Sideways News

The school exchange programme encourages friendships between white and Asian pupils

Children in an area seen as a powerbase for far-right activists are building bridges with British Muslims as part of a school exchange programme aimed at overcoming racial barriers, reports the Guardian.

The pupils at Shirley Manor, a predominantly white primary school in a run-down part of Bradford, visited a school in another part of the city, where almost every pupil is Asian.

Despite the fact that some parents of the Shirley Manor pupils have inevitably played a part in the electoral successes of the BNP in Bradford, teachers say that after a day of games and activities the children themselves have already begun to form friendships.

Some later met up outside school and others continue to correspond by email.

For many children at Shirley Manor, the visit to Thornbury Primary School was their first social interaction with British Muslims - and after discussing a few of their favourite things (television, pizza and Xbox games) they were surprised to discover how much they had in common.

Shirley Manor is one of a host of primary schools in deprived areas across the UK, where the BNP has gained a presence on local councils, which are emerging as an unexpected frontline in the fight to stem rising support for the far right.

Perhaps more surprisingly, the action is not nationally co-ordinated. During the current academic term, many schemes have been organised independently by schools in areas with BNP councillors, or where BNP candidates are finding support, with the aim of changing the hearts and minds of future generations of voters - and their parents.

Angus King, headteacher at Thornbury, points out that the key is to avoid extremism in any group.

"It [extremism] comes from a lack of knowledge and understanding," he told the newspaper.

"The big thing is to give children the opportunity to meet other children."

The British National Party held a record 17 candidates in Bradford in 2007 and a BNP councillor won a seat in the ward of Wyke, where Shirley Manor is located, as far back as 2004.

However, according to Nick Lowles, editor of anti-fascist magazine Searchlight, results from the 2009 European elections showed that the BNP vote was down in several local authority areas compared to 2004, including Bradford.

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