Rampton (1981)

Notes on the text

Preliminary pages Membership, Contents, Preface, Introduction

Chapter 1 Evidence of underachievement

Chapter 2 Factors contributing to underachievement

Chapter 3 Support for schools and teachers

Chapter 4 Programme for action

Appendices

Interim report of the Committee of Inquiry into the education of children from ethnic minority groups

Chairman: Anthony Rampton OBE

Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Education and Science by Command of Her Majesty June 1981

Cmnd. 8273

London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1981
© Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.

Chapter 2 The factors contributing to underachievement
[pages 11 - 59]

Alleged causes of underachievement

1. In seeking to identify the factors which lead so many West Indian children to underachieve in our schools, many causes, both within the education system and outside it, were suggested by those who gave evidence to us. That which was most forcefully and frequently put forward by West Indians themselves was racism, both within schools and in society. Other reasons which were said to contribute to underachievement were the inadequacy of pre-school provision and the particular linguistic difficulties of West Indian children. Within schools, the inappropriateness of the curriculum and the examinations system, separately or combined with teachers' low expectations of West Indian pupils have also been represented as contributory factors. A loss of trust and a lack of understanding between teachers and West Indian parents, which may arise particularly if the latter have not themselves been educated in this country have been said to make the situation worse. Other factors such as the general state of race relations, discrimination in employment, conflict with authority figures, notably the police, and the relative absence of West Indians in prominent positions of responsibility in society who could be seen as 'role models' for young West Indians have also been put forward.

2. There is inevitably some overlap between these alleged causes and they are by no means all the factors which have been said to account for the underachievement. Other factors suggested to us were: poor teaching, a lack of responsiveness to the needs of individual pupils and just 'bad practice'. Although in these circumstances West Indian, and indeed other ethnic minority, pupils may suffer more than others because their particular needs are not being met, the education of all the children in the school is also likely to be affected. In the limited time available to us we have attempted to investigate, as far as possible, the various explanations and assertions which have been put to us and we have sought to identify those which could be substantiated and those which, if not wholly dismissed, could at least be said to be only a minor part of the overall picture of underachievement.

3. We have tried to see these factors in relation to the progress of a West Indian child in the education system from the pre-school stage, through primary and secondary school to the transition from school to adult life. We have also considered the support available for schools and teachers through teacher education, the advisory services, the collection of statistics and the provision of funding.

4. Because so many of those who gave evidence to us suggested that it was a major factor in underachievement, and since it is an issue which is not only extremely sensitive but is also widely misunderstood, we begin by looking in some detail at racism and its effects both within schools and in society generally.

a. RACISM

1. Many West Indians insisted to us that the major reason for the underachievement of their children at school was racism (racial prejudice and discrimination), and its effects both in schools and in society generally. Many other people who gave evidence to us mentioned racism as a contributory factor.

2. In our view racism describes a set of attitudes and behaviour towards people of another race which is based on the belief that races are distinct and can be graded as 'superior' or 'inferior'. A racist is therefore someone who believes that people of a particular race, colour or national origin are inherently inferior, so that their identity, culture, self-esteem, views and feelings are of less value than his or her own and can be disregarded or treated as less important.

3. Very few people can be said to be entirely without prejudice of one kind or another and in this country, due in part at least to the influence of history, these prejudices may be directed against West Indians and other non-white ethnic minority groups. A well-intentioned and apparently sympathetic person may, as a result of his education, experiences or environment, have negative, patronising or stereotyped views about ethnic minority groups which may subconsciously affect this attitude and behaviour towards members of those groups. This may be illustrated by references to West Indians as 'them' and 'these people' and the tendency to describe British-born West Indians as 'immigrants'. We see such attitudes and behaviour as a form of 'unintentional' racism.

4. Although genuine misunderstandings can sometimes lead people, both black and white, to believe mistakenly that racism lies behind certain behaviour or situations, we are convinced from the evidence that we have obtained that racism, both intentional and unintentional, has a direct and important bearing on the performance of West Indian children in our schools.

5. The suggestion that teachers are in any way racist understandably arouses very strong reactions from the profession and is often simply rejected out of hand as entirely unjustified and malicious. Since a profession of nearly half a million people must to a great extent reflect the attitudes of society at large there must inevitably be some teachers who hold explicitly racist views. Such teachers are very much in the minority. We have, however, found some evidence of what we have described as unintentional racism in the behaviour and attitudes of other teachers whom it would be misleading to describe as racist in the commonly accepted sense. They firmly believe that any prejudices they may have can do no harm since they are not translated into any openly discriminatory behaviour. Nevertheless, if their attitudes are influenced in any way by prejudices against ethnic minority groups, this can and does, we believe, have a detrimental effect on all children whom they encounter. We hope that by discussing in this report some of the ways in which these effects show themselves we can help teachers to be more aware of the implications of their actions.

6. For example, there seemed to be a fairly widespread opinion among teachers to whom we spoke that West Indian pupils inevitably caused difficulties. These pupils were, therefore, seen either as problems to be put up with or, at best, deserving sympathy. Such negative and patronising attitudes, focusing as they do on West Indian children as problems, cannot lead to a constructive or balanced approach to their education. Teacher education, both initial and in-service, by concentrating on the difficulties of multiracial schools, has done little to encourage more positive attitudes towards West Indian children.

7. Again, it has repeatedly been pointed out to us that low expectations of the academic ability of West Indian pupils by teachers can often prove a self-fulfilling prophecy. Many teachers feel that West Indians are unlikely to achieve in academic terms but may have high expectations of their potential in areas such as sport, dance, drama and art. If these particular skills are unduly emphasised there is a risk of establishing a view of West Indian children that may become a stereotype and teachers may be led to encourage these pupils to pursue these subjects at the expense of their academic studies. We have not so far been able to consider fully whether West Indian children may thus have an unbalanced curriculum which may jeopardise their chances of academic success although many West Indian parents clearly believe this to be the case.

8. By contrast, many of the teachers to whom we spoke on our visits were at pains to assert that they deliberately made no distinction between 'black' pupils and others: they were 'colour-blind'. In this way, they claimed to fulfil the first duty of a teacher which they saw as regarding all pupils equally, as having particular strengths and weaknesses and individual educational needs. However, to regard all children as equal in this sense need not mean that they should all receive the same educational treatment. In fact, to adopt a 'colour-blind' view of children is in effect to ignore important differences between them which may give rise to particular educational needs. A West Indian child in a predominantly white society needs to see that people like himself are accepted in society generally and that it is recognised that ethnic minority groups have made and are making important contributions in all walks of life. If teachers do not make a determined effort to acknowledge the West Indian child's individual needs in this respect, they are in effect treating him as though he were white and denying an important and visible fact of his everyday life. As the NUT put it to us in their evidence:

'Within the education system neither teachers nor pupils are blind to colour, and it would be insufficient for teachers to claim that they give all their pupils equality of treatment within the classroom. They have to cope with social pressures from the outside world - for the classroom does not exist in a vacuum - and attitudes of racial intolerance, prejudice and a stereotyped view of ethnic minority groups will often percolate through into schools.'

9. Alongside these attitudes and their effects are a number of broader questions relating to the extent to which the actual institutions and procedures operating within our education system as a whole provide equality of opportunity for ethnic minority groups. Traditional educational practices, originally established to cater for the needs of a generally homogeneous population, can in fact operate in discriminatory ways when applied to today's society. This is another matter which concerns all ethnic minority groups, not just West Indians, and will therefore form part of the background to our main report.

10. We discuss in the course of this report various ways in which racism in the broadest sense in both schools and society can have a bearing on the achievement of West Indian children. The recommendations which we offer in respect of particular aspects of education, notably on the curriculum, books and teaching materials and teacher education, are intended to overcome the effects of racism. In isolation, however, these cannot be enough. Teachers should be prepared to examine and reappraise their own attitudes and actions in an effort to ensure that their behaviour towards and expectations of ethnic minority pupils are not influenced by stereotyped and negative views. They should also be willing to challenge manifestations of racism wherever they occur by, for example, making clear that racist name-calling both in the school playground and classroom in unacceptable. In short we are asking teachers to play a leading role in seeking to bring about a change in attitudes on the part of society as a whole towards ethnic minority groups.

b. PRE-SCHOOL PROVISION

1. The report of the Central Policy Review Staff (CPRS) in 1978 'Services for Young Children with Working Mothers' drew attention to four inadequate aspects of the existing services for the under fives:

'a. there is a lack of direction and no clear priorities as to the ways in which services should progress.

b. there is confusion in the administration of services for children under five. The provision of services is fragmented and responsibility is divided.

c. the consequences of the present situation for the children and their parents are both unjust and inequitable. There is a serious lost opportunity for preventative work at an early stage.

d. it is widely recognised that children benefit from some education and care outside their homes between the ages of three and five. A substantial number of children are denied this benefit because adequate provision is not available.'

'In Great Britain there are some 900,000 children under five whose mothers have a job; the government provides or controls full and part time day care for about 120,000 children in day nurseries and with childminders'.

and

'... there are over three quarters of a million children under five whose mothers work and who have at present no access to local authority day nursery or childminder provision.'

2. These figures are an overall assessment of what is clearly a very unsatisfactory situation. We believe that for many West Indian children the position is even worse. A disproportionate number of West Indian women are forced to go out to work because of their economic circumstances. The 1971 Census showed that 68 per cent of West Indian married women went out to work compared with the national average of 42 per cent. The percentage of West Indian men employed on night shifts is almost double that of white males and the incidence of one parent families is higher for West Indians than for whites. West Indian parents may therefore face particular pressures affecting their children in the vital pre-school formative years. In an ideal world, West Indians would work the kind of hours for the level of pay which would allow them to spend time with their children. It is vital for a young child to have 'adult time' available; to have stories told and read to him; to be helped to learn nursery rhymes so that his language and his ability to listen can be developed, and so that parents can answer the inevitable questions that children always pose. While it is now generally accepted that young children need to form a stable and consistent relationship with only a limited number of adults we are faced with a situation where West Indian parents are stretched in ways which make steady, relaxed care of their children hard to achieve. They are caught up in a cycle of cumulative disadvantage and as the government White Paper 'Racial Discrimination' in 1975 (1) pointed out:

'... relatively low paid or low status jobs for the first generation of immigrants go hand in hand with poor overcrowded living conditions 'and a depressed environment. If, for example, job opportunities, educational facilities, housing and environmental conditions are all poor, the next generation will grow up less weIl equipped to deal with the difficulties facing them. The wheel then comes full circle, as the second generation find themselves trapped in poor jobs and poor housing.'

