The government is resuming a £7 million procurement to tackle antisemitism in schools, colleges and universities, it announced on the first anniversary of the October 7 terror attacks.
The programme aims to give staff the confidence to teach and facilitate discussion related to antisemitism, including around the Israel-Gaza conflict.
It will also try to help them recognise and respond to antisemitism and develop policies to tackle it, an early engagement notice published today said.
Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, said it was “vitally important that staff in our education system have the confidence and skills to act quickly to root out antisemitism as soon as it emerges”.
Scholarships and training for teachers
The DfE has outlined plans for a scholarship programme for teachers and staff, which “explores antisemitism in-depth and how it relates to the current experience of antisemitism in England today”.
The department also wants online learning resources to be hosted on its Educate Against Hate website and to for a supplier create and deliver training for teachers.
The money is more intended for civil society or third sector organisations to run the training, rather than for schools directly.
The DfE said it also plans to launch an innovation fund that will offer “opportunities to support work at all levels of education on tackling antisemitic misinformation on social media”, alongside Professor Becky Francis’ curriculum and assessment review.
It said the details of this are mostly still to be confirmed, but it expects this fund to also be aimed primarily at civil society organisations to support their work.
Surge in antisemitism in schools
The scheme was announced under the Conservatives in the 2023 autumn statement, but the DfE put the procurement exercise on ice in March.
Smaller Jewish or Holocaust education groups had been concerned the format and style of the procurement favoured larger organisations.
However, the department now intends to publish a new procurement opportunity next month, so that one or more suppliers can deliver the initiative over the next three years.
A report by the Community Security Trust (CST) charity found antisemitic incidents in the UK more than doubled in the first half of 2024 compared with the same period the previous year, rising from 964 to 1,978.
It logged 162 cases of antisemitism affecting people and property in the school sector, up 119 per cent on the 74 incidents over the same stretch in 2023.
Writing in The Sunday Times, Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister said, “Since October 7, we have watched vile hatred against Jews and Muslims rise in our communities.
“So we will not look the other way as Jewish children are afraid to wear their school uniforms, Jewish shops are defaced, or Jews targeted on the streets.”
Your thoughts