The WEA announced an exciting new partnership with Samosa Media, to co-develop a series of innovative learning initiatives focused on British Asian history.
This collaboration with Samosa Media will see the two organisations working across major UK cities, including Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, and Liverpool, to deliver a range of educational and arts-based projects. These will explore South Asian history from the Mughal Empire to the Partition of India and the subsequent migration of communities from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh to the UK.
The initiative aims to enrich the WEA’s cultural learning offer by embedding stories and perspectives that have historically been underrepresented in mainstream education. Through workshops, creative media, and curriculum resources, the partnership will empower learners of all backgrounds to engage with history, literature, and the arts in ways that reflect the full breadth of Britain’s multicultural identity.
“This partnership is about more than just history,” said Chris Morgan, Director of External Relationships at the WEA. “It’s about creating inclusive spaces for learning that inspire ambition, agency, and civic engagement, especially among young people and underrepresented communities.”
Samosa Media, founded by journalist and cultural producer Anwar Akhtar, brings a wealth of experience to the partnership. The charity has worked with leading arts institutions including the National Theatre as the production consultant on the Moghul history play Dara: the first South Asian history play performed on a main stage at the National Theatre and filmed for National Theatre Live.
Samosa Media’s acclaimed documentary Pakistan’s Best Kept Secret, about the Lahore Museum has been viewed over two million times and is now used as a teaching resource in schools and universities.
Over the past eight years, Samosa Media has directly supported more than 4,300 young people through creative workshops that explore identity, heritage, and social inclusion. These programmes have helped participants develop leadership skills and produce original content that reflects their lived experiences.
Akhtar, who recently spoke to students at William Hulme’s Grammar School in Manchester, emphasised the importance of storytelling in education: “We need to make space for all communities to see themselves in the national story.” Samosa Media have also just completed a Manchester based young film makers workshop project and a highlights film can be viewed at Young, Gifted and Manc.
The WEA and Samosa Media are united in their belief that curriculum diversity should not be a battleground in the so-called culture wars. Instead, their joint work will focus on what unites communities and what works in practice, highlighting successful models of inclusive education and encouraging policy debate around representation and access.
By fostering dialogue around British Asian history, BAME representation, and the evolving narrative of Britain’s “island story,” the partnership hopes to inspire a new generation of learners and educators to reimagine what inclusive education can look like.
If you would like any further information, please contact Anwar at info@thesamosa.org.uk or Chris Morgan: cmorgan@wea.ac.uk.
