Seventh-day Adventist educators and leaders have reacted to comments made last week by Lee Jasper, race relations advisor to the mayor of London, who said that the John Loughborough Seventh-day Adventist School in Tottenham should be seen as a model for "
Seventh-day Adventist educators and leaders have reacted to comments made last week by Lee Jasper, race relations advisor to the mayor of London, who said that the John Loughborough Seventh-day Adventist School in Tottenham should be seen as a model for “black-only” education.
“The John Loughborough School is not, and never has been an ‘all black’ school,” said Keith Davidson, education director for the Adventist Church in England, in a statement issued June 25. He said that current enrollment reflects more than 20 different national and ethnic backgrounds, ranging from African and Caribbean to Indian, Chinese, Caucasian, and Filipino.
The John Loughborough School was founded in 1980 and received a considerable boost in 1998 when it was awarded state funding. It has a track record for raising the achievement levels of children from minority backgrounds or those who are socially and economically deprived. School officials believe its success is largely due to the spiritual ethos and values underpinning its work.
The John Loughborough School has a current enrollment of 305 and a staff of 23. In the United Kingdom and Ireland the Adventist Church operates two secondary schools and nine primary schools. Around the world more than 1 million students are educated in Adventist institutions.
