Calls made to address the shocking lack of diversity in the city’s classrooms

NEW figures reveal a shocking lack of diversity in Coventry’s classrooms.

Teaching unions have warned of “everyday racism” and discrimination in schools, with black people, Asian people and other ethnic minorities underrepresented in the profession.

School workforce statistics from the Department for Education show that 86.7 per cent of teachers in statefunded schools in Coventry are White.

That’s despite white people only making up 72 per cent of residents.

National figures also reveal a lack of diversity in leadership roles, such as head teachers.

Now, calls are being made for “positive action” to address the disparity.

Dr Mary Bousted, joint general-secretary of the NEU, said: “Black teachers are greatly underrepresented in the workforce and of those who are working in schools and colleges many experience racism during their working lives.

“Racism will not be addressed without positive action and we need to talk openly and candidly about racism and the social division and harmful stereotyping it creates for black workers.

“On the 15th June we wrote to the Prime Minister to say that Government needs to adopt a strategy to make the pipeline of new entrants to the teaching profession significantly more diverse over the next four years.”

As might be expected, the disparity is less extreme in areas where there are fewer residents who are Black, Asian or from another ethnic minority.

Across Warwickshire, for example, 94.6 per cent of teachers are white, but that’s not much higher than the 92.2 per cent of residents who are white.

Unions have warned that the situation has been getting worse - both in the last year, and under lockdown.

Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT, said: “Everyday racism of overt and covert prejudice, harassment and macroaggressions are the reality of life in schools for many BAME teachers and our research confirms that the problem has got worse rather than better in the last 12 months.

“Many BAME teachers have told the NASUWT that they are experiencing discrimination at work as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. Too few schools are taking the action needed to protect BAME teachers and appear to be paying lip-service to racial equality.

“Instead of threatening BAME teachers with salary deduction or job loss, employers should be taking appropriate steps to assess the racial equality impact of their policies, procedures and decision-making.

“It is abundantly clear that without stronger inspection and better regulation of schools, employers will not take the action necessary to secure racial justice at work.

“The NASUWT is continuing to ask the Government and the Equality and Human Rights Commission to act to tackle these long-standing issues and secure the progress that is urgently needed.”

A breakdown by school type is not available at a local level, but national figures show that 92.7 per cent of nursery and primary school teachers are White, as are 88.8 per cent of secondary school teachers.

That’s despite the fact that only 84.2 per cent of England’s population is White.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We are committed to increasing the diversity of the teaching workforce and have improved pathways into the profession, increasing the proportion of teacher trainees from minority ethnic groups.

“We know there is more to do and will continue our work to further increase diversity in the profession.”