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 4 Programme for action
[pages 70 - 86]

CONCLUSION

1. We have put forward evidence to show that West Indian children as a group are failing in our education system. Urgent action is needed to remedy this.

2. A variety of reasons were suggested by those who gave evidence to us, to seek to explain and account for this underachievement. We have looked at these suggestions to identify those which could be substantiated and on which we should offer recommendations designed to overcome them or offset their effects, and those which could be dismissed.

3. In the eyes of many West Indians the major cause of their children's underachievement is racism and its effects in school and in society. Although there are inevitably some teachers who hold explicitly racist views, they are very much in the minority. We did however find evidence of what we have described as unintentional racism in the behaviour and attitudes of other teachers. This may take the form of stereotyped or patronising attitudes towards West Indian children, which when combined with negative views of their academic ability and potential, may prove a self-fulfilling prophecy. Whilst we cannot accept that racism, intentional or unintentional, alone accounts for the underachievement of West Indian children in our schools, we believe that when taken together with, for example negative teacher attitudes and an inappropriate curriculum, racism does play a major part in their underachievement.

4. In the pre-school field, provision for the under fives in terms of day care and nursery education, has long been acknowledged as inadequate and those facilities which do exist are generally inappropriate to the needs of West Indian families. Too few attempts are made to inform West Indian parents and their childminders of how they can best help develop the child's linguistic and conceptual skills and prepare him or her to benefit from education. Much of the evidence we have received points to the cycle of West Indian underachievement having its roots in the pre-school years and we believe therefore that measures relating to primary and secondary education must be accompanied by improvements in the pre-school field.

5. The linguistic difficulties of West Indian pupils and particularly the 'dialect interference' from which they are said to suffer, have often been mentioned as factors in their underachievement. We believe that these linguistic factors have been unduly emphasised and mask the more complex underlying causes of underachievement. We do not accept that, for the vast majority of British-born West Indian children in our schools today, language plays any part in underachievement. However the attitudes towards West Indian children's language held by some teachers, especially when combined with other attitudes towards and expectations of these children, may have an important bearing on their motivation and achievement.

6. Within both primary and secondary schools the inappropriateness of the curriculum and the books and teaching materials used to the needs and backgrounds of West Indian pupils has been cited as a cause of their lack of motivation and commitment to the work and their consequent underachievement. The examinations system has also been said to be narrow and inflexible in its approach to the presence of ethnic minority groups in our society. We believe that in general terms both the curriculum and examinations system have not responded sufficiently to take account of the nature of society today. A multicultural approach should be adopted for all children and we see moves towards broadening the curriculum and examinations system as improving educational provision for all pupils as well as encouraging West Indians to fulfil their true potential.

7. Careers education and advice should provide pupils with the knowledge and guidance to enable them to make reasoned decisions about their futures and to help them to find appropriate and satisfactory employment. West Indians have claimed that low expectations of their children on the part of both careers teachers and careers officers lead to the children being discouraged from aspiring to the full range of post school opportunities available. Discrimination is still widespread in the employment market and the levels of unemployment amongst West Indians is disproportionately high. Both these factors may have a demotivating effect on West Indian pupils in schools and discourage them from achieving their full potential. Schools need to do far more to prepare their pupils for adult life.

8. On the one hand, the lack of understanding by schools of the social and economic pressures faced by West Indian parents, and, on the other, the failure of some West Indian parents to appreciate the part which they must play in supporting schools and teachers in the education of their children, have also been seen as factors in underachievement. We have been much troubled throughout our own visits and discussions by the gulf in trust and understanding which exists between many teachers and West Indian parents, and at the indirect but nonetheless important bearing which this must have on the child's achievement. We have sought to encourage schools to 'reach out' to parents and keep them better informed both about the school's policies and practices and about their child's progress and needs, and acknowledge their role as 'partners' in the education process. In turn West Indian parents, and the West Indian community as a whole, should respond positively to approaches from schools and should seek ways of being actively involved in the school's work.

