Ethnicity data published by Stats Wales in 2023 shows that around 5.2% of people in Wales identify as black, Asian, or minority ethnic. This is higher than the number of registrants who identify as such on our Register. Diversity within the education workforce, as well as within our own organisation, is extremely important to us, so that they both reflect the diverse makeup of our communities in Wales.
We are steadfast in our efforts to help create a more diverse workforce, but recognise there is a long way to go. These past few years, alongside registrants and partners, we’ve taken several small, yet purposeful steps. They include developing an ambitious Strategic Equality Plan (SEP) which reinforces our commitment to anti-racism and inclusion, sitting on a steering group to oversee the implementation of Welsh Government’s anti-racist Wales action plan (which features specific actions designated to us), and signing Race Council Cymru’s Zero Racism Wales pledge. This pledge means that, amongst other things, we commit to stand against racism, and promote a more inclusive society for all.
In November 2021, we welcomed esteemed guests, Professor Charlotte Williams and Sathnam Sanghera, to what would be the first in our webinar series on moving from a non-racist to an anti-racist Wales. This well attended event sparked the need for three more similar events, with contributions from various schools across Wales talking about their experiences of becoming anti-racist, and sharing good practice. You can watch all four of the webinars on our YouTube channel.
From the series of webinars came the chance to work with various groups and organisations to advocate for our black, Asian, and minority ethnic registrants. One of those partners is DARPL (Diversity and Anti-Racism Professional Learning), whom we have continued to work with closely over the past several years. This has included an invaluable contribution from DARPL Director and founder, Chantelle Houghton, in our podcast on diversifying the workforce, and supporting the delivery of their national conferences.
DARPL, alongside several other key partners, also helped us to shape our SEP 2024-28. It features two key actions based around increasing diversity within both our own workforce, and the education workforce as a whole, through recruitment and promotion.
To support the delivery of objective five of our SEP, ‘help develop an education workforce that is representative of the diverse population of Wales’, we created a new position within our promotion of careers team (the team responsible for delivering Welsh Government funded, Educators Wales). They have a specific responsibility for promoting jobs in education and supporting people from black, Asian, and minority ethnic communities to join the workforce. The person appointed identifies as being from these communities, and has been key to getting more people entering the education professions in Wales. They have attended over 50 different events targeted at minority ethnic communities since 2022, including a mixture of small community events, large national events, and drop-in one-to-one sessions. They have also set up popular open evenings with the various initial teacher education (ITE) programmes across Wales, growing from one event in 2022, to a target of seven this year.
As well as these activities, we have created several different resources to support our registrants to promote ethnic diversity, tackle racism, and work towards an anti-racist Wales. One of the resources is a good practice guide on tackling racism, endorsed by BAMEed Network Wales and Show Racism the Red Card. Created for all registrants, it aims to help them ensure their behaviours and practice are inclusive, and to create an environment where learners, young people, and colleagues feel welcome, regardless of their race or ethnicity.
And yet, whilst we are extremely proud of the steps we have taken so far, we acknowledge that real change requires sustained and committed support from the whole education sector. Our SEP, and continued partnership working, demonstrates our commitment to continuing to do better, and we remain open to new ideas, feedback, and partnerships that can help us support further progress.
By working together, we believe we can build an education workforce that’s truly inclusive, empowering all registrants, learners, and young people to feel valued, safe, and respected.
If you’d like to learn more about what we’ve mentioned here, or would like to contribute to our work in any way, please visit our website, or