Sarwar calls for wider anti-racism education

Labour front bencher Anas Sarwar will today call for anti-racism education to be embedded across the school curriculum and for head teachers from more diverse backgrounds.

Mr Sarwar, the chair of the Cross Party Group on Tackling Islamophobia, will say education is the “vehicle to defeat prejudice and hate” as he outlines proposals to encourage young people to reject racism.

He will argue social media platforms must do more to combat racist comments that can be seen by children on their sites. Mr Sarwar will also call for a wider programme of teacher training, so that equality is seen as a mainstream issue – not as a “tick box exercise”.

In his speech at an antiracism event organised by Scotland’s largest teaching union the EIS, Mr Sarwar will say Scotland needs more head teachers and deputies from diverse backgrounds.

The event, titled Teachers Turning the Tide, will also see him argue children should be taught more about the history of how today’s diverse country was built. Mr Sarwar will welcome new EIS guidance on combating antimuslim prejudice, but will warn Scotland faces major challenges from racism, sexism, homophobia, anti-semitism and Islamophobia.

“Education is rightly seen as the vehicle to break the cycle of poverty, but it is also the vehicle to defeat prejudice and hate,” he will say.