Under the duty, schools must assess and monitor the impact of their policies on pupils, parents and staff from different racial groups.
It is a step in the right direction and is therefore generally welcomed but its effectiveness will depend much on how well the implementation of the code is monitored. Who exactly would monitor the code, is unclear at this stage.
The OFSTED inspections of school will include the inspection of educational inclusion, including race equality, from September 2002. But OFSTED alone can not adequately monitor the implementation of the code because:
the inspections are on a 6-year cycle basis at present
the inspections – full or short - are a snap shot
there is an increasing focus (quite rightly) on attainment levels
there is more and more reliance on schools to evaluate and monitor their work
in addition to racial groups, there are many other groups of pupils who come within the scope of educational inclusion, with a much higher focus on pupils with the special educational needs and disability (under the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001)
out of thousands of school inspections, equal opportunities has very rarely (almost never) been reported as a key issue for action