Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is clear that there is no place for religious or racial intolerance, including Islamophobia, in Scotland’s schools.

Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence aims to develop a society based on social justice, equality and respect, and provides opportunities for pupils to develop their understanding of various forms of discrimination and their intersectional impact, including Islamophobia. The curriculum is clear in saying that responsible citizens must understand different beliefs and cultures, and have respect for others.

Education Scotland provides teachers with a range of resources to help them navigate sensitive or controversial topics, including discrimination on the basis of religious belief, and to help foster good relations. Recently their online Inclusion, Wellbeing and Equalities Professional Learning Framework has been updated to specifically include a Developing Religious Literacy component.

In addition, by taking an intersectional approach, the work of the Scottish Government’s Anti-Racism in Education Programme addresses many of the issues at the heart of Islamophobia. Actions which have been taken forward include:

• Developing a set of Anti-Racist Principles for the curriculum;
• Providing racial literacy professional development, through the award winning Building Racial Literacy Programme;
• Publishing an Anti-Racist Action Guide aimed at empowering local authorities to better support their minority ethnic workforce;
• Developing guidance to address racism and racist incidents in schools, to empower the workforce to recognise and tackle racism and prejudice in all of its forms.