Bernardine Evaristo, the Booker prize-winning author, has renewed calls to diversify the school curriculum in England, warning that young people are growing up in a society where “doors are closing” and the tide is turning against inclusion.
A report by the campaign group Lit in Colour found that progress in diversifying GCSE English literature texts is too slow. Currently, only 1.9% of GCSE pupils study books by authors of colour, up from 0.7% five years ago. At the current pace, it will take until 2046 for 10% of students to answer a question about a text by an author of colour, and until 2115 for 38% to do so – a significant figure given that 38% of pupils in English schools are from minority ethnic backgrounds.
Since the campaign launched five years ago, the proportion of set texts by authors of colour has increased from 12% to 36%. However, many teachers continue to offer familiar texts like JB Priestley’s An Inspector Calls due to a lack of resources and training.
Writing in the report’s foreword, Evaristo noted that after the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement, there was a willingness to address barriers faced by people of colour. But she said: “Fast forward to 2025 and it seems as if those doors are closing again… The term ‘diversity’ itself is now considered a dangerous concept in some quarters.”
A Department for Education spokesperson said the government would ensure the curriculum allows space for teachers to choose a wider range of texts and authors.
