The Government has accepted in full an independent review’s call for an annual review on whether to ban teachers who belong to racist organisations.
The review also calls for measures to be strengthened to prevent the promotion of racism by teachers in schools, but finds that measures currently in place to protect pupils from racist teachers are sufficient.
In addition, the review says annual reporting of racist incidents should be monitored for compliance by local authorities and Ofsted should always report when schools are inadequate on equal opportunities and community cohesion.
The Smith Review
Maurice Smith CB was asked to look into whether there was a need to ban teachers who were members of legitimate organisations which may promote racism – similar to bans in place in the police force and prison service. His full and detailed review of the arguments for and against strengthening the current measures to protect against the promotion of racism in schools found that
* Over the last seven years, only four members of the teaching profession, and two governors have been publicly identified as being members of racist organisations and only nine incidents of teachers making racist remarks or holding racist materials have been referred to the General Teaching Council for England.
* Measures in place in maintained schools have less impact in independent schools which, by their very nature, have greater freedoms and are more lightly regulated.
The Secretary of State has accepted the recommendations in full and has asked Maurice Smith to conduct an additional review looking at safeguards in place in independent schools and to see if measures can be improved.
I do not believe that barring teachers or other members of the wider school workforce from membership of legitimate organisations which may promote racism is necessary at present, although it should be kept under active review. To bar teachers, or other members of the school workforce, from joining non-proscribed organisations would be a profound political act. In my analysis, it would be a disproportionate response, taking a very large sledgehammer to crack a minuscule nut.
I have come to the view that the existing measures in place to protect children and young people from discrimination or political indoctrination are well-grounded and comprehensive enough to mitigate the risk. In addition to the argument that a ban would be disproportionate, there are other difficulties.
Although police and prison officers are banned, to ban more than half a million teachers – or six million public servants – from joining a legitimate organisation would take this to a different scale of magnitude. Additionally, there is no consensus on this matter, and no agreement on where to ‘draw the line’.
My assessment is that the most recent public concern is focussed on independent schools staffed by unqualified teachers. The measures to protect against the promotion of racism by qualified teachers have less influence in the independent sector compared to maintained schools because there is no evidence regarding the proportion of teachers in the independent sector who are qualified. Therefore I welcome and accept the Secretary of State’s request to carry out an additional review of this issue.
Teachers across the country, day in and day out, actively promote equality and educate the country’s pupils to resist discrimination in all its forms supported by overt guidance in the National Curriculum. They should be praised for doing so, and trusted to continue to do so.
Ed Balls, Schools Secretary, said:
There is no place for racism in our schools and it is vital that we have the appropriate measures in place in schools to safeguard our children and young people.
It is reassuring to know that the current measures in place are working. The report is clear about this, but it is also clear that these measures can be improved upon. That is why I am accepting the recommendations and I am taking steps to implement these immediately and keep them under active review.
The report has also identified that many of the safeguards that protect children and young people from discrimination or political indoctrination that are in place in maintained schools do not apply to schools in the independent sector. I recognise that the position of independent schools is very different.
Many independent schools belong to associations which have their own membership criteria. The associations provide advice and support, and their individual requirements provide a degree of self-regulation and discipline. All the available evidence suggests that these associations have high expectations of their members and have their own procedures for handling cases where problems arise.
However, I remained concerned about Maurice Smith’s observations about the independent sector and therefore I have asked him to explore further whether the current arrangements strike the right balance between allowing independent schools autonomy, operating in accordance with their ethos and values, and protecting the young people attending those schools from teachers displaying racist or intolerant views or behaviours that could be harmful.
The independent review makes six recommendations, which the Government has accepted in full
* Ofsted should consistently include a specific reference in the content of the school inspection report if a school is judged inadequate in promoting equal opportunities or community cohesion.
* The impact of the duties to promote equal opportunities and community cohesion should be evaluated by external scrutiny to enable the Secretary of State to keep this issue under active review.
* An independent evaluation of the journey from an ‘inadequate’ Ofsted judgement, in relation to promotion of equal opportunities and racial equality, to ‘good’ performance in these areas should be conducted. This could occur at the end of this inspection programme when sufficient evidence is available to enable lessons to be learned for the future.
* The reporting of racist incidents should be monitored for compliance by local authorities and subject to specific inspection and evaluation by Ofsted.
* The Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA), the GTCE and the National College for Leadership of Schools and Children's Services should share their expertise in establishing and articulating consistent standards and conduct for teachers and school leaders that explicitly promote equality and diversity.
* The Secretary of State should keep these matters under active review with annual reporting, and liaise closely with other Government departments, particularly those with policy responsibilities affecting children.
The current safeguards in place to protect children and young people in maintained schools from discrimination or political indoctrination include:
* a requirement for schools to have equal opportunities policies
* a duty to promote racial equality
* a statutory duty to promote community cohesion
* a duty on governing bodies, head teachers and local authorities to forbid the teaching of partisan political activities
* disciplinary powers of the GTCE.
During the review, further measures in place were identified which have been revised or implemented recently, which need time to in bed and improved during implementation.
Maurice Smith will now conduct this further review on independent schools and report back to the Secretary of State by September 2010.
Further information
A copy of the Smith Review report in full can be found the Maurice Smith Review website.
The Secretary of State's letter to Maurice Smith.
The review specifically looked at
* whether existing safeguards are sufficient (taking into account current duties on schools and local authorities, and the powers of the GTCE)
* whether there is a case for further measures to maintain trust in the teaching profession and protect children and young people from indoctrination and discrimination; particularly, whether there is a case for affiliation to an organisation that promotes racism being grounds for barring from the profession
* whether the current safeguards, or further measures deemed necessary, should extend more widely across the school workforce.