By Gavin Mackintosh-
Tottenham Mp David Lammy has been asked to thoroughly investigate allegations of racism at a North London school, where a black teacher was fired after he amassed thousands of petitions, signed by pupils and parents to force the new principal of the school to resign.
Mr Adesui claimed that a disproportionate number of pupils in the school had been expelled and that black teachers were being forced to resign.
The PE teacher manged to amass 2,000 signatures supporting his cause, before given the boot himself.
Representatives of the school told The Eye Of Media.Com that every child who was suspended or expelled had behaved in a manner that called for those consequences, stressing that the school was multi-cultural and the vast majority of students were well behaved.
The complaining teacher, Mr.Adesui, himself did not provide any evidence of racism to this publication following two inquiries we made about the allegations, when we reached out to him.
However, MP David Lammy’s office told us they met with the school to investigate the claims of racism and were assured there was no racism in the school.
That response has not satisfied critics, who say Lammy’s invetigation was not thorough because the MP did not speak to any black pupils, parents, or teachers, and took the testimony of the school authorities for gospel.
The matter resurfaced during research we have been conducting on london schools in the last week on the plans for easier marking on G.C.S.E and A levels in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Analyst Hortensia Daniels said : ”This is not a professionally competent way to conduct an investigation, one parent told us. You don’t address complaints of racism by only speaking to the accused but not the complainant.
‘How Lammy can believe he has conducted a full investigation without communicating with the black teacher who was sacked is surprising.
‘The teacher may not have a real claim of racism when the matter is explored fully, but that can only be determined in a full investigation.
Lammy is known for talking up against racism, but here we have a bitter issue that was stirred up in his own constituency, and he has conducted an incomplete investigation by only talking to some of the parties concerned and leaving out the main complainants from his investigation”.
The Mp told The Eye Of Media.Com he visited the school twice to investigate the allegations- a sign of his efforts and commitment to trying to get to the bottom of the matter- and there is no telling whether he heard enough to convince him the school was not expelling students on the basis of their colour.
Mp Lammy said in a stament to this publication: “Accusations of racism, and criticism of policies leading to disproportionate or disproportional outcomes must be taken incredibly seriously. That is why in April, when concerns were raised about Harris Academy Tottenham via an online petition about the impact of their zero-tolerance policies, I immediately wrote to the school to raise my concerns and asked them to explain the accusations.
I have since met with school staff twice, and written to them again, impressing upon them the importance of investigating the issues properly, and addressing concerns directly.
They have informed me that there is no evidence of BAME or SEN children being impacted disproportionately by their behaviour policies and that they are actively building relationships between the school and the local community. I have not since had any parents or children raise concerns about racism at the school directly with me.
If any do have further concerns, they should feel free to contact me, and I will do what I can in my position as MP for Tottenham to ensure that any issues at the school are addressed”
Critics of Lammy’s approach say his call for parents to contact him overlooks the fact that parents whose children have not been directly affected by alleged racism will not be motivated to contact him, and there are many parents whose children may be affected who may not have the ability to do something as basic as writing simple letter or email.
The authourities of any organisation will usually deny allegations of racism, where they provable, this being at the core of the criticism of Mr. Lammy’s investigations.
”we must remember that not all parents are educated, especially parents from poor backgrounds. They will not go to lengths to complain about the type of discrimination that is not easy to prove.
”If the complaining teacher himself did not bother to contact the Mp, how much less parents who are too busy with work, or at home getting drunk( for those parents that just stay at home and get high)
As an Mp, Lammy has a duty to conduct through investigations, not do a half job by taking the word of those who have no choice but to be defensive against allegations made about them.
It was for Lammy and his team to investigate all the complaints”.
Harris Academy is a multi-cultural school with a broad mix of native Brits and black and Turkish pupils. Most of its pupils are doing well academically, and the ration of pupils suspended or expelled is low.