Saturday Suplementary Schools
In general, Black males from an afro Caribbean heritage still underperform in school compared their white counterparts. This along with a rigid ‘Anglo-centric’ curriculum and the news of less world history being included within the curriculum has led to a culture of underachievement and low self-esteem.
In 1966, the England’s first Saturday Supplementary School for black students in Manchester by Nama Bonsu as support for black children to survive in a mainstream school. Supplementary schools are still active across England, dedicated to raise aspirations, attainment and self-worth..
These supplementary schools are also known as ‘Saturday schools’ as they normally take place on a Saturday. Saturday schools provided Black youths fundamental black history lessons. Core EBAC subjects such as Mathematics and English are also taught to raise achievement and close the attainment gap.
As a youth I attended a Saturday supplementary school and I believe that it was a fundamental support structure for the community. There is still a need for Black supplementary schools to reinforce positive self-image self-confidence and to meet various challenges in mainstream education
