Minority students falling far behind

OFSTED, the British schools' watchdog, has found that British children who are black or from an ethnic minority background are disadvantaged in the classroom. The report, published recently, shows that despite the pledge of the British government to tackle racism, black children are not improving in their performance at GCSE (roughly equivalent to Junior Cert) relative to a dramatic rise at GCSE standard across the UK.

The report highlights the nature of the education system as being one which, for the most part, "perpetuates existing inequalities". According to the data analysed, children whose ethnic background is African-Caribbean, Pakistani or Bangladeshi are less likely to attain the benchmark standard of five GCSEs. It also showed that African-Caribbean pupils' relative attainment declines at each key stage of assessment in school.

One of the co-authors of the report, David Gillborn of the University of London, feels the results demand attention, `This is a shocking report which underlines the need for some form of national monitoring by the DfEE," he told the Guardian.