88,000 racism incidents reported in UK schools in 2007-11

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/88-000-racism-incidents-reported-in-uk-schools-in-200711/952913/

Agencies : London, Wed May 23 2012, 15:26 hrs

Almost 88,000 racist incidents have been reported in schools in Britain between 2007 and 2011, according to figures.

The data obtained under the Freedom of Information from 90 areas have revealed that almost 87,915 cases of racist bullying, including physical abuse, have been reported in the country.

Birmingham reported the highest number of racist incidents with 5,752, followed by Leeds at 4,690, The BBC reports.

However, Camarthenshire had the lowest number of cases with just five reported.

Between 2007 and 2010, racist incidents in schools in England, Scotland and Wales rose from 22,285 to 23,971.

Sarah Soyei, of the anti-racism educational charity, Show Racism the Red Card (SRRC), said: "Racism is a very real issue in many classrooms around the country, but cases of racist bullying are notoriously underreported".

"Often teachers may not be aware of racism in their classrooms because victims are scared of reporting them out of fear of making the situation worse," she added.

Teaching unions have said that the key to tackle the problem in schools is through education for both teachers and students.

Charities have started giving anti-racism lessons in schools across the country in an attempt to educate young people against racism.

A spokesman for the Department for Education said: "Racism needs to be rooted out wherever it occurs, and particularly in schools, where every child has the right to learn in an environment free from prejudice".

"It is teachers and parents, not central government, that know what is happening in their schools, and they are best placed to deal with racist behaviour when it happens, the spokesman added.