain legal advice. Its helpline, which has dealt with over 40,000 calls a year, has been privatised. Since 2009 the EHRC has provided 14-million in grant funding to 285 frontline organisations including the Citizens Advice Bureaux, Law Centres, Race Equality Councils and the Disability Law Service. The government is also cutting the budget of the EHRC to such a vast degree that its budget is likely to be lower than that of the former Commission for Racial Equality though the EHRC covers the entire equality remit plus human rights. Regional offices of EHRC are being closed in response to budget cuts which will reduce the quality of service to the public outside London. The swingeing cuts to its budget, coupled with the EHRCs accountability to the Government Equalities Office rather than Parliament, has serious implications for the independence of this body which has a role of standing up to government. The EHRC is recognised by the United Nations as a national human rights institution with the highest A status, but this is 46
contingent upon the EHRC retaining its independence and not being subject to financial control that might compromise its independence. Indeed, the correspondence revealed in October between the Home Secretary and the United Nations indicates that the Conservative Home Secretarys proposals could result in the EHRC losing its top rating and therefore the UK could no longer engage fully in the UN Human Rights Council. The Task Force believes that this new evidence increases the case for the current proposals to be dropped. Recommendation 30 The Task Force recommends maintaining the wider role of the EHRC to enable the organisation to play a leading role in changing attitudes, and we endorse the Business Commission recommendation that the EHRC conduct two sector-based reviews each year, to result in agreed action plans for improving performance in ethnic minority recruitment, retention and promotion. Where companies or sectors who sign up to action plans do not take necessary steps, then as a last resort the EHRC should use its powers to conduct formal investigations. The Task Force further recommends reinstating funding to the EHRC to 2010 levels and that meaningful resources are allocated to each equality strand within the EHRC to ensure that attention is focussed on all strands. The Task Force further recommends that action is taken to ensure that the EHRCs independence from government is upheld and not undermined. Effectiveness of the EHRC is even more important if the duty to promote equality is not extended to the private sector.
47
Conclusion
The
Task
Force
concludes
that
while
substantial
progress
has
been
made
towards
closing
the
attainment
gap
in
the
education
system,
serious
problems
remain.
The
incorporation
of
the
Ethnic
Minority
Achievement
Grant
funding
into
the
Dedicated
Schools
Grant,
coupled
with
downgrading
equality
and
community
cohesion
in
the
Ofsted
school
inspection
critera,
creates
a
danger
of
the
gap
widening
again.
And
while
race
equality
legislation
brought
about
some
progress
within
the
public
sector,
the
Labour
government
failed
to
act
to
ensure
that
equivalent
progress
was
made
in
the
private
sector.
The
adoption
of
the
holistic
approach
to
equality
combined
with
a
move
away
from
addressing
the
particular
sets
of
issues
faced
by
each
equality
strand
has
been
at
a
cost
to
the
ethnic
minority
population,
which
collectively
has
been
and
continues
to
be
the
target
of
sustained
discrimination
on
the
grounds
of
their
race.
The
governments
equality
strategy
extends
Labours
policy,
even
echoing
former
Conservative
Prime
Minister
Margaret
Thatchers
view
that
there
is
no
such
thing
as
society
in
its
description
of
the
strategy
as
one
that
moves
away
from
treating
people
as
groups
or
equality
strands
and
instead
recognises
that
we
are
a
nation
of
62-million
individuals.82
This
move
has
allowed
governments
to
focus
on
preferred
areas
of
equality.
For
example
there
has
been
a
very
welcome
long
running
campaign
by
both
the
Labour
and
the
Coalition
governments
to
achieve
more
women
in
boardrooms.
But
the
Task
Force
has
noted
that
there
has
been
no
similar
call
for
more
minority
ethnic
directors.
The
governments
Equality
Strategy
aims
to
ensure
that
all
Englands
very
diverse
communities
demographic,
economic,
social,
religious
and
ethnic
can
flourish.
However,
the
Task
Force
is
extremely
concerned
that
integration
is
not
allowed
to
become
conflated
with
the
concept
of
assimilation
which
insists
upon
a
conformity
that
negates
diversity
instead
of
celebrating
it.
Liberal
Democrats
do
not
believe
that
multiculturalism
is
dead
as
some
in
the
media
and
other
political
parties
would
have
us
believe.
Whilst
it
is
important
to
unite
around
the
many
things
we
have
in
common,
it
remains
important
to
celebrate
our
different
cultures
and
embrace
diversity
not
smother
it.
The
loss
of
focus
on
race,
according
to
the
Runnymede
Trust,
has
even
led
many
to
believe
that
that
the
race
issue
has
been
resolved.
The
Task
Force
believes,
on
the
contrary,
that
there
is
now
an
even
greater
need
for
real
action.
