Published over fifty years ago Bernard Coard’s “How the West Indian Child is Made Educationally Subnormal in the British School System”, exposed “A British Scandal” and its impact arguably resonates up to the present. (1)  The seminal text laid bare the WHITE SUPREMACY in UK education policy and practice that characterised Afrikan children is being intellectually and behaviourally deficient, from pathological families/communities whose very presence was a threat to white attainment.  (2)

Afrikan children were disproportionately crammed into these into so-called Educationally Subnormal (ESN) or ‘Special’ schools.  For example, in London a quarter of all children in these institutions were “West Indian.”  Yet, what has been less spoken about is the devastating (and lasting) impact being trammelled into these places had on literally thousands of children, and their families (3) However, far from being passive observers, the situation did spark an exponential rise in supplementary schools – a vibrant and essential movement that exists to this day as “spaces organised by concerned members of the Black community and offer extra teaching of mainstream curricula and also Black studies. These are presented as potential spaces for Black radical independent education.” (4)  But they were up against a well-resourced state.

One such child who fell victim to the scandal was Noel Gordon who from age six endured ten years in an ESN facility, fifteen miles from his home:

“That school was hell, I spent 10 years there, and when I left at 16, I couldn’t even get a job because I couldn’t spell or fill out a job application. Leaving school without any qualifications is one thing, but leaving school thinking you’re stupid is a different ball game altogether. It knocks your confidence.” (5)

It took ten years from the publication of Coard’s book for the ESN schools to finally close.  (6)  However, the ideology that created them largely stayed in place and even started being bolstered by pundits withing the community like Tony Sewell and Trevor Phillips. (7)  Indeed, Coard argues that “Pupil Referral Units (PRU’s)… quickly filled the ‘spaces’ left by the closure of the ESN schools.” (8)  PRU’s are fuelled by soaring exclusions that can in certain circumstances affect Afrikan children a staggering 168 times more than some other children. (9)

Thus, the scale of the issue is not just restricted to the ‘ESN’ era but up to the present in various ways.  As Bernard Coard tellingly asserts:

“The children the book spoke of are the parents and grandparents of today’s children… What is particularly important to note is that the children of the 1960’s and 1970’s whom the British education system failed are the parents and grand parents of today’s children — large numbers of whom are being suspended and “excluded” from schools, or placed in “special units” or streams. For many reasons true then as now, black boys were affected far more than black girls. The lesson to be learned for today’s problems in the school system is that they were “hatched” decades ago, in the previous two generations. When society fails one generation of children, it lays the foundations for similar, even worse failures in the generations to follow.” (10)

So addressing the pressing issues today necessitates accounting their origins.  Although he has since made significant strides educationally, Bro. Noel says being labelled educationally subnormal made him feel inferior for the rest of his life, and gave him a lot of psychological problems. (11)

As such he has launched a petition to demand “Justice for children incorrectly labelled “educationally subnormal” in 1960s/70s”:

“During the era of the arrival of the Windrush Generation – who saw Britain as the mother country, and many of whom worked tirelessly for the NHS, manufacturing, retail, transport, business, and the public sector – they had faith and confidence in the education system as they Hundreds of children that were born in Britain or came as migrants were wrongly classified as “educationally subnormal”. The Government should apologise for the historic failings that permitted this, and provide financial compensation to those affected.” (https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/612398)

If the petition reaches 100,000 signatures it will be considered for debate in Parliament.  The deadline is 9 December 2022.  So far there are just over 300 signatories.

(1) Bernard Coard (20/05/21) Black children still underachieving. https://www.chartist.org.uk/black-children-still-underachieving/

(2) Ashley John-Baptiste (20/05/21) The black children wrongly sent to ‘special’ schools in the 1970s https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57099654

(3) Sally Tomlinson (14/07/21) Disgraceful Labelling: Race, Special Education and Exclusion. https://excludedlives.education.ox.ac.uk/disgraceful-labelling-race-special-education-and-exclusion/

(4) Kehinde N. Andrews (2010) Back to Black: Black Radicalism and the. Supplementary School Movement. Ph.D Thesis. p. 249

(5) John-Baptiste. Op. cit

(6) Bernard Coard (05/02/05) Why I wrote the ‘ESN book’. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2005/feb/05/schools.uk

(7) Bro. Ldr Mbandaka (2004) EDUCATION: An Afrikan-Centred Approach to Excellence. Soul Force Promotions. On p. 9, Bro. Ldr writes: “The academic Bro. Tony Sewell blames Black youth culture and the “negative impact” of rap and hip-hop. He even claims that this has begun to affect White youth as well.  However, the difference between this 50-year-old problem and the emergence of rap and hip-hop in mid-80’s Britain creates a 35-year credibility gap, which renders Dr. Sewell’s thesis fundamentally flawed.  Interestingly, ex-BNP leader John Tyndall publicly applauded the good doctor’s thesis, especially for blaming Black youths for “corrupting White youths”.; Adam Elliott-Cooper (20/03/15) How Not To Tackle Race Trevor Phillips Style. https://archive.voice-online.co.uk/article/how-not-tackle-race-trevor-phillips-style; Nels Abbey (17/03/15) The Miseducation Of Trevor Phillips. https://archive.voice-online.co.uk/article/miseducation-trevor-phillips;

(8) Coard (20/05/21). Op. cit

(9) Whitney Crenna-Jennings (21/12/17) ‘A black Caribbean FSM boy with SEND is 168 times more likely to be permanently excluded than a white British girl without SEND. Why?’ https://www.tes.com/news/black-caribbean-fsm-boy-send-168-times-more-likely-be-permanently-excluded-white-british-girl

(10) Coard (05/02/05). Op. cit

(11) John-Baptiste. Op. cit

we ask the question:

‘SUBNORMAL’: Has the education scandal really ended?

1) Have you signed the petition? Can we get to 100,000 by December?

2) What kind of financial compensation would be appropriate?

3) Can this group also be compensated in other ways?

4) Are today’s education issues rooted in the ESN era of the 60s & 70s?

5) Are PRUs the new version of ESN schools?

6) Do we need a modern equivalent of supplementary schools to combat this issue?

Our Special Guests:

Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and an Afrikan-Centred Education Consultant.  Bro. Ldr is a veteran activist of almost 40 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An African-Centred Approach To Excellence.

Bro. Noel Gordon: was wrongly sent to an ‘Educationally Subnormal’ (ESN) school for ten years from the age of six.  In spite of being unable to read or spell when he left school he gained a raft of impressive qualifications as an adult, including a degree in computing.  Bro. Noel is now spearheading a campaign to get an apology, justice and compensation for thousands of victims of the ‘ESN’ Scandal (https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/612398).