London - Teachers in England should not be banned from being members of the far-right British National Party or any organisation that promotes racism, according to an independent report published on Friday.
Bans on such membership already exist for the police force and prison service, but former chief inspector of schools Maurice Smith, who conducted the review, said measures already in place to protect pupils from racist teachers were sufficient.
"I do not believe that barring teachers or other members of the wider school workforce from membership of legitimate organisations which may promote racism is necessary at present, although it should be kept under active review," he said .
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"To bar teachers... from joining non-proscribed organisations would be a profound political act... it would be a disproportionate response, taking a very large sledgehammer to crack a minuscule nut."
Over the past seven years only four teachers and two governors had been publicly identified as being members of racist organisations, the report found, and there were only nine cases of teachers being disciplined for making racist remarks or having racist material.
There are more than half a million teachers in England.
Schools minister Ed Balls accepted the report's recommendations and requested that Smith carry out an additional review of safeguards in independent schools, where many of the measures in place in government-maintained schools to protect children do not apply.
"It is reassuring to know that the current measures in place are working. The report is clear about this but it is also clear that these measures can be improved upon," he said.
Balls added that he wanted to know whether the current situation struck "the right balance between allowing independent schools autonomy... and protecting the young people attending those schools from teachers displaying racist or intolerant views or behaviours that could be harmful".
Measures to promote equal opportunities should be kept under constant view, and evaluated externally, Smith's report recommended, with a yearly report on whether the safeguards in place were adequate. - Reuters
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