With nearly 700,000 children variously categorised as “Black” now back at school, the perennial question of how we get the best out of it for them rears its head. (1)  It’s a necessary question because not only have “UK schools… targeted black children for generations”, they continue to do so for hairstyles, dress, modes of expression – simply being themselves. (2)

One aspect of the debate essentially posits that our children get what they deserve if we continue to send them to racist institutions, with the implication that our failure to build and sustain our own centres of learning (and there appears to be little on the horizon) lays the blame squarely at our feet.  (3) Yet some counter that even if we had built one hundred such establishments it would still leave most of the 700,000 unaccounted for.  There are increasing amounts of parents (albeit hard to quantify) that are supporting their children by home-schooling that “can’t afford to have them failed by the education system.” (4)  Again, this will realistically cater for a relative fraction of our children. 

Consequently, most Afrikan parents in the UK, whether reluctantly or comprehensive conditioning, feel they have no option but to place their children in mainstream schools.  Yet doing so doesn’t have to mean surrender as there are resources that can help.  An excellent example is the 2008 book Gifted At Primary, Failing By Secondary and its 2020 sequel Sailing Through Secondary, Considering Uni by teacher and Education Consultant Bro. Neil Mayers.  Provocative sections of the books include: SAT Exams are a Waste of Time, OFSTED is a Money-Making Scheme and You’ve Been Trained to Sell-Out and Your Children are Next! (5)

Starting from the basis that the purpose of UK schools is not to educate but to “create a stock of good British subjects”, the books are full of essential tips, guidance, strategies and insights for parents, students and teachers alike on engaging with schools be they mainstream or foundation (“Saturday”).  There are also sections on learning styles, African holistic education, home-schooling, Africans vs. Caribbeans, Monetising Your Child’s Interests, developing a “Growth Mindset” and much, much more.

(1) gov.uk (09/06/22) Academic Year 2021/22: Schools, pupils and their characteristics. https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics

(2) Kuba Shand-Baptiste (12/01/20) UK schools have targeted black children for generations – the education system is overdue for a reckoning. https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/school-racism-black-students-exclusions-hair-kiss-teeth-a9280296.html

(3) Kehinde N. Andrews (2010) Back to Black: Black Radicalism and the Supplementary School Movement. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/75465.pdf. p. 137

(4) Sinai Fleary (15/10/21)  . https://www.voice-online.co.uk/news/features-news/2021/10/15/the-rise-of-home-schooling-in-the-black-community/

(5) Neil Mayers (2008) Gifted At Primary, Failing By Secondary. Ill-Literation. p. 6-14

we ask the question:

How can we effectively deal with the UK school system?

1) What are our objectives for our children in the school system?

2) Have we really been “trained to sell-out”?

3) Can we really justify putting our children in a system we believe is racist?

4) Should we be home-schooling our children en masse?

5) What is a “Growth Mindset”?

Our Special Guest:

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. Neil Mayers: is an education consultant and founder of “Raising Black Achievement”. He has been a school Head of Inclusion and Mathematics Consultant with the target of raising the grades of underachieving black students above “C”. He is the creator of an effective tool to learn Black History “Pearls or History Calendar”, and also a founding partner of the Carthaginian Conference: a series of ‘wealth education’ lectures.    He has written Gifted at Primary, Failing by Secondary and its sequel Sailing Through Secondary, Considering Uni which is are parenting manuals packed with simple and practical tips to help black children avoid the “secondary slump”. This is also the focus of “Raising Black Achievement” which is aimed to give parents, teachers and carers as many means of support as possible to raise their children (https://raisingblackachievement.com/).