The government has declined to collect data related to racism in schools, writes Ara Alam-Simmons. (Photo: Jeswin Thomas on Unsplash)

A request for the government to collect data on racism in schools has been turned down, writes Ara Alam-Simmons.

Research tells us that for many of our young people — particularly Māori, Pasifika and ethnic learners — school is the first place they encounter racism. They turn up expecting to learn, only to be hit with a big dose of discrimination.

This is a serious human rights issue, and it should concern all of us. Yet, New Zealand still doesn’t follow the international best practice of collecting and publishing data on racism.

We do have legislation that should protect young people from racial discrimination — the Human Rights Act 1993 and the Bill of Rights Act 1990. But these laws haven’t been used to ensure schools are safe for all our young people.

In 2023, the government was petitioned to collect data on racial incidents in schools. The submission that accompanied the petition included firsthand accounts from parents, kaumātua, community groups and teachers, as well as research from Maranga Mai, the working group for the People’s Action Plan Against racism, and other reports.

Kaumātua Pa Riikau Terry-Karepa put it plainly: “Parents express frustration at the lack of accountability when racial incidents occur, and educators like myself struggle within a colonised system that was never designed to serve all children equitably.”

Rashida Longley, a former head of science, echoed those sentiments: “As a secondary school leader and a parent, I believe that understanding the true extent of racial incidents in our schools is crucial to addressing the problem effectively. Without accurate and comprehensive data, we cannot fully grasp the experiences of students facing racism, nor can we develop targeted interventions and support systems to create truly inclusive and safe learning environments.”

Parents described being ignored when they raised concerns. One parent, who complained to her child’s school in April 2023, still hasn’t received a formal response despite multiple follow-ups. She was also denied the opportunity to speak at a board meeting.

Nik Naidu, a trustee of the Whānau Community Centre and Hub in Auckland, which represents over 100 community groups, wrote: “Every single child and young person that we have discussed this issue with has confirmed that they have been subjected to racial abuse and/or experienced some form of racism while at school.”

This month, education minister Erica Stanford responded to the petition, but her letter was little more than an exercise in deflection. It said:

1. The Ministry expects that governing boards of schools must work to make sure that schools are a physically and emotionally safe place for all students and staff and that all schools take reasonable steps to eliminate racism, stigma, bullying and any other forms of discrimination within schools.
2. The Ministry does not currently collect data relating to racist incidents that occur in schools. When such incidents are raised with the Ministry, it is common practice for the Ministry to initially direct complaints back to the school, either to the classroom teacher or the principal in the first instance. The Ministry recognises that schools are self-governing and follow their policies and procedures for managing complaints. The Ministry does not have information about whether schools collect data relating to racial incidents that occur within their individual school.
3. If a person making a complaint is not happy with the result within the school, they can contact their Ministry of Education regional office as a next step to achieve resolution.

The response also referred to a new generic complaints system — but this system requires racist incidents to be recorded under “bullying”, rather than as a distinct category.

The government’s response ensures that it’s business as usual for racism. And schools, with the Ministry of Education’s help, can continue to avoid accountability.

In essence, the minister’s response does several things:

• It frames racism as an individual problem, not a systemic one.
• It places the burden of reporting racism entirely on students and their families, not on schools.
• It relies on existing policies as proof of action, without making any changes or doing any new work.
• It uses generic complaint processes that are ill-equipped to deal with racism in schools.
• It sidesteps the core demand: to collect and publish data on racism in schools.

But racism isn’t just a series of isolated incidents. It’s a structural failure. And New Zealand isn’t meeting international standards, including those set by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which calls on countries to track and publish data on racism.

Collecting this data would be a starting point for understanding how racism plays out in schools. Without it, we can’t have the conversations or design the interventions needed to address it.

Instead, we leave it to affected individuals and whānau to carry the emotional, logistical and bureaucratic burden of complaining. That only compounds the harm.

To make matters worse, anti-racism education is often delivered by Pākehā consultants and educators who’ve never experienced racism or lack deep expertise. In their hands, preventing racism in schools becomes an academic exercise, not a crisis that needs to be addressed urgently.

This is not a trifling matter. When taught by those who haven’t lived with its impacts, racism is flattened, reframed as individual prejudice, or hidden behind vague terms like “bias” or “ethical relationships”. Its structural roots in white supremacy, colonialism, and racial capitalism are glossed over. The result is a sanitised version of anti-racism that does more to preserve the status quo than to challenge it.

There’s a bitter irony when those who benefit most from a racist education system are the ones deciding whether we count the data — and how we talk about it. Meanwhile, the communities most affected are sidelined.

It would be far more productive for the largely Pākehā leadership of the education sector to start calling for the national collection of racism data — and to begin that work in their own schools with proper support, community input, and specialist expertise.

This would help to uncover the many forms that racism takes in our education system and empower the teaching workforce to understand it. It’s not just about calling someone dehumanising names. Racism is an entire system at work.

What difference would collecting racism data make? As the petitioners outlined, it would:

• Reveal the full extent of the problem.
• Help shape better policies.
• Uncover under-reporting.
• Track whether anti-racism efforts are working.
• Amplify the voices of affected communities.
• Meet international standards.
• Educate the public and school communities.
• Improve support for those harmed by racism.
• Spot emerging patterns early.

There are already examples of race-based data collection in other sectors — such as Te Raranga, the New Zealand General Social Survey (NZGSS), the Human Rights Commission’s services for unlawful discrimination, and the police reporting system for hate crimes. Education remains a glaring gap.

No matter how strong the evidence, racism in schools is still being minimised or ignored. It’s hard to escape the conclusion that things are getting worse. And the government seems to be fine with letting that continue.

Comprehensive data collection is a necessary step toward confronting racism in our schools. It isn’t just a bureaucratic exercise — it’s essential to building a more just and equitable society.

Ara Alam-Simmons is an anti-racist educator, facilitator and researcher who is completing her PhD in Māori and Indigenous studies.

© E-Tangata, 2023