Sponsored by
Schools tarnished by 5,000 racist incidents
EXCLUSIVE: More than 5,000 racist incidents have been reported in the region's schools in the past two years – with primary schools the worse affected, according to figures obtained by the Yorkshire Post.
In the last two academic years, Yorkshire primary schools recorded 3,018 incidents while secondary schools reported just over 2,000.
Statistics obtained under the Freedom of Information Act also show that more than 700 pupils have been excluded from school because of their racist behaviour.
Experts say racism in schools reflects what children are hearing in their homes and communities – and one education consultant warns Yorkshire schools are being targeted by far-right groups wanting to spread racist agendas into the classroom.
However, education campaigners have voiced fears that primary school teachers spend too much time monitoring racist remarks from children who are too young to understand what they are saying.
Nick Seaton, chairman of the York-based Campaign for a Real Education, said: "I am not saying that children should be allowed to be racist but that common sense should be used. It does sound like a distraction if more than 3,000 incidents of so-called racism are having to be recorded by teachers about children who don't understand the significance of what they have said."
Marcia Hutchinson, who runs her own education training company teaching children about race and diversity, said schools could be targeted by groups such as the BNP.
"I have been approached by schools in Calderdale after BNP councillors were elected and started sending material out into the community," she said. "Some of what the BNP were saying was cropping up in the school and staff decided it needed to be nipped in the bud.
"I think there is a danger that groups like the BNP can target pupils in schools and get them to repeat their agenda in the classroom. I think this kind of organised racism happens more than we realise."
Almost every education authority in the region that provided figures to the Yorkshire Post saw more racist incidents reported in primary than in secondary schools.
The highest numbers of racist incidents in primary schools were recorded by Leeds, Hull and Sheffield. Doncaster was another area of the region with a high number of incidents – 572 over two years – but these figures were not broken down between primary and secondary school.
Ms Hutchinson said: "I don't actually think the high reporting of racist incidents in primary schools is a problem. It just shows that a problem is now being recognised which was previously being ignored.
"I think the problem you have with dealing with primary school children is that it can be difficult to know whether a child made a comment with malice aforethought, whereas by the time you get to secondary school they will understand what it means when they say something racist."
Although the figures show more incidents were reported in primary schools, they also reveal the number of pupils excluded for racist incidents is far higher in secondary schools.
In two years there were 102 exclusions from primary schools and 631 exclusions from secondary schools in the region.
Exclusions for racist abuse included pupils who carried out racist taunting, bullying or producing racist graffiti.
Professor John Coldron, from Sheffield Hallam University's Centre for Education and Inclusion Research, said the current school system segregated pupils on social and ethnic grounds – which could add to racial tensions. He said councils could change schools' admission policies or their catchment areas to create schools that had a greater ethnic mix.
The Government is now extending nationally a project that began in Yorkshire to allow children from different ethnic backgrounds to meet and socialise.
The Schools Linking Project was started in Bradford in the aftermath of the 2001 riots.
It aimed to allow young people across the district to learn about other people's cultures by pairing schools made up of pupils from different backgrounds.
HARSH LESSON
Number of racist incidents in primary schools in the past two years:
Leeds 1,243
Hull 553
Sheffield 412
Bradford 327
Calderdale 211
Email to a friend
Print this page- Leeds lose Ward to Palace: Is there anyone they can afford now?
- Sheffield Wednesday leaving it late to hijack Leeds United over Ward
- As Snodgrass dithers over Leeds, Warnock throws a lifeline
- Ball is in Leeds United’s court over contract - Snodgrass
- Police turning blind eye to Asian voter fraud, says MP
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
