Open petition: Add the topic of indentureship as required content to the school curriculum

Created by Dr Aurora Herrera
Closes on 28 March 2027

Between 1838 and 1917, approximately half a million indentured labourers from India and China were transported across the British Empire from Asia to the Caribbean. We call on the Government to include British indentureship as required content in the school curriculum.

Indentureship expanded after the abolition of slavery, when Britain recruited workers, particularly from India, to labour on plantations across its colonies. Many faced harsh conditions, restricted freedoms and exploitation. We believe that teaching this history would help pupils better understand Britain’s colonial past and have a fuller understanding of the diverse communities that have shaped Britain today, such as the Indo-Caribbean and Chinese-Caribbean descendants of indentured labourers, who were also part of the Windrush generation.

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