GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE stating that schools should not use resources produced by organisations that have a desire to abolish or overthrow capitalism is to be reviewed by the Department for Education (DfE) following a threat of legal action.

Coalition of Anti-Racist Educators (CARE) and Black Educators Alliance (BEA), who are threatening the legal action, said the guidance would prohibit the use of material produced by Black Lives Matter or Extinction Rebellion, in a pre-action letter to the education secretary Gavin Williamson in October.

They called the guidance “unlawful” and said that Williamson is not permitted to enforce his political preference with regards to the use of teaching materials from external agencies.

The government guidance, which was published in September, said that schools should not use resources produced by organisations that take “extreme political stances.”

Examples of these stances included a desire to abolish or overthrow capitalism, which was listed in the same section as racism, antisemitism, opposition to free speech and the endorsement of illegal activity. 

On Monday, Williamson told the group’s lawyers that “the wording of the guidance is being reviewed in light of issues which your clients have raised,” The Guardian has reported.

Rachel Harger, of Bindmans, the law firm working with CARE and BEA said: “We hope that given the obvious failures and shortcomings of the current guidance the secretary of state will accept that, as part of this review, a broad consultation with teachers, parents and trade unionists is not just desirable but entirely necessary. We will now stand by our clients as they anxiously await the outcome of this review.”

A spokesperson for CARE said: “Within the process of evidence collection, we have heard from many students, teaching staff and parents of the impact of the guidance, which would see conversations on injustice and inequality outlawed from the classroom.”

A DfE spokesperson said: “We have provided schools with the materials that will give them the confidence to construct a curriculum that reflects diversity of views and backgrounds, including how to offer a balanced presentation of opposing views, where political issues are brought to the attention of pupils.

“We are clear that schools should not under any circumstances work with external agencies that take or promote extreme positions or use materials produced by such agencies and have set out a non-exclusive list of extreme political positions in the guidance.

“We are reviewing the wording of the guidance to explore where we can provide further clarity on these points.”