Petition · past parliament · Department for Education

Justice for children incorrectly labelled "educationally subnormal" in 1960s/70s

Closed 833 signatures

What the petition asks

In the 1960s and 70s, hundreds of black children were labelled as "educationally subnormal," and wrongly sent to schools for pupils who were deemed to have low intelligence. We want the Government to apologise to those affected, and create a scheme to financially compensate them.
During the era of the arrival of the Windrush Generation - who saw Britain as the mother country, and many of whom worked tirelessly for the NHS, manufacturing, retail, transport, business, and the public sector - they had faith and confidence in the education system as they Hundreds of children that were born in Britain or came as migrants were wrongly classified as "educationally subnormal". The Government should apologise for the historic failings that permitted this, and provide financial compensation to those affected

Timeline

23 Jan 2023 Petition opened for signatures
23 Jul 2023 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 833
Status Closed
Department Department for Education
Opened 23 Jan 2023
Closed 23 Jul 2023

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.