91Èȱ¬

Children's author Malorie Blackman has called for schools to teach black history all year round - not just during Black History Month.

Schools in England are not currently required to teach any black history, but the curriculum in Wales changed in 2022 to include diverse experiences of people belonging to ethnic minorities.

The Department for Education did not provide a response to Blackman's comments but says the current curriculum in England gives teachers the freedom and flexibility to include black voices and experiences.

The author also wants to see Black history taught in a way that should tell "the whole truth" of the British Empire, and isn't just about "cherry-picking the best bits".

She told the 91Èȱ¬: "For some people, they don't want anything taught that makes them uncomfortable.

"My [ancestors'] history did not start with slavery. Black people have been in this country since Roman times, if not before."

Blackman's books have played a key role in changing people's perspectives and adding diversity to children's literature over the past 30 years, exploring race and identity issues.

She is best known for her young-adults' series Noughts and Crosses, which has also been turned into a 91Èȱ¬ drama.

The Scottish government says its curriculum provides opportunities to teach black history all year round, if teachers want to.

Malorie said that if other parts of the UK followed Wales in adding Black history to the curriculum it would help address racism, and also make it easier for people to call out racism when they see it.

"Hopefully, we can get past this nonsense of people saying you should go back to where you came from and so forth, which I still get when I mention this subject," she said.

"Let's talk about the full history, embrace it warts and all, so that we can learn from it."

Blackman said there had been a lot of progress when it came to more diverse history being taught in school but there remained room for improvement, including more representation for other communities.

"We still need more books from the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, working-class authors and books from and about neuro-divergent children," she said.