9. Teachers are the key figures in our education system. Teachers and head teachers are the moving force in developing and implementing a multicultural approach to the curriculum. Their training, both initial and in-service, needs to inform and sensitise them to the particular needs and backgrounds of ethnic minority groups and give them an understanding of the theory and practice of a multicultural approach to education. Our own work has borne out the view overwhelmingly put to us in evidence that initial teacher education has so far failed to fulfil these purposes adequately and that in-service provision, whilst rather more encouraging, could still do far more in this respect. Without the reassessment and extension of in-service education at all levels which we have recommended it is unlikely that the majority of teachers will be able to encourage West Indian pupils to fulfil their true potential.

10. We are convinced that the absence of ethnically-based statistics throughout the education system has contributed to the lack of positive action at both national and local level to identify and seek to remedy the underachievement of West Indian pupils. We have therefore recommended a comprehensive system for the collection and monitoring of such statistics.

11. To sum up, we have identified no single cause for the underachievement of West Indian children but rather a network of widely differing attitudes and expectations on the part of teachers and the education system as a whole, and on the part of West Indian parents, which lead the West Indian child to have particular difficulties and face particular hurdles in achieving his or her full potential. We have therefore recommended a range of specific, practical measures for the short-term together with some broader more general recommendations designed to bring about fundamental changes in attitude and practice in the longer term. Taken together, these constitute a programme for action which will go a long way towards enabling West Indian pupils to fulfil their true potential in our schools, as well as providing a more balanced education for all our children.

AGENCIES OF CHANGE

1. In order to bring about the changes for which we have called throughout this report, a whole range of institutions and organisations associated with education need to play their part. We set out below these agencies of change and discuss briefly the contributions which each can make. We intend to follow up these points in discussion with those concerned.

a. Central government

2. We believe that central government has a duty to give a positive lead in bringing about a change in attitudes on the part of the community at large and in securing a greater acceptance of the ethnic minorities in our society. Up to now governments have conspicuously failed in this respect. We were therefore encouraged by the speech of the Home Secretary in Birmingham in July 1980. He said:

'To the white community my message is simple and unequivocal. Black people are part of Britain and part of Britain's future. They are entitled to the same respect, the same consideration, the same treatment as any other citizen. These are facts which must be accepted. But mere grudging acceptance is not enough. If our society is to prosper, mutual regard must be one of the qualities of good citizenship.'

Nevertheless even where the government itself has some responsibility for what is done its own actions frequently do not accord with those admirable sentiments. Again and again the ethnic minorities see consultations taking place, committees being appointed, conferences arranged, reports written, hierarchies organised (or reorganised), candidates nominated, without the involvement in the smallest way, directly or indirectly, of groups or individuals from among them. This occurs even where their interests are central to the discussion. How, they ask, can policies formulated in such circumstances possibly take account of their needs? We therefore urge all government departments to ensure that ethnic minority groups are directly involved in their consultations and that the interests and needs of ethnic minority groups are taken fully into account and reflected in the appointments they make.

DES

3. Since we are concerned principally with education, we have taken a keen interest in the role played by the DES in developing a multicultural approach to education. Regrettably we have received some evidence about the lack of leadership given by the DES in the field of multicultural education, particularly in relation to teacher education. We have therefore addressed a number of our recommendations to the DES for we have no doubt that it can play a major role in bringing about the developments in education for which we have called, by stimulating developments and initiatives, issuing advice and guidance, and funding research projects. It is also best placed to bring together the major parties involved in education and to collect and monitor information. We appreciate the encouragement we have been given in our work by DES Ministers and hope that this will lead the DES as a whole to respond positively to our report.

