A small step in the right direction (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

A small step in the right direction

8:39am Thursday 21st January 2010 in Our View By Telegraph & Argus

Research into the ethnic make-up of our schools which has been carried out by the University of Bristol will no doubt be taken up by people of widely differing viewpoints.

However, it is important in such cases to focus on the whole picture rather than just one aspect which may support a particular viewpoint to the exclusion of others.

There is no doubt, for instance, that some of our schools are majority white and others are majority non-white, neither reflecting the overall population of the district.

But this does not prove there has been a failure to integrate.

For a start, the Bristol academics agree that ethnic segregation in schools is falling – just that this is not always a rapid process.

So actually our schools are becoming more integrated.

Also it would be very hard for a school in Ilkley, for example, to reflect the ethnic make-up of the district as a whole when the town itself doesn’t – unless the undesirable, impractical and even divisive step of bussing students across the district was taken.

In other words, surely these findings must be influenced by the historically varied character of the places that make up Bradford district.

And while there should be no complacency over this issue, neither should the practical and imaginative work being done to counter some of the district’s unique problems be overlooked.