A
new
Liberal
Democrat
approach
The
Task
Force
believes
that
the
information
presented
in
this
report
shows
not
only
the
weaknesses
contained
in
the
Labour
and
Conservative
approaches,
but
also
that
there
are
82
48
overwhelming grounds for a new Liberal Democrat approach which builds on its successful social mobility agenda. The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community, and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance and conformity. This creed, set out in the preamble to the partys constitution, goes on to say: We champion the freedom, dignity and well-being of individuals, we acknowledge and respect their right to develop their talents to the full. We aim to disperse power, to foster diversity and to nurture creativity. We believe that the role of the state is to enable all citizens to attain these ideals. In furtherance of this, the Task Forces 30 recommendations are designed to ensure that real action is taken, that in line with the Coalition Agreement public bodies and private and third sector organisations in receipt of money or other benefits awarded on behalf of the public are held to account through enhanced transparency; that quangos, regulators, funding bodies and other arms length public organisations are made to understand that race equality and contract compliance are within their remit upon which they will be measured. In these straitened times it is crucial that within education the funding earmarked specifically to address race equality and the needs of the underprivileged are used for these purposes, ensuring that the decisions on how to use these resources remain local, within the power of schools. It is also clear that urgent action is necessary to address, as quickly as possible, the pressing problems within education such as the under-representation of BAME teachers including at senior level; and what is emerging in some schools as over-reliance on exclusion as a disciplinary tool and the discriminatory use of it against Black Caribbean pupils. The Task Forces recommendations, particularly with regard to employment, build upon the approach of our party leader Nick Clegg who in the Scarman Lecture 2011 referred to another front in the war on race inequality that is too often neglected: economic opportunity. We applaud his recognition that We must not confuse diversity and tolerance with a real level playing field where opportunities are open to all. They are not the same thing. The real lesson from the last 30 years is this: It is not enough for a society to reject bigotry. Because real equality is not just the absence of prejudice. It is the existence of fairness and opportunity too. Greater fairness in the public sector is an important achievement. But it is not enough. Real equality means equality of opportunity across the whole of the economy, the whole of society. Labour tried to compensate for inequality in the section of society they could control rather than trying to eliminate it across the board. Finally, the Task Force acknowledges the estimate by the National Audit Office that the overall cost to the economy from failure to fully use the talents of people from ethnic minorities could be around 8.6-billion annually. 49
The Task Force applauds the statement by Nick Clegg that If we tapped into the full potential of our Black and ethnic minority communities, just imagine the benefits and prosperity that would bring for society as a whole. If all workplaces and professions were open to Black and Asian ideas and skills. If all Black entrepreneurs and businesses could borrow, compete and grow on equal terms. Our whole economy would grow faster. Jobs would be created in every community. So now is the moment to unleash Black talent, ethnic minority talent, for the good of us all. We must aim for nothing less than real equality of opportunity across the whole of our society, where race does not determine destiny, where you determine your destiny. You have the power and freedom to forge your own path instead.
. 50
Appendix
Recommendations
contained
within
the
report
are
as
follows:
Recommendation
1
Noting
that
the
first
five
years
of
a
child's
life
shapes
his
or
her
future,
it
is
essential
to
ensure
adequate
provision
of
affordable
and
accessible
childcare
including
through:
Further
training
for
those
wishing
to
enter
the
Early
Years
Workforce,
this
training
should
include
a
clear
focus
on
cultural
diversity
and
race
equality
and
on
the
need
to
ensure
that
the
more
disadvantaged
communities
have
equal
access.
Supporting
changes
to
the
free
childcare
entitlement
to
create
a
more
flexible
offer
that
in
turn
could
improve
the
chances
of
BAME
parents
of
obtaining
employment.
offer
that
in
turn
could
improve
the
chances
of
BAME
parents
of
obtaining
employment
Recommendation
2:
The
Task
Force
recommends
that
Ofsted
continue
to
monitor
expenditure
of
the
Pupil
Premium
to
ensure
that
it
is
used
for
the
purposes
for
which
it
was
intended
and
that
all
schools
are
properly
and
transparently
accountable
for
its
use.
The
Task
Force
further
recommends
that
in
order
to
prevent
a
reverse
of
the
progress
made
in
recent
years
towards
closing
the
ethnic
minority
achievement
gap,
the
Ethnic
Minority
Achievement
Grant
is
maintained,
that
schools
are
held
transparently
accountable
for
its
expenditure
and
that
the
Ofsted
inspection
framework
be
revised
to
reinstate
the
requirement
to
judge
schools
on
their
promotion
of
equality
of
opportunity
and
community
cohesion.