Range of facilities available

4. The facilities available for children under five can be grouped as follows: day care facilities (mostly for children under five and the responsibility of local authority social services departments): day nurseries, childminders, play groups; educational facilities (for children from three to five and the responsibility of LEAs): nursery schools, nursery units in primary schools, primary schools that accept rising fives into their infant classes. There are also some facilities such-as combined nursery centres which are administered by education and social services departments. In addition the voluntary sector is much involved in this field, notably with the provision of playgroups,' toy libraries and family support groups. Health visitors also have a role to play which even if not primarily concerned with education is nevertheless a most important one.

Day care facilities

5. The principal local authority day care facilities available are day nurseries but far too few places are available to cater for children other than those seen as in special need. The fact that the provision of day care facilities is inadequate has long been acknowledged and it is not our task in this report to dwell on the deficiencies of the system. We have limited ourselves to offering recommendations for day care facilities where we feel that they will particularly benefit West Indian families.

Childminders

6. Like most parents, West Indians are unlikely to be able to obtain places for their children in day nurseries. They must therefore rely on other forms of care such as childminders, both those registered (2) with the local authority social services departments and those who look after children but who are not registered. We should like to see social services departments encouraging the registration of childminders and when they are registered supporting them with books and educational toys and offering advice and training on how these can best be used to help develop the child's conceptual and linguistic skills. We also feel that social services departments should do more to help parents select the most suitable childminder for their child and we have been impressed by the efforts made by some local authorities to 'match' child with minder rather than simply issuing on request a list of registered minders in an area with no additional guidance to parents.

Educational facilities

7. Educational facilities should be available for all children from three to five whose parents wish to avail themselves of this service. According to the DES provisional statistics for January 1980 only 39 per cent of pupils under five were attending maintained nursery and primary schools. Unfortunately just under half of these were being taught in classes in primary schools, other than specific nursery classes, alongside older pupils and without the appropriate nursery resources, both in terms of staffing and teaching materials. We should like to see nursery provision increased and the nursery school or nursery unit becoming a focal point for provision for the under fives and being recognised as such by social workers and health visitors. It should also be seen as a resource centre for the community it serves by making facilities both in terms of advice and guidance and resources such as toys and other materials available to mothers and childminders.

8. We are particularly interested in looking at ways in which the number of nursery school places can be increased. As primary school rolls fall we hope that LEAs will take steps to convert former primary school premises for nursery use. The DES has recently issued guidance (3) on this which shows that in many cases little capital cost need be involved. In areas with West Indian children, LEAs can of course seek financial assistance with salaries under Section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 (see chapter three below). We intend for our main report to look further at the extent to which local education authorities are taking advantage of Section 11 in the field of provision for the under fives.

9. Even the present facilities could be used much more intensively. To use nursery school and nursery unit premises for six hours a day, five days a week, and forty weeks a year is both a gross under-utilisation of an expensive capital asset and a denial of the requirements of working mothers. With relatively little extra cost the nursery units or schools could remain open for long enough for parents working full-time to make use of them. This could be achieved in part by the use of voluntary help from childminders, mothers who work only part-time or not at all, and by additional nursery nurses. LEAs would of course need to take into account that children staying in the nursery schools and units before and after school hours would benefit from a more informal 'domestic' environment where they could relax and feel at home.

10. In the final stages of preparing our report, we were concerned to learn that recent changes in the grant support arrangements might reduce the willingness of some local authorities to provide the under-five facilities we believe to be essential. We refer to the fact that Rate Support Grant to individual authorities is now calculated, as far as provision for under fives is concerned, on the basis of their total under-five population regardless of their levels of provision. We would have hoped to see those local authorities which are seeking to meet the needs of under fives in a positive manner having every financial incentive to do so.

11. Overall therefore it is clear that facilities for the under fives, both in terms of day-care and educational provision, are inadequate, and that this bears particularly heavily on West Indian families. The recommendations we offer are designed to counter the particular difficulties that they experience as well as improving the overall situation. There seems little likelihood of any improvement whilst, as the CPRS report put it, '... provision of services is fragmented and responsibility is divided'. In an attempt to bring about improved consultation and collaboration between education and the social services at local level, we remind local authorities of the joint DES/DHSS circular (4) on the coordination of provision for the under fives and we would like to see an, official in every local authority designated to be responsible for the coordination of the services for the under fives. We therefore recommend that:

i. All local authorities should review their arrangements for the coordination of services, both voluntary and statutory, for the under fives with a view to designating an official to be responsible for the coordination of these services.

ii. As primary school rolls fall LEAs should convert former primary school premises for nursery use. In areas with West Indian children full use should be made of resources available through Section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 in the staffing of such units and the facilities should be extended to provide a service for mothers working full-time.

iii. Local Authorities and Health Authorities should ensure that initial training and in-service training for nursery nurses and health visitors include information on the particular pressure faced by West Indian parents and sensitise all those who work with under fives to the need for West Indian children to develop positive attitudes towards their ethnic group by the provision of appropriate learning and play materials.

iv. Local Authorities and Health Authorities should seek to recruit more West Indians, and members of other ethnic minority groups, as nursery nurses and health visitors.

v. Local Authorities should use all available means of informing parents of the nursery education and day care facilities available in their areas.

vi. Local Education Authorities should make available to all parents of young children a document offering advice and ideas on preparation for school.

vii. Local Authorities should review their procedures for the registration of childminders in order to extend the service and should offer guidance to mothers on selecting a childminder to meet their particular needs.

c. READING AND LANGUAGE

Aims of education

1. The aim of all schools must be to provide a 'good education' for all their pupils and although opinions will vary about what that actually entails, we believe that there is general agreement that the broad purposes of education are to:

• encourage the individual development of every child to acquire knowledge and skills to the limits of his or her age, aptitude and ability; .
• transmit knowledge and values from one generation to the next; and
• provide every individual child with an equal opportunity of playing a full and active part in adult social and working life.

READING

2. While no one doubts the importance of learning to read, it is not, perhaps, sufficiently appreciated how important it is to learn to read at an early age. If reading is not learnt quickly, the child will inevitably have difficulty in keeping pace with the demands of our education system.

1980 lLEA Literacy Survey

3. An important source of data on West Indian children's reading attainment is the 1980 ILEA Literacy Survey (5). It includes information on the testing of West Indian pupils at 15+ and compares this with earlier attainment scores for UK non-immigrant children at the same ages. Its major finding in respect of the reading attainment of West Indians was that it was very low compared with other groups and that not only was it low at eight years but it remained low at school leaving age. No groups were reading at the levels expected for their age when compared with a national sample.

4. The survey examines a number of possible factors which might have led to this result-length of education in this country, social deprivation, linguistic handicaps, teacher expectations and the self image of the child. It finds that each of these factors plays some part in the overall picture of underachievement, and concludes:

'A major contributory factor would seem to be adverse environmental circumstances. When factors of social deprivation ... were taken into account the difference in the average attainment of the Black (West Indians) and White British (indigenous) in the Literacy Survey was halved. The possible effects of linguistic interference and teacher attitudes and expectations could not be measured directly but it seems probable that they have an adverse effect on West Indians, particularly when coupled with adverse social circumstances.'

Teaching methods and materials

5. The materials used for teaching reading should reflect the cultural background of all children and a scheme such as the Schools Council's 'Breakthrough to Literacy' has the advantage that it allows the teacher to build on the child's own language. We have been impressed by the ILEA multicultural inspectorate's videotapes of children's language work which are designed for in-service training and the 'Reading through Understanding' (RTU) materials, which contain very helpful teachers' guides as well as children's reading material for classroom work.

Remedial strategies

6. Schools should attempt to give children individual attention when they fall behind in reading. Because language builds on the individual concepts that a child brings from home, a particularly valuable teaching approach can be to encourage older pupils who have already mastered certain stages in reading, to assist younger or slower learners by explaining each stage and encouraging their confidence. We noted with interest that some primary schools have arrangements whereby pensioners and students regularly help children by listening to them reading.

Involvement of parents

7. We have received encouraging evidence of the benefits to the teaching of reading derived from close collaboration between schools and parents. A two year study in 1976-78 involving six multiracial schools was set up by Dr Hewison of the Thomas Coram Research Unit and others to establish whether reading standards could be improved by encouraging parents to help their children at home. The essential factor was that the class teacher sent reading material home three or four times a week and the parent heard the child read and recorded the fact on a card sent from school. The progress of these children was compared with children in two other classes in which an experienced teacher, a reading specialist, worked half time with small groups withdrawn from the class for extra reading. To quote from the report of the study:

'From a preliminary analysis of the data ... the main findings ... show that in two multiracial inner city schools, parental involvement in the teaching of reading led to a significant improvement ... while ... small group teaching by the reading specialist appeared to make little or no difference to the children's reading test scores as compared with those of the controls.'

i. in inner city schools it is feasible to involve all parents in formal educational activities with infant and first-year junior children, even if some of the parents are non-literate, or even non-English speaking;

ii. the reading attainments of children who receive parental help are markedly better than those of comparable children who do not;

iii. most parents express satisfaction at being involved in this way by the schools;

iv. teachers report that the children show an increased keenness in learning in school;

v. teachers report that they have found the experience worthwhile and are continuing to involve parents in the teaching of reading even though the experiment has ended;

vi. small group instruction by a highly competent specialist appeared to make no difference to reading standards comparable to the improvement of the children who had help at home;

vii. parental assistance was particularly effective in raising the performance level of the weakest readers.

