DfE to review ‘disproportionate’ exclusions of certain ethnicities
It has been reported this week that the Department for Education is to launch a review into the correlation between exclusions and pupil ethnicity, with a focus on the rates of exclusion between certain ethnic groups and their disproportionality to others.
The review will be part of the audit conducted by the Government on how different ethic groups are treated across public services.
There has been significant disparity reported in regards to exclusions particularly in pupils from black Caribbean backgrounds. Pupils from this ethnicity group are three times more likely to be excluded than white pupils, at a rate of 0.29 per cent compared to a rate of 0.1 per cent.
The highest rate of exclusions come from pupils with an Irish traveller or Roma/gypsy background at 0.49 per cent and 0.33 per cent respectively.
According to Schools Week, analysis by The Difference, a teacher training programme for the alternative provision sector, has found that in inner cities, where populations tend to be most diverse, local pupil referral units have disproportionately high numbers of pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds.
“In our cities where we believe we have the best schools, and the most diverse populations, actually what you see within the PRUs are many pupils from those diverse backgrounds,” said Kiran Gill, the group’s founder.
Speaking to Schools Week, Dave Whitaker, the executive principal of Springwell Learning Community in Barnsley said: “The issue of pupils from certain ethnicities being excluded is geographical and most pupils I deal with are from poor, white, working class backgrounds.
“The review is very timely, as something needs to be done about exclusions, and alternative provision, full-stop.”
In a press release issued by the Government, it states that ‘(the Government’s) education attainment data shows that there are disparities in primary school which increase in secondary school’ and that ‘Chinese and Asian pupils tend to perform well and white and black pupils do less well, particularly those eligible for free school meals.’
More information on this subject is to be released in due course.