4. Within the DES itself we have been concerned to note that the needs of ethnic minority children are so often seen only as an aspect of educational disadvantage or in some cases even just a form of handicap. This seems to reflect a general view throughout the education service that ethnic minority children are 'a problem' and in some way 'lacking' or 'inadequate'. We intend to look more closely at the role of the DES, and particularly at the work of the Educational Disadvantage Unit (EDU) which is the focal point within the DES for all educational matters relating to ethnic minority groups, for our main report.

HMI

5. HM Inspectorate can play an equally valuable role in fostering the development of a more broadly-based approach to education by, for example, identifying good practice in this field and offering practical guidance on appropriate teaching methods and materials. We have specifically recommended that HMI should continue to take account of the need for all schools to adopt a multicultural approach to the curriculum in their inspections and that a paper on this should be prepared in the 'Matters for Discussion' series. All HMI short courses should also include a multicultural element. To assist in developing a more balanced approach to the needs of ethnic minority groups and a broader multicultural perspective within the Inspectorate itself we feel there should be more HMIs drawn from the ethnic minorities.

b. Local government

Local authorities

6. Equally important is the commitment at local level. Local authorities with ethnic minority populations should ensure that their particular needs are being met, by for example seeking assistance from central government under Section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 where appropriate. Authorities need to establish clear and comprehensive means of involving ethnic minority groups in policy making and in helping to determine their priorities and needs. Similarly they should ensure that there is adequate ethnic minority representation on their advisory groups. We have specifically recommended for example that in putting forward applications for Section 11 funds, they should involve ethnic minority groups.

LEAs

7. LEAs have a crucial role to play in fostering the development of a multicultural approach to education in their areas. We have made a number of recommendations to them ranging from questions of overall policy to specific points relating to books and teaching materials and intend to follow up, for our main report, the extent to which LEAs are responding.

c. Organisations and institutions

Schools Council

8. The Schools Council has over the years offered guidance to teachers on various issues related to the education of ethnic minority children and has established a working party on multicultural education. We feel nonetheless that it could do more in promoting a multicultural approach throughout education and taking greater account of the needs of today's multiracial society in all aspects of its work. We understand that the Schools Council's project 'Studies in the Multi-ethnic Curriculum', conducted by Professor Alan Little, has yielded a considerable amount of information and we hope that this will lead to a greater involvement by the Council in the multicultural education field.

Teacher unions

9. We were disappointed by the almost total absence of ethnic minority representatives in the delegations that we met from the main teacher unions. This seems to reflect an under-representation of ethnic minority teachers in senior positions in these unions. We have however been encouraged, as we have said earlier in the report, by the positive response of some unions in giving a clear lead to their members in developing a multicultural approach to their work. Unfortunately, this approach does not seem to be borne out at local level judging by some of the comments and responses we encountered on our visits.

Examining boards

10. We should like to see a greater recognition by all examining boards of the need for examination syllabuses to reflect and support moves towards developing a multicultural approach to the curriculum, and to cater for the particular needs of ethnic minority groups.

TTIs

11. Since teachers must, to some extent, take the lead in bringing about the changes and developments which we have advocated in this report, teacher training institutions (TTIs) need to prepare teachers to fulfil their responsibilities in this respect. We believe that TTIs should seek to give all their students a grounding in the particular needs of ethnic minority pupils and the theory and practical application of a multicultural approach to education.

School governing bodies

12. It is now generally accepted that school governors should take a much more direct interest in their school's approach to its curriculum. We would encourage this and also like to see them encouraging the developing of links between the school and the community it serves.

CRE

13. The Commission for Racial Equality's (CRE) task is to promote equality of opportunity and a more positive view of today's multiracial society and to combat the effects of racism and discrimination. We fully support them in this. The Commission has a crucial role to play in identifying racial inequality in education and taking steps to eliminate it and we should like to see a greater commitment to this role in the future. We look forward with interest to the results of their current investigations into educational practice. We have however been concerned that on a number of occasions, events organised by the CRE in the education field have shown a lack of planning and preparatory consultation with ethnic minority groups, and major partners in education have either been ignored or only involved very belatedly and on an ad hoc basis. We very much hope therefore that in the future the CRE will deploy its resources in the education field with greater professionalism and will make much greater efforts to achieve its objectives in a spirit of partnership with ethnic minorities.

