A PRIMARY school governor from Wanborough is one of six volunteers spearheading a national campaign which aims to increase the number of people from ethnic minorities and younger age groups volunteering as school governors.

Omar Mirza stepped forward to support the Everyone on Board campaign after learning that across England, just four percent of school governors come from ethnic minorities, compared to around a third of pupils.

In addition, 10 per cent school governors are aged under 40 and only one per cent aged under 30, according to the 2017 school governance survey.

For the campaign, Omar appeared alongside other governors in a short film to share his personal insight and experience on the value of having diverse people overseeing schools.

He said: "I spend a lot of time coaching and developing black, Asian and minority ethnic people to help them achieve their career and life goals through my employer’s ethnicity network.

"I consistently find that doing well in education is incredibly important in many cultures, so I was genuinely surprised that the number of BAME governors is so low.

"I want to show people from different backgrounds that governance is for them and to encourage them to get involved in shaping how children are educated.”

The campaign is run by Inspiring Governance and the National Governance Association.

It was launched at the NGA’s summer conference, where it was welcomed by keynote speaker Secretary of State for Education Damian Hinds.

He said: “Good governance needs a range of voices.

"I want to urge people from different backgrounds, different professions, to come forward – to offer up their time, energy, skills, and expertise… because so many people want to give something back to their community, this is truly one of the most valuable and far reaching ways you can do that.”