Education Minister’s anti-university statements met with academics’ anger

Andrea Jenkyns – the Minister for Skills, Further, and Higher Education – recently claimed at the Conservative Party conference that universities were pushing “a diet of critical race theory, anti-British history and Social Marxism” onto students.

Speaking at a fringe event in “The Freedom Zone” focused on “Restoring conservatism in the Conservative Party’”, the newly incumbent Minister for Skills, Further and Higher Education, argued “teachers must be impartial, and not push left-wing agendas onto students”. Jenkyns also said that “the current system would rather our young people get a degree in Harry Potter studies than in construction”.

Currently no British universities offer a course in “Harry Potter studies”. However, until last year, Durham University did offer an optional module titled “Harry Potter and the Age of Illusion” as part of its Education Studies BA, which aimed “to consider the relevance of Harry Potter to the education system” and “understand […] the reasons for its popularity”.

Jenkyns’ comments were met by a strong response from academics on Twitter.

Dr James Sumner, Lecturer in the History of Technology at the University of Manchester, tweeted that this was an example of the UK government being “more far-right than centre-right”. He was joined by other academics, such as Professor Christian Christensen, American Professor of Journalism at Stockholm University, who tweeted that it was an “absolute disgrace” that a “Higher Education Minister in the UK would spout utter bullshit like this”. He described her use of the term “critical race theory” as a “blatant dog-whistle lie”.

This is the kind of thing we mean when we point out that the UK government is, in many ways, more far-right than centre-right.

Comparing Andrea Jenkyns's lies to, say, the rhetoric of the John Tyndall-era NF, the main difference is that she keeps getting the words wrong. https://t.co/xhiRYIhq58

— James Sumner (@JamesBSumner) October 3, 2022

David Alderson, Professor of Literary and Culture Studies at the University of Manchester, told The Mancunion: “It’s a shame that the Under-Secretary of State for Education is happy to parade her illiteracy and ignorance in this way.”

He added “I doubt she has any understanding of Critical Race Theory; it’s not clear what ‘anti-British history’ might refer to, unless she wrongly assumes ‘British history’ to be inanely and uncritically celebratory; and ‘social Marxism’ isn’t a thing.”

The professor finished by saying “people who offer up parodies of academic work end up parodying themselves. In encouraging students to be critical citizens, we draw on various intellectual traditions and encourage freedom of thought instead of attempting to stifle it”.