CRCs

14. Local community relations councils (CRCs) also have a crucial role to play in informing ethnic minority groups about issues which affect them, such as local and central government policies, and in facilitating discussions and activities on these issues with a view to enabling ethnic minorities to make their views known to policy makers.

COSTS

1. At a time of constraints on public spending it is especially important to consider how much additional expenditure is required by our recommendations. The answer, for most of them, is none. What we are seeking is, rather, a reordering of the priorities under which resources are at present allocated so as to bring about a fundamental change in attitude towards the ethnic minorities in our society and in particular towards ethnic minority pupils in our schools. Where, for example, we have recommended that central government departments, local authorities, and organisations and institutions should review their policies in particular fields it is not possible to estimate the cost of such reviews. To the extent that we cause them merely to alter the perspective from which they carry out their normal appraisal of their activities our recommendations lay no additional cost upon them. Recommendations affecting the work of LEA advisers, appointments to school governing bodies or the appointment at all levels of the education service of members of the ethnic minorities need entail no additional expenditure. Similarly, in the context of the transition from school to adult life, where we have spoken of a review of arrangements for the financial support of 16-19 year olds, with a view to restructuring the present confusing and inequitable arrangements to provide a common and comprehensive system of support, there will have to be a considerable redistribution of resources but there should be no additional costs. We have made several recommendations about the need for there to be more reference to ethnic minority groups and to the need for a multicultural approach to education in initial and in-service courses for teachers, careers officers and those working with under fives. We would not see this as an addition to a course but rather as a theme running throughout it. It would not therefore entail any additional costs.

2. We recognise however that there are additional costs, associated with staff time in establishing links between schools and parents or reviewing the content of the curriculum, and similar matters. Where we have asked schools and institutions to review the extent to which they cater for and take account of the multiracial nature of our society, even in all-white areas, costs will not be financial but rather psychological. All concerned - teachers, pupils and parents - will need to be prepared to reappraise, in some cases long-accepted views of the 'British education system' and of their roles within it.

3. There are some recommendations however where we can give an indication of the likely costs involved. In relation to the guidance which LEAs might provide for parents of young children (recommendation vi in Chapter 2 paragraph b.11), the cost to the LEA concerned, of producing 17,000 copies of the booklet at Appendix B, was £700 in 1980. Where we have recommended that more LEAs should establish special access courses for entry to training for teaching and other caring professions, and that similar courses should be established for entry to training for the careers service, we have also recommended that ways should be found for students on these courses to be given mandatory awards. In one LEA where the full-time students on access courses are at present supported through major discretionary awards, the cost is estimated to be £25,000 a session.

4. The specific costs that we have identified, for example those for access courses for professional training, are not high. That seems to us all the more reason for the government to use them as an earnest of their intentions by finding the resources for them now.

SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS

We list below for ease of reference the recommendations which we have offered together with references to the relevant sections of the report.

PRE-SCHOOL PROVISION (Chapter 2 section b.)

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 pressures 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.

READING AND LANGUAGE (Chapter 2 section c.)

Reading

i. 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 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.

CURRICULUM (Chapter 2 section d.)

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.

BOOKS AND TEACHING MATERIALS (Chapter 2 section e.)

i. Teachers should examine critically the textbooks 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 textbooks and teaching materials 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.

EXAMINATIONS (Chapter 2 section f.)

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.

SCHOOL PASTORAL ARRANGEMENTS (Chapter 2 section g.)

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.

LINKS BETWEEN SCHOOLS AND THE COMMUNITY (Chapter 2 section h.)

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.

