Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to help reduce ethnicity-based bullying in schools.

The government condemns and strives to tackle all forms of racial discrimination, prejudice, and harassment.

All schools are required to have a behaviour policy by law, with measures to prevent all forms of bullying. The department provides advice for schools, which outlines schools’ responsibilities: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-and-tackling-bullying. The advice makes clear that schools should make appropriate provision for a bullied child's social, emotional and mental health needs.

The department is providing over £2 million of funding, between 10 August 2021 and 31 March 2023, to five anti-bullying organisations to support schools to tackle bullying. This includes projects targeting bullying of particular groups, such as those who are victims of ethnic-based bullying or hate-related bullying.

We are also making sure that all children in England will learn about respectful relationships, in person and online, as part of mandatory Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE). These subjects are designed to give pupils the knowledge they need to lead happy, safe, and healthy lives and to foster respect for other people and for difference. The statutory RSHE guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-relationships-sex-and-health.

We have published ‘Respectful School Communities’, a self-review and signposting tool to support schools to develop a whole-school approach which promotes respect and discipline, available here: https://educateagainsthate.com/resources/respectful-school-communities-self-review-signposting-tool-2/ This can help to combat bullying, harassment and prejudice of any kind, including ethnicity-based bullying.