The
Task
Force
believes
that
local
coordination
of
action
is
essential
and
in
the
best
interests
of
children
in
local
communities
with
regard
to
the
use
of
the
Ethnic
Minority
Achievement
Grant.
It
therefore
recommends
that
if
this
inter-school
coordination
is
lacking
then
local
authorities
utilise
their
powers
under
the
Local
Children
and
Young
People's
plan
to
ensure
that
proper
coordination
takes
place.
Recommendation
3
In
line
with
the
policy
outlined
in
Black
Manifesto
2010,
the
school
curriculum
should
properly
reflect
the
ethnic
diversity
of
the
country.
In
order
to
promote
understanding,
an
impartial
teaching
of
the
history
of
cultural
diversity
in
the
UK
as
well
as
Britains
historical
global
role
should
be
taught.
Recommendation
4
That
teacher
training
should
be
improved
in
order
to
equip
teachers
to
deal
with
issues
of
race
and
help
them
recognise
their
own
potential
unconscious
biases.
Recommendation
5
Noting
that
exclusion
of
pupils
from
school
is
used
far
more
widely
in
England
than
it
is
in
mainland
Europe,
the
Task
Force
recommends
that
the
Department
for
Education
implement
the
Childrens
Commissioners
report
into
the
prevention
of
and
positive
alternatives
to
exclusion.
It
should
also
develop
guidance
on
this.
51
The Task Force further recommends that the Education Act should be amended to reinstate the right of appeals panels, when they find that a school has unjustly or illegally excluded a child, to have the power to order the childs return to the school from which they were excluded. The Task Force also recommends the introduction of a Schools Ombudsman to deal with issues of discipline and to enforce a proportional response by schools when dealing with all pupils including those from BAME backgrounds. This could be accompanied by more advocates for children in general. Expelled students should also be afforded access to a trained advocate to ensure that they are properly represented. Recommendation 6 Schools should maintain links with ex-pupils and invite successful ex-pupils from across all ethnicities to visit and talk to students. Recommendation 7 The Department for Education should establish a central database of the mentoring programmes operating nationally and create the conditions for communications between the programmes to share examples of best practice. Best practice for mentoring programmes of this nature should stress the importance of providing race- and- gender matched role models for BAME children in the education system. Recommendation 8 The government should talk to pupils and students about their education experience, they should use these conversations to produce standard language regarding what pupils can expect and are entitled to with regard to their educational experience. This Learners Charter will be the basis by which all pupils can expect to be treated and will have direct feed in from those learners consulted. This document should be updated every couple of years. Recommendation 9 The Government to set aside a certain amount of research funding, from the general education research budget, for research specifically of race issues. Recommendation 10 Monitoring be employed on a national scale to track the success of policies designed to bring about racial equality. Monitoring enables us to identify inequalities in educational practice and to target support appropriately. Recommendation 11 We should celebrate every aspect of British culture and not just the diverse aspects. Being British and celebrating that means celebrating traditional British culture on an equal level as diverse British culture and BAME culture within the UK, creating an equal platform and an area in which all of British culture can engage and communicate. 52
Recommendation 12 Launch a new creative national campaign to address literacy and generate aspirational capital amongst these communities, led by these communities with government, LEA and school support, in order to increase the participation of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller (GRT) children in secondary education as they feel particularly disenfranchised from the education system. Recommendation 13 It is vital, when teaching children about tolerance and racial diversity, that Gypsy, Roma and Irish Travellers are included. Any teacher training aimed to improve understanding of cultural diversity must also give a holistic view of the issues surrounding GRT children. The Department for Education should commission a study to see what outreach programmes, for example home visits, have been shown to be the most effective interventions. Recommendation 14 Require the Equality and Human Rights Commission to ensure that institutions of further and higher education are enforcing compliance with race equality legislation in further and higher education. Recommendation 15 Require all universities to be fully transparent about all the selection criteria used to evaluate student applications for places, including for example which A-level subjects are likely to count for or against a candidate. Recommendation 16 Colleges and universities should adopt a zero-tolerance policy regarding racist behaviour, incorporate race awareness more effectively into staff training, and increase focus on social inclusion and the student experience both within and outside the classroom. Recommendation 17 The Russell Group universities should improve their outreach to BAME students in order to improve their under-representation in these institutions. Recommendation 18 The government should undertake more ethnic monitoring of apprenticeships, particularly in relation to application success rates. The government should provide an update on findings and next steps following the completion of its diversity pilots, and should act in response to embed the learning from the pilots to apprenticeships nationally. The governments apprenticeships review should include a focus on increasing the numbers of under-represented groups on apprenticeships schemes. Recommendation 19 Create a well structured and financed national mentorship and/or shadowing scheme.
