England's schools are becoming more diverse

20-1-2010

England's schools are becoming more diverse

In some cities, children from ethnic minorities remain clustered in just a few schools, say researchers

England's schools are more ethnically diverse than they were eight years ago, research published today reveals.

But in some towns and cities, children from ethnic minorities are still clustered in just a few schools, academics at Bristol University have found.

Researchers used the government's national pupil database to calculate whether white pupils were more or less segregated from their ethnic minority peers in 2008 compared with 2002.

They found that in primary and secondary schools across the country, Bangladeshi and Pakistani pupils are most likely to be segregated from their white peers. High proportions of them attend schools where the majority of pupils are of Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin.

Pupils of Black Caribbean origin are the least likely minority to cluster together in schools.

Oldham, in Greater Manchester, is the most ethnically segregated place in the country, the researchers found.

If every primary school were to reflect the town's ethnic make-up, 80% of Pakistani and Bangladeshi pupils and the same proportion of white pupils would have to change schools.

In Oldham's secondary schools, about 70% of Bangladeshi and Pakistani pupils and 60% of white pupils would have to change schools.

But the researchers found that Oldham, which in 2001 was the scene of the worst race riots the UK had seen for 15 years, schools were less ethnically segregated in 2008 than they were in 2002.

In London, high proportions of Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani pupils are clustered in specific schools. Some 70% of Bangladeshi children in primary and secondary schools would have to change schools to reflect the capital's ethnic mix. This is the case for 60% of Indian and Pakistani children.

Black African children of primary and secondary age are the least likely ethnic mintority to cluster in London – just 40% would have to change schools.

While Chinese children in secondary schools in London are slightly more segregated than they were in 2002, those of Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin are slightly less so.

Bradford, West Yorkshire, also experienced race riots in 2001. The city's schools are still divided racially, the research shows. To achieve an exact replica of Bradford's ethnic mix, 70% of Pakistani and white pupils in primary and secondary schools would have to change schools. However, the city is less segregated now than in 2002 when 80% of Pakistani pupils in primary schools would have had to change schools.

In Birmingham, 60% of children of Pakistani origin would have to change primary schools to achieve the city's exact ethnic mix in each school. This is a drop from 70% in primary schools in 2002. However, white pupils in Birmingham's secondary schools are slightly more segregated than they were in 2002.

In Manchester, white pupils are more likely to attend an ethnically mixed school now than they were in 2002.

Professor Simon Burgess, who led the study and is director of Bristol's Centre for Market and Public Organisation, said: "Ethnic segregation in schools is not increasing. In fact, in a lot of cities, it is slowly declining. While there are isolated examples of increasing segregation for some ethnic groups in some places, the overall story is one of lower segregation.

"This seems a positive development. If people's attitudes and views are strongly influenced by their school days, then more ethnically mixed schools can only be a good thing."(Guardian)