THE lives of some Bolton children are still affected by racial inequality, a new report shows.

The inequality includes refusal of allocation of school places, exclusion from school and racial harassment according to the annual report of Bolton Racial Equality Council.

The council, which held its annual meeting last night, describes the problems encountered by some schoolchildren in the town. But none of the children are named.

A boy of mixed-race origin has been called "racist and derogatory names" since starting school.

His mother said she complained to the headteacher but when the abuse continued she spoke to the REC.

The REC wrote to the school explaining the school's duties to provide "an environment free of racial abuse".

A new headteacher took the complaint seriously and the school wrote a warning letter to the parents of the pupils involved in the name-calling and the whole school was involved in a project on racism.

In another case, a year 11 pupil at one of the town's secondary schools was expelled following an incident on a school outing.

The girl, of Afro-Caribbean parents, was on the verge of sitting her mock GCSE exams. The girl was excluded from school, but the REC claims the other pupils involved, who were all white, "were not reprimanded in any way whatsoever".

The case was passed to the REC and the girl wrote a statement giving her version of the story. The REC represented the youngster and her parents at an exclusion sub-committee hearing and the pupil was reinstated back into school.

A boy of Chinese origin was excluded from school for throwing a firework on a bus. The secondary school pupil denied the firework belonged to him and said other boys were also involved. None of the other boys were reprimanded.

The boy's parents asked for advice from the REC who wrote to the headteacher on their behalf. A meeting was arranged, with an interpreter present.

The pupil's exclusion from school was reduced and the school apologised.

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