53
Recommendation 20 That equality monitoring be undertaken at a systematic level at school, local authority and national levels. Particular monitoring should be carried out of BAME teachers progress on the leadership scale. Recommendation 21 Future early year worker and teacher training programmes should ensure that there is proper training on how to deal with students from different ethnic backgrounds and are comfortable with issues such as cultural identity and equal opportunities. The ability to display an understanding of the issues surrounding cultural diversity and race equality should be essential in order to pass teacher training. Ensure that the continued professional development of teachers is geared towards creating a better understanding of issues associated with pupils/students from different ethnic backgrounds and further issues like cultural identity and equal opportunities. Recommendation 22 Based on evidence submitted by the Runnymede Trust, the Task Force recommends that the Teaching Agency should conduct a widespread audit of the needs of all teacher training institutions in the area of race equality. The audit should include the assessing of the needs of those involved in teacher training, including trainers, lecturers and trainers. The Teaching Agency as well as Ofsted will be responsible for oversight of the race equality teacher training. Both bodies will appear before the Education Select Committee to discuss the success of the training programme and to identify areas for improvement. In order to encourage more BAME students to consider a career in teaching, a programme should be developed in which successful BAME educational professionals are encouraged to visit neighbouring schools to tell pupils what it is they love about teaching, how they got into it and the levels of success they have achieved. Recommendation 23 The Teaching Agency should reintroduce targets to recruit ethnic minority teachers (previously organised by the Training and Development Agency for Schools) Recommendation 24 The Task Force endorses Nick Cleggs statement that Our equalities legislation is considered the best in Europe and has transformed discrimination in the workplace. The Equality Act is a cornerstone of the UKs culture of fairness. It isnt there for employers to pick and choose from. And it is not going away. We recommend that Liberal Democrats oppose all attempts to weaken the Equality Act, and further to demand full implementation of the Act, including the adoption of all Statutory Codes of Practice, as envisaged when the Liberal Democrats in Parliament voted for its passage into law. These include Statutory Codes of Practice on the Public Sector Equality Duty and on Schools and the Further and Higher Education sector, which are currently set out merely as technical guidance.
54
Recommendation 25 The Task Force endorses Nick Cleggs acknowledgement that there has been insufficient progress in the private sector. Further, the Task Force notes the recommendation of the Business Commission in 2009 which stated that the government should assess in 2012 whether the private sector has made enough progress in promoting race equality to support the goal of reducing the ethnic minority gap to 12 percentage points by 2015, reports its findings publicly, and if it finds insufficient progress has been made, brings in legislation that obliges private sector employers to promote workplace race equality. The Task Force recommends that the government, through its position as the UKs major purchaser, uses its leverage over, and relationships with, private sector companies to motivate the private sector to promote race equality. This can be achieved through contract conditions to ensure suppliers improve their practices, and we recommend that government establish a public sector-wide procurement policy to use more robust pre-qualification questions and contract conditions to promote race equality in the workplace. It should do this in a way that does not impose undue burdens on small companies. Recommendation 26 The Task Force recommends that all private sector companies and third sector organisations that are in receipt of money, licences or other benefits awarded on behalf of the public whether funding, broadcasting licences or former public sector contracts be obliged to carry out equality monitoring, send this to the funding body, regulator or commissioner which in turn shall be required to publish this data for each named company or licence on an annual basis. Recommendation 27 The Task Force recommends the implementation and embedding of this policy into the quasi- non-governmental organizations, regulators and other public bodies. In particular they should ensure that these organizations understand and accept that equality is part of their remit and that enforcement, on behalf of the public, of contract compliance and real accountability through transparency on equality of funding recipients, licencees and contractors is a key part of their role on which they will be measured. Recommendation 28 The Task Force endorses the Coalitions work in setting up the Ministerial Group on Equalities. It recommends that the group assign responsibility for each equality strand to ensure that no strand is left behind and that each strand has its own plan of action. Recommendation 29 The Task Force recommends adoption of the long term policy ambition of eradicating the ethnic minority employment gap within 25 years and to have begun to see a closing of this gap by the next election. 55
Recommendation 30 The Task Force recommends maintaining the wider role of the EHRC to enable the organisation to play a leading role in changing attitudes, and we endorse the Business Commission recommendation that the EHRC conduct two sector-based reviews each year, to result in agreed action plans for improving performance in ethnic minority recruitment, retention and promotion. Where companies or sectors who sign up to action plans do not take necessary steps, then as a last resort the EHRC should use its powers to conduct formal investigations. The Task Force further recommends reinstating funding to the EHRC to 2010 levels and that meaningful resources are allocated to each equality strand within the EHRC to ensure that attention is focussed on all strands. The Task Force further recommends that action is taken to ensure that the EHRCs independence from government is upheld and not undermined.
56