The Booker prize-winning creator Bernardine Evaristo has referred to as for renewed efforts to diversify the college curriculum in England, warning that younger individuals are rising up in a society the place “doorways are closing” and the tide is popping towards inclusion.
There was progress within the variety of texts on supply within the GCSE English literature curriculum, however uptake in faculties remains to be low with simply 1.9% of GCSE pupils in England learning books by authors of color, up from 0.7% 5 years in the past, in response to a report.
Compiled by the marketing campaign group Lit in Color, the report says progress is simply too sluggish and that on the present tempo of change it will likely be 2046 earlier than 10% of scholars reply a query a couple of textual content by an creator of color of their English literature GCSE.
And it’ll take till 2115 earlier than 38% of pupils research a author of color in GCSE English literature, a determine that’s important as a result of in response to the Division for Training’s (DfE) most up-to-date figures, 38% of pupils in English faculties are from a minority ethnic background.
Since Lit in Color launched its marketing campaign to enhance variety within the faculty curriculum in England 5 years in the past, the proportion of GCSE English literature set texts by authors of color has elevated from 12% to 36%.
In 2025 there have been eight texts by authors of color on examination board set textual content lists, principally of Black and south Asian heritage, however many academics proceed to supply texts reminiscent of JB Priestley’s An Inspector Calls, due to familiarity, a scarcity of assets to assist the instructing of latest texts and inadequate time for coaching.
Writing within the foreword to the marketing campaign’s five-year progress report, Evaristo welcomed the progress made however stated that with the idea of variety underneath assault, it was much more essential to make sure books by writers of color have been on the curriculum.
After the homicide of George Floyd within the US and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter motion within the UK, Evaristo stated, “there was a noticeable willingness from many establishments to discover a number of the boundaries individuals of color have needed to face, together with within the training sector”.
She stated: “Quick ahead to 2025 and it appears as if these doorways are closing once more, and I fear that younger individuals at this time are as soon as once more rising up in a society the place makes an attempt to turn out to be extra egalitarian are underneath menace, with the tide turning towards inclusion.
“The time period ‘variety’ itself is now thought of a harmful idea in some quarters, with all makes an attempt at turning into a extra progressive society dismissed as ‘woke’. On this local weather, the Lit in Color marketing campaign is much more important to making sure that books by authors of color are on the curriculum.”
Lit in Color, led by Penguin Random Home and the Runnymede Belief thinktank on race equality and race relations, is a partnership between instructional and cultural organisations and England’s 4 examination boards.
A spokesperson for the Division for Training stated: “As a part of the federal government’s response to the curriculum and evaluation evaluation we are going to be sure that alongside traditional English literature the curriculum will enable area for academics to decide on a wider vary of texts and authors.”
In the meantime, Lee Baby, the bestselling creator of the Jack Reacher sequence of thrillers, has been named as the primary jail studying laureate. The function, which covers prisons in England and Wales, has been created to focus on the significance of enhancing literacy amongst prisoners to assist stop reoffending.
Baby plans to increase a literacy pilot programme he has been operating in various prisons and might be inviting extra authors to take part.
“This isn’t about being delicate on crime, it’s about being good,” he stated. “Enhancing literacy is an evidence-based, sensible method that works. When individuals go away jail higher geared up to learn and be taught, they’re much less prone to reoffend. That makes communities safer for everybody.”
The brand new one-year function has been created as a part of the Nationwide Yr of Studying, a UK-wide marketing campaign to spice up studying amongst kids and adults.
