Younger people report more perceived discrimination in schools - survey

People from the younger generation are more likely to have had experiences of discrimination while in school compared to older people, a survey has found.

This was based on a survey of 2,441 individuals who have graduated from school and were asked to relate their experience prior to that.

The survey was commissioned by Sekolah Semua, an initiative seeking to combat identity-based discrimination in schools and was conducted by Vase.ai.

According to the survey, more respondents in the 18-30 age group said they had experienced some form of identity-based discrimination compared to the older age group.

A total of 59 percent of respondents in the 18-30 age group reported more experiences of perceived discrimination compared to 45 percent in the 31-45 age group and 43 percent in the above 46 age group.

Overall, those reporting perceived discrimination comprised 50 percent of the respondents.

From these, 36 percent said they experienced verbal discrimination, 21 percent experienced bullying or harassment due to their identity while 18 percent claimed they were denied opportunities due to their identity.

More Indian respondents also reported experiencing perceived discrimination compared to other races.

The survey found 60 percent of Indians say they experienced discrimination while in school compared to 54 percent among other bumiputeras, 51 per cent among Malays and 46 percent among Chinese.

However, the survey noted that each respondent's understanding of discrimination may differ.

Among the scenarios put to the respondents included discrimination along the lines of gender, learning disabilities, race and favouritism.

The overwhelming majority agreed that being insulted based on skin colour was discrimination but other scenarios saw varying responses on whether they thought they constituted discrimination.

The complete survey, which ran from Sept 1 to Sept 10, can be found here.

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