Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to protect Jewish (a) pupils and (b) teachers from anti-Semitic abuse in schools.
Answered by Robin Walker
The government is clear that antisemitism, as with all forms of bullying and hatred, is abhorrent and has no place in our schools. All educational institutions should be inclusive and welcoming for students and staff from all backgrounds.
The department is aware of reported increases in such incidents, during an escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in May 2021, which is why the former Secretary of State for Education wrote to schools to remind them of their responsibilities to deal with antisemitic incidents with due seriousness as well as their legal duties regarding political impartiality. The department has also published further guidance on political impartiality in schools to help them to ensure educational initiatives in schools are not politically biased or one-sided.
The government continues to take action to support schools to tackle all forms of bullying, including antisemitism. Our Preventing and Tackling Bullying guidance sets out that schools should develop a consistent approach to monitoring bullying incidents and evaluating the effectiveness of their approaches. It also directs schools to organisations who can provide support with tackling bullying related to race, religion and nationality, as well as sexual harassment and sexual bullying.
The department is also providing over £2 million of funding, between 10 August 2021 and 31 March 2023, to five anti-bullying organisations to support schools to tackle bullying. This includes projects targeting bullying of groups who share protected characteristics, including race and faith and belief, such as those who are victims of hate related bullying.
The government has also supported Holocaust education for many years and is fully committed to continuing this support. In recognition of its importance, the Holocaust is the only historic event which is compulsory within the national curriculum for history at key stage 3. Effective teaching about the Holocaust can support pupils to learn about the possible consequences of antisemitism and extremism, to understand how society can prevent the repeat of such a catastrophe. The department provides funding for several programmes to support school pupils’ and teachers’ understanding of the Holocaust.
The department has published guidance for schools on the Equality Act 2010, which sets out the general provisions that apply to schools in their role as employers. The guidance is clear that all of the protected characteristics are covered by these provisions and that harassment or victimisation against potential or existing employees in relation to any of the protected characteristics is unlawful. We encourage schools to consult the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s guidance and Codes of Practice for Employers for more detailed information on their obligations to their teachers and other staff.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to encourage universities to increase the numbers of black staff to reflect the diversity of students.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Higher education (HE) providers are independent and autonomous institutions. The government does not compel participation in equality charters.
However, it is essential that HE providers address disparities in pay or opportunity, where they may be based on race, disability, gender, or other protected characteristics. We want HE providers to address inequality with confidence, using their own judgement to address the real issues which restrict opportunity.
The department expects HE providers, like all employers, to comply with their obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and give due consideration to the way their employment practices affect different people from different communities and at different stages of their careers.
Asked by: Lilian Greenwood (Labour - Nottingham South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what training is provided to staff in his Department on avoiding implicit bias in the workplace.
Answered by Michelle Donelan - Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The Written Ministerial Statement on Unconscious Bias (December 2020) set out the findings of the ‘Unconscious bias and diversity training - what the evidence says’ report. The findings concluded that there was no evidence that the training changed behaviour in the long term or improved workplace equality. It also found there is emerging evidence of unintended negative consequences. The department has therefore ceased offering Unconscious Bias training.
The government requested other parts of the public sector, including local government, the police and the NHS, to review their approaches in light of the evidence.
Since October 2020, the department has provided separate workshops aimed at supporting staff to have informed and productive conversations on the subject of race.
Asked by: Lord Woolley of Woodford (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to reference race equality in the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
In line with the government’s legal duties and its commitment to equalities, care has been taken to ensure that our proposed legislation is informed by assessments of their impacts for those from protected characteristics. The Impact Assessment of the Skills and Post-16 Education Bill was published on 18 May 2021 and includes an assessment of the impacts of its measures on those who share protected characteristics, including in reference to race. This is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skills-and-post-16-education-bill-impact-assessment-and-jchr-memorandum.
Asked by: Lord Woolley of Woodford (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the (1) guidance, and (2) duty being placed on colleges, to review local skills provision includes guidance on advancing race equality in further education.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
Draft statutory guidance makes clear that in carrying their reviews, the governing bodies of colleges will need to ensure that they comply with their existing statutory obligations, including those related to equality law, under the Equality Act 2010.
Asked by: Lord Woolley of Woodford (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support schools which seek to create (1) equal, (2) racially diverse, and (3) inclusive, environments for their pupils.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
All schools must offer a balanced and broadly based curriculum, which promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society, and prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.
In November 2018, the department published Respectful School Communities, a self-review and signposting tool to support schools to develop a whole-school approach which promotes respect and discipline: https://educateagainsthate.com/school-leaders/?filter=guidance-and-training-school-leaders. This can combat bullying, harassment and prejudice of any kind. It will help schools to identify the various elements that make up a whole school approach, consider gaps in their current practice, and get further support.