SPECIAL PROVISION (Chapter 2 section i.)

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.

Suspensions and exclusions

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.

Disruptive units

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.

PREPARATION FOR ADULT LIFE (Chapter 2 section j.)

i. The DES and the Department of Employment should consider jointly the establishment of access courses for entry into training for the careers service.

ii. The Department of Employment should review the content of all initial and in-service training courses for careers officers to ensure that some reference is included to the particular needs of West Indian school leavers.

iii. The DES, in consultation with the Department of Employment and the Department of Health and Social Security, should review the arrangements for the financial support of 16-19 year olds.

iv. The Department of Employment, in consultation with the DES and the Manpower Services Commission, should introduce a national system of vocational preparation 'traineeships' within each industry to supplement the present system of craft apprenticeships and available on first employment to those entering jobs which involve little or no further education or planned training. These 'traineeships' should be formally recognised in the same way as apprenticeships, and certification given on completion of the traineeship.

v. The Department of Employment should issue advice to LEAs on ways of involving West Indians lacking formal careers qualifications in the work of the careers service.

vi. The Manpower Services Commission should review its arrangements for assisting community groups wishing to set up Youth Opportunities projects with a view to encouraging community initiatives.

vii. Schools should review their existing arrangements for preparing pupils for the transition from school to work.

viii. Schools should have a fully structured careers education programme beginning not later than the third year and run by a full-time trained careers teacher.

ix. Schools, in cooperation with the local authorities and careers service, should monitor on an ethnic basis the destination of their leavers.

x. The CBI and TUC should continue their efforts to bring about equality of opportunity for all ethnic minority groups in employment.

TEACHER EDUCATION (Chapter 3)

Initial training

i. The governing bodies and maintaining authorities of all TTIs in the public sector and university departments of education should institute a fundamental reappraisal of their policy towards multicultural education.

ii. HM Inspectorate should continue to provide courses on multicultural education for holders of senior posts within TTIs and, in their routine and special inspections of TTIs, should seek to encourage a more broadly based approach to education by all institutions.

Induction training

iii. LEAs should review the effectiveness of their induction programmes for probationary teachers and ensure that these include guidance on the needs and backgrounds of all pupils in their area.

iv. Schools should establish an effective induction programme for probationers and new members of staff providing information and advice on the needs of all pupils in the school.

In-service education

v. LEAs should ensure that in their areas there is a wide range of in-service provision relating to the needs of all the pupils in their schools.

vi. LEAs should organise seminars for senior staff in their schools, particularly for head teachers and their deputies, and potential holders of such posts, in the theory and practical application of a multicultural approach to education.

vii. LEAs should consider how best to collect and disseminate information about interesting practices in school-based INSET.

Recruitment and training of West Indian teachers

viii. LEAs should seek to recruit more West Indian teachers and professionals and to ensure equal opportunities for them at all levels in the education service.

ix. LEAs with West Indian populations should establish special access courses for entry to training for teaching and other caring professions.

x. The DES should find ways in which mandatory awards can be given to students on special access courses.

THE ADVISORY SERVICES (Chapter 3)

i. All LEAs should designate an adviser to coordinate activities in the field of multicultural education, and those LEAs with substantial ethnic minority populations should consider the appointment of a full-time adviser with this role.

ii. LEAs, in appointing advisers for multicultural education, should take into account the extent of the applicant's understanding of the needs of pupils from all ethnic minority groups and his knowledge of minority communities' cultures and concerns.

iii. LEAs should provide induction training for their multicultural advisers on general matters relating to the authority's overall educational policies.