8. We regard this work as of the utmost importance and we believe. that efforts to involve parents more closely in helping their children to learn to read could yield important benefits for West Indian children.

LANGUAGE

9. The results of the School Leavers Survey exercise show that low reading scores by West Indian pupils are matched by their underachievement in GCE English Language and CSE English. Only 9 per cent of West Indian pupils gained higher grades compared with 34 per cent of all school leavers at 16+. A major aim of schools must be to ensure that children are literate and articulate in English, to enable them to take full advantage of the opportunities provided by education, and to achieve their full potential in school and in society. In developing confidence and competence in English, schools should value the language or dialect which all children, including West Indians, bring to school, and should recognise the effect which the acceptance or rejection of it by teachers can have on the child's self-image, and the constructive use which can be made of it in helping the child to understand and appreciate the nature of language.

West Indian language

10. West Indian children in this country speak in a variety of ways. Some are able to speak Creole (6), and use it on certain occasions; many, regardless of their island of origin, are developing what has been described as 'Black English' or 'British Jamaican'. Other children speak mainly in the local vernacular, with or without Creole features, and others again speak mainly in standard English. Children originating from St Lucia and Dominica are sometimes able to understand French Creole. A few are able to use several of these forms. Very few, apart from new arrivals, speak exclusively in Creole.

11. In writing, many West Indian children display none of the features of Creoles; others fairly commonly use certain forms that are consistent with the rules of Creoles; for instance, they may not mark plurals and they may not inflect the verb to show that the past tense is indicated. A few children have more serious difficulties which result in a confusion in structures. Other errors that any child might make feature in their writing. It is commonly the case that errors and confusion appear more often in writing that is uncommitted, where the purpose is not understood by the child, and where his own intentions are not clear in his head. To help West Indian children with their writing, all teachers need to have more understanding of language development than is commonly the case and some knowledge of the way that Creoles work. Too often indiscriminate, unthought-out corrections by the teacher, not properly understood by the child, add to the confusion that already exists or is the prime cause of it.

12. In view of the amount of evidence that we have received associating the underachievement of West Indian pupils with linguistic difficulties, we have looked at the ways in which a West Indian child's language can affect his or her performance at school, at teachers' knowledge of, and reactions to that language, and at West Indian parents' views on the use of their child's language by schools.

Attitudes of schools and teachers

13. It has repeatedly been stressed to us that the reception given by teachers and other adults to the language of the West Indian child can play an important role in reinforcing and developing the child's self image. Rosen and Burgess (7) expanded on this:

'what is at stake here is much more than merely tolerating the dialect of the pupil. For many pupils, speaking the dialect means saying something uniquely. It may mean more. The very act of speaking it is a declaration of who and what they are and wish to be.'

14. On further examination we found that the attitudes teachers hold towards West Indian children's language fall into three broad patterns:

i. Deficit

This was the first approach to be put forward and assumed that the language of West Indian children was inadequate for learning, deficient or restricted. This resulted in an effort, from an early age, to change or replace the child's language, with consequent harm to his language development and self-image. The evidence that we have received gives no support to this approach, which nevertheless still persists amongst some teachers.

ii. Dialect interference

Many teachers who would reject the 'deficit' approach would still claim that some West Indian children's language, though not inferior is nevertheless sufficiently different from Standard English to cause difficulties. Others would go further and claim that the West Indian child's language gives rise to linguistic interference similar to the effect of mother tongue speech habits on foreign language learning. Dr VK Edwards has advanced evidence for this (8) but others have questioned this interpretation. Whatever the degree of such 'dialect interference' we feel there is a danger that all the child's educational difficulties and lack of achievement in language might be put down to this cause. This is particularly true if teachers fail to look more deeply for other important but more subtle factors such as a feeling of alienation, inappropriate subject matter where the child feels he has no significance, and sometimes the teacher's own expectations.

iii. Repertoire

The third approach, familiar to many English teachers, and now recognised as being particularly appropriate to West Indian children is one that values all language and dialects as an important part of the child's linguistic repertoire. The intention is not to change or replace any particular dialect but to develop a sharper awareness of, and interest in, the different language forms that the child can use, thus avoiding confusion between them. Standard English is considered to be an important and necessary part of the child's repertoire, and he can be helped to use it more effectively through this approach. An underlying principle is that whereas both the 'deficit' and 'dialect interference' approaches focus on what the child cannot do, the 'repertoire' approach focuses on what the child can do and builds constructively on the considerable linguistic strengths the child brings to the classroom.

15. Teachers who reject a West Indian child's language as inadequate or simply bad English are likely to be those who have not had the opportunity to learn about the nature of West Indian language, and are unable to recognise Creole features and cannot therefore react positively and constructively to them. They are likely to regard West Indian pupils as needing remedial language help which may be inappropriate or unnecessary. As far as the 'dialect interference' view is concerned, it is important to remember that by far the majority of West Indian children were born in this country and can use both West Indian Creole and Standard English. They need to be helped to understand clearly the differences and similarities between these two language forms, their relative values in different contexts, and the uses to which they should be put. We would therefore very strongly support the 'repertoire' approach to language as one which values and uses all the language forms which all children bring to school. It enhances the child's self-respect and self-confidence and understanding and appreciation of the nature of language and its different forms, and not least of course the development of writing and comprehension skills.

Attitudes of West Indian parents

16. In suggesting that schools should make use of and build on the language which the West Indian child brings from his home, we have been conscious of the strength of feeling amongst many West Indian parents against any use of West Indian Creole in schools. They have stressed to us that in the West Indies Standard English is the language of the upper classes and symbolises progress, success and social acceptability, while Creole is the language of the working classes. In many West Indian homes in this country there is therefore ambivalence towards the use of Creole. They see the duty of the school as that of teaching the child good English and feel that the use of Creole may hinder his progress in examinations and thus reduce job prospects. We have taken these concerns very seriously. We agree that a major aim of schools must be to teach all children to function in Standard English but affirm that imaginative and constructive use of a child's home language can assist in this. Schools should make clear to West Indian parents that, in building on the child's own use of dialect they are not attempting to 'teach Creole' but are simply using the child's own form of speech as one of the many mechanisms to develop the child's awareness of the different forms of language and their appropriateness to different situations.

17. We stress the importance that we attach throughout a child's schooling to offering him a good range of 'models' of language use through the provision of appropriate books and reading materials. Where these may not be available in the home, we believe that schools have an obligation to consider ways of helping children to have access to suitable books and to offer guidance on the choice of materials. They can also advise parents on the value of encouraging their children to read at home, and of themselves reading to their children to develop their language skills.

18. In conclusion, from the evidence that we have received from the teachers, parents and West Indian pupils to whom we have spoken, we do not believe that for the majority of West Indian children in our schools, who were born and brought up in this country, linguistic factors play a part in underachievement. The linguistic 'difficulties' of West Indian children have, we feel, too often been put forward in the past to seek to account for or explain their underachievement with the result that the more fundamental underlying causes have been neglected and avoided. Those West Indian children who have been born in the West Indies and who may have had part of their early education there may however have particular difficulties which need to be overcome. As more West Indian youngsters grow up and have families of their own in this country, these difficulties may diminish. But from what we have seen we believe it is important that a West Indian child's language is looked at in a positive light in the classroom since a rejection by the teacher of the, home language may be a serious obstacle to motivation and subsequent achievement. The key to all this is clearly teacher education about which we have more to say in chapter three.

Here however we recommend that:

Reading

1. All LEAs and schools should look for ways in which parents can be more closely involved in helping their children to learn to read.

Language

ii. All initial teacher education courses should include an introduction to the nature of West Indian Creole.

iii. LEAs with West Indian pupils should provide specialised in-service courses on West Indian language and offer practical advice to teachers on how to draw on the 'repertoire' approach to the teaching of Standard English.

iv. The Schools Council, in consultation with the Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research (CILT), should keep under review the question of dialect in schools and should seek to provide up to date and practical guidance for teachers.

v. Schools should follow up the Bullock Committee's (9) suggestion that all teachers should accept responsibility for playing their part in a coherent programme of language across the curriculum.

vi. Schools with West Indian pupils should give every opportunity for those pupils. to make full use of their linguistic repertoire through creative work in English, drama and discussion work.

d. CURRICULUM

'Good' education

1. A 'good' education should enable a child to understand his own society, and to know enough about other societies to enhance that understanding. A 'good' education cannot be based on one culture only, and in Britain where ethnic minorities form a permanent and integral part of the population, we do not believe that education should seek to iron out the differences between cultures, nor attempt to draw everyone into the dominant culture. On the contrary, it will draw upon the experiences of the many cultures that make up our society and thus broaden the cultural horizons of every child. That is what we mean by 'multicultural' education.

2. The term 'curriculum' is used to cover all the forms of learning intended in the school. Much of this learning is planned by teachers and expressed in the various syllabuses of school subjects and reinforced by the teaching materials and literature used in the schools. Children learn however from both the planned curriculum and from what is often referred to as the 'hidden' curriculum. They learn from what is shown, what is expressed and what is done in school but equally from what is concealed, what is suppressed and what is avoided.

Multicultural curriculum

3. We believe that the curriculum in all schools should reflect the fact that Britain is, to quote our terms of reference, 'a society which is both multiracial and culturally diverse'. In other words all schools should have a 'multicultural' curriculum. The Multicultural Curriculum Support Group of one LEA has put forward a definition of such a curriculum that we wholly endorse:

'The multicultural curriculum is one which is appropriate to the education of all pupils, whatever their background, by reference to a diversity of cultures. The variety of social and cultural groups should be evident in the visual images, stories and information disseminated within the school. However this selection should not be made in such a way as to reinforce stereotyping of life-styles, occupations, status, human characteristics or one particular culture.'

