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Sample letter from Teachers at Kingsgate School, Camden, London. We the undersigned teachers and support staff at Kingsgate Primary School are writing to express our concern about the governments’s plan to educate children who are seeking asylum in detention centres away form mainstream schools. We believe that the interests of children will not be served if this proposal becomes statutory. We strongly believe that all the children benefit from learning in a multi-racial environment and that refugee and asylum seekers make a positive contribution to the communities they live in. The school would be a poorer place without them. We are concerned that the Home Secretaries comments of June 11 2002 (Hansard) "It is virtually impossible to drag a family away from a neighbourhood school. Local papers run local campaigns to stop people being removed" are both divisive and inflammatory. They display insensitivity towards vulnerable people who have already been forced to flee their country of origin because of fear of persecution. We do not believe that these views are representative of the country as a whole and appear to contradict previous calls by the government for integration and inclusion of minority ethinic groups.We sincerely hope that this Bill will be defeated and that tolerance will prevail. We look forward to your response.
No Shool Apartheid! Not
in the name of mothers, teachers and other carers! No school apartheid! Press: In defence of asylum Letter published in The Guardian 15 June 2002 |