British MPs say that schools teaching pupils about "white privilege" may be breaking the law, as it might be creating a major problem for those who desperately need help.
According to a report by the Commons Education Committee, kids from white working-class families are among the worst-achieving groups in the country, falling behind children from other ethnicities, and the "white privilege" idea may have contributed to the neglect those children have been facing for decades.
At the same time, the report suggested that such ideas could be in breach of the Equality Act 2010.
"So far, the Department for Education (DfE) has been reluctant to recognise the specific challenges faced by the white working class, let alone do anything to tackle this chronic social injustice. This must stop now...", Committee Chairman Robert Halfon said. "We also desperately need to move away from dealing with racial disparity by using divisive concepts like 'white privilege' that pit one group against another", he said.
According to reports, tests among five-year-olds showed that only 53 percent of poor white British pupils meet the expected standard of development, which is one of the lowest results for any disadvantaged ethnic group.
In terms of General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), 17.7 percent of poor white students in UK schools achieve grade 5 or above (the equivalent of a C, as 9 points is the highest result and 4 is considered to be a passing grade) in English and math, compared with 22.5 percent of poor pupils from all ethnicities.
The picture is a bit bleaker at British universities, where just 16 percent of white students come from working-class backgrounds. This is the lowest result of any ethnic group other than travellers.
