Many New Zealand secondary and primary school students from ethnic communities are encountering widespread racism at school, new research finds.
From mispronouncing names to bullying a child for what they bring for lunch, students are facing challenges based on their race - prompting calls to better identify and address racism in schools.
Research from the Education Review Office (ERO), the Government's external evaluation agency, found one in five learners from ethnic communities said they have experienced racist bullying in the past month. It also found half of the respondents have seen others being bullied because of their ethnicity.
"It is really concerning that nearly a third of learners from ethnic communities said they don’t think their school takes racist bullying seriously. We must do better - every school needs to be able to prevent and tackle racism," ERO's head of education evaluation centre Ruth Shinoda said in a statement.
Ethnic communities included in the report are African, Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern. Two-thirds of these students are born in New Zealand.
New Zealand is rapidly becoming ethnically diverse and, according to the ERO, a quarter of students across the country will be from ethnic communities by 2043. In Auckland, nearly half (43 percent) of learners will be Asian.
However, the study found students from ethnic communities often feel they do not belong or have to hide their ethnic identity at school, and a third feel lonely at school every week.
"I still feel kind of weird taking Indian food to school as you have to eat it with your hands," one of the learners told the ERO.
"One of my friends - she is Indian too - got bullied so badly for her food that she became a loner. And she tried to bring sandwiches to school even though she didn't like them, but it was too late."
Another student said they feel as though they can only interact with their own ethnicity during culture week at school, and half of the students from ethnic communities reported having their names mispronounced by teachers.
The ERO said as New Zealand schools become more diverse, it provides an exciting opportunity to relook at what and how we teach.
"We found that education is not currently always reflecting what whānau from ethnic communities want. As we become more diverse as a country this will need to change," Shinoda said.
For example, there are 11 ethnic languages that are not available as NCEA qualifications including Hindi which is New Zealand's fourth most commonly spoken language.
ERO visited schools and found many were adapting their teaching to connect with ethnic communities and their learning needs. However, it also found schools were facing challenges as they adjust, not all schools are adopting new practices and many do not know if what they are doing is working.
The teaching workforce is also not reflecting learners' ethnicity. For example, only 5 percent of teachers were Asian and, according to the ERO, more than half of teachers do not feel confident connecting with ethnic communities.
"Learners from ethnic communities should have a strong say in the education they receive so not only can they continue to achieve in education but also thrive at school," Shinoda said.
"As New Zealand becomes more ethnically diverse it is increasingly urgent for our future as a country that education delivers for all learners."
