As the Chair of Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council, I want to make it very clear that we do not agree with the article in the Edinburgh Evening News which states that the Council found that, “there is no culture of racism in the city schools”.
We get many complaints from parents telling us about incidents in schools all the time and reports of racism has increased since the Black Lives Movement. This is not just the case in schools but many other institutions.
There has been a culture of racism in many schools both public and private for a long time.
We promoted and assisted with some work dealing with racism in schools, however some schools have dealt with it better than others by acknowledging that there is a problem and then making sure something is done about it quickly.
We have always said that no child should be facing or dealing with racism and educational institutions should be protecting our young people and Councils should be doing more to alleviate racism in schools and this starts with the curriculum and with external help.
Racism will not disappear until we all work together, from government level to schools. However, some schools need to acknowledge there is a problem, and seek help. If this truth is not accepted, racism will continue to damage our children. This is totally unacceptable.
Foysol Choudhury MBE
Chair, Edinburgh & Lothians Regional Equality Council
14 Forth Street, Edinburgh EH1 3LH
(T) 0131 556 0441
(W) www.elrec.org.uk