One in four primary school pupils in UK are from ethnic minorities: Report

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London, June 23: One in four primary school children in Britain are from an ethnic minority, which is an increase of almost half a million since 1997, according to a survey.

The Government’s annual school census showed that only eight percent of primary pupils are from a white British background, the Daily Mail reports.

The biggest group of ethnic minority pupils were Asians, making up ten percent of primary pupils and 8.3 per cent of secondary pupils, it revealed.

The census report showed that the number from ‘other white backgrounds’ in primaries has almost doubled since 2004 – from 74,500 to 136,880 – reflecting arrivals from Eastern Europe and other new EU member states.

The report revealed that overall, 24 per cent of children in primary and secondary schools were of an ethnic minority, i.e 1,586,340.

The study also revealed that almost a million schoolchildren do not speak English as their first language.

It showed nearly one million children aged five speak English as a second language, up from almost 800,000 five years ago. (ANI)