NUT

'A curriculum which celebrates cultural diversity and achievement should be a naturally accepted feature of school life in Britain. Choice of content should be based on the assumption that Britain is a multiracial society to which many different ethnic groups make a positive and valued contribution. Accurate information must be available to pupils on the historical and economic reasons for immigration to Britain, and on Britain's role in an interdependent world, both past and present. Teaching about cultures in different parts of the world should not be presented in an ethnocentric manner but should acknowledge the distinctive achievements and attributes of other civilisations. In this way positive attitudes towards cultural differences may be fostered, and the ignorance on which myths and stereotypes feed will be replaced by sympathetic awareness and acceptance'.

NATFHE

'Diversity of cultures ought to be a source of community enrichment, rather than of division; hence an ethnocentric curriculum is dangerously inappropriate. All subjects, and many combinations of subjects, are capable of contributing towards a greater awareness of the variety of linguistic pattern, family customs, artistic achievements and religious beliefs in this country.'

'People from the West Indies mainly stay by themselves and don't mix with other people. Most West Indians live around the big cities like Coventry, Birmingham and Wolverhampton. Very few people live in the country. Back in the West Indies they live in shanty towns and eat coconuts all day.'

'People from Africa are also black but you do not get many of them immigrating. In their country most of them live in the bush.'

'A lot of the time immigrants complain about the way they are treated, the government, money, poor living conditions, etc. If all they can do is complain they shouldn't have come. It was their choice.'

'When the immigrants come into Britain and complain, the government should throw them out of Britain for good. Also white people should have first choices about jobs.'

'I have learnt that a lot of the crime rate is due to the excess immigrants in the country. The immigrants who are mostly unemployed go around in gangs and commit violent crimes.'

'I have learnt that they are pulling this country down because they all depend on social security.'

'My opinions are totally against immigration of any kind. I think it should be illegal. If countries are going to have wars they should look after their own refugees (10). I think this is the cause of over-population and because of this the country is getting poorer. I am totally for the National Front and I think everyone should keep to their own countries and overpopulate them instead of ours, have wars and rob other people over there. I think immigration should be banned.'

'multicultural education is not a little module to be stuck on the end of a course, syllabus or any part of the curriculum.'

6. Some teachers still see such an approach as a threat to academic standards:

'We have been teaching this way for a long time-we are not anxious to change unless we are confident that a new course is going to be equally successful.' (secondary school head of department.)

'We have had mixed ability; we've gone Community and now its bloody multicultural.' (school teacher).

The role of the teacher

7. Since teachers clearly play the key role in the British education system they can therefore make a major contribution to the development of a curriculum relevant to the needs of all pupils both by contributing to the school's overall development and by taking initiatives in their particular subject areas. Effective teachers will take full account of the knowledge, assumptions and sensitivities of the children in a class. That can be achieved by adapting their teaching styles, for example, to subjects which may impinge on the personal experience or cultural background of children from a particular ethnic group. In order to be able to respond to the needs of West Indian pupils and those from other ethnic minority groups, teachers clearly should have some knowledge and understanding of the cultures and backgrounds of those children. We therefore emphasise the need for improved coverage of these areas in teacher education programmes and particularly for an expansion of school-based in-service work. (See chapter three).

8. Public libraries, school libraries and teachers' centres need to be better equipped to enhance teachers' knowledge of ethnic minority groups. Teachers should be encouraged to make use of the knowledge and resource provided by West Indians - whether other West Indian teachers, parents or indeed pupils. A list of some of the main West Indian groups concerned with education, together with other organisations interested in the overall development of a multicultural approach to the curriculum, which can offer guidance and materials to teachers, is given in Appendix I, to indicate the range of such services available. Teachers can also be helped and encouraged in developing a multicultural approach to their work by the LEA advisory service and at a national level by advice from HM Inspectorate. The Schools Council could also do far more than at present to help teachers appreciate the need for a multicultural approach to the curriculum.

Subject teacher associations

9. Since we believe that teachers can play a major part in developing a multicultural approach to the curriculum we were particularly disappointed by the responses which we received from some of the subject teacher associations. They seemed to show that they had given very little attention to this issue. The secretary of one association wrote:

'Thank you for your letter. I have passed this on to our District Secretary for West Midlands where, of course, many children of West Indian origin are in schools of general education. I am sure teachers in that district will have up to date and first hand experience in teaching West Indian children.'

'(one) reacted indignantly to the idea of "raising ethnic issues without good historical or educational reasons but just because of the pressure of ethnical diversity in the classroom". "Any approach" wrote another, "that distinguishes between one racial group and another is wrong".'

10. The contribution which West Indian teachers can make in education is important not least as 'role models' to encourage West Indian pupils to consider a career in teaching. Some West Indian teachers have told us that they feel subject to particular pressures within schools and are too often seen by their colleagues as a means of dealing with conflict, for example between West Indian pupils and white teachers, between West Indian parents and white teachers and even between West Indian pupils and their parents. West Indian teachers should be seen as having a part to play in the education system as a whole, and not only where there are West Indian pupils. Indeed there is a risk in schools with one or two West Indian teachers that the other staff will assume that dealing with the 'multicultural bits' of the curriculum and the needs of West Indian pupils can be left solely to these West Indian teachers. We are convinced that there must be more West Indian teachers and professionals at all levels in the education service and we have therefore suggested means of increasing their numbers in the section on teacher education.

The role of the head

11. The head teacher determines a school's approach to its curriculum. We found a number of very different and contrasting styles of management among the heads of the schools we visited. These fell into the following three broad categories:

a. where the head and senior staff were convinced of the need to develop a multicultural curriculum and were making very direct efforts to 'convert' the rest of the staff, for example by intensive in-service training;

b. where a multicultural working party of staff had been set up, sometimes involving the head directly and sometimes simply reporting to him, to look at the multicultural perspective of all aspects of the school's work;

c. where there was no coordinated policy for multicultural education but the head allowed those staff who wished to, to develop multicultural elements in their particular fields.

Good practice

12. In our visits to schools we have sought to identify examples of good practice in the field of multicultural education, and the following seem to us to be particularly interesting and imaginative:

Primary schools

i. A good indicator of whether a school has responded to the presence in society of ethnic minority groups, is the extent to which these groups are positively represented in displays around the school building. The best example which we found was a primary school where the old building was enlivened on the inside with life-size murals and striking examples of the children's work on themes drawn from different cultures. The most impressive was an ingenious mural in collage of Caribbean village life.

ii. We also commend the practice of the head of an infants school who said of her school:

'In order to present children of all races with a positive self-image, pictures are displayed of people from other cultures in professional occupations. Stories, music, poetry and religious education from other cultures are used constantly. Our latest venture is to photograph the children's parents at their work, in their uniforms, at home and at worship, to provide our own "local visual aids".'

Secondary schools

i. We were impressed by the work being done at a secondary school we visited. The following is an extract from the school's notes:

'The humanities work in the lower school has six stated multicultural aims, ...
- to develop a sense of respect for the views of other people;
- to help every child to feel secure and accepting of his true identity;
- to establish the concept that a Briton may be brown or black as well as white;
- to show that the school values the special customs and culture of every ethnic group and accepts these as an integral part of contemporary British society;
- to affirm that everybody has a history, and that the family history and roots of the black and brown children are not the same as the histories of the indigenous English;
- to establish the concept that people and groups change and adapt to circumstances.'

ii. Another school's approach to the humanities takes the form of an integrated studies course for years one and two which incorporates English, history and geography and some aspects of economics and social studies. There is a great deal of interaction within the teaching team which is itself multiracial and team meetings are held regularly and guidelines in the form of teaching notes are produced by individual members of staff for discussion by the team. Worksheets and booklets are produced by the team on various topics in the course, for example a booklet on 'The Multicultural Community' covering race and culture, facts and prejudices, stereotypes, discrimination, and Britain's immigration and emigration during the last 150 years.

iii. We were impressed by a three day Caribbean event organised by an all-white secondary school. The three areas of the programme were:

Workshops

Printing and textiles
Dance
Poetry Reading
Theatre
West Indian Geography
Rastafarianism
Food and Cooking
Drumming and Dancing

The exhibition

Intermediate Technology
Cultural Artefacts
West Indian History
Race and Immigration
Economics of the Caribbean
Geography of the Caribbean
Arts and Crafts of the Caribbean

Films and simulation games

A number of films were shown. Simulation games were played on themes of inequality, poverty, trade and agriculture. A number of black poets, dancers, writers and musicians contributed to the event.

'i. extending children's awareness, understanding and tolerance of people from ethnic minority groups; and

ii. thereby removing the foundations of racial prejudice through exposing them to the people, music, dance, drama and geography of the black culture within a supportive context.'

'The effectiveness and value of such an event depends on lead-in and follow-up work and the issues being dealt with should, of course, have their place in the curriculum where they should be covered systematically over four or five years.'

13. The Schools Council should see the promotion of a multicultural approach to the curriculum as an integral part of its overall responsibilities for the curriculum. It should for example, publicise good practices like those described above. In our visits we have found a number of schools carrying out their own curricular reviews and producing their own multicultural materials. These approaches and many of the materials produced are clearly valuable for the schools concerned, and in many cases the learning process for the staff involved was said to have been as important as the exercise itself. In view of this we should like to see the examples more widely known and the teaching materials made more widely available. We therefore support the view put forward by the NUT in their evidence:

'A considerable body of expertise exists amongst teachers around the country who have developed multi-ethnic curricula; there should be a national forum for the dissemination of good practice in terms of curriculum development for multi-ethnic education.'

