Education, Children and Families Convenor Cllr James Dalgleish writes in the Evening News today about the annual Saroj Lal Awards.
Last month we launched a new campaign, ‘Edinburgh Is Our Home’, focused on celebrating Edinburgh’s diversity and the many benefits to the city that migration brings.
It is timely that this week we celebrated our annual Saroj Lal Awards - a firm fixture in our schools’ calendar, offering learners and teachers alike the opportunity to be recognised for creative artwork that challenges inequality through creativity.
Thursday evening’s award ceremony was another special evening as primary and secondary school aged winners were announced in three categories: Proud to be me, How prejudice makes me feel and Artivism. School staff were also acknowledged in a category of their own.
The annual awards, now in their fourth-year honour Saroj Lal, one of the first Asian women to teach in a Scottish primary school when she started at South Morningside Primary School in the 70s. She was a pioneering force in Scottish race relations, a passionate campaigner and trailblazer for equal opportunities.
I am proud that the awards continue her legacy, encouraging our learners and school staff to consider and express how they feel about prejudice, inequality and the sense of pride in their own heritage, culture or identity.
While the awards night was inspiring its own right, it is the creativity, quality and variety of artwork submitted every year that is truly outstanding – making the judges job of selecting winners extremely difficult!
This year over 250 pupils got involved in submitting a creative entry - from film and animations, poetry and portraiture - the range of innovative and imaginative work was incredible to see.
The entries themselves offer a special insight into how the next generation view themselves and the world around them, providing pupils with a much-needed focus on diversity and equality.
I am very aware that there is still much more work to do to challenge perceptions, remove stigma, promote equality and celebrate diversity. The focus the awards offer is arguably needed more than ever. While a lot has changed since Saroj was teacher in one of our schools, sadly there is still work to be done to champion inclusion, equity and anti-racism.
We take our role to foster trust, inclusion and a shared sense of belonging in our schools really seriously and when we look at the legacy and life of Saroj Lal, you can’t help but be inspired. It is important that we do all we can to create meaningful, tangible change that benefits all of us – and the Saroj Lal awards help us to do that.