Gavin Williamson is facing legal action for trying to censor schools

The instruction issued by the Secretary of State has had the effect of not only stifling the legitimate political views of muslim students in schools across the country, but also justifying their securitisation for simply demonstrating solidarity with the victims of Israeli apartheid.

Racism cases over 60,000

Education and action on all forms of racism in our schools is needed. The British education system has a track record of ignoring racism in schools. Williamson’s concerns echo a report from 2015 that stated that two thirds of secondary school children didn’t know what antisemitism was. This lack of awareness and education is just one example of how racism has been continuously ignored by the education system.

But there is also a much wider issue. Because while Williamson’s letter raises concerns about antisemitism many other forms of racism have been continuously ignored.

In fact in the last 5 years, schools have recorded over 60,000 incidents of racism. If that statistic wasn’t concerning enough, there seems to be a trend of schools not reporting incidents of racism to local councils. Between 2016-2017, 226 academy trusts in England disclosed 36,063 incidents of racism.

28,524 of those were not reported to councils – information which schools can report to receive support. However the true number of cases is unknown. That’s because in 2012 the government advised schools that they had no legal duty to report racist incidents to local authorities.

We asked the Department for Education (DfE) whether it had written letters about its concerns for other types of racism in schools similar to the one Williamson wrote to headteachers. The DfE did not provide us with any letters.

In fact the DfE appears to have failed to issue any official guidance on racism:

Racism Ignored

Williamson has also ignored a letter written to him about racism. In October 2020, Devon County Council wrote to the secretary of state to encourage him to try to ensure schools “capture the voice of children and young people and their responses to the Black Lives Matter movement”.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews issued advice for teachers and school leaders stating that conversations surrounding Israel should not be suppressed in schools:

Discussions about the conflict between Israel and its neighbours can become highly emotionally charged, not least in learning environments where students may have a direct personal or communal connection to the parties in conflict.

However difficult, teachers should not fear or suppress conversation about this topic, as a developed political awareness is important to the development of children. Students may appreciate being given an opportunity to discuss this issue in a non-biased way.

We contacted the DfE regarding CAGE launching legal proceedings and about systemic racism in schools. They told us:

Antisemitism, like all forms of racism, is abhorrent and has no place in our schools. The Education Secretary wrote to schools to remind them of their responsibility to deal with antisemitic incidents with due seriousness, following a reported increase during the most recent Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The law is clear that schools must remain politically impartial. Schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure the balanced treatment of political issues. We are developing further guidance to support schools to understand and meet their duties in this area.

Racism in all of its forms has reached alarming levels throughout institutions in the UK. While Williamson’s concern about racism in schools is welcomed, it is a pin drop in a much wider problem. Moreover, racism in schools cannot be addressed through censoring debate or policies that cause further racism through discriminating against Muslim students.