14. In this section we have sought to explain why we believe a multicultural approach to the curriculum should be adopted in all schools. Many of the general comments we have made in this section apply equally to primary and secondary schools and we have attempted to identify instances of good practice at both levels. We are very conscious however that in the limited time available we have been unable to give sufficient attention to the particular factors which bear on the primary curriculum and we intend therefore to give greater consideration to these for our main report. We summarise the broad aims of a multicultural curriculum as trying to ensure that:

i. all children learn about their own cultures and histories and those of other groups and see them treated with equal seriousness and respect;

ii. all children are equipped with the necessary skills and information to have access to the culture of their own community and of other communities;

iii. all children fully appreciate the important contribution which ethnic minorities make to this society;

iv. the knowledge and values transmitted by the school seek to remove the ignorance upon which much racial prejudice and discrimination is based; and

v. positive attitudes towards cultural diversity are developed so that society can build on and benefit from the strengths and richness it brings.

i. The DES should, as part of its current review of curriculum arrangements, invite all LEAs to define their policy and commitment to multicultural education and to describe how this is put into effect in their schools.

ii. HM Inspectorate should, within their regular inspections, assess the extent to which schools are responding to the challenges of meeting the special needs of ethnic minority pupils and of preparing all pupils for life in a multiracial society, and should advise LEAs and teachers accordingly.

iii. The specialist group of HMIs concerned with multicultural education should continue to make known their findings about the extent to which schools are responding to this challenge, possibly through a document in the 'Matters for Discussion' series.

iv. Heads should seek to involve West Indian teachers and teachers from other ethnic minority groups more directly in the overall development of the curriculum.

v. Heads should consider the establishment of staff working parties to consider their own school's response to multicultural education.

vi. Teachers should review their work to take full account of the multiracial nature of British society.

vii. The Schools Council should consider the setting up of machinery for the collection and dissemination of good practice and materials in the field of multicultural education.

e. BOOKS AND TEACHING MATERIALS

1. In looking at what is being taught in schools we have given particular attention to books and teaching materials. We have been very concerned at the number of books still being used which give a negative picture of ethnic minorities and their cultures. A typical example quoted to us is:

'perhaps she could finish her father's unfinished work. He had been interested in savages and backward races. Africa was the best place to find such people ... Mary would go to Africa. She could go among the wildest savages she could find. She would spend her life studying cannibals.' (11)

'To the conquest of nature through knowledge the contributions made by Asiatics have been negligible and by Africans (Egyptians excluded) non-existent. The printing press and the telescope, the steam engine, the internal combustion engine and the aeroplane, the telegraph and telephone, wireless broadcasting and the cinematograph, the gramophone and television, together with all the leading discoveries in physiology, the circulation of the blood, the laws of respiration and the like, are the result of researches carried out by white men of European stock.' (12)

2. We recognise that at a time of expenditure constraints it is not feasible to propose replacing any but the most offensive books. We would, however, hope to see LEAs giving serious consideration to their replacement as soon as possible. Meanwhile teachers should as a matter of urgency review the books and materials they use and take account of their appropriateness to today's multicultural society. A number of organisations have endeavoured to help teachers assess any cultural bias in the materials they use and we commend the NUT's pamphlet 'In Black and White - Guidelines for teachers on racial stereotyping in textbooks and learning materials'. The checklist from this pamphlet is reproduced at Appendix C.

3. We found a general shortage of teaching materials which reflected the diversity of cultures present in our society today. Some teachers we spoke to clearly wanted to bring a multicultural dimension to their work but said they had been unable to find the background material they needed. For example, much of the material available which was said to be multicultural in fact focused on minority groups in their countries of origin and did not take any account of the role of ethnic minorities in our society. Some West Indian bookshops are now providing useful material with a multicultural emphasis and some of these are listed in Appendix I, together with a number of groups and organisations which have an interest in multicultural education and particularly the education of West Indian pupils and which can also provide useful resources for teachers. As referred to in paragraph 13 in the preceding section, a number of individual schools are also now preparing their own materials. However, far more could be done by major publishers in this field who still seem to be reluctant to become involved in what they see as only a minority interest area. We were reassured to learn therefore that the Educational Publishers Council of the Publishers Association (PA) is considering the matter. We suggest to the PA that they organise exhibitions of multicultural materials throughout the country so that teachers can be made aware of the material available. We shall be continuing to look with interest at the outcome of initiatives in this field for our main report.

4. We recommend that:

i. Teachers should examine critically the text books and teaching materials they use and take account of their appropriateness to today's multicultural society.

ii. LEAs, through their advisory services, should help teachers to keep under review the text books and teaching material they use and, as resources allow, provide for the replacement of those which display a negative cultural bias.

iii. Public and school librarians should attempt to ensure their stocks represent in a balanced manner the range of cultures present in British society, by including books which reflect the culture and achievements of West Indians and the contribution which they and other ethnic minorities have made and are making to this society and to other countries.

f. EXAMINATIONS

Examining Boards

1. Teachers who are seeking to broaden their approach to their subjects frequently claim they are limited in what they can do by the requirements and constraints of the examinations system. On the other hand, the examining boards from whom we received evidence stressed that they were flexible and responsive to teachers' needs but that they had to wait until changes had taken place in the curriculum before changes could be made in examinations. They claimed that 'examinations follow the curriculum' and they cannot attempt to bring about changes before all teachers are prepared for them. This view was put particularly strongly to us by a GCE board:

'The examination system reflects and responds to the wishes of schools and the teachers within them but there is much controversy among teachers as to how far "concessions" should be made for minority ethnic groups ... Teachers have great freedom in designing the curriculum for their pupils but courses appropriate for them are constrained by the requirements of universities, professional bodies and other users of results and often the range of subjects chosen for an individual pupil or class of pupils has to bear this in mind if it is not to create difficulties for the pupils later on. The examination system is not the cause of this constraint.'

'The Board is aware that some schools and colleges have special problems because of their multi-ethnic school populations. These problems would appear to relate to teaching difficulties arising from different background experience or cultures and to social integration. They do not appear to relate to GCE examinations.'

'As you will appreciate, there are relatively few subjects within the school curriculum on which ethnic considerations have any direct bearing.'

'Developments in the curriculum which reflect our multi-ethnic society must be matched and supported by a parallel development in the syllabuses offered by examination boards.'

Examination papers

2. As with books and materials we have found evidence of an exclusively eurocentric bias in some examination papers. We have not been able to investigate this question in depth but we have seen some papers which show a clear bias towards the traditional view of British society and which are clearly inappropriate to the needs and experiences of ethnic minority pupils, as well, be it said, of many white pupils. For example, an A Level paper in embroidery refers to:

'A poorly lit cathedral needs a new altar frontal for use during Advent' and '... you are to be married in your local village church and to mark the occasion you would like to present a wedding kneeler ...'.

Good practice

3. Teachers in several multiracial schools that we visited stressed the more positive approach which has been adopted by some CSE boards and the recognition given in certain of their syllabuses to the presence of West Indian pupils in our schools. Our own investigations have borne out this view. One of the CSE boards whom we consulted includes West Indian authors in its set book list for English and in its music syllabuses allows for practical performance on instruments such as steel drums. Mode 3 CSE examinations can be of particular value in broadening the curriculum and we found some schools developing these to meet the particular needs of their multiracial populations. One CSE board drew our attention to a Mode 3 syllabus which dealt with the social and economic history of the West Indies. Some of its social studies syllabuses also had multicultural elements and some English syllabuses contained references to West Indian literature. We should like to see a similarly imaginative approach being adopted by other CSE boards and by GCE boards.

Channelling into CSEs

4. The subject of examinations has been raised frequently with us by West Indian parents and young people since they feel strongly that because of stereotyped views on the low academic ability of West Indian pupils, teachers unfairly channel them into CSE rather than GCE examinations. This concern was illustrated by the West Indian girl who said to us:

'They always try and put the black kids in for CSE. I wanted to do English O Level and the Head said "What are you doing here?" Then she said to the teacher "Any trouble from her, send her straight to me." So I left the course because people were looking at me as though to say "What is she doing here?" So I felt bad. Teachers didn't ask me anything about what I wanted to do. It put me right off.'

Current developments

5. In looking at the existing structure of CSE and GCE examinations we have been conscious of the government's proposals for a new system of examining at 16+. If the examinations system is to reflect the cultural diversity of school populations and of society it is essential that the national and subject criteria for the new examinations make it clear that this should be the case. Flexibility must be allowed within those criteria for schools to develop syllabuses and methods of examining that allow pupils from ethnic minorities to fulfil their true potential.

6. We have read with interest the government's Consultative Paper 'Examinations 16-18' and were reassured to see that it incorporated many of the points that had emerged from our own deliberations. In particular, we wholeheartedly endorse the view that any new examination devised for those pupils who may intend to spend one year in the sixth form before seeking employment should be vocationally oriented.

7. Examinations have a major part to play in complementing and reflecting a multicultural approach to the curriculum in schools and the multiracial nature of today's school population.

We therefore recommend that:

i. The DES, in its current consideration of the future framework of examinations, should take full account of the needs of children from ethnic minority groups and of the need for a multicultural approach throughout education.

ii. All GCE and CSE examining boards should undertake a systematic review of the relevance of their syllabuses to the needs of today's multiracial school population. They should encourage a multicultural approach to education and should seek to involve ethnic minority groups in their consultative procedures.

g. SCHOOL PASTORAL ARRANGEMENTS

1. The evidence to us has continually stressed the need for an effective and supportive school pastoral system especially where there are West Indian pupils. The evidence from the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) states that:

'... increased pastoral care is needed for minority children, most especially where teachers are insensitive to their needs'.

'good and effective pastoral care requires a real effort to understand and value the contribution that individual children and through them the groups they belong to, make to the life of a school. Taken in this light, pastoral care is about knowing children, finding out what they need in order to help them to make significant choices for themselves.'

