Institutional racism keeps black teachers out of top posts

[ccharles000]

Only a handful of black and ethnic minority teachers are made headteachers each year because of an "endemic culture of institutional racism" in England's schools, a study claimed today.

Researchers at Manchester University and analysts at Education Data Surveys quizzed 556 state school teachers from ethnic minorities for their report. They asked the teachers what had helped or prevented them from being promoted and whether they had faced discrimination.

Ethnic minorities make up 10.1% of the population of England but only 1% or fewer of the headteachers in primary and secondary schools, according to data gathered by the teaching unions.

Only 2.6% of teachers are Asian, while 1.7% are black and 0.8% are of mixed race, data from the Department for Children, Schools and Families from last year shows.

Some 44% of the teachers quizzed said they had suffered discrimination because of their ethnicity and 70% said it was harder for teachers from ethnic minorities to become headteachers than it was for white teachers

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/nov/06/race-discrimination-teaching-profession-nasuwt