RACIAL EQUALITY

Schools are to be given more help to boost the achievement of pupils from ethnic minorities. The government has outlined plans aimed at helping primary schools teach bi-lingual pupils. It is also launching a scheme to boost the performance of black Caribbean children at secondary school. They are much less likely to get good GCSEs and more likely to be expelled than other children. Thirty secondary schools picked for the scheme will choose a senior manager to work on improving achievement among black pupils, with help from an expert consultant.

In 2002, only 30% of all black pupils got five or more good GCSEs (grades A* to C), compared to a national average of 51%. And black pupils are around three times more likely than white pupils to be excluded from school. There has been an outcry about the situation, with criticism coming from figures such as the Labour MP Diane Abbott and the chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality chairman, Trevor Phillips. Some other ethnic minority groups do very well at school. In 2002, 73% of children of Chinese origin got five good GCSEs.

Announcing the strategy, Schools Minister Stephen Twigg said, "Every child matters, whatever their background. But the truth is that some ethnic children have been underachieving for too long. We have consulted widely, listened to what people have to say on this issue, and developed a clear, strategic approach backed up by extra resources. We are making sure that support is given exactly where it is needed so that our work to raise standards in schools benefits all pupils, whatever their background, location or school."

Lord Justice Brooke said Denbigh High School in Luton, Beds, denied Shabina Begum, 16, now at another school, the right to manifest her religion. He called for more guidance for schools on complying with the Human Rights Act. Miss Begum called the ruling a victory for Muslims who wanted to "preserve their identity and values". Miss Begum said, "It is amazing that in the so-called free world I have to fight to wear this attire." Lawyers at the Children's Legal Centre which represented Miss Begum said the judgement was a "landmark victory" which could have wide-ranging consequences for the freedom to manifest religious beliefs and a "significant impact" on school dress codes.

In their ruling the Appeal Court judges said the school had a right to set a school uniform policy but nobody had considered Miss Begum had a right recognised by English law. The onus lay on the school to justify any interference with that right, the judges ruled. Lord Justice Brooke said, "Instead, it started from the premise that its uniform policy was there to be obeyed: if the claimant did not like it, she could go to a different school." A spokesperson for Luton borough council said they would be developing guidance on school uniform and advising Luton schools' governing bodies to review their uniform policy to take account of religious and cultural needs. Shadow education secretary Tim Collins said it should be for "schools alone" to decide their dress code. "This case yet again reflects the way in which the Human Rights Act is unduly restricting the freedom of head teachers to run their schools in their own way," he said.

Black boys may have to be separated from their classmates to help improve their school performance, says the Commission for Racial Equality. Black boys often lack self-esteem and good role models, CRE head Trevor Phillips told BBC One's Inside Out. He also suggested black fathers should be denied access to their sons if they refuse to attend parents' evenings. In 2004, 36% of Black Caribbean pupils in England got five or more C-grades at GCSE. The national average is 52%.

"If the only way to break through the wall of attitude that surrounds black boys is to teach them separately in some classes, then we should be ready for that," he said. It may be necessary to "embrace some new if unpalatable ideas both at home and at school" to avoid the mistakes of the past 40 years, Mr Phillips said. "A tough new strategy would compel black fathers to be responsible fathers. If they can't be bothered to turn up for parents' evening, should they expect automatic access to their sons?" He also called for more male black teachers, tempting them with extra cash if necessary.

Singling out black boys for special treatment could be counter-productive and even illegal, teachers have warned. The Secondary Heads Association says any segregation based on skin colour could create "great difficulty". A spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair said "different people will have different views on the subject". SHA deputy general secretary Martin Ward said, "Saying to a pupil 'right, I want you to go to room five instead of room one because you need extra help', that's one thing. Saying 'I want you to go to room five instead of room one because you're black' potentially could create a great deal of difficulty." Mr Ward also warned that such a move could be illegal.

Mr Phillips, speaking on BBC's Inside Out programme, also suggested black fathers not living with their sons should be denied access to them if they refused to attend parents' evenings. Last year 36% of Black Caribbean pupils in England got five or more C-grades at GCSE. The national average is 52%. Mr Phillips said a lack of self-esteem and positive role models for black boys compounded the problem, as well as an attitude that being clever was not cool. "If the only way to break through the wall of attitude that surrounds black boys is to teach them separately in some classes, then we should be ready for that," he said.

Mr Phillips also called for more male black teachers, tempting them with extra cash if necessary. Mr Phillips' comments were not aimed at black girls, GCSE results in England show that "black African" girls are scoring higher grades than "white British" boys. Shahid Malik, chairman of the Labour Party's ethnic minority forum and a former CRE commissioner, said that there was scope within the existing equality laws for such "positive action". He said he thought Mr Phillips comments had been taken slightly out of context, but that "many African-Caribbean people would feel it was a debate whose time had come".

Preston Manor School, in north-west London, already targets black boys with extra help, if they want it, in the form of special classes before and after school. But head teacher Andrea Berkeley recoils at the idea of separating pupils by race for mainstream lessons. "My worry is that you would create apartheid, you would send out the wrong message to other ethnic groups and I don't think that it would raise achievement," she told BBC News. Simon Woolley, co-ordinator of Operation Black Vote, said the issue was "complex", citing social factors such as poor housing and fractured family life. "I would prefer to focus on these things first before we start blaming the victims, and demonise them for their failure," he said.

The CRE said in a statement that Mr Phillips had not called for all black boys to be segregated in schools. In the programme, he had been asked to look a scheme in the US where black boys are taught separately for some lessons. Although attainment levels had risen by 12% in a few months, Mr Phillips was "not sure" how the scheme would translate to the UK, the CRE said. "However, he feels that we should look at the scheme to see if we can learn anything from it," the CRE added.

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