Good practice

3. Although most teachers whom we met were aware of the overall aims of the pastoral system in their school we found that many were unaware of their own role and that of their colleagues within this system. We firmly believe that all teachers have a pastoral role in schools and that it cannot be separated from their overall teaching duties. Pastoral care cannot be seen as being solely the concern of those staff expressly designated as having pastoral responsibilities. We should, therefore, like to see all schools preparing and distributing a staff handbook setting out clearly the role of every teacher in the school's pastoral system. We commend as good practice the examples of job specifications for the form tutor and Head of Year taken from a secondary school staff handbook and reproduced at Appendix D.

School records

4. For schools to be able to respond adequately to the needs of their pupils, particularly those from ethnic minority groups, they need to have detailed information about the children's previous education. This should we feel include details of their pre-school care and education (ie whether they have attended nursery school or been looked after by a childminder), their family and home circumstances and an indication of any particular educational needs (for example difficulties with language). Such information should be maintained by all schools on all their pupils on record cards provided according to a standardised format by each LEA. We were concerned that several schools we visited did not hold basic information about their pupils. Where records were kept, the information was often either out of date or incomplete. This paucity of information may mean not only that teachers are likely to be unaware of the particular needs of some of their pupils but can lead to difficulties when the child transfers to another school. We have been concerned to note both the variation between different areas in the approach to record keeping and the attitudes adopted to making these records accessible to parents. We should like to see more guidance provided for LEAs to ensure a more uniform approach to these issues.

We therefore recommend that:

i. The DES, in consultation with the local authority associations and the teacher unions, should issue guidance on the maintenance of school pupil records and on accessibility to these by parents.

ii. LEAs should ensure that a sufficient range of in-service provision is available in their areas, relating to the needs and backgrounds of ethnic minority pupils, including West Indians.

iii. Heads should prepare guidance for their staff setting out clearly the role of every teacher in the school's pastoral arrangements.

iv. Heads of multiracial schools should encourage their staff to attend LEA and other in-service courses concerned with ethnic minority groups and to relate their new knowledge, skills and insights to the needs of these pupils.

h. LINKS BETWEEN SCHOOLS AND THE COMMUNITY

1. One of the strongest impressions which we have formed from our visits and discussions has been of the wide gulf in trust and understanding between schools and West Indian parents. The parents appear to be losing confidence in what schools are teaching their children and the schools seem to be achieving only limited success in explaining their aims and practices to parents. We have found no evidence to support the view that West Indian parents are not interested in their children's education - indeed they sometimes show more interest than other parents in what the school is doing. In some cases, however, the expectations, views and worries of West Indian parents about their children's progress seem to be misunderstood and sometimes, as we have found, even disregarded by teachers.

The role of schools

2. Nonetheless, we found a growing recognition by schools of the need for cooperation with parents. The need for schools to establish close links with the parents of their pupils can be particularly important for West Indian parents, who may not have been educated here and who may be unfamiliar with our education system. It is vital for parents to learn about the aims of the school and to get to know and trust the teachers. It is also important for teachers to learn to know and trust West Indian parents and to appreciate that they can be a valuable source of information on West Indian culture. Teachers should be prepared to acknowledge the contribution which parents can make to their children's education. As one teacher put it to us, 'When a child enters school, the parents and teachers enter into a partnership'. In this way parents learn about the overall aims of the school and the individual aims of the teachers, and can thus support and encourage the teachers in their work. This close relationship may be encouraged by the employment of designated home/school liaison staff but can only really be fully effective where all teachers are prepared to visit parents at home as part of their pastoral responsibilities. Home visiting should not, however, be seen as the answer to the West Indian child's underachievement and should not be undertaken merely when 'something is wrong'. It is an integral part of the overall process of opening up the school to the community.

Home visiting

As NAME put it to us in their evidence:

'Schools should reach out, and not simply expect parents to come to school without making the effort to make them feel welcome and of value: this can be achieved in a number of ways, but it may take a long time, and teachers should not feel discouraged because changed attitudes do not become immediately apparent straight away a policy is adopted. Some schools may have years of mistrust to overcome.'

3. We are concerned that much of educational practice and procedure is couched in language which makes it very difficult for parents to understand let alone question what a school is doing. We, therefore, welcome the provisions in the 1980 Education Act requiring LEAs to publish annually detailed information about their schools. We were pleased to note the proposal in the DES consultative document issued in August 1980 (13) that this should include information about 'the range and level of curriculum provided ... for those with special needs, subject options and choices and the arrangements for parents to be consulted about such choices ... and the provision made for careers education and guidance'. This information, provided it is given in everyday language, should go a considerable way towards enabling West Indian parents to be better informed about a school's overall aims and objectives and allaying their anxieties about aspects of its approach to its curriculum.

School reports

4. Many West Indian parents have expressed to us their concern that the school reports which they had received about their children did not truly reflect their actual progress. Typically they referred to reports in the early years of secondary education which indicated that a particular pupil was 'working solidly' and with no apparent cause for concern, and only at the third year stage did it suddenly become apparent that the pupil was in fact in a non-examination or even a remedial stream. Although we appreciate the difficulties that schools face in conveying a comprehensive picture of a pupil's progress and development in a written report and possibly only a short interview at a parents' evening, schools we feel could make greater efforts to keep parents informed of their child's progress. West Indian parents, both of whom may be working shifts, may have particular difficulty in attending school open evenings and they may have to rely more heavily on school reports. We should, therefore, like to see all schools providing at least two full written reports each academic year and making greater efforts to provide more frequent opportunities for meetings between parents and teachers.

PTAs

Parent-teacher associations (PTAs) can provide a valuable means of bringing together parents and teachers on an informal basis, but many West Indian parents to whom we spoke felt reluctant to become involved in PTA activities since they felt they tended to concentrate on social and fund-raising events rather than on general educational matters.

The role of parents

5. Although West Indian parents undoubtedly want the best education possible for their children many seem to be unaware of the crucial importance of the contribution that they themselves can make to their child's education. They may still be influenced by the attitudes towards education that they experienced in the West Indies where parents placed absolute trust in the schools and the teachers, and teachers made educational and career decisions for young people with total acceptance from the parents. Many of them may, therefore, be uneasy about actively participating in decisions about their children's education as they may not recognise that in the British education system parents and teachers are expected to work together. In addition, pressures such as the need for both parents (or single parents) to work long hours for relatively low levels of pay may mean that West Indian parents may be unable to devote as much time and attention as they would like to their children. In addition, they may be forced to live in housing that has no facilities for children to do homework or quiet study. Such pressures are often not fully appreciated or understood by teachers who may, for example, misinterpret failure to attend a school open evening as signifying a lack of interest in the child rather than a consequence of working long hours and shift work. We hope that schools and teachers will bear these pressures in mind and will make greater efforts to support and encourage parents. Secondary schools can for example set aside a room after school hours for children to do home work and encourage West Indian children to make use of this.

6. Schools can, however, only go so far in this respect; parents must also appreciate and understand the role that they must play in supporting teachers. The NFER review of research drew attention to the concern, which has been frequently expressed to us by teachers and others whom we have met on our visits, that West Indian parents need particular help in recognising their responsibilities in this respect. At the pre-school stage, as the NFER review states:

'Many writers have suggested that although West Indian parents are evidently concerned about their children's development they often do seem to lack understanding of the developmental importance of play, toys, communication and parent-child interaction in the early years ... For example, Bushell (1973) suggested that the West Indian parent does not seem to regard the importance of stimulation by conversation or use of toys as part of the function of the baby minder as she does not appreciate their significance herself.'

'... Rutter and Mittler (1972) discovered less conversation taking place between the West Indian parent and her child, and Rutter et al (1975) noted that there were fewer interactions in general between parents and children in West Indian families.'

'Approximately three quarters of the 40 primary head teachers and of the 20 secondary head teachers who commented on discipline problems consistently identified West Indian pupils as the immigrant group with which most of the disciplinary problems arose. Many of the comments referred to different standards of discipline in West Indian homes and English primary schools;. discipline in the former being seen by heads as strict, harsh, firm and repressive and often involving corporal punishment, as opposed to the discipline in schools which they saw as involving self-discipline, liberal attitudes, understanding, tolerance and informality. One problem appeared to be that West Indian parents saw this difference in attitude as 'soft'. .. Many head teachers reported that the attitude of West Indian parents to lack of learning, motivation or behavioural difficulties was, in each case, to suggest corporal punishment.'

School governors

8. One way in which West Indian parents can be actively involved in shaping the school's overall policies including its curriculum is through appointment to school governing bodies. We endorse the recommendation in the Taylor report (14) on the need for parental and community representation on governing bodies. The Education Act 1980 makes statutory provision for the representation of parents on governing bodies and gives complete local freedom to determine how best to achieve representation of the community in the light of local circumstances. When considering the need for specific provision for the representation of ethnic minority groups on the governing bodies of multiracial schools, the Taylor Committee concluded that:

'... we see no need to make specific provision for the representation of particular interests ... We are satisfied that our overall proposals will result in a significant increase in direct local participation in school government and ethnic minorities should thus in future receive greater opportunities for participating in this service.'

The role of the West Indian community - supplementary schools

9. As a direct response to the underachievement of their children, many West Indian groups have established supplementary schools throughout the country to provide tuition in basic skills and 'supplement' their children's education until, as one supplementary school leader put it to us, '... the mainstream schools get it right'. Many of these schools see an equally important part of their function as providing West Indian children with a knowledge and understanding of their traditions and heritage which is missing from the traditional school curriculum. The commitment shown by West Indian parents to these schools and the encouragement that they give to their children to attend are impressive. The children have told us that they go willingly to supplementary schools because they are encouraged to work hard and made to feel they can achieve. Supplementary schools are fulfilling an important role and can have much to offer mainstream schools in terms of advice on teaching methods and materials appropriate to the needs of West Indian pupils and on ways of building up trust and understanding with their parents. There should be closer contacts between mainstream schools and local supplementary schools, and teachers should be encouraged to visit these schools to see at first hand the work being done. Similarly we hope that the leaders of supplementary schools will respond positively and constructively to any approaches from mainstream schools. In turn we would ask LEAs to continue to look favourably on applications for assistance from supplementary schools by, for example, making premises available and providing books and materials. Many of the other ethnic minority groups with which we shall be concerned for our main report also provide supplementary assistance with their children's education. We shall therefore be looking in more detail at the various forms of supplementary provision and their relationship with mainstream education in our main report.