STATISTICS (Chapter 3)

With effect from 1 September 1982:

i. All schools should record the ethnic origin of a child's family, along with the normal standard data, when a child first enters school, on the basis of discussions with the parents.

ii. The DES should reincorporate the collection of information on the ethnic origin of all pupils in schools into its annual statistical exercise and should introduce ethnic classifications into its school leavers survey.

iii. The DES should ask all teacher training institutions to collect statistics on the ethnic origin of all students training to be teachers including students seeking to enter teaching through special access courses.

iv. The DES should record and publish statistics on the ethnic origin of all teachers in employment by amending teachers service cards to include information on ethnic origin.

v. The DES should arrange for the annual collection of details from all universities, polytechnics and colleges of higher education, of the ethnic breakdown of their student populations, and should examine the reasons for any under-representation of any group at any institution.

FUNDING (Chapter 3)

i. The Home Office, in consultation with the DES, should undertake a review of the provisions and operation of Section 11 with a view to making it more appropriate to the needs of the ethnic minority communities.

ii. Local authorities should set up consultative procedures involving ethnic minority groups in their areas and no claim for Section 11 funding should be considered without an indication that it has been fully discussed with them.

iii. Local authorities should clearly state their criteria for the appointment of staff under Section 11 and one of those criteria should be membership of, or experience of working with, the ethnic minority groups concerned.

THE WAY AHEAD

Matters for further consideration

1. In the course of this report we have referred to a number of broad issues to which, in the limited time available, we have been unable to give full consideration or which bear on the interests of all ethnic minority groups and not only on West Indians. On these we would particularly value further evidence.

a. Relating to West Indians specifically, there are the issues of:

i. Whether West Indian pupils are wrongly channelled into CSE rather than GCE examinations and, if so, what the reasons are for this (Chapter 2 section f.);

ii. The particular factors which have led some West Indians to succeed and the obstacles which they have had to overcome (Chapter 1 paragraph 7);

iii. The extent to which the MSC's Youth Opportunities Programme projects should be and are designed to meet the particular needs of West Indian youngsters (Chapter 2 section j.).

i. The effect on an ethnic minority child's motivation and subsequent achievement, of discrimination and its effects in schools and in society (Chapter 2 section a.);

ii. The relationship between the home background and parental support received by an ethnic minority child and his or her academic achievement (Chapter 2 section h.);

iii. The various forms of supplementary provision made for ethnic minority children within their own communities and the relationship between these and mainstream education (Chapter 2 section h.);

iv. The extent to which the education system and traditional practices and procedures fail to take account of the multiracial nature of society today (Chapter 2 section a.);

v. The extent to which LEAs are seeking financial assistance under Section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 (page 68) and for developments particularly in the field of provision for the under fives (Chapter 2 section b.);

vi. The ways in which initial teacher training should provide a grounding in multicultural education (Chapter 3, Teacher education).

3. As we mentioned in Chapter one our School Leavers Survey exercise yielded some information on the achievements of Asians as well as West Indian school leavers. We intend to consider this for our main report and would welcome any comments which might help us to evaluate this data.

Discussion points

4. In addition there are several important questions which have either been raised in evidence to us or have emerged from our own deliberations and which require further consideration. These are set out below:

i. The effects of developments in the field of race relations, for example the current debate about nationality and immigration, on the motivation and achievement of ethnic minority pupils;

ii. The response of the media to the multiracial nature of society and the effects this may have on attitudes towards ethnic minority pupils;

iii. Relations between the police and ethnic minority youngsters and the bearing these may have on school performance;

iv. The current debate on the validity of IQ testing and the heritability of intellectual abilities;

v. The effects on school performance of divergences in attitudes and expectations between ethnic minority pupils and their parents and communities;

vi. The question of the establishment of a central fund to meet the particular needs of ethnic minority children;

vii. The extent to which academic qualifications and 'normal' school reports provide a true 'profile' of a pupil's abilities and future potential.

6. Comments on this report, together with evidence on the whole range of issues, relating to all ethnic minority groups, encompassed by our terms of reference should be sent to:

DG Halladay
Secretary
Committee of Inquiry into the Education of Children from Ethnic Minority Groups
Elizabeth House
York Road
London
SE1 7PH