Proposals to select pupils by race in order to improve community relations have been given a mixed reception by Bradford education experts.

Shadow education secretary David Willetts said city academies could use racial selection to unite communities divided by race or religion.

He said the Conservative Party had drawn up the proposals because there were parts of England where towns were "divided by race and religion into two very distinct groups".

He said: "In those communities which are deeply divided we could use the creation of new academies to improve links between the communities by setting the aim of recruiting students from both those communities."

Mr Willetts said the Conservatives did not want to "bus children around", but did see the "potential for a positive role in tackling the growing ethnic segregation in our schools".

John McLeod, Bradford Council's interim chief education officer, agreed the district's schools should be "integrated communities". But he added: "We would have to be cautious about commenting on the proposals suggested by David Willetts until more details were made available for us to consider. Ideally schools should as far as possible be integrated communities. But, parental choice is always a crucial factor when it comes to determining and carrying out an admissions policy."

The extremes are illustrated by the fact that Ilkley Grammar is 93 per cent white while 95 per cent of pupils at Belle Vue School in Bradford are Asian.

Ian Murch, NUT Bradford branch secretary, said it was an interesting idea.

He said: "I think most people in the education system would think it was a good idea for children to mix with other children from different ethnic backgrounds but that is different from forcing people to go to a particular school."

Mr Murch said social engineering had taken place in Bradford schools 30 years ago when Asian pupils were bussed to predominantly white schools to encourage integration.

Pam Milner, Bradford branch secretary for the NASUWT, also remembered pupils being bussed to schools away from their communities.

She said: "It did not work because they did not want to be forced into an artificial setting. But the issue should not be about colour. It should be about everyone working hard throughout the district to improve standards for all Bradford's children."

Philip Shackleton, Bradford branch secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said good community relations could only come about naturally.

But Bary Malik, of the Bradford's Ahmadiyya Muslim Association, said he was in favour of "anything which improved community relations". Last year, Mr Malik helped BBC journalist George Alagiah put together a hard-hitting book which featured chapters on community segregation in Bradford.

e-mail: dan.webber@bradford.newsquest.co.uk

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