PLANS to stamp out racist bullying in Calderdale schools will be thrashed out next Tuesday.
Councillors want to do more to stop hate incidents, which have risen dramatically from 178 in 2005-2006 to 211 in the following 12 months.
The council’s Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel will discuss a report outlining some of the action to be taken to address racist hate incidents in schools.
The report says new legislation will require schools to extend the reporting of hate incidents to include those that are faith or disability related, sexist and sexual.
The panel’s chairman, Clr Megan Swift, said: “All forms of bullying, including those motivated by prejudice, must not be tolerated.
“One of the council’s priorities is to ensure that Calderdale is a place where every child and young person thrives and is safe and happy.”
She said the increase in numbers was probably an indication that schools were taking racist bullying more seriously.
It did not necessarily follow that a school had problems if it had reported a high number of racist incidents.
“On the contrary, it may show that the school takes a serious view of this kind of incident.”
The report says 97% of the incidents reported resulted in further action, well up on the previous year.
The council offers support to schools and governors.
