Teacher felt ‘worthless’ after facing discrimination – as report warns racism is harming profession
A teacher who faced discrimination from senior staff at her former college has told Sky News how she was left feeling “worthless” and “suicidal”.
It comes after a report by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) warned racism, discrimination and the lack of opportunities for promotion are damaging the teaching profession and driving away staff from ethnic minority backgrounds.
The charity also warned that retention was significantly lower for teachers of ethnic minority backgrounds than for their white peers.
Sky News spoke to Betty Knight, a teacher who faced discrimination at her former college in Alton, Hampshire.
She was put on an improvement plan after an unannounced 25-minute lesson observation, which was against the college’s own policy, and despite her excellent results.
Betty Knight fought – and won – a discrimination case against her former college
In 2023, Ms Knight – the only black teacher at the college at the time – took her employer to court and won. But it took a toll on her health.
“At that time, to be honest with you, I felt really suicidal. I felt like, you know, worthless, but I had to pull myself together for my students, so they didn’t have to see me in that way.”
She doesn’t feel like she can return to teaching after this experience.
‘I feel like an outsider’
Ms Knight said: “They wanted to shut me down and break me and [they] did… because they changed who I was. I was a very outgoing person. Now I’m a different person. I don’t go out now.
“I just feel very much like an outsider, which I never did. I just feel like I don’t belong here.”
A Havant & South Downs College spokesperson said: “The tribunal found that an email communication sent amounted to harassment related to the claimant’s race.
“We apologised to Ms Knight for that act and any distress caused.
“The college values its employees highly, and always endeavours to treat them fairly and equitably.”
Jack Worth from the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) is behind the research.
Ethnic minority teachers ‘vastly underrepresented’
Jack Worth, school workforce lead at the NFER, said: “People from ethnic minority backgrounds are vastly underrepresented in the teaching workforce, particularly at senior leadership level.
“That’s down to a range of factors, including disparities in progression, all the way from applications to initial teacher training, to teacher retention, to the way that head teachers are appointed.”
Teaching suffers from large disparities among certain ethnic groups
Lack of opportunities to progress
According to the charity’s research, reasons for people leaving the profession include “overt and covert racial discrimination from staff, pupils and parents”.
The NFER also suggests that teachers from ethnic minority backgrounds leave due to “a lack of opportunities for progression”.
Read more UK news from Sky News:
Prince William tells children about homelessness
Jeremy Clarkson told to change lifestyle after operation
Evelyn Forde, a former headteacher, who is also black, said: “Black and Asian leaders… we do have the credentials, but too often we’re not given those opportunities.
“I turned the school from ‘Requires Improvement’ [a ranking by Ofsted inspectors] to ‘Good’ and achieved accolades, which proves that we can do this job.
“Three per cent of headteachers are from a black or Asian background, where we are a minority, and that comes with its own challenges.”
Evelyn Forde says she suffered discrimination while seeking promotion
A spokesperson from the Department for Education said: “These accounts are deeply distressing, and we are clear that racism and discrimination have absolutely no place in our schools, nor in society.
“Issues around diversity, recruitment and retention have been neglected for too long, and we are working hard to recruit teachers from lots of different backgrounds.
“That’s why we are removing barriers to applying for initial teacher training and offering tax-free bursaries and scholarships for trainees teaching key subjects.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK
UK
Teenager living in ‘continuous pain’ after surgeon Dr Yaser Jabbar carried out ‘inappropriate’ operations
A 15-year-old boy who was operated on twice by a now unlicensed Great Ormond Street surgeon is living with “continuous” pain.
Finias Sandu has been told by an independent review the procedures he underwent on both his legs were “unacceptable” and “inappropriate” for his age.
The teenager from Essex was born with a condition that causes curved bones in his legs.
Aged seven, a reconstructive procedure was carried out on Finias’s left leg, lengthening the limb by 3.5cm.
A few years later, the same operation was carried out on his right leg which involved wearing an invasive and heavy metal frame for months.
He has now been told by independent experts these procedures should not have taken place and concerns have been raised over a lack of imaging being taken prior to the operations.
Yaser Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence last year. Pic: LinkedIn
His doctor at London’s prestigious Great Ormond Street Hospital was former consultant orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar. Sky News has spoken to others he treated.
