School tables containing erroneous geographical information that had been spotted by a sharp eyed thirteen year old girl, have now been replaced by new plain table tops.

We previously reported  that  six lunch tables at a South London school featured a map which incorrectly listed Tel Aviv as the capital of Israel, and Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.

After UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) wrote to both the school and the table manufacturer, the manufacturer has agreed to provide six new replacement table tops for the school.

UKLFI wrote to the school pointing out that these tables promoted incorrect and partisan political views. This is contrary to Section 407 of the Education Act 1996, which requires schools to take reasonably practicable steps to offer a balanced presentation of opposing views when political issues are brought to the attention of pupils while they are in attendance at a maintained school.

The head teacher of the school responded that the tables were in an outside area and used by students at lunch or break time. They had been purchased in January 2019. She explained that the maps on the tables were not used for teaching curriculum subjects in school and are certainly not part of any attempt to politically indoctrinate pupils.  She insisted that staff at her school were always very careful to offer a balanced representation of opposing views if the situation regarding Israel and Palestine is discussed. She said that with a tight budget, they could not afford to replace the table tops.

UKLFI also wrote to the manufacturer of the Tables, Space Right, which manufactures equipment for schools.  The manufacturer explained that the tables were launched in 2012 and discontinued in around 2020.  During this time only 65 units were sold.

They said: “as a furniture manufacturer, our primary focus is always on the structural design of the engineered elements – frames, joints etc. To facilitate the creation of this product we purchased a map and supporting information in good faith. We did not compile the information ourselves and there was no intention to promote incorrect or partisan views.”

They offered to replace the table tops.  UKLFI are pleased to report that this has now been done. Caroline Turner, director of UKLFI commented: “This is an excellent outcome as the school has received new table tops and is no longer displaying misleading information to the pupils.“