Troy Deeney calls for black and Asian history to be made mandatory on curriculum

Birmingham captain Troy Deeney has written an open letter to Government and launched a petition calling for the history and experiences of black, Asian and ethnic minorities to be made mandatory on the national curriculum.

The 33-year-old believes the current set-up is failing children from ethnic minorities and commissioned a YouGov survey which showed the majority of British teachers who took part believe the school system has a racial bias while only 12 per cent feel empowered to teach diverse topics.

Deeney’s open letter to Nadhim Zahawi, Secretary of State for Education, included details of his struggles in school – the former Watford striker was expelled aged 15 and says he was told by one teacher that he would die before his 26th birthday.

“I believe the current system is failing children from ethnic minorities,” Deeney said in his open letter.

“I’ve found I’m not the only one to feel strongly about this subject – over the past 18 months or so, nearly 400,000 people have signed petitions calling for changes to be made to mandate more diversity onto the national curriculum and numerous debates have been conducted in parliament.

“Yet the teaching of black, Asian and ethnic minority histories and experiences in schools still remains optional and your Government’s stock response has been that the topics are already there and it is down to teachers and schools to teach them.

“Mr Zahawi, I urge you – as Secretary of State for Education – to review this topic again and make the teaching of black, Asian and minority ethnic histories and experiences mandatory throughout the school curriculum.”

Deeney was involved in Premier League players taking the knee for the first time during the summer of 2020 in support of racial