Private School Decision
The Voice
Many people were surprised when I announced my decision to send my son to a private school. No-one was more surprised than me. But the underlying issue is the way in which Britain’s schools continue to fail black children. And I believe that many black mothers will understand the position I find myself in. I have campaigned for nearly 10 years on the issue of black underachievement in Britain’s schools. I have organised think tanks, local conferences in Hackney and more recently, The London Schools and the Black Child initiative which attracted over 1,700 people to our last conference.
Government policy is at last beginning to change but it may be too late for the current generation of black children. Nationally, about half of Britain’s schoolchildren get five good GCSE’s. For boys, the figure is 42%. But in Hackney, only 9% of black boys get five good GCSE’s. I could have considered sending my child to a state school in an adjoining borough. But the results for black boys in Haringey, Islington and Tower Hamlets are almost as bad as in Hackney. I agonised long and hard over the decision. At one point, I even considered sending my son back to Jamaica to be educated. But in the end, I was forced to choose between my political reputation for honesty and consistency and my son’s future. But Voice readers can be assured that I will continue to campaign on black underachievement in schools to ensure that all of our children can achieve their potential in British schools.
back ⇢