Only a fifth of UK universities say they are 'decolonising' curriculum

Only a fifth of UK universities have committed to reforming their curriculum to confront the harmful legacy of colonialism, an investigation by the Guardian has found. The disclosure comes as universities are under pressure to modernise their syllabuses to address the attainment gap between white students and those from black and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. The campaign to give a fuller version of British history that reflects injustices and lauds the contributions of black British people has also won widespread support from the Black Lives Matter protesters. Academics and students said the Guardian’s findings reflected a reluctance in British higher education towards addressing the impact of colonialism on present day racism. They said many universities apparently failed to grasp that “decolonising the curriculum” went beyond adding black and non-western scholars to reading lists, arguing that reform should involve challenging and remaking the current pedagogy, which was rooted in imperial and colonial ideas about knowledge and learning, at an institutional level. Responses to freedom of information (FoI) requests from 128 universities found only 24 said they were committed to decolonising the curriculum. Of those, 11 were committed to reform across the whole institution, with most efforts confined to a few departments, or just one, or a handful of academics and students. Queen Mary’s University of London, said decolonising was confined to the school of English and Drama, while Newman University said one course in the English department explicitly referenced decolonising the curriculum. The University of East London reported it had run decolonising workshops in the school of art and digital industries. Only nine of these universities had put their commitment to decolonise in writing, with just two, including Bristol University, mentioning it in their core strategic plan and another two noting it in their main curriculum framework. Educational experts said the findings showed that little progress had been made in decolonising higher education since the Rhodes Must Fall campaign – to demand the removal of a statue of the Victorian imperialist Cecil Rhodes from Oxford University’s Oriel college – began in 2015. Fope Olaleye, black students’ officer at the National Union of Students, said the lack of progress was “shocking”. “Decolonising the curriculum means providing an accurate portrayal of history and providing students and staff with the tools to critically identify [how] the university reproduces colonial hierarchies. This will empower them to confront and reject the status quo and ensure knowledge production reflects our diverse society.”Prof Kalwant Bhopal, the director of the centre for research in race and education at Birmingham University, said the sector should be ashamed of the findings. She added: “Every university should have this as a priority. If it’s not in the strategic plan, it’s not considered important to the