Racism within?

Britain's education system is institutionally racist. That's the conclusion of Hackney MP Diane Abbott and leading education adviser Dr Richard Majors. They believe British schools discriminate against, marginalise and ignore black children and that white, British and too often female teachers perceive black pupils as being miniature gangster rappers. These teachers are intimidated by the exuberance and swagger of the children and have little hope of them succeeding academically, the MP claims. Miss Abbott has labelled this issue a "silent catastrophe".

On Saturday, she will host a conference entitled London Schools and the Black Child. Speaking at this meeting will be Mandla Mbandaker, a resident of Waltham Forest.

Graeme Cullifordo looks at how his actions have impacted on one secondary school in Waltham Forest. McEntee School, Walthamstow, head teacher Greg Levitt paces the foyer uneasily.

Pointing at children, he says: "Look, as you can see, black and white children mix together, get on perfectly well. Just young people having a good time, in a perfectly natural way."

Mr Levitt may appear to be labouring the point, but his wish to emphasise racial harmony is not without reason.

For Mr Levitt, institutional racism is not an abstract issue to be discussed in ivory towers.

His school has operated under the label for five years. His teachers have been accused of racist practices and he has been branded a racist.

It is a group of which Mr Mbandaker is a part that Mr Levitt has come into conflict with.

Originally called the Black Parents Support Group, the small collective of parents have become convinced that the school is systematically failing their children.

Mr Mbandaker said: "I don't think you can have a racist institution without racist individuals, so I think that there are racist teachers.

"It operates on a variety of levels. I've witnessed negative perceptions of black people from teachers. This is proven in the statistics in terms of the performance of black children at schools.

"When black pupils are mistreated and nothing is done, that is racism: whether it's conscious, whether it's deliberate, whether it's motivated by hate, I don't know.

"What I do know is the negative perception and the result in terms of poor service that is delivered to black boys. This results in high exclusion rates and under-achievement."

Mr Levitt and other teachers at the school have not taken kindly to these allegations.

They accuse the parental group of playing the race card and encouraging their children to do the same and say that this has given black pupils power over their white teachers.

They claim it has caused large-scale disruption in the school and led to a number of prominent teachers resigning from the stress of dealing with repeated allegations.

"This group has have a destabilising effect upon the school and has caused a lot of anxiety among teachers and pupils," said Mr Levitt.

"Ten teachers quit as a direct result of their pressure I'm not exaggerating. The group targeted individuals in a very personal way and accused them of racism.

"The overall effect has been completely negative. They challenged everything, right down to kids receiving detentions."

Problems at McEntee could be said to stem from its position as a poorly achieving school in a deprived London borough.

Mr Levitt has been head teacher for one year.

As a result of protests from the Black Parents Support Group, the then chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, Sir Herman Ouseley, visited the school in December 2000.

He reported on the rapid turn- over of population in the borough.

"The district is one of very low socio-economic wealth with multiple family/caring problems," he said.

At the time of his visit, 223 of 675 students at the school came from homes where English was an additional language. More than 60 children were registered as having emotional and behavioural difficulties.

Many children entered the school after being excluded from another. Others came only reluctantly, from disparate parts of the borough, after being rejected by their preferred choice.

Sir Herman reported that he found racism at McEntee, but he did not see this as being a white on black issue.

Instead he described racist behaviour being exhibited by pupils of various ethnic backgrounds, including Afro-Caribbean.

Sir Herman said there was an urgent need to develop a multicultural curriculum that could be accessed by pupils of all backgrounds.

But he also said that the Black Parents Support Group had "commandeered a disproportionate amount of staff time".

He reported that teachers felt "there was a paralysis affecting staff needing to take disciplinary action against misbehaving students" because of the risk of accusations of racism.

The Black Parents Support Group was formed in 1996 in response to alarming statistics, which demonstrated that black pupils were one of the worst performing ethnic groups in Waltham Forest.

The group was determined that their children would not suffer the same fate.

Before long, the group was claiming that serious incidents of violent, racist and sexist abuse were occurring at McEntee.

Between September and December 1998, it reported "a proliferation of staff violence and aggression towards black pupils".

After a meeting between the then head teacher and the Black Parents Support Group, a school governor was accused of having a "plantation mentality".

The group went on to catalogue alleged incidents of racism.

In one example, parents reported on a Year 8 pupil with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

They stated: "The boy was excluded from a lesson and told to go with a senior teacher. He was recovering from a broken leg and was moving slowly. The senior teacher pushed him repeatedly and told him to hurry.

"The boy's aunt and uncle went to see the head. They decided to withdraw him immediately as they found the head to be condescending and disrespectful with suspected racism."

A further example highlighted a Year 8 class. It said: "When a teacher reprimanded a girl, she called him a racist. He lost his temper and reportedly started shouting and swearing, punching and kicking desks and tables. The teacher allegedly said 'how can I be a f*****g racist when my wife is f****** black?'"

What Black Parents Support Group members view as a justifiable concern about their children's education, Mr Levitt regards as an inexcusable incursion into the school.

He said: "What's ironic is that their actions have been counter-productive.

"I agree with Ms Abbott in thatI think there are too few male teachers at all levels in our education system. What I don't like is the way she has approached the subject.

"If you accuse people of being racists it puts them on the defensive. Similarly, the actions of Mr Mbandaker have distracted this school from ensuring the success of pupils of all ethnic backgrounds."

This year, McEntee has recruited more black, male teachers and black children are now out-performing their white counterparts.

Glasford Rock is a new recruit. Of Caribbean descent, he was appointed consultant deputy head one year ago.

He said: "This school had a lot of problems when I first got here. The pupils were very disruptive.

"I don't think Mr Mbandaker helped matters. It's a pity because he could have been a really positive leader at the school.

"He's a very articulate and intelligent man, and he knows how to communicate with black children much better than I could ever hope to. Institutional racism is present in our schools and has been for a long time. I might have brought Mr Mbandaker into the school.

"He would have been a good teacher whom black children would have responded to."

The debate on how best to educate young black people will continue at the conference on Saturday.