10. In addition to helping West Indian children through supplementary schools, West Indian community groups can play an important role in supporting and assisting parents in providing information and advice about the educational facilities and services available. They can also help parents to fulfil their responsibilities in preparing children to take advantage of the opportunities of education and support parents in making decisions about their children's education.

11. The links between schools and the community are important and will become increasingly so as parents become more involved in their children's education. For West Indians, we believe that the building of close and effective contacts between parents and teachers can be particularly valuable in overcoming the gulf in trust and understanding which exists at present and which has been said to contribute to the sense of alienation and lack of motivation which many West Indian pupils experience.

We therefore recommend that:

Links between schools and the community

i. All schools, but particularly multiracial schools, should designate a senior member of staff to be responsible for the coordination of links between the school and the community it serves.

Links between schools and parents

ii. LEAs, in providing the information required under Section 8(5) of the Education Act 1980, should ensure that the material is provided in a form which is accessible and easily understood by parents, particularly those from ethnic minority groups, and by the wider community.

iii. Schools should encourage teachers to see home visiting as an integral part of their pastoral responsibilities.

iv. Schools should provide at least two full written reports each academic year on every pupil, and should ensure, through frequent meetings between parents and teachers, that a child's progress and prospects are clearly understood by his or her parents.

v. Schools should encourage their PTAs to take an active interest in educational matters and should explore additional ways in which parents can be involved in the school's work.

School governors

vi. LEAs should take steps to ensure that ethnic minority interests are fully taken into account in making appointments to the governing bodies of schools.

Supplementary schools

vii. Schools should make a particular effort to establish contacts with supplementary schools in their areas.

viii. LEAs should continue to look favourably on applications for assistance from supplementary schools.

i. SPECIAL PROVISION

1. Concern has long been expressed by West Indians that their children are frequently unfairly and disproportionately removed from mainstream education and are placed in a variety of special educational units or establishments notably ESN(M) schools and disruptive units. Since this concern was perhaps the major issue in the evidence considered by the Select Committee in 1976/77, we have looked in some detail at the nature of these various forms of 'special provision'.

ESN(M) (15) schools

Possible misclassification

2. The concern of West Indians that their children were being wrongly placed in ESN(M) schools was brought to a head in 1971 with the publication of a book by Bernard Coard, a West Indian teacher in an ESN school, entitled 'How the West Indian child is made educationally sub-normal in the British school system'. The NFER review says of his book:

'Coard placed the blame for misclassification squarely on the schools and teachers and attributed incorrect assessment to three main factors - differences in culture and social class which he claimed were reflected in tests and teachers, and cases where children are emotionally disturbed. He claimed that West Indian pupils' academic achievement is influenced by low teacher expectation, lack of motivation and a negative self-image due to negative social attitudes. Indeed, he stressed the influence of teacher expectation to the extent that he maintained that the very act of being assessed for placement in an ESN school is seen as such a threatening situation by the West Indian child that he will lose any motivation he possesses since he perceives such a low probability of success.'

3. The opinions expressed by Coard about cultural bias in the testing of West Indian children are part of the long-running debate about the validity of tests of children's abilities. Efforts have been made over the years to develop 'culture-free' methods of testing but today these have largely given way to moves to develop a 'culture-fair' approach. The NFER review describes these developments as follows:

'The idea of a culture fair test is that it can be attempted equally by people of diverse backgrounds - socio-culturally deprived white children or black children - without any advantage or detriment because of the background. Yet such a definition says nothing of a possible need to take account of cultural differences and one potential approach to culture fair assessment would be to leave it to the tester to discount the effects of ethnic and cultural differences in interpreting test scores.'

'... since assessment is part of the entire educational process (it) cannot be viewed outside the context of the aims of education as a whole. Thus the difficulty with culture fair assessment is not primarily technical, in devising tests to meet the requisite criteria, difficult though that may be, but the more philosophical problem of deciding of what those criteria should in fact be.'

4. Prior to 1972 the DES collected educational statistics on an ethnic basis through Form 7(i). These statistics, despite the definitional inadequacies which finally led to their being discontinued, showed that the concern felt by West Indians about the over-representation of their children in ESN(M) schools was, to some extent at least, justified. The Select Committee, in 1976/77 was still concerned that West Indian pupils appeared to be disproportionately represented in ESN(M) schools and recommended therefore that:

'statistics of children of West Indian origin attending ESN schools be obtained, published and carefully monitored.' (16)

Current situation

5. Ten years after the initial concern was voiced, many West Indians believe that for the same reasons their children are still being unfairly assessed as needing special education and are still being disproportionately placed in ESN(M) schools. The information we obtained from schools and on our visits did not enable us to confirm or deny this belief. In some cases there were clearly grounds for believing that this might be the case but the non-availability of statistics showing the ethnic breakdown of the whole school population for the LEA concerned made an accurate judgement impossible. We have recommended in chapter three that ethnically-based statistics should now be collected by the DES. In that way it would be possible to determine whether there was any disproportionate representation of a particular ethnic minority group in ESN(M) schools. We therefore very much hope that the DES will take immediate steps to fulfil their earlier commitment to collect figures on the ethnic mix of ESN(M) schools. Under the proposed new arrangements for special education it is essential that there is monitoring on an ethnic basis of assessments, referrals and the numbers of children about whom a formal statement has been made.

New arrangements

6. Special education is of course undergoing changes as a result of the Warnock report (18) and the recently introduced Bill (19). The Bill proposes a new and wider concept of special educational needs relating to children with learning difficulties, to replace the present statutory categories of handicapped pupils, and imposes duties on governing bodies and LEAs in respect of children with special educational needs in ordinary schools. We welcome these revised arrangements particularly in relation to the new rights for the parents of such children, including the right of appeal to local committees against decisions about their children's education.

7. Although as we have said we were unable to establish whether there are still disproportionate numbers of West Indian children in ESN(M) schools, it is clear that there used to be. That knowledge and the worry that it may still be true are matters of deep and understandable concern for West Indian parents. That concern must be recognised and taken seriously if it is to be overcome. In view of the changes in special education proposed in the Bill we shall look again at this subject in our main report. Meanwhile we believe that the recommendations we have offered will go some way towards alleviating the fears of West Indians about special education in general and the placement of West Indian pupils in particular.

Curriculum

8. Our visits to ESN(M) schools made it clear to us that a 'multicultural' curriculum should not be confined to mainstream schools. One of the schools we visited, where about 33 per cent of the pupils were West Indian, ensured that cultural background was taken into account in the project work which the pupils were undertaking. Another school was making very impressive efforts to help its leavers to find employment by setting aside the final year for work experience projects and offering help and guidance with interview techniques. (Nine out of 13 leavers at Easter 1980 had been found employment at the time of our visit (May 1980) and a further two had been placed in 'work-type' situations.) It was encouraging to see that the hard work that this school had put into obtaining the cooperation of local industries over work experience schemes appeared to have been very successful.

Suspensions and exclusions

9. West Indians have frequently voiced their anxiety about the number of West Indian pupils who are suspended or excluded from school. Since there are no statistics available locally or nationally relating to the overall number of suspensions and exclusions, let alone an ethnic breakdown of such figures, we asked for information on this question from three multiracial urban LEAs. These LEAs sought information from their secondary schools with West Indian pupils on the numbers of these pupils who were suspended and excluded on 31 January 1980. Because they did not have figures on the ethnic breakdown of their school populations, two of these LEAs, whilst providing figures on suspensions and exclusions, were unable to set these in context for us. The results of this exercise in the third LEA, which did give some indication of the proportions of West Indian pupils in the schools concerned, are given in Appendix E. These figures show that the use of suspension and exclusion varied widely in the schools concerned but the total numbers of pupils involved was far too small to be able to attempt to draw any firm conclusions based on them. Overall there is no clear evidence of disproportionate numbers of West Indian pupils being suspended or excluded although in some individual schools it appears, from the very limited information available, that this may be the case. In order to consider the reasons for any such over-representation, and the extent to which such trends are borne out on a broader scale, far more detailed and specific information is needed. However we feel it would be of benefit to all concerned for the procedures after pupils have been suspended or excluded to be tightened up and particularly for parents to be given clear rights of appeal against the decision.

Disruptive units

10. In recent years a number of LEAs have established special behavioural or 'disruptive' units, either attached to one school or serving a group of schools, designed to cater for pupils who for a variety of reasons find it difficult to cope with the demands of school life. In some cases they are for pupils who are suspended or excluded from mainstream schools. We share the uneasiness expressed by many people over the increase in the number of these units in recent years and would like to see the DES clarifying the legal position of those units serving more than one school and requiring full-time attendance. Many people have in fact suggested to us that the needs of disruptive pupils ought to be met within mainstream schools. This is also something which we feel should be considered further by the DES and HM Inspectorate.

Statistics

11. West Indians have expressed to us their fears that their children are wrongly and disproportionately referred to these units. We obtained information on a number of units in an attempt to ascertain whether they did have disproportionate numbers of West Indian pupils and what the reasons were for their referral. The units visited varied from off-site units serving over 40 schools to on-site units serving one school, and the criteria for referral of pupils to these units varied considerably. Again the absence of statistics on an ethnic basis for all the pupils in the LEA area meant that it was not possible for us to confirm or deny the view that West Indian pupils were over-represented in the units. The units we visited however did not appear to have an over-representation of West Indian pupils.

