SCHOOLS which report racist incidents should be publicly identified, says Bolton's Conservative leader.

Cllr Alan Rushton wants education bosses to reveal the names of schools which report racist incidents to the education authority.

He told the Children's Services Scrutiny Committee: "It would be helpful to know where they were and in which areas, otherwise what's the point of giving us the information."

His comments came in the wake of a Bolton Council report on racist incidents in schools. It gave the number of incidents, but did not identify the schools in question.

The report for 2003 showed the number of racist incidents in Bolton schools had dropped by 25 per cent compared to 2002.

Margaret Blenkinsop, Director of Education, said she would check how sensitive the material was in the report and could not promise that the schools would be named.

Last year, schools reported a total of 120 racist incidents, 32 at primary schools and 88 at secondary schools. In 2002, there were 166 reported racist incidents.

The report also identifies the ethnic origin of both victim and perpetrator. The highest number of victims were of Asian origin, with children of British origin the second largest group.

Verbal abuse was found to be the commonest form of racial harassment reported in schools. Boys were found to be the more likely perpetrators and victims of racist harassment.

Labour's Cllr Linda Thomas has also requested that the council gets feedback on the report from the Racial Equality Council and Greater Manchester Police.