A report revealed today that a quarter of all minority ethnic students in Irish secondary schools said they experience racism at least once a month. Most of these students claimed that they experienced it once a week or more and commonly expressed their concerns about the casual use of racial slurs by their peers and the lack of consequences for this language.
The report was conducted by the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union (ISSU). They are the national representative body for second-level students in the Republic of Ireland and they strive to advocate for the rights and interests of secondary school students in the education system.
ISSU surveyed over 3,000 students as part of their “Roots of Racism: Revealing Racism in Irish Secondary Schools” report, and found that a quarter of all minority ethnic students experience monthly racism. The report also indicates that these students are less likely to report these incidents due to a fear of reprisal and their belief that these incidents aren’t taken seriously by schools.
The report states that teachers and school staff often lack training in multicultural education and addressing discrimination effectively. As it stands, there are no official records kept of peer-to-peer racism in Irish schools and this lack of data collection is what prevents an effective response to the problem, according to ISSU’s report.
The report also found that only 15 per cent of students of any background reported racist incidents they had witnessed. The results of the student survey indicated an overwhelming need for education and awareness about racism, including clear discussions on what constitutes racism and a streamlined system to report it.
Speaking about the organisation’s research, ISSU’s equality officer Valeria Stepanenko said “The evidence is clear, students need clear and accessible reporting mechanisms for racist incidents when they occur”.
ISSU stressed the importance of “nationwide action” in creating a “more inclusive school culture that celebrates diversity and respects difference” as a means of combatting these worrying statistics.
