Letter: Teaching children about racism

Sir: I was shocked but not surprised to read Sneh Shah's letter "Racism in the playground" (10 April). We in the Marlborough Brandt Group believe we are addressing this problem through the 12-year-old link that we have with the town of Gunjur in the Gambia. Our relationship with that Islamic community has enabled us to produce educational materials for schools in the UK.

We have sold 650 copies of our teaching pack, Isatou, Chloe and You, to primary schools throughout the UK. This compares the lives of Isatou, an 11-year-old in the Gambia, with Chloe, a nine-year-old in Marlborough. It comes with a sound tape, video and colour photographs. We are about to embark on a pack for the RE syllabus in secondary schools comparing the impact of Islam on family life in Gunjur with the impact of Islam on a Muslim family in Swindon.

We agree with Miss Shah that it is only by looking at our own, often very impoverished, lives and understanding some of the positive features of the lives of people from other cultures that we can address the issue of racism through learning and the abolition of ignorance.

Yours sincerely,

NICK MAURICE

The Marlborough Brandt Group

Marlborough, Wiltshire

10 April