Anti-Racism in Education Programme Board: March 2026

• Chair of AREP Board
• General Teaching Council (Scotland) (GTCS)
• Qualifications Scotland (QS)
• Education Scotland (ES)
• Scottish Council of Deans of Education’s (SCDE) 
• Glasgow City Council (GCC)
• Scottish Traveller Education Programme (STEP)
• Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights (CRER)
• Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Organisations (CEMVO)
• Co-Chair of Diversity in Education (DiTPEW) subgroup
• Co-Chairs of Education Leadership and Professional Learning (ELPL) subgroup
• Co-Chair of Curriculum Reform subgroup
• Co-Chair of Racism and Racist Incidents (RRI) subgroup
• Workstream Lead of DiTPEW subgroup
• Workstream Lead of RRI subgroup
• Interim Director of Learning, Scottish Government
• Equality in Education, Scottish Government (Secretariat)

The chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and outlined the agreed rules regarding respectful dialogue.

The chair noted that the secretariat did not receive any feedback regarding the guided mindfulness segment of the meeting, and therefore, while feedback is still welcome, future meetings will not include this segment.

The chair thanked members for their comments on the minutes from the February meeting of the board. Following one small amendment these were agreed as final and will be published accordingly.

Existing actions were considered:

• short Life Working Group (SLWG) to continue evaluation work and provide update when next steps taken – ongoing: secretariat and chair will consider next steps during the pre-election period and update the board with options at the next meeting following the election in May;
• secretariat to share AREP 2026/27 budget with board once confirmed – closed, members were updated on the financial programme’s financial situation for 2026/27;
• AREP member organisations to outline the actions they will take to address the challenges raised in the report – closed: members can continue to engage directly with AdRESS and Education Scotland;
• secretariat & ELPL co-chairs to meet to discuss governance structures, membership & secretariat function – ongoing: secretariat & ELPL co-chairs will meet to consider next steps and priorities;
• secretariat to circulate updated terms of reference (TOR) and members to provide comments – closed: secretariat circulated and this will be discussed further under agenda item 3;
• curriculum reform workstream lead to provide AREP board with update on history qualifications and curriculum change recommendations – ongoing: No update at this time;
• RRI workstream Lead to notify board of publication of whole school approach (WSA) – closed: this will be discussed further under agenda item 5.

  Terms of reference and governance structures

   

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  The chair reflected that discussions have been ongoing with regards to the need for stronger programme-wide governance structures, particularly related to financial and strategic decision making. The secretariat gave a brief update on internal Scottish Government restructures that may impact upon the AREP. Members discussed the updated Terms of Reference. 

  The following points were raised with regards to structure:

  • within the document, there should be a reference to the totality of the programme structure, including information on how members and co-chairs are appointed;
  • the document should clearly outline decision-making processes to ensure that they are transparent. This could include a flow-diagram that outlines how funding proposals should be submitted, scrutinised and approved.

  The following points were raised with regards to membership:

  • there should be a clear expectation around attendance and participation levels;
  • ​​​within the document, there should be a reference to the need for periodic reviews of membership;
  • within the document there should be an explicit statement about the impact of members’ conduct in any forum on the board’s reputation.

  The following points were raised with regards to representation and inclusivity:

  • ensuring diverse representation, particularly for groups currently underrepresented in the programme (for example, disabled communities) is critically important;
  • the board should consider formalising the of ‘critical friends’ or co-opting individuals for specific input when appropriate, and ensuring these spaces are inclusive and accessible;
  • within the document, there should be a clear accessibility statement.

  The chair and secretariat gave an overview of their recent meeting with the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the Anti-Racism Observatory (AROS). They reflected that the AROS CEOs were generally positive about the work of the AREP. Members discussed the idea of inviting them to a future board meeting.

  Actions:

  • secretariat to update draft ToR document based on members’ feedback;
  • chair and secretariat to consider inviting AROS CEOs  to future board meeting;
  • chair, secretariat and members to continue considering how to ensure representative and intersectional perspectives are consistently embedded into the programme’s work.

