Racism in Schools

Our 2022 report shares what young African Australians in Melbourne told us about their experiences of racism at school.

Why we made it

Through our work with young people and parents, we kept hearing the same stories. Students were facing discrimination from other students, and also from teachers, coordinators and principals. Racism from people in authority is much harder to call out. When we raised it with decision-makers, it was often dismissed as a few isolated incidents.

Many of us at Ubuntu went to school in Melbourne, and we recognised these stories. We wanted solid evidence to start a real conversation about institutional racism in schools.

What we found

Working with independent researcher Dr Zuleika Arashiro, we surveyed 76 high school students and recent graduates and ran four focus groups. They told us:

• 87% had felt discriminated against at school because of their race, ethnicity or religion

• 88% of those who reported racism felt teachers didn’t take it seriously

• 64% said teachers had used the N-word in class

Their stories show a different set of rules for “African kids.” That includes harsher punishment, being suspected of cheating when they did well, and being steered away from VCE.

Where to from here

The report makes seven recommendations to the Victorian Government. They include anti-racism training co-designed with young African Australians, an independent and anonymous way to report incidents, and more diverse school staff.

This is not a criticism of all educators. Many play a transformative role in young people’s lives. It is a call for schools where every young person is safe, heard and backed to succeed.