By Eleanor Harding, Education Editor For The Daily Mail - 15.11.22
EXCLUSIVE: Universities are being told to ‘go woke’ and ‘decolonise’ courses
Quality Assurance Agency added critical race theory to its recommendations
It wants a range of courses to teach colonialism including ‘white supremacy'
Universities are being told to ‘go woke’ and ‘decolonise’ courses from computing to classics by the degrees watchdog.
For the first time, the Quality Assurance Agency, which checks on course standards, has incorporated critical race theory into its recommendations.
It wants a wide range of courses – including sciences and maths – to teach about colonialism including ‘white supremacy’.
It is expected many tutors will take on board the advice, although compliance is technically voluntary, Mail Plus reports.
The move shows how much the Left-wing ideology of student activists has been woven into the fabric of higher education.
In one bizarre example, the QAA says computing courses should address how ‘hierarchies of colonial value’ are ‘reinforced’ in the field.
Meanwhile in geography, it thinks courses should acknowledge ‘racism, classism, ableism, homophobia and patriarchy’.
Last night, critics said the advice was ‘anti-white and anti-Western’ and accused the QAA of ordering courses to ‘go woke’.
It comes after a Daily Mail investigation found many universities are already ‘decolonising’ science and vocational subjects following pressure from activists.
The latest advice from the QAA is incorporated into 25 ‘subject benchmarks’, which describe what it thinks students should study and the standards they should meet.
The benchmarks include new instructions on ‘Equality, Diversity and Inclusion’ for each subject.
The document for biomedical sciences says students should ‘critically engage’ with how the field has ‘contributed to and benefited from social injustice’ and how influential scientists might have ‘benefited from and perpetuated misogyny, racism, homophobia, ableism and other prejudices’.
Meanwhile, economics undergraduates should be taught that it is ‘still predominantly a white, male and Western field’.
The statue of 17th century slave trader Edward Colston falls into the water in Bristol in June, 2020
And language courses are told to encourage students to reflect on ‘historical and contemporary forms of injustice and inequality related to imperialism, colonialism, class or gender divisions’.
Chris McGovern, of the Campaign for Real Education, said today: ‘It’s alarming. Campuses are being ordered to go woke.
‘This QAA enforcement of anti-white and anti-Western racial hatred and division is iniquitous.
‘It will undermine racial integration in our country and breed either resentment or self-loathing.
‘The QAA should be promoting enlightenment and knowledge, not prejudice and ignorance.’
Professor Dennis Hayes, of Academics for Academic Freedom, said the move ‘codifies the politicisation of university subjects’.
Courses ‘must now engage with and explain’ the connections between the subject and ‘imperialism, colonialism, white supremacy and class division’.
Students should study the work of ‘people from oppressed and marginalised groups’.
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Demonstrators hold placards during a protest called by the Rhodes Must Fall campaign in June 2020 in Oxford - Getty Images
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