Facilities

12. The facilities available in the units varied considerably. One in a secondary school was simply a room 9ft x 6ft [2.75m x 1.8m] with no windows. We were concerned that this should be permitted. We were, nevertheless, generally impressed by the dedication of the majority of the teachers in these units and with the favourable pupil/teacher ratios. We found units where the atmosphere was friendly yet structured and supportive efforts were made to provide a balanced educational diet.

We therefore recommend that:

ESN(M) schools

i. The DES, through guidance to LEAs, should make clear that, in identifying pupils who require special educational treatment and, under the proposed new arrangements, in assessing special educational needs, they must take account of particular factors, such as cultural differences and the effects of discrimination, which may have a bearing on the educational progress of West Indian pupils.

ii. LEAs should take into account any possible cultural bias in the tests they use for the assessment of West Indian pupils' special educational needs.

iii. LEAs should ensure that the proposed new procedures for assessment of pupils having special educational needs are fully explained to West Indians and that parents are informed of their rights of appeal.

iv. Under the proposed new arrangements for special education, LEAs should ensure that when a West Indian child is being assessed as having special educational needs, at least one person, other than the parents, who is West Indian or is knowledgeable about the particular educational difficulties faced by such pupils, is involved.

v. LEAs should make greater efforts to recruit more West Indian educational psychologists.

vi. The DES should, as a matter of urgency, implement its undertaking to collect statistics on the ethnic mix of all ESN(M) schools, and, under the proposed new arrangements for special education, should institute regular monitoring on an ethnic basis of assessment and referrals of pupils as having special educational needs and the entry into some form of special education of children about whom a formal statement has been made.

vii. LEAs should ensure that the curriculum in ESN(M) schools, and for children about whom a formal statement is maintained under the proposed new arrangements, meets the children's educational needs and within this, reflects the cultural diversity of our society.

viii. The DES, in consultation with the local authority associations and the teacher unions, should prepare and issue guidance to LEAs designed to tighten up procedures when pupils are suspended or excluded from school.

ix. The DES should consider the legal position of units serving more than one school and which cater on a full-time basis for disruptive pupils.

x. The DES, in consultation with HM Inspectorate, should consider the possibility of issuing guidance to LEAs on how to meet the needs of disruptive pupils in mainstream schools.

xi. LEAs should establish a clearly laid down procedure for the referral of pupils to disruptive units to ensure that parents are fully consulted at an early stage.

xii. LEAs should ensure that pupils do not remain in disruptive units indefinitely and that their progress is reviewed at monthly intervals with a view to an early return to mainstream education.

j. PREPARATION FOR ADULT LIFE

1. Much of what we have already said about the work which should and is being done by schools is concerned with preparing pupils for adult life. The most important issue which we have found relating to the preparation of West Indian pupils for adult life, and probably one which worries West Indians more than any other covered by our remit, is the transition from school to work.

School to work

2. The employability of a school leaver is determined largely by the academic qualifications which he or she has obtained at school and since West Indians, as we have seen, are underachieving at school they will clearly be at a disadvantage in the jobs market. In many cases they may also be aiming at the lower end of the employment spectrum where jobs are becoming increasingly scarce. With rising unemployment, employers are setting higher entry standards for jobs, in many cases far above the actual level of skills required, as a means of simplifying their selection procedure. This may particularly militate against West Indians who may not for example, have O Level mathematics or English language.

3. In addition to these difficulties however it is clear that the overriding disadvantage which young West Indians face in the jobs market is racial discrimination at all levels. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) have both admitted to us that discrimination is still widespread in employment, and careers officers and officials at employment offices have said that they find it more difficult to place a West Indian than a white school leaver with identical qualifications. The situation described in the PEP survey of 1976 (20) appears to be just as true today, as is illustrated by the recent CRE survey of job discrimination in Nottingham (21). We deplore the continuing existence of such discrimination. Far greater efforts must be made by all concerned, central government and its agencies, local trades councils and chambers of commerce, and employers and trade unions, to create a climate in which all school leavers will have an equal chance of finding employment. We strongly urge the CBI and the TUC now that they have made admirable declarations of principle (22), not to relax their efforts in trying to bring about a change in attitude amongst all concerned. In this connection we welcome the CRE's recent 'Code of Practice for the elimination of racial discrimination and the promotion of equality of opportunity in employment' and would like to see it being more widely used.

4. For the purposes of this report, we have concentrated on looking at how schools prepare their pupils, especially West Indians, for adult working life through their careers education programmes; at the contribution of the careers service, especially outreach workers; and at the training schemes provided by the Manpower Services Commission (MSC) for unemployed school leavers. It is important to note the effect which the already high and still rising level of unemployment among West Indians, especially amongst the young, may have on the achievement of those still at school. It is difficult for a pupil to put his heart into his work when he sees those who have left school before him, still unemployed.

5. The report 'Education for 16-19 Year Olds' (23) appeared too late for us to consider in this report. We shall consider it in our main report.

6. In looking at the transition from school to work and the needs of the 16-19 year olds, we have been struck by the total lack of coordination of the provisions for this age group, who may be found in school, at college, in employment, unemployed, on day release or on various Youth Opportunities Programme (YOP) courses. Different financial support arrangements apply to the individuals concerned, ranging from no support for the vast majority of children at school, discretionary grants in further education, social security payments to those on courses up to 21 hours, to £23.50 per week for those on YOP schemes. Many children from low-income families including disproportionate numbers of West Indians because of the particular social and economic pressures which their families face, may be discouraged or actually prevented from remaining at school or going on to further education to gain or improve their educational qualifications, by the lack of adequate financial support in these areas. They may instead prefer to be unemployed and receive supplementary or unemployment benefit, to enter a short-term YOP course and receive the statutory payment, or to enter low-level and poorly paid employment in 'dead-end' jobs, well below their actual abilities. We deplore the fact that the present system is therefore actually discouraging young people from remaining in education and encouraging them instead to join the already high number of school leavers seeking employment. The question of devising a system of financial support for all 16-19s, whether at school or elsewhere, so that all youngsters from whatever background and economic circumstances can have an equal opportunity of fulfilling their true potential in education, has been widely discussed in recent years. We recognise that any scheme which involves substantial additional government funds is unlikely to be feasible in the current economic climate. We would however urge the Department of Education and Science (DES), the Department of Employment (DE), and the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) to consider the possibility of restructuring the existing financial support arrangement for 16-19 year olds and redistributing existing resources to provide a common and comprehensive system of support.

7. We have looked at the opportunities for young West Indians to take up apprenticeships. From our own visits and discussions with employers, it seems that, even with the decreasing number of apprenticeships available overall, young West Indians are still very much under-represented. This can arise from discrimination, a lack of knowledge about apprenticeships generally and, in some industries, the fact that entry is virtually limited only to those with close family connections. The present apprenticeship system is now generally admitted to be inappropriate to the needs of industry today and therefore to the needs of school leavers. We therefore welcome the recent government announcement of a review of these arrangements.

Careers education

8. With rising youth unemployment, schools are giving increasing attention to their careers education programmes. We welcome this trend but agree with the HMI Secondary Survey (24) that, despite these advances, many schools could do more to prepare their pupils for adult working life. More schools for example should provide opportunities for work experience for pupils of all abilities and should develop closer links with local employers. Careers education is particularly important for pupils from ethnic minority groups whose parents may have had their own education outside this country and may lack direct experience and knowledge of employment opportunities here. It can be especially valuable for young West Indians whose families may not have the business and commercial contacts which exist in other minority communities.

9. Careers education is unfortunately often seen by schools as a low timetable priority and a poor relation when set alongside academic subjects leading to examinations. The attitude of the head teacher can be a crucial factor in redressing this balance and in those schools where we found good careers education this was because the head considered it to be important. In an ideal situation we would like to see in all schools a full-time head of careers with his or her own careers teaching room and resources bank, to plan the school's overall careers programme and coordinate the work of all the teachers involved. Specific careers education should begin not later than the third year, prior to option choices, and should continue on a regular basis through the fourth and fifth years and into the sixth form where necessary. Careers teachers should work closely with the careers service, local employers and parents. Although we recognise that the structure of careers education in schools cannot be changed overnight, especially at a time of cuts in expenditure, we urge all schools to give a high priority to working towards these objectives. Careers education should not however be seen only in the context of the specific careers programme but also as an aspect of all subjects in the curriculum. In the broadest sense in fact, careers education begins when a child enters school through the messages given, consciously and subconsciously, by teachers and others and the materials used. Primary schools and secondary schools in their early years have an important contribution to make in arousing interest in and awareness of occupations.

10. In several schools we visited, little effort was made to follow up their school leavers to see whether they had been successful in gaining employment and if so, whether they were satisfied with their jobs. This lack of knowledge on the part of schools of the destination of their leavers, particularly those from ethnic minority groups, comes out clearly in the findings of our school leavers survey exercise - Table E in chapter one which shows that the destination of 25 per cent of Asian leavers and 18 per cent of West Indian leavers was 'unknown' compared with 11 per cent of 'other' leavers in the six LEAs and a national average of 8 per cent. More detailed information on the destination of school leavers could play an important part in helping schools to evaluate the success of their careers education and to relate their programmes more closely to the needs of their pupils and the job opportunities available in their areas. It would also allow schools to identify any worrying patterns in the achievement or lack of achievement of any ethnic minority group. Whilst this, of itself, will not increase job opportunities, particularly in areas of high youth unemployment, it would provide more specific information upon which schools could base their guidance and efforts.

11. In view of current interest in the role of school governing bodies and because they may be ideally placed to bridge the gap between school and the wider community, we feel that school governing bodies can play a valuable part in encouraging and overseeing their school's careers education programme. They could for example establish a committee or action group concerned with the preparation and movement of pupils from school to work or further and higher education. Membership might include parents, employers, teachers, careers officers, further education representatives and community workers and the group could review regularly careers provision and offer additional help and expertise in such areas as informing ethnic minority parents of the working of the system, following up the school leave