Education secretary Bridget Phillipson
“For the first time in a long time white working class children have a government that will fight for them.” If you had to guess, you might think those words had come out of the mouth of Reform UK’s Nigel Farage or Restore Britain’s Rupert Lowe.
But those were the words of Bridget Phillipson, Labour’s education secretary, after the publication of the Independent Inquiry into White Working Class Educational Outcomes.
The inquiry, published on Monday, was commissioned by the Star Academies Trust with the support of the Department for Education.
It defines “white working class children as white pupils in receipt of free school meals (FSM) and then describes what it calls a “white working class disadvantage gap”.
This is the “persistent gap in educational attainment between disadvantaged white British pupils and their peers”.
So, for example, only 36 percent of “white working class students” achieve a grade 4 or above in English and maths GCSE by the end of secondary school. That’s compared with 72 percent of students not in receipt of FSM.
The inquiry concludes that the education system in this country is uniquely ill suited to “serving the interests of white working class children”.
But there is a serious problem with the report. It ignores the reality that all working class children are failed by an underfunded, exam factory school system. Those inequalities are rooted in class, not whiteness.
In fact, the report doesn’t compare the grades “white working class children” to black of Asian children on FSM.
It fails to mention that other groups rank below its figures for what it defines as the “white working class”.
For example, of Gypsy and Roma students in receipt of FSM, only 9 achieve a grade
4 or above in English or maths GCSE.
The report fails to mention that, among those not in receipt of FSM, 71 percent “white British” students make the grades compared to 59 percent Black Caribbean students.
Anna, a parent and teacher in east London, told Socialist Worker, “All of the research shows that economics map onto education attainment—and that they always have.
“The education system in this country is not fit for purpose for children from working class families across the board.”
Anna argued that, if the Labour government was serious about supporting working class students, it would boost funding.
“Cut class sizes, give us more money, give us proper provision for students with special education needs and disabilities,” she said.
Julie, a parent and teacher in north London, added, “This focus on the white working class, as separate from the working class as a whole, is feeding into the rise of the far right.”
Indeed, Nigel Farage has recently published an essay titled, Britain Is A Two-Tier State—Against White People.
In his essay, he calls for the repeal of the Equality Act. This report will only add fuel to the fire—while doing nothing to help working class children.
Racism first developed as a justification for enslavement
