Teaching students about their 'white privilege' could be in opposition to the law, MPs' report says

 Schools that teach 'white privilege' could be breaking the law by contributing to the 'systemic neglect' of disadvantaged children, MPs have found.

White working-class students are one of the worst-achieving groups in the country, and 'feel anything but privileged', they stated in a report.

It found they are behind many of their similarly deprived friends of other ethnicities at ages five, 16 and 18.

The Commons education committee's report, published last night, stated 'politically controversial' phrases such as 'white privilege' may have contributed to poor white pupils being forgotten 'for decades'.

It additionally warned against 'pitting different groups in opposition to each other' and suggested schools which promote ideas of 'white privilege' could be in breach of the Equality Act 2010.

The phrase white privilege is used to describe the inherent benefits possessed by a white individual on the foundation of their race. It can apply where people are living below the equal social, political or financial circumstances, or in a society where there is racial inequality. Committee chairman Robert Halfon said: 'So far, the Department for Education (DfE) has been reluctant to recognise the precise challenges confronted by the white working class, let alone do anything to tackle this chronic social injustice. This must cease now...

'We additionally desperately need to move away from dealing with racial disparity by using divisive concepts like white privilege that pit one crew in opposition to another.

'Disadvantaged white kids sense anything but privileged when it comes to education.

'Privilege is the very contrary to what deprived white kids enjoy or gain from in an education system which is now leaving far too many behind.'