Schools reject £1m ‘white boy’ scholarships

TWO leading private schools have turned down a philanthropist’s £1million offer of scholarships for poor white boys, saying they should be for pupils from all backgrounds.

Dulwich College and Winchester College turned down Prof Sir Bryan Thwaites’ offer to leave the funds in his will because they feared breaching anti-discrimination laws.

Sir Bryan, 96, is now talking to state schools in deprived areas who have been more positive about accepting his help, The Times said.

Last night head teachers from ethnically diverse state schools backed him in the row, including Leon Wilson, the executive principal of the Hurlingham and Lambeth Academies in London.

Mr Wilson, who began his teaching career in Jamaica and has been cited as an ethnic minority role model, said: “You have lots of philanthropists who give away money for different ethnic groups such as black Caribbean boys. I can’t see why it should be a problem for white boys.” The row comes after Stormzy, the rap star, created Cambridge University scholarships to aid black British students exclusively.

A Winchester College spokesman said: “Acceptance of a bequest of this nature would neither be in the interests of the school as a charity nor the interests of those it aims to support... Notwithstanding legal exceptions to the relevant legislation, the school does not see how discrimination on grounds of a boy’s colour could ever be compatible with its values.”

A Dulwich College spokesman said: “The community at Dulwich is proudly diverse, both socio-economically and ethnically ... Bursaries are an engine of social mobility and should be available to all who pass our entrance examinations, irrespective of background.”