Even though the war against various types of discrimination recently became rather successful, a significant number of people still face inequality. The twenty-first century is the age of freedom, but women, children, African Americans, Muslims, and many others are being discriminated against because of their race, religion, age, disability, and gender (Khan et al. 2247). The purpose of this paper is to discuss inequality in education and the four main types of discrimination that are important in schools.
Unfortunately, even education, which is a sphere connected to children, teaching, and a bright future, is not free from different kinds of abuse, mockery, and mistreating students. In many cases, precisely teachers and other members of school or college staff become the abusers. The first type of discrimination in schools is the direct one, “when a child is treated less favorably on the grounds of gender, disability, race, sexual orientation, religious belief or age” (“Discrimination in Schools”). For example, if a teacher does not want to engage an African American student in the classwork, it is unlawful (Veriava et al. 95). As for indirect discrimination, it is when “policies or practices affect a certain group of children more than others for no good reason” (“Discrimination in Schools”). For instance, the legislation protects the groups defined by their age, religion, and sexual orientation, but when the inequal treatment is related to a student’s disability, reasonable adjustments should be made.
Harassment is the third type of discrimination in education that can appear if a school is engaged in unwanted action or a situation that is related to a disability. This may have the effect or purpose of creating an offensive, humiliating, degrading, hostile, and intimidating environment for the student or violating his or her dignity (“Overview of Discrimination in Education”). It is essential to note that the discriminated student may not even have a disability. He or she, however, may be wrongly perceived as having it or associated with someone who is disabled.
Victimization, the last type of discrimination in education, may appear if the school does something disadvantageous to a student. After that, this student or his or her parents or siblings may be believed to be about to take or take action under disability discrimination law, and the student becomes the victim (“Understanding Education Discrimination”). This type of discrimination extends to those who are perceived to have or associated with any disability.
Works Cited
“Discrimination in Schools.” Stephensons, n.d.
Khan, Haroon Ur Rashid, et al. “Gender Discrimination in Education, Health, and Labor Market: A Voice for Equality.” Quality & Quantity, vol. 51, 2017, pp. 2245-2266.
“Overview of Discrimination in Education.” Citizens Advice, n.d.
“Understanding Education Discrimination.” FindLaw, 2017.
Veriava, Faranaaz et al. “Equality and Unfair Discrimination in Education.” Basic Education Rights Handbook: Education Rights in South Africa, edited by Chris McConnachie, Section27, 2017, pp. 90-103.