Citizenship education also plays an essential role in developing knowledge and understanding about the world today through teaching politics, democracy, power, the law, human rights, justice and the economy, as well as the changing nature of communities, identities, diversity in the UK and the UK’s relations with the wider world.
From September 2020, relationships education became compulsory for all primary school pupils, relationships and sex education compulsory for all secondary school pupils, and health education compulsory for pupils in all state-funded schools: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education. These subjects are designed to give pupils the knowledge they need to lead happy, safe and healthy lives and to foster respect for other people and for difference.
The teaching workforce has become steadily more racially and ethnically diverse over the last decade, which is the period for which we have comparable data, although we know there is further to go to attract and retain diverse teachers who are representative of the communities they serve: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. Our recruitment campaigns are targeted at audiences of students/recent graduates and potential career changers of all ethnicities and characteristics.
Finally, it is important all children and young people are treated fairly and there is no place for discrimination in our education system. The Equality Act 2010 ensures that schools cannot unlawfully discriminate against pupils or staff because of their sex, race, age, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief. The department has published guidance on the Equality Act 2010 for schools, which includes advice on how they can meet their duties under the act: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/315587/Equality_Act_Advice_Final.pdf.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to prevent misogynistic and homophobic relationships and sex education (RSE) resources from being used in schools as RSE is rolled out; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Schools must be aware of issues such as everyday sexism, misogyny, homophobia, and gender stereotypes, and take positive action to build a culture where these are not tolerated, and that any occurrences are identified and tackled. As part of the statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) curriculum, all pupils should be taught, at an age-appropriate point, how stereotypes, particularly stereotypes based on sex, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation or disability, can cause damage.
To support the teaching of these subjects, the Department has published implementation guidance and teacher training modules to equip all schools to construct a comprehensive curriculum.
There are many external resources available to support the delivery of RSHE lessons. The Department does not play a role in assessing these. Any material used should align with the teaching requirements set out in the statutory guidance. Schools should assess all resources carefully to ensure they are age appropriate, meet the outcome of the relevant part of the curriculum, and are in line with the school’s legal duties in relation to impartiality and the Equality Act.
Asked by: Jess Phillips (Labour - Birmingham, Yardley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the appropriateness of the language in RSE teaching resources in terms of references to gender roles.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Schools must be aware of issues such as everyday sexism, misogyny, homophobia, and gender stereotypes, and take positive action to build a culture where these are not tolerated, and that any occurrences are identified and tackled. As part of the statutory Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) curriculum, all pupils should be taught, at an age-appropriate point, how stereotypes, particularly stereotypes based on sex, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation or disability, can cause damage.
To support the teaching of these subjects, the Department has published implementation guidance and teacher training modules to equip all schools to construct a comprehensive curriculum.
There are many external resources available to support the delivery of RSHE lessons. The Department does not play a role in assessing these. Any material used should align with the teaching requirements set out in the statutory guidance. Schools should assess all resources carefully to ensure they are age appropriate, meet the outcome of the relevant part of the curriculum, and are in line with the school’s legal duties in relation to impartiality and the Equality Act.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps her Department is taking to tackle hair discrimination in (a) dress code policies in schools and (b) places of work.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Equality Act 2010 covers both education and employment settings.
In formulating its school uniform policy, a school must consider its obligations not to discriminate unlawfully under equality law. The Department for Education provides guidance to help schools understand how the Equality Act affects them and how to fulfil their duties under the Act. The guidance makes clear to schools that decisions related to appearance, including on hair, must be made in accordance with their responsibilities under the Equality Act.
In the workplace, any absolute ban on someone’s ability to manifest their religious beliefs through a chosen hairstyle could constitute direct discrimination because of religion and therefore would be likely to be unlawful, while a ban on hairstyles associated with a particular ethnicity could constitute indirect discrimination because of race which would require the employer imposing the ban to justify why it was necessary, for instance because of health and safety reasons.
Asked by: Ben Bradley (Conservative - Mansfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his policy is on school engagement with (a) race equality and (b) other charities.
Answered by Nick Gibb
External agencies, including charities, can provide speakers, tools, and resources to enhance and supplement a school’s curriculum and wider activities. It is important when using external agencies that schools take particular care that the agency and any materials used are appropriate and in line with their legal duties.
Schools must not promote partisan political views and should ensure the balanced treatment of political issues. Schools should also ensure that speakers, tools and resources do not undermine the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.