School suspensions because of racism reach record high
A record number of suspensions from schools last year were because of racist abuse, new analysis shows.
Anti-racism campaign group Hope Not Hate said a rise in the combined number of fixed-term and permanent exclusions for racism is a concern but that schools are clamping down on the behaviour.
An analysis of Department for Education data released last week shows schools in England suspended or permanently excluded students 4,904 times for racist abuse in 2018-19
That was the highest number since records began in 2006-07, and an increase of 13% from 4,329 in the previous academic year
Of the exclusions last year, 4,889 were temporary – also known as suspensions – and 15 were permanent
The figures include abuse by children at state-funded primary, secondary and special schools.
Owen Jones, head of education at Hope Not Hate, said the number of racist abuse exclusions last year was “worrying”.
Angela Wright, education development lead at anti-hate crime charity Stop Hate UK, said targets for racist incidents are becoming increasingly younger.
She added that the charity has seen a desire among students to call out racism following the death of George Floyd in the US.
Overall, English schools excluded pupils 446,000 times in 2018-19 – an increase of 7% from 2017-18.
Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, fears there will be further exclusions as a result of children struggling to adjust to being back at school after the coronavirus lockdown.
A DfE spokesman said permanent exclusion should be a last resort.
The 10 local authorities with the highest number of racist abuse exclusions were:
Kent – 166
Essex – 155
Hertfordshire – 147
Hampshire – 128
Birmingham – 116
Lancashire – 90
Manchester – 85
Derbyshire – 83
Surrey – 82
Lincolnshire – 80