    Safeguarding

     

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    The Chair noted that as a result of the current global situation, as well as the increased political scrutiny in the run up to the general election, there is a risk that members may experience increased levels of abuse and harassment associated directly with their work on the Programme. 

    Members reflected on personal experiences of abusive incidents and Education Scotland officials shared work that they have undertaken in this space. Members agreed that it could be beneficial to engage directly with Police Scotland to discuss safeguarding protocols further.

    Actions:

    • secretariat to anonymise all previous minutes on the Scottish Government website;
      • secretariat to liaise with contacts and consider inviting a Police Scotland representative to advise the board on safeguarding protocols.

        Subgroup updates

         

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        ELPL

        The Chair noted that the ELPL subgroup update was provided under agenda item 2. 

        The final summit for the 2026 cohort of the Building Racial Literacy Programme took place recently, with roughly 150 educators completing the programme this year and one remaining BRLplus session on 17 March. In addition, the anti-racist anthology was published on Friday 6 March. 

        The first professional learning day for school leaders took place in Dundee on, delivered in partnership with the unions and TIE. It was really positive, with strong attendance and clear desire for further leadership engagement. A second professional learning day is running next week on 24 March in Glasgow.

        DiTPEW

        The DiTPEW co-chair noted that the subgroup’s focus has been on the launch of the Local Authority network, designed to support implementation of the action guide. The launch event will be taking place on 17 March.

        RRI

        The workstream lead for the RRI subgroup announced that the WSA would be published before the pre-election period, and expressed gratitude to all contributors.

        Any other business

         

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        Website and communications

        The secretariat noted that during the pre-election period, website updates would be drafted and scheduled for publication immediately following this period. Members were invited to suggest other changes they’d like to see on the website, noting the existing limitations of what can be published. Members agreed that they would like to see a timeline image of the programme’s work to date, and that all membership lists and titles are up to date.

        Actions:

        • secretariat to update website membership lists and minutes, and explore options for including a timeline image;
        • members to feed back to Secretariat any additional suggested changes for the website.

        Risk register

        The secretariat noted that a formal risk register for the programme will be drafted and circulated to members. It will be built on existing workstream models (e.g. DiTPEW risk register) and members are encouraged to contribute items for inclusion. The DiTPEW workstream lead will circulate the DiTPEW risk register for members to view, in order to support the development of the programme-level risk register.

        Actions:

        • secretariat to draft and circulate a formal risk register to members;
        • DiTPEW workstream lead to circulate DiTPEW risk register to members;
        • members to feed back to secretariat on the draft risk register document.

        Funding proposal

        The chair noted a funding proposal from IYS had been circulated for awareness and that the Chair, subgroup Co-Chairs and Secretariat will meet in the coming days to discuss. If subgroups agree then the proposal will be formally submitted to the Board for approval before going to Scottish Ministers after the election.

        Funding proposals for the 2026/27 cohorts of the BRL programme and mentors project was also submitted to the Board.

        Action: Chair, co-chairs and secretariat to meet to discuss the IYS funding proposal.

        The Chair asked if members had any other business to share.The RRI subgroup co-chair raised that an external stakeholder the board had previously engaged with had highlighted their interest in renewed collaboration with the board. The chair and secretariat noted that the board could consider this, for example including the external stakeholder as a ‘critical friend’, but that due to previous unsuccessful collaborations, this would have to be considered in more detail by members. The ELPL subgroup Co-Chair highlighted the absence of explicit anti-racist practice in the forthcoming community learning and development plan guidance and suggested the group could review this and advocate for its inclusion. The chair asked the co-chair to monitor and revisit following the pre-election period.

        Action: ELPL chairs to monitor forthcoming continuous learning and development plan guidance.

        The chair thanked members for a productive meeting and the group will next meet again following the Scottish Parliament election.