Scottish Daily Mail

We risk losing Shakespear­e in push for diversity, warns head

- By Imogen Horton

BRITAIN’S ‘strictest headmistre­ss’ fears pupils will stop studying William Shakespear­e as schools are forced to diversify the curriculum.

Katharine Birbalsing­h, headteache­r at Michaela community school in north London and the government’s Social Mobility Commission­er, stressed the importance of keeping ‘dead white men’ on the curriculum as ‘black and female authors’ are added.

She explained Shakespear­ean texts had been ‘lost’ in many places in the US and warned the UK follow suit.

Miss Birbalsing­h told The Guardian: ‘I think that dead white men have something to offer us. Shakespear­e has been influencin­g literature for over 400 years. It’s right to teach Shakespear­e.

The ideas in Shakespear­e are universal. I’m worried about the trend in America that is now influencin­g what’s happening over here, where eventually we will do away with cultural icons like Shakespear­e.’ She added that ‘any number’ of black and female authors could replace Shakespear­e in schools.

‘Maybe they’ll have me in there. The point is I’m a black female author. I would never suggest reading my books instead of Shakespear­e or Dickens or any number of other dead white men.

‘My colour and my gender should not be so important.’

GCSE pupils in England are still required to study Shakespear­e, despite reading lists having been broadened to include more writers from minority background­s. Pupils entered for AQA GCSE English literature exams this summer are required to have studied Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, The Merchant of Venice, Much Ado About Nothing or Julius Caesar.

The London headteache­r, whose school has become famous for its strict ‘no excuses’ behaviour policy, also stressed she was not advocating against having black authors added to the curriculum but believed pupils should be taught to appreciate the all authors regardless of their ethnicity.

‘So I’m not saying only teach dead white men. I’m just saying don’t campaign to get rid of them,’ she said.

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