Tackling Racism In The Eduction System

I have been campaigning on the issue of black education for many years. For more than two decades I have talked with black parents about the problems they have with the education system, their children’s underachievement and how these problems can be overcome. The complexity of black underachievement has become apparent.

So the publication of a report suggesting that teachers are underestimating black Caribbean pupils in their SATs tests did not come as much of a surprise. Dr Steve Strand of Warwick University looked at statistics from 15,000 Key Stage 3 results (those that come from 14 year olds’ SATs results) broken down by ethnicity. He found that Pakistani, Bangladeshi, black Caribbean and black African children aged 14 score on average three points below their white British counterparts. In National Curriculum terms, this is about equivalent to these pupils being a whole school year behind their white British counterparts. When other factors are taken into account this statistic improves — social class, family type, eligibility for free school meals and special educational needs are all important causes of educational under-achievement. However for black children, these factors do not greatly change the picture — they were still 2.5 points below.

Looking to explain, the study discovered that black Caribbean children were the only pupils to be under-represented in being put forward for the higher tiers in their SATs tests. Even when accounting for other factors, the study found that for every three white British students entered into higher tiers, only two black Caribbean students were. Despite showing the same academic ability as their white British counterparts, black Caribbean pupils were more likely to be denied the opportunity to take on a more difficult SATs test that would garner higher marks. It suggests that something about black Caribbean students, that had nothing to do with their academic ability, was stopping them from being put forward for the higher tiers. It suggests that what many have been arguing for years may well be true: that the negative perception of black children — especially boys — has a direct affect on their educational performance.

There have been many reasons given for the underachievement of black pupils, but for me it seems that there is a process of labelling and demotivation taking place. Teachers may be more likely to expect bad behaviour from black boys and less likely to expect high academic results from them. Black pupils may be more likely to disengage from their education — either because they sense they are not expected to do well or because of some cultural factors that mean they are pressurised not to do well by their peers.

Reactions to the report have been unsurprisingly mixed. Some activists have called for the introduction of black schools to cater specifically to black pupils’ needs. Whilst I can see that addressing a specific problem with a specifically designed school seems like a good idea, I think that the debate around black schools is a diversion. Some 99 per cent of black children are going to be educated in the mainstream state sector, so the most urgent question is reforming mainstream education to ensure that working class children and black children can achieve. Taking black children out of mainstream education would run the risk of legitimising the notion that they are somehow educationally ‘subnormal’.

I advocate a focused approach on black children within the current education system. In a recent poll only 50 per cent of teaching students said they felt ready to teach black children in a multi-cultural setting. In 2006 whilst 22 per cent of pupils in London were black, only seven per cent of teachers were. We need better teacher training so that all teachers are equipped to deal with a multi-racial and multi-cultural pupil population. And we need to increase the number of black and ethnic minority teachers and a drive towards encouraging black and ethnic minority parents to become governors. With a two-pronged approach the progress that has already been made at GCSE level can continue. This means rejecting the notion that black pupils are innately worse academically and the notion that all schools and all teachers are racist, and it means rejecting the notion that social class is the only factor affecting educational outcomes.

OFT Told To Help Customers Reclaim Unauthorised Overdraft Charges

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has been urged to continue fighting to help people reclaim unauthorised overdraft charges.

Consumer website MoneySavingExpert.com said it had taken legal advice that suggested customers could challenge the fairness of the charges under the Consumer Credit Act.

The website said that, under the Act, it was up to the banks to prove that the charges were fair, rather than for consumers to prove they were the opposite - shifting the burden of proof on to the banks.

But the law only applies to new charges from April 6 2007 and any charges before this date are included only if borrowing was still outstanding 12 months later.

MoneySavingExpert outlined other legal routes which could possibly be used to people challenge the fairness of the charges, but it called on the OFT to take up the fight for consumers.

The website's founder Martin Lewis said: "We believe there are substantial legal avenues available for it to challenge fairness - the OFT cannot give up."

Customers who incur an unauthorised overdraft or breach their agreed limit can be charged as much as £35.

This could include processing a bounced transaction, when the actual cost to the banks is as little as £2.50.

But in a recent test case the Supreme Court ruled that unauthorised overdraft charges were not subject to regulation by the OFT under unfair contract rules, dashing the hopes of millions who had tried to claim refunds.

The watchdog is currently considering the details of the judgement before it makes a decision on whether to continue its investigation into the charges.

Nick Griffin Calls World Leaders Mass Murderers At The Copenhagen Climate Conference

How sully can the BNP get when they have two representatives in the European Parliament when the leader of the BNP makes stupid statements like World Leaders Mass Murderers when the BNP refuses to acknowledges that Jews were persecuted in the second world war by their almighty brain washing leader Hitler.

Nick Griffin has accused world leaders at the Copenhagen climate conference of the “biggest hoax in history” that will kill more people than the great famines under Stalin and Mao.

The leader of the British National Party and MEP is at the international summit as a representative of the European Parliament.

But he said global warming was a “hoax” designed to impose tax increases on the citizens of the world through putting up the price of energy.

He said world leaders and advocates of action on climate change such as Al Gore are “mass murderers” by supporting biofuels.

He said land for growing food is being taken to grow fuels for crops and it will cause starvation greater than the famines caused by Russian dictator Stalin during the 1930s and Chairman Mao in the 1950s.

"It is a crime against humanity which in future will be seen as an enormous man-made famine. Under Stalin 20 million people died, under Chairman Mao 30 million died. This will be the third and the greatest famine of the modern era and I regard that as a crime.”

However Mr Griffin’s own party would not give more money to the third world.

“Britain is bankrupt. We cannot afford to go giving money to the third world,” he said.

Mr Griffin has no official role at the conference but will be speaking to delegates in an attempt to “stop the juggernaut”.

“My message is stop and think before imposing the most outrageous tax increase on people ever proposed by a group of nations on the basis of an unproven theory that is contradicted by an increasing number of scientists,” he added.

Ben Stewart of Greenpeace said Mr Griffin will bring nothing helpful to the talks.

“Mr Griffin’s conversion to cause of the developing world is surprising as it is cynical,” he said. “In reality the environmental and development groups he has been disparaging have been in the forefront of concerns about biofuels. Griffin’s claims that climate change is a hoax is one of many curious things going on between his ears.”