Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru | National Assembly for Wales

Y Pwyllgor Plant, Pobl Ifanc ac Addysg | Children, Young People and Education Committee

Cyllido Ysgolion yng Nghymru | School Funding in Wales

SF 27

Ymateb gan: Tîm Cymorth Lleiafrifoedd Ethnig ac leuenctid Cymru
Response from: Ethnic Minorities & Youth Support Team Wales (EYST Wales)

1. About EYST Wales – EYST Wales is a Wales wide charity established since 2005 which aims to support ethnic minority young people, families and individuals living in Wales and help them to contribute, participate and feel a valued part of Wales. It does this through a range of services targeted variously at ethnic minority young people, ethnic minority families, refugees and asylum seekers and also the wider public.  

EYST Wales coordinates the All Wales BAME (Black Asian Minority Ethnic) Engagement Programme, a three-year project funded by Welsh Government to gather views and experiences of BAME people living in Wales and improve the evidence base from which to positively influence public policies and services to better reflect the needs of BAME communities. This project is one of seven Welsh Government Equalities and Inclusion Grants. Our team are building four regional fora which covers the whole of Wales and acts as a platform to unify and amplify the voices of various groups and people working to further racial equality in Wales.  We are currently gathering evidence on the experiences of ethnic minority young people in schools in Wales.   Working with partners, we have recently published the paper http://eyst.org.uk/post.php?s=2018-10-30-experiences-of-racism-race-in-schools-in-wales  “Racism & ‘Race’ in Schools: Experiences & Practices in Wales”. 

EYST would also request to give oral evidence when the inquiry begins, drawing upon the participation and knowledge of our regional forum members. 

2. Diverse Population:  School funding and arrangements for school funding must duly consider the needs and issues facing pupils of ethnic minority heritage.  Wales is becoming an increasingly ethnically diverse nation and the percent of population who do not describe themselves as White British rose to 4% in the 2011 census.  Currently, over 10% pupils in Wales is from an ethnic minority background. That represents an increase of 62% since 2003/4[1].  BAME pupils account for 32% of pupils in Cardiff schools, 24% in Newport Schools, 14% in Swansea schools and 10.4% in Wrexham schools (Stats Wales Dataset).  Though BAME pupils are concentrated in Cardiff, Newport and Swansea[2], they live in each of Wales’ 22 local authorities and are becoming more widely diffused geographically[3].  

3. Reduction in targeted support for BAME & GRT Pupils: As the number of ethnic minority pupils is increasing, the amount of funds dedicated to their support has been decreasing steadily since 2013 with funding “moved into broader initiatives for all learners.”[4] Welsh Government provided targeted funds to support the achievement of BAME and GRT pupils for a number of years, but in recent developments, may not be providing such specific funding in the future.  In 2015, the Welsh Government chose to remove the ring fenced per-pupil Minority Ethnic Achievement Grant (£10.5 million at 2014-15) and Gypsy and Traveller Grant (1.1 million at 2014-15) which along with 11 other educational grants were collated into the generic Education Achievement Grant (EIG) held by Regional Consortia and provided primarily to mainstream schools rather than specialist centralised services (the old Traveller Education Services for example). Since this time, the Cabinet Secretary for Education announced that funding for BAME and GRT pupils will be entirely transferred to the RSG. Following representations from the sector, some interim funding has been allocated for the specific support of BAME and GRT pupils. However, medium- and long-term funding remains cloudy, with a number of stakeholders expecting that the services will disappear in the long term. 

4. Impact on BAME Pupils:  The reduction of targeting funding to support ethnic minority pupils has had the following results: 1) cuts to centralised specialist services, many of which have been developed for specific communities and 2) reduction of BAME/Gypsy Traveller staff members, not only through funding cuts, but also through the uncertainty of funding for the service, and also of staff members who are well placed to respond confidently and competently to racist bullying. In various fora, EYST has heard evidence that these changes in funding are being made too quickly, without sufficient consideration to the impact on BAME and GRT pupils, particularly in those locations with models of engagement with BAME and GRT pupils which are having a positive impact on pupil engagement.  There are serious concerns relating to both educational attainment and teacher diversity.

