The UKNFS in conjunction with One Community Hampshire and Doret (https://www.ochd.org.uk/) have initiated a Petition to Parliament to change the education section of the Equality Act 2010 to ensure the National Curriculum is changed for the reasons detailed below — we are also active in making representations for this and related major overdue changes to the UK’s education systems, to the Secretary of State for Education, and to both the Education Select Committee and the Women and Equalities Select Committee.
Again — please Sign and Share this petition!
“Amend the Equality Act 2010: National curriculum and protected characteristics”
The Government should create a new ‘National Curriculum content review & reform’ section in the Equality Act, with the purpose of requiring content relating to Protected Characteristics to be structurally instituted throughout the National Curriculum.
The Act’s Education Section in current form has no requirement for National Curriculum content to counteract a core source of prejudice, particularly against BAME people, Women and LGBT people, out of date unbalanced curricula content. The motivation behind the ‘History Month’ Movement [BHM, and LGBT] and the Equality Act itself indicate the need for this action, as do Covid 19, recent events in the US and the ‘Me Too’ movement.
The Petition title and description (informed by experts in Parliament) addresses decades/half a century of badly needed change in the education system where ethnic minority communities and others have simply felt they haven’t been properly represented – core matter at the heart of statues being removed or covered in the UK at present
Petition process background (why the name and why the wording):
The Parliamentary petitions process involves submitting a petition title and description (including why, who supports/asks for the change the petition is meant to achieve, and specifically what will be changed in Parliament and Parliamentary Law (Acts of Parliament) that can reflect major needs in the nation (such as after the George Floyd tragedy, Windrush Scandal, etc.).
The process involves a Parliamentary Committee (Petitions Committee) reviewing the proposed petition; approving it, rejecting it, or advising changes to it to enable it to be accepted. A secretariat of technical experts in Parliamentary procedures and Law at the Petition Committee make the decision on the proposed petition. When a petition is approved, as has happened with ours, it means it is appropriate to be enacted in Law (this case an adjustment to an existing Act of Parliament, the Equality Act 2010) in Parliament or by the UK Government.
Our petition was refused, adjusted, resubmitted a third time, to the Petitions Committee, and in its final state (now publicly published) had some minor but very important refinements included (including on the petition Title), making it from Parliament’s perspective CLEAR in Purpose, and suitable to be actually IMPLEMENTED
Some petitions, if like this one dealing with a major need in the nation and Parliament (such as here on prejudice and a very old, out of date, still influenced by a National Curriculum coverage of History colonial era detail and perspectives NOT REFLECTING THE WISHES OF OUR BAME and other Diverse Communities [the sort of changes called for my the annual History Month phenomenon (Black History Month, etc.)
About the petition:
The Equality Act 2010 united 100+ pieces of equality and anti-discrimination parliamentary legislation (Acts of Parliament). However in its details it NEVER covered education methods – such as the National Curriculum – as the means of reducing racist and other forms of prejudice. This petition now resolves this major defect, that the History Month Movement (such as Black History Month) focuses on, but until now with creation of this petition is able through the change requested to the Equality Act the History Month movement has nor been able to change UK ‘Acts of Parliament’ Law.
The result of this change to the Equality Act also addresses the need across the whole country (indicated by statues coming down, and related speeches of Members of Parliament and Government ministers).
Outcome: if the Amendment to the Equality Act is made, it will mean BAME and other Diverse Communities (and certainly Women/Gender Equality too) reshape the National Curriculum, making history exams cover properly the real history of the county and its people; powerfully making our voices our histories a part of the National Curriculum for the first time ever. A revolutionary, massive change for country and all our communities where the core source of prejudice is concerned.
Accompanying this we have made direct representations jointly to the Education Select Committee and Women and Equalities Select Committee, with awareness to the SoS for Education (Rt Hon Gavin Williamson CBE MP) on changes to the National Curriculum, particularly on the History GCSEs, and that content change would have to be advised and led by BHM and direct individual BAME communities experts themselves.