Zahawi steps in as young taught they are not ‘racially innocent’
THE Education Secretary has intervened over “concerning” race lessons for children as young as seven as MPs call on the equalities watchdog to consider potential law breaches.
Nadhim Zahawi said his officials are in contact with Brighton and Hove council after The Sunday Telegraph revealed primary school children are being taught they are not “racially innocent” because they view “white at the top of the hierarchy”. A group of MPs have also written to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to ask for the council’s five-year “anti-racist” schools project to be investigated “definitively and immediately”.
Mr Zahawi said: “Every day in schools across the country, brilliant teachers are teaching sensitive issues in a balanced and inclusive way – which is why reports like this one are so concerning.
“These issues can be divisive if covered in the wrong way, and I am clear – as is the law in the country – that any contested theories and opinions must not be presented to young people as facts. My officials are in contact with Brighton and Hove to understand the exact nature of these materials.
“I know as well as anyone that race can be a tricky issue to cover, but we should strive to show young people that those things which we have in common are much greater than anything that might separate us.”
Some 300 school staff have completed the Racial Literacy 101 training so far, which endorses critical race theory and white privilege, radical ideologies which have been heavily rebuked for pitting races against one another.
Materials showed teachers are told that “between the ages of three and five, children learn to attach value to skin colour; white at the top of the hierarchy and black at the bottom”. The Green-led council’s strategy condemned “the widespread view” that young children are “racially innocent”, claiming there is “ample evidence” to the contrary. Brighton is the first British authority to roll out such training, despite protests from parents, one of whom launched a 4,500-signature petition with Don’t Divide Us, a campaign group, saying that it “teaches our kids they are racist”.
Two dozen parliamentarians last week asked the EHRC to investigate and provide advice on the council’s legal liability under the 2010 Equality Act and the public sector equality duty, which requires taxpayer-funded bodies to foster good relations between people of different races. EHRC said: “We will consider this letter and respond in due course.” Hannah Clare, Brighton council deputy leader overseeing the race strategy, last week tweeted that “the EHRC is not fit for purpose (and perhaps strategically been made this way)”.
The council said: “We work to be an anti-racist city and to support school staff to make education settings fairer in line with both government guidance and the law.”