‘Draconian' school policies unfairly impact ethnic minority children, MPs told

Independent

12-03-2025

'Draconian behavioural policies' in schools are 'disproportionately' impacting ethnic minority children, MPs have heard.
Labour MP Kim Johnson said racism in schools is a continuing problem as she called for a public inquiry into a 'significant miscarriage of justice' that saw hundreds of ethnic minority children in the 1960s and 70s wrongly sent to schools that were designed for pupils with severe physical and mental disabilities.
These children were incorrectly designated as 'educationally subnormal' (ESN).
Ms Johnson's adjournment debate coincided with the 40th anniversary of the Swann Report that was commissioned to examine disparities in educational attainment and made recommendations to tackle institutional racism in the education system.
The Liverpool Riverside MP said: 'I hope the minister will join me today in recognising the wrong that was done to the survivors of ESN.
'A public inquiry into the scandal of these ESN schools is necessary, not only to secure justice for the victims of these historic discriminatory policies, but also for us to understand how systemic racism and discrimination takes form in our current education system and how we can eradicate it.
'The survivors and the campaigners are calling on the Government to give due consideration to a public inquiry, and four decades on from the first public inquiry report into racism in education, to learn the lessons of the past and secure justice for all whose lives were impacted and continue to suffer.'
Ms Johnson told MPs that 'many racist barriers still exist in education' that have 'evolved directly from the policies and attitudes that drove the ESN scandal'.
She said: 'The closure of ESN schools in the 1980s directly led to a rapid expansion in the use of school exclusions, and we began to see higher numbers incarcerated in prisons, the expansion of the use of set and tiering in education whereby certain groups of children, increasing numbers, are being denied the opportunity to sit exams at certain levels and then denied the opportunity to progress in educational settings, including going to university.
'The establishment of pupil referral units (PRUs) is recognised as another method of systematic exclusion from education.
'The use of PRUs and exclusions are a symptom of failure of the education system; disruptive behaviour of a child is a cry for help, not a crime.
'An education system that does not respond with care and support is an education system that is broken.
'The number of exclusions have soared in recent years, with children as young as five being kicked out of school.
'Draconian behavioural policies impacting disproportionately poor children, those living in care and those from black Caribbean, mixed and Gypsy-Roma and traveller backgrounds.
'Swann's recommendations for an inclusive education system are more important today, and we must take this opportunity to update those lessons learned and apply them to our current system.'
Education minister Catherine McKinnell said the Government 'doesn't currently plan to establish a public inquiry' but is committed to ensuring ' Britain is a country that will respect your contribution and will give you a fair chance to get on in life'.
She said: 'While overall the outcomes of some ethnic groups now compare positively with national average outcomes for some groups, outcomes are significantly below average or worse than other groups throughout the education system, and that includes black Caribbean children.
'But one of the most significant factors affecting pupil attainment, which cuts across all ethnicities, is economic disadvantage.'
She added: 'It's why this Government's opportunity mission will break down barriers and that unfair link between background and success, we're determined to help all children achieve and thrive.'