School classes targeting black children have been defended by a council, saying the practice is “divisive”.
A parent of a child at Coldfall Primary School in Muswell Hill, north London, said it was discriminatory that Haringey Council was paying black children to attend Saturday classes.
An independent investigator did not confirm the claim.
The council said the initiative is targeted at black students but is open to all ethnicities.
The two-hour Saturday morning classes are hosted by NIA Academy in partnership with the Haringey Education Program and are aimed at low-performing children of African-Caribbean descent from fourth (eight and nine) through seventh grade (eleven and nine). 12 year olds).
The NIA Academy states that it offers children the opportunity to “learn about Black history from a broader perspective than is often offered in mainstream education” in order to “promote academic excellence in a strong cultural context, through which creates a sense of purpose and identity.” , and belonging is emphasized.”
The cost to the schools is £400 per child for 33 classes and four children from across Haringey are currently on the programme.
In a letter to parents seen by the BBC, the school defended the classes, saying the data at Coldfall Primary School “clearly shows that there is a performance gap between black and black students and their white peers”.
Data shows that Haringey has the largest achievement gap between white British and black Caribbean students nationally.
At the GCSE level, black Caribbean students average two grades lower than white British students at each GCSE and perform below any other group.
Zena Brabazon, Cabinet Member at Haringey Council for Children, Schools and Families, said: “Our schools here in Haringey and the local authority are absolutely committed to working together to do something about these statistics.”
“The council has a number of targeted programs for our young people to help them improve their achievements, including the NIA Academy,” the councilman said.
A Coldfall parent whose child is taking the courses told the BBC: “My son has thoroughly enjoyed these courses and feels empowered after each session.”
“He gets a sense of identity and is able to share that pride, which affects his own learning.”
The woman, who asked to remain anonymous after hearing the school had received threatening messages, added: “We don’t have a lot of money to invest in extracurricular activities.”
“It’s really sad that this has turned into an insidious race thing.”
She said the parent who complained had stirred up “a frenzy of hatred” against a series of lessons costing the school £400 per child.
In news viewed by the BBC, the parent who made the complaint told other parents that he had “spent eight months fighting the racialization of the school”.
Another mother, whose child attends Coldfall Primary School, told the BBC that while she has not made a formal complaint about NIA Academy’s courses, she “believes there are more inclusive ways to use school funds”.
She added: “I think the school fundamentally doesn’t understand what inclusion is. Selecting a group based on race alone is divisive, not inclusive.”
A spokesman for Don’t Divide Us, an organization that disputes the idea that Britain is systematically racist, said: “There is a common culture and history shared by the majority, regardless of race or creed.”
“As public institutions – funded by the public – schools have a duty to foster such a shared culture and knowledge of our shared history, rather than creating divisions.”
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