UK: 'Racism in the classroom is rising', says new study

RACISM amongst primary school children has increased by 4.5 per cent since since 2009-10, according to a new government report.

The research by Coventry City Council showed incidents of racial abuse amongst pupils in their city schools went up to 439, up from 420 the previous year.

The council report, which catergorised racial abuse into 'physical', 'verbal' and 'other', shows a disproportionate 230 incidents occurred in primary schools, compared to 162 in city secondary schools.

Coventry city councilor, Lynnette Kelly, told the Coventry Telegraph: "One racist incident in a school is too many but unless we take it seriously and look at what is actually going on, we can’t challenge it."

“A lot of this is about primary schools recognising that this can happen. Children will repeat the language they hear from their parents without realising what it is,” she said.

She added: “Unless we record all these things we just aren’t aware it’s going on – it could just be brushed off as an argument between two kids.”