'People just don't know how to tackle racism' - Welsh Youth Parliament calls for action after report

Sultan said steps can be taken to reduce levels of racism in schools. Credit: ITV Wales

"I think the Welsh Government needs to listen to our voices and listen to all the minority voices."

That's the call from Sultan Awolumate, who says he was subjected to racism while at school.

Now a university student and Welsh Youth Parliament member, Sultan has spoken to ITV Wales after a report was published on Tuesday showing racism is commonplace in secondary schools and too few pupils and teachers have confidence in tackling it.

He moved to Wales from Nigeria and started at a school in Swansea in year 9.

The report, written by the Children's Commissioner for Wales, cited the experiences of more than 150 children, showing racism was an "everyday" occurrence.

Sultan said people "just don't know how to tackle racism."

The figures were described as 'staggering'. Credit: PA

He said: "People think they're not in a place to tackle it because they are not of an ethnic minority. They don't think it's their place to tackle it or to address it."

Commissioner Rocio Cifuentes has called for a stronger response from schools to racism and racist incidents, greater training and support for teachers, and the creation of a national database to log incidents.

Many pupils felt incidents were not taken seriously or properly addressed, according to the report.

Sultan also said there is a wider issue around "systematic barriers" for people from ethnic minority groups, such as progressing from school into employment.

Sultan also feels a lack of diversity in Wales more generally contributes to the problem.

He said: "I went throughout school without having a black teacher... due to the fact that there aren't a lot of black people just in Wales in general."

Talking about how he would like to see racism tackled in schools, the Welsh Youth Parliament member added he feels there needs to be better education for teachers as well as pupils.

The National Education Union, which said it was "deeply concerned" by the report, said "more must be done to support all learners and staff to feel safe and supported to understand and address this behaviour, and to feel valued and listened to in schools."

Mary van den Heuvel, senior policy officer for Wales' largest education union, added: "NEU Cymru works with Show Racism the Red Card, and NEU has an anti-racism charter, which makes the case for promoting racial equality through education. Welsh Government has an opportunity through the curriculum for Wales to help embed the Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan in our schools, and through supporting and empowering the education workforce."

Talking about his hope the situation can improve in the future, Sultan said: "We might not be able to completely stop it but we can definitely reduce the rate at which it [racism] does happen in schools and communities."

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