Yakub Qureshi
There are six racist incidents in Greater Manchester classrooms every day, we can reveal.
New figures show more than 2,000 cases of abusive language, racist graffiti and violence were reported in the region’s schools last year. No disciplinary action was taken in nearly a third of those cases, school bosses admit.
The figures were obtained by the M.E.N. under freedom of information rules.
Incidents which were highlighted by teachers included racist jokes and name-calling, intimidation, and even pupils bringing racist literature into schools. One school in Oldham – which was not named – dealt with 62 racist incidents last year.
Another unnamed school in the borough has seen 139 cases over the last four years – 26 of which were referred to outside agencies, including the police and social workers. Across all of Oldham’s primary and secondary schools there were 396 race incidents last year, up from 281 the previous year.
In Rochdale, there were 290 incidents last year, up from 242 the previous year. Action was taken on all incidents – including one at a council-run nursery school – with 36 children excluded from secondary schools for racist behaviour.
But schools in Manchester saw a significant drop in race problems. In 2009 there were a total of 598 incidents, but last year the figure was 435 – although action was taken in fewer than half of cases.
Under race equality laws, schools must report all racist incidents – and what follow-up action they have taken.
In some cases, staff tried to deal with the problem by mediation between pupils.
Offenders were also given formal or informal warnings, put on behaviour plans or given mentoring. In more serious cases, pupils were given repeat detentions or temporarily excluded.
Figures from Bolton council reveal that the majority of its 261 cases last year – down from 313 in 2009 – were dealt with through pastoral support. But of these a total of 74 pupils were disciplined, including 36 who were excluded.
In Stockport, where the number of incidents fell from 148 in 2009 to 129 cases last year, 33 took place at just three schools.
There were also falls in the number of cases in Salford (172) and Bury (68). But there was a rise in Wigan, up from 187 incidents to 207.
Deborah Brownlee from Trafford council, where the number of incidents rose from 50 to 57, said: “All of our schools take incidents of this nature extremely seriously and have robust procedures in place for addressing the behavioural issues and any other associated problems.”
Tameside council was unable to provide comparable figures.
Racist incidents in schools 2010 (2009 in brackets):
- Bolton – 261 (313)
- Bury – 68 (75)
- Manchester – 435 (598)
- Oldham 396 (281)
- Rochdale – 290 (242)
- Salford – 172 (188)
- Stockport 129 (148)
- Tameside – not available
- Trafford – 57 (50)
- Wigan – 207 (187)
- TOTAL – 2,015 (2,082)
menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews, July 27, 2011
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