UPDATED: Ofsted chairman Sir David Hoare has described the Isle of Wight as a ‘poor, white ghetto’ that suffers from ‘inbreeding’ with a ‘mass of crime and drugs problems’, according to the Times Education Supplement today (Friday).
The shocking attack on the Island was made by Sir Hoare at a Teach First conference in Leeds, reports the Times Education Supplement.
Hoare is reported to have said:
“They think of it as holiday land. But it is shocking. It’s a ghetto; there has been inbreeding.
“Seven state schools were all less than good. There is a mass of crime, drug problems, huge unemployment.”
At the conference in Leeds, where Sir Hoare was discussing the importance of improving education for the most disadvantaged, he added:
“I have a house overlooking the Isle of Wight and often over a dinner party, someone will ask ‘How is education?’. I say, ‘Fantastic, I love doing what I am doing. We’re really going to make a difference.’ But I say, ‘We’re living seven miles away from the second worst local authority when it comes to secondary education and the third worst when it comes to primary education’.
“And I say ‘Where is it? Portsmouth? No. Chichester? No. Bognor? No. We’re seven miles away and you don’t know we have a ghetto seven miles away’. British, white, poor, living on the Isle of Wight.”
Article continues below this advertisement “Most people go there for sailing for two weeks a year. There’s a sailing club that is one of the best in the world, where there’s champagne. But just within inches, there are people who live in a ghetto and we’ve allowed it to happen.”
The Green Party’s education spokesperson, Vix Lowthion, has called for David Hoare to be sacked from his position. Meanwhile the Isle of Wight Lib Dem party’s youth section have called for an apology for the comments made.
Cllr Chris Whitehouse has wrote to Nick Gibb MP, Minister for Schools asking that an apology is extended to the Island, its residents, it teachers and the students in its schools following Sir Hoare’s ‘inaccurate, inflammatory, unhelpful and unacceptable’ remarks.
Ofsted have said that that “the chairman was expressing his personal views. They do not reflect the views of Ofsted or the chief inspector”.
The Island’s MP, Andrew Turner has said:
“If Mr Hoare’s comments are accurately reported then I am appalled. He would not have dreamt of making such comments about an area with a high ethnic population. The role of Ofsted is to help improve teaching, not insult people. He clearly owes Islanders an apology and I will be contacting him.”
Councillor Jonathan Bacon, Leader of the Isle of Wight Councillor has today said:
“Sir David Hoare’s comments about ‘inbreeding’ and ‘ghettos’ on the Isle of Wight are truly offensive to the people of the Isle of Wight and bear no relation to the facts. Sir David should apologise immediately for these comments or provide evidence to support these assertions.
“It is deeply disappointing that such a senior figure has made such offensive and un-evidenced comments and I will be asking the Secretary of State for Education to ask Sir David to account for his comments at the earliest opportunity. It would be refreshing if the Ofsted chairman was able to make a positive contribution to improving education on the Isle of Wight rather than making facile and offensive comments.
“Some of Sir David’s other comments about the challenges in raising attainment for “working class white boys” are well known and national issues. Similarly, the challenges for many seaside economies have been well documented in last year’s report from the Future Leaders Trust. The ability of coastal councils such as the Isle of Wight to respond to these challenges has been severely curtailed by significant reductions in government funding as part of its austerity agenda and which has taken no account of the need for services or the specific geography of an area. At the same time the government has increased the burdens it places on local government effectively making it do more for less. Over the past six years the Isle of Wight council has had to find budget savings of over £60million and will need to save a further £34million over the next four years to stay within the spending limits set for it by government.
“Despite these financial challenges, the Isle of Wight council has been working hard with its community and partners to raise standards and attainment across all of the Island’s schools. Sir David is clearly out of touch with his own service as he references the amount of inadequate schools on the Island – in fact, thanks in great part to our school improvement services we now have only one school on the Island that is rated as inadequate, in line with national averages. Our school improvement services are now rated as effective by Ofsted themselves.”
UPDATE @ 16:10 – In a statement issued this afternoon, Sir David Hoare has said:
“I apologise for any upset or offence that I may have caused by the comments I made about the Isle of wight at the recent TeachFirst conference.
“My intention was to highlight how concerned I am about the unacceptably poor performance of schools on the Isle of Wight over many years and how this is damaging the prospects of young people who live on the island.
“Those who know me will realise that I am passionate about improving outcomes for children from our most disadvantaged communities and my comments were made in this context.
“It is important that we draw attention to low education standards, especially among low income white British communities in our coastal areas, so that collective action is taken to improve the situation. Indeed, I welcome the efforts that are being made, supported by Hampshire County Council, to improve school performance on the Island.”
