THIS month marks 40 years since the Swann Report confirmed the suspicions of black children, teachers and parents in Britain — the British education system is systemically racist. Biologist Lord Michael Swann’s powerful report wasn’t the first or last to address racial discrimination in schools, but it was groundbreaking in its thoughtfulness and acknowledgement of the scandal of “educationally subnormal” (ESN) schools. 

This often forgotten miscarriage of justice took place in the 1960s and ’70s, and saw hundreds of black children wrongly sent to schools meant for pupils with severe physical and mental disabilities. 

Before World War II, these schools primarily served disabled children from wealthy backgrounds — but by the late ’60s almost 30 per cent of ESN pupils in London were black immigrant children, mainly from the Caribbean, compared to 15 per cent in mainstream schools.

This shocking discrimination was exposed when an Inner London Education Authority report was leaked to Grenadian educator Bernard Coard, prompting him in 1971 to publish the seminal book, How the West Indian Child is Made Educationally Subnormal in the British School System.

In 1985, Swann highlighted the persistence of negative racial stereotypes, biased IQ tests and a deep misunderstanding of culture and language as key reasons for this gross over-representation of black children within ESN schools, which had been banned four years earlier.

Four decades on, Labour’s Kim Johnson is demanding justice. At Prime Minister’s Questions last week, the Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, who also chairs the parliamentary group for miscarriages of justice, called for a public inquiry into the “misclassification of mainly black children as educationally subnormal … to provide justice and recompense for those who have been affected” — noting that none of Swann’s recommendations had been followed. 

Unsurprisingly, Prime Minister Keir Starmer wouldn’t comment on a public inquiry, instead insisting that “all children and young people must be treated fairly, and there is no place for hate or prejudice in our education system” — while agreeing to facilitate a ministerial meeting on the matter.

Johnson, who has since secured a Commons debate on the Swann Report for this Wednesday, told the Morning Star that Starmer’s response was an “important step forward” and added: “For too long, the ESN scandal has been overlooked and neglected. Now that the government has acknowledged the issue of structural racism in our education system, it must commit to a full and transparent public inquiry to deliver accountability and justice for the ESN school survivors.”

Tomorrow evening, Johnson will be hosting an event in Parliament in association with Leigh Day Solicitors to commemorate the report’s anniversary and raise public and political awareness of the ESN scandal. Speakers include educational psychologist Dr Cynthia Pinto, Leslie Thomas KC and survivors of the injustice Noel Gordon and Maisie Barrett, while representatives from campaign group No More Exclusions will explain how discrimination in education lives on in the form of pupil referral units. A special message from Bernard Coard is also expected.

Although a public inquiry into the ESN scandal is desperately needed, there is still much more to do to address racial inequalities in the British education system. From disproportionate exclusion rates for black and Gypsy/Roma children to increased hate crimes against Jewish and Muslim students and a national curriculum that doesn’t reflect the diverse nature of our nation, the government has its work cut out if it wants — in the Prime Minister’s words — to see an end to hate and prejudice in education. 

Outside Parliament, for people like Noel and Maisie and organisations such as No More Exclusions, the work to build a truly inclusive education for all continues.