Professor Charlotte Williams and Professor Sally Holland endorse Peer-Led Research Report into Racism in the Welsh Education System
On Tuesday 27th April, Race Alliance Wales will be publishing a unique and innovative peer-led research report ‘Show Us You Care: Exploring the cumulative impact of racism upon racialised young people in the Welsh education system’. Based on the voices and experiences of the young people who took part in this research, we have made 13 recommendations and proposals aimed at schools, Welsh Government, The Education Workforce Council, and all those working with Children and Young People in Wales.
The 2020 Black Lives Matter movement called for major reforms in the Welsh Education system. From the fall of the statue slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol, to the statue of Sir Thomas Picton being boxed up at Cardiff’s City Hall, young people are calling for more representative history in and outside of schools. They want teachers to be more proactive in educating themselves and others about different forms of racism. They want available, accessible, and more robust reporting systems for racist incidents in schools. They want schools to become anti-racist and to represent them in what they teach and who they are taught by.
Professor Charlotte Williams OBE, Chair of the Ministerial Working Group ‘Communities, Contributions and Cynefin: Black Asian and Minority Ethnicities in the new curriculum’ 2020-2021 has welcomed the report stating “The message that racisms harm and distort the learning opportunities for children and young people in Wales is powerfully demonstrated in these first-hand accounts. The evidence provided in this report underscores the need for change in the Welsh schooling system”.
Children’s Commissioner for Wales Professor Sally Holland has also endorsed the report saying “No child or young person in Wales should experience racism in their education. Equality and non-discrimination are fundamental principles of human rights and without these principles being upheld, all human rights are under threat. This report shows the repeated trauma caused by racism and also shows that racism threatens all of the rights of a child, including the child’s rights to safety, to education, and to taking part in decisions. This is important peer-research where young people are interrogating their environment and raising their voices. We need to listen. The recommendations in this report must be seriously considered to help ensure all children can experience their human rights in Wales”.
The call from young people in Wales is therefore a loud one. Hear us, support us, represent us and do something about our concerns and what we are going through – #ShowUsYouCare
Please follow and join in the conversations at the social media launch at 11am on Tues 27th April via
Facebook: @RaceAllianceWales and Twitter: @WalesRace and use the hashtags #ShowUsYouCare #AntiRacistWales