Hello, my name is Kainath (Kai) Sarwar and I want to be the next BAME Officer. Currently, I’m a Programme Rep, a BAME Ambassador and a Race Equality Charter Representative for Roehampton. There is a 52% BAME community at Roehampton. Unfortunately, BAME students are more likely to face more barriers, than their non-BAME peers. I want to represent the BAME community and work with BAME students to accumulate ideas, on how we can break those barriers. Why is it that BAME students are less likely to qualify with top degrees? Why do BAME students have a larger attainment gap? 

When looking at BAME, we should look much deeper, BAME students could be mature students, young carers, EAL students etc. This is because no one fits into one category, everyone overlaps into others. I’m a Pakistani Muslim girl, who has suffered discrimination throughout my educational experiences. People often misidentify my ethnicity and my religion, just because of my skin colour and the way I dress. 

I want to put on focus group discussions, with the new categories mentioned above. As everyone might not be able to attend, I want to place ballot boxes around the cafes and the library, whereby I can ask questions for students to vote. This can help gather more information about what changes need to be made at Roehampton.  

Statistics show that BAME students have low attendance records which correlates with lower grades, creating the attainment gap. Attendance is key, because it gives you an opportunity to ask questions about any misconceptions you have. I want to work with the student engagement team (who will be split into targeted groups) and ask them questions on what Roehampton can do to help engage BAME students. I want to implement a credit scheme, where points are awarded when attending academic events/workshops. Students have mentioned that their timetable is very spread out, so having dedicated ‘study time’ on their timetable, will help remind students that they can use this time wisely. This can help close the attainment gap.

I want to help put on events, to motivate and inspire BAME students to work hard to achieve their goals. These events will include BAME speakers, who share their personal experiences including how to overcome barriers. I know timings are an issue in the BAME community, so I want to make them accessible.

For EAL students I want to provide a team of people, who will work with them to help them understand their assignments and exams, like having a mentor who you can go to for help.

Many people have a lack of awareness of the support available at Roehampton. To increase this awareness, I will be working with Heads of Department. On the first term back, I want everyone to have a refresher lecture to discuss the support available. As well as having posters spread out clearly around university. 

I want to spread awareness of BAME and start making changes, by breaking down the BAME stereotypes.