Den's Road Primary pupils in Dundee put anti-racism on the agenda in Scottish schools

Primary pupils in Dundee are taking the lead in shaping a fairer future for Scotland’s classrooms.

At Dens Road Primary, a Primary 6 class is working closely with the Children’s Parliament to develop a set of seven powerful ‘Calls for Action’, designed to tackle racism head-on in classrooms.

The work is part of the Scottish Government’s Anti-Racism in Education Programme, which seeks to address racial inequality.

Its principles centre around children’s rights, the importance of belonging, identity and challenging discrimination within the national curriculum across all schools in Scotland.

Education secretary Jenny Gilruth visited the school and sat down with the pupils to hear about their experiences and ideas.

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“It has been fantastic listening to the P6 class this morning talk about anti-racism, their own views about racism, and how together we can support each other in calling out racism and also in recording incidents when they happen.”

However, recent reports indicate a rise in incidents of racial abuse in Scottish schools, reflecting wider societal tensions.

The education secretary added: “I’m very keen to work with Education Scotland, and with the teaching profession directly, on anything more that we can do to help support them. I’m particularly mindful of the increase in some of these challenging behaviours we’ve seen in wider society in recent times.

“Our schools are on the front line in responding to some of these issues, so the building racial literacy programme is part of that response from government, as is our work on anti-racism and tackling that prejudice and that type of discrimination.”

Scottish Government’s Anti-Racism in Education Programme

Seven Calls for Action

‘Let us help design our learning so it’s fun and fair, and teach us about our rights’
‘Help us see racism and how it hurts people’
‘Help us understand power and privilege so we can make things fair for everyone’
‘Teach us how to stand up to racism and help others’
‘Make sure we learn about different cultures, languages and stories’
‘Tell us the real history of Scotland, including its role in slavery and racism’
‘We want to learn, speak up, and help make the world a kinder, fairer place’

By encouraging open conversations about race, power, and equality, the youngsters are creating spaces where it’s safe and encouraged to speak up.

“It’s been brilliant to see the children grow in confidence,” said Daniel Albayati, head teacher at Dens Road Primary.

“Particularly confident in tackling that complex nature of anti-racism education because, as we know, it’s a very complex thing and it’s important for the children to be able to have the confidence to address these issues and to speak, and to question things when required as well.”