5. Educational Attainment: In Wales, gaps within ethnic minority achievement have generally been closing with a few exceptions.  In the last 10 years, Bangladeshi and Pakistani students have caught up with or surpassed the national average at Key Stage 4.  However, attainment figures for Gypsy/Roma/Traveller and also for several Black and Mixed ethnicities are below the national average.   Some Black and Mixed ethnic groups show a decline in achievement through key stages 1-4[5].  The United Nations Committee in the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (UNCERD) has called for all UK nations to specifically address achievement gaps of Black African, Black Caribbean and GRT pupils[6].  There are a number of good practice models in Wales, developed in specific communities and contexts, which should be replicated where needed, rather than cut back.  These programmes and their specialist staff often go far beyond addressing educational attainment.  They are often the staff members who can confidently prevent and address racist bullying.  Likewise, these programmes often provide resources which allow BAME and GRT pupils to learn about their own identities and histories and develop self-esteem and self-identity within an otherwise White-centric curriculum.  For one example, a school in Torfaen has a centre where Gypsy Traveller pupils learn about human rights and their own culture.  These pupils explain this centre as important not only for their own education but also so that White British peers understand their history and culture.   Such programmes also forge links between parents and schools. 

6. Teacher Diversity:  Whereas pupils in Wales are becoming a more ethnically diverse group, teachers in Wales are not.  BAME teachers account for less than 3% of teachers and there is an even more pronounced under-representation of BAME teachers in leadership.    In 2015/16, 25 people of colour embarked upon Initial Teacher Training in Wales – 2% of the cohort[7].  This figure has been declining since 2010 and there is some evidence that aspiring BAME teachers avoid or leave the profession due to racism in schools[8].  As specialist services supporting ethnic minority students are cut and de-hypothecated, there is a detrimental impact on BAME teaching staff, further contributing to a lack of ethnic diversity in teaching staff in Wales.  An investigation into the EIG after initial cuts, showed there the reduction in White/British/Majority staff was 16.2% and the reduction in BAME/GT staff was 21.8%.[9]  Brentnall argues that disproportionate cuts to frontline support for BAME/GT pupils combined with disproportionate impact on BAME staffing may be in breach of Equality Legislation. 

7. Recommendations: 

· Any proposed further changes to current funding for programmes which support BAME and GRT pupils must be carefully scrutinised, including an analysis of how pupils will be affected and how BAME and GRT staff will be affected by further funding cuts and further de-hypothecation;

· Programmes which are successful and are working well both at engaging pupils and raising educational attainment should be funded to continue;

· Any further de-hypothecation of targeted funding for BAME and GRT pupils must be carefully monitored to ensure that funding still makes its way to support BAME and GRT pupils;

· ‘Mainstream’ teachers are trained in a) cultural competence, the skills to reflect upon on their own identity and privilege and how that may affect pupils; b) to recognise and respond effectively to racism and c) to develop curricula which reflect the make-up of students in the classroom.

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[1] Lewis & Starkey (2014) Ethnic Minority Pupils: Evidence Review & Practice In Wales, p. 9, http://gov.wales/docs/caecd/research/2014/140610-ethnic-minority-pupils-en.pdf

[2] Over 60% of BAME pupils in Wales live in Cardiff, Newport and Swansea. 

[3] Lewis & Starkey (2014) Ethnic Minority Pupils: Evidence Review & Practice In Wales, p. 9-10, http://gov.wales/docs/caecd/research/2014/140610-ethnic-minority-pupils-en.pdf

[4] Brentnall J, “Consultation Education Improvement Grant: Gypsy, Roma and Traveller and Minority Ethnic Children” 2016

[5] Nicholl, Jones & Holtom, Breaking the Links Between Poverty & Ethnicity in Wales, p. 16, Joseph Rowntree Foundation:2016

[6] Concluding observations on the 21^st-23^rd periodic reports for the United Kingdom, UNCERD, 2016

[7] StatsWales dataset https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Education-and-Skills/Post-16-Education-and-Training/Higher-Education/Initial-Teacher-Training-ITT/students-in-Wales/firstyearsonitecoursesinwales-by-ethnicity-year

[8] BBC Wales 17 June 2017

[9] Brentnall J, “Consultation Education Improvement Grant: Gypsy, Roma and Traveller and Minority Ethnic Children” 2016