Mr Jabbar also did not arrange for updated scans or for relevant X-rays to be conducted ahead of the procedures.
The surgeries have been found to have caused Finias “harm” and left him in constant pain.
“The pain is there every day, every day I’m continuously in pain,” he told Sky News.
“It’s not something really sharp, although it does get to a certain point where it hurts quite a lot, but it’s always there. It just doesn’t leave, it’s a companion to me, just always there.”
Read more:
Girl who had leg amputated suffered harm during surgeon’s care
Child, 11, in wheelchair after surgeon’s operations
Hospital accused of ‘covering up’ concerns about suspended surgeon
Finias’s surgery pictures
Care of over 700 patients being assessed
Mr Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence in January last year after working at Great Ormond Street between 2017 and 2022.
The care of his 700-plus patients is being assessed, with some facing corrective surgery, among them Finias.
“Trusting somebody is hard to do, knowing what they have done to me physically and emotionally, you know, it’s just too much to comprehend for me,” he said.
“It wasn’t something just physically, like my leg pain and everything else. It was emotionally, because I put my trust in that specific doctor. My parents and I don’t really understand the more scientific terms, we just went by what he said.”
Doctors refused to treat Finias because of his surgeries
Finias and his family relocated to their native Romania soon after the reconstructive frame was removed from his right leg in the summer of 2021.
The pain worsened and they sought advice from doctors in Romania, who refused to treat Finias because of the impact of his surgeries.
Dozens of families seeking legal claims
His mother Cornelia Sandu is “furious” and feels her trust in the hospital has been shattered. They are now among dozens of families seeking legal claims.
Cyrus Plaza from Hudgell Solicitors is representing the family. He said: “In cases where it has been identified that harm was caused, we want to see Great Ormond Street Hospital agreeing to pay interim payments of compensation for the children, so that if they need therapy or treatment now, they can access it.”
Finias is accessing therapy and mental health support as he prepares for corrective surgery later in the year.
A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street Hospital told Sky News: “We are deeply sorry to Finias and his family, and all the patients and families who have been impacted.
“We want every patient and family who comes to our hospital to feel safe and cared for. We will always discuss concerns families may have and, where they submit claims, we will work to ensure the legal process can be resolved as quickly as possible.”
Finias with his mother and sister
Service not ‘safe for patients’
Sky News has attempted to contact Mr Jabbar.
An external review into the wider orthopaedic department at the hospital began in September 2022.
It was commissioned after the Royal College of Surgeons warned the hospital’s lower limb reconstruction service was not “safe for patients or adequate to meet demand”.
The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Sir Keir Starmer has said closer ties with the EU will be good for the UK’s jobs, bills and borders ahead of a summit where he could announce a deal with the bloc.
The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday as part of its efforts to “reset” relations post-Brexit.
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – but disagreements over a youth mobility scheme and fishing rights could prove to be a stumbling block.
The prime minister has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
His comment comes after Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said on Friday work on a defence deal was progressing but “we’re not there yet”.
Sir Keir met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen later that day while at a summit in Albania.
Ursula von der Leyen and Sir Keir had a brief meeting earlier this week. Pic: PA
If agreed, the deal will be the third in two weeks, following trade agreements with India and the US.
Sir Keir said: “First India, then the United States – in the last two weeks alone that’s jobs saved, faster growth and wages rising.
“More money in the pockets of British working people, achieved through striking deals not striking poses.
“Tomorrow, we take another step forward, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union.”
Read more:
Humza Yousaf hits out at Starmer’s ‘dog whistle’ stance on immigration
MPs criticise terminally ill Esther Rantzen’s assisted dying intervention
👉 Click here to follow Electoral Dysfunction wherever you get your podcasts 👈
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is “worried” about what the PM might have negotiated.
Ms Badenoch – who has promised to rip up the deal with the EU if it breaches her red lines on Brexit – said: “Labour should have used this review of our EU trade deal to secure new wins for Britain, such as an EU-wide agreement on Brits using e-gates on the continent.
“Instead, it sounds like we’re giving away our fishing quotas, becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again and getting free movement by the back door. This isn’t a reset, it’s a surrender.”
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway