Register of Racism and Resistance (RRR)

Unauthorised absence ‘stubbornly high’ despite higher fines
4 November 24
Government data shows that persistent absence rates are more than double for Free School Meals eligible pupils and are highest among Black Caribbean and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller pupils. Data from FFT Data lab reveals the limited effect of increasing parental fines for absence, as ‘persistent and severe absence remain much higher than pre-pandemic, particularly at secondary level’.
Source: TES
Category: EDUCATION
Country: UK
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NEU concern over Black teachers’ pay and retention
27 October 24
An NEU report shows that Black teachers are more likely to leave the profession before retirement; twice as likely to experience stress as a result of workplace discrimination; less likely to progress to leadership roles; and, outside of London, earn 4.5% less on average than white teachers.
Source: TES
Category: EDUCATION
Country: UK
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Focus on inclusion over fines to fix attendance crisis
25 October 24
A report from Child of the North and the Centre for Young Lives on higher persistent non-attendance rates among ‘pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds’ recommends that schools ‘foster a sense of belonging and inclusivity’ with ‘culturally relevant resources’, rather than continuing the current ‘uniform and punitive’ approach.
Source: TES
Category: EDUCATION
Country: UK
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Rate of FSM students going to university decreases for first time
24 October 24
Department for Education (DfE) data show that in 2022-23 the gap between Free School Meal (FSM) eligible and non-FSM eligible pupils progressing to university increased to the highest level recorded; Black students were the only ethnic group to see a fall in progression rates, and Black Caribbean students were among the least likely to progress to ‘high tariff’ higher education.
Source: TES
Category: EDUCATION
Country: UK
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UK loses out on £19bn in annual GDP growth due to lack of social mobility
22 October 24
A report from Demos finds that current levels of educational inequality are hindering social mobility, as ‘significant and hard to explain employment and earnings gaps persist’, and mobility in higher education may not produce expected results in occupational advantage.
Source: Guardian
Category: EDUCATION
Country: EU
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UN rapporteur challenges LSE over action against pro-Palestine protesters
20 October 24
The Observer reveals that the UN special rapporteur on the right to freedom of assembly has accused the London School of Economics of Islamophobia after it placed seven pro-Palestine student protesters under ‘precautionary measures’ in July.
Source: Guardian
Category: EDUCATION
Country: UK, EU
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‘He lashed out. He was scared’: the fight to save vulnerable UK children from being kicked out of school
19 October 24
A group of 200 lawyers from the School Inclusion Project call for legal aid for families challenging school exclusions under the Equality Act, as ‘racialised minority and SEND children… are disproportionately excluded from school’.
Source: Observer
Category: EDUCATION
Country: UK
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Make black history mandatory in England to counter hatred, urges campaigner
14 October 24
Founder of Black Curriculum, Lavinya Stennett, says that some schools in England are fearful of teaching black history because of guidance against ‘victim narratives’ from the previous government. She argues black history lessons should be mandatory in England as they are in Wales.
Source: Guardian
Category: EDUCATION
Country: UK
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UK university cuts threaten to ‘wipe out’ black scholarship, academics say
13 October 24
Black academics warn that cost-cutting measures are threatening to wipe out black scholarship in the UK.
Source: Guardian
Category: EDUCATION
Country: UK
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Yorkshire university rabbis removed after anti-Islamic social media posts found
11 October 24
A rabbi and his wife are removed from pastoral posts at Leeds and York universities after social media posts in which Mrs Pariente made references to ‘Pallywood’ (a conspiracy theory that Palestinians fake suffering during Israeli military action) and posts she shared calling for ‘biblical punishment’ of Palestinians.
Source: Yorkshire Post
Category: EDUCATION
Country: UK
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Bridget Phillipson confirms funding to tackle antisemitism
7 October 24
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson announces in the Telegraph that Labour will honour the Conservatives’ pledge to procure £7 million ‘to tackle anti-Semitism in schools, colleges, and universities’.
Source: TES
Category: EDUCATION
Country: UK
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Impact of school closures in Key Stage 1 on attainment and social skills of pupils in Year 4 and Year 5 in academic year 2023/2024
7 October 24
A longitudinal study of around 5,000 Year 4 and 5 pupils shows that the ‘Covid-19 attainment gap’ in reading and mathematics ‘appears to have closed’. However, ‘the disadvantage gaps remain wider than gaps reported pre-pandemic’ and ‘disadvantaged pupils, and boys, were assessed as having significantly lower social skills than non-disadvantaged pupils and girls, respectively’.
Source: NFER
Category: EDUCATION
Country: UK
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Sheffield Hallam University settles with Shahd Abusalama in press leaks case
4 October 24
Sheffield Hallam University agrees to pay an undisclosed sum and legal costs to Gaza-born academic Shahd Abusalama, after it leaked information to the Jewish Chronicle, Keir Starmer and Sadiq Khan, of Dr Abusalama’s departure without mentioning her exoneration on accusations of antisemitism.
Source: THE
Category: EDUCATION
Country: UK
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Teenage asylum seekers arriving after start of school year in ‘no man’s land’, report says
23 September 24
Research by Refugee Education UK finds that thousands of teenage asylum seekers who arrive in the UK after the start of the school year find themselves trapped in an education limbo, leaving them vulnerable to isolation, mental health deterioration and exploitation, impacting 15- to 17-year-olds worst.
Source: Guardian
Category: EDUCATION
Country: UK
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German universities could be ‘less attractive’ as far-right rises
20 September 24
The vice-president of the Max Planck Society warns that German universities could become ‘less attractive’ to students and academics after the success of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party in recent state elections.
Source: THE
Category: EDUCATION
Country: UK
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