A/HRC/41/54/Add.2 attainment of all ethnic groups throughout their school years”.37 Consultations with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in England and Scotland have revealed a number of disturbing trends central to understanding the findings of the Audit. The communities have noted that there are very few teachers of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller background in schools across the United Kingdom. They have also noted the predominance of stereotypes inside and outside the classroom that undermine Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children. These include the racist belief that Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children are incapable of educational advancement and thus not worthy of the same investment into educational resources that benefit other children. A bright, 15-year-old advocate for Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children who aspires to be an oncologist has testified that, despite her strong academic performance, she encounters pervasive bullying based on her ethnicity. She has also explained how her school curriculum contains virtually no representation of her culture, which further compounds her sense of alienation. Others have corroborated this testimony and provided examples of practices and attitudes towards Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children that together achieve the informal but effective exclusion of these children from schools across the country. 25. Representatives of other racial and ethnic minority communities have similarly expressed concern about formal and informal school exclusions. In England, AfroCaribbean children are nearly three times more likely to be permanently excluded than White British pupils. 38 In some instances, schools have refused to implement appeal decisions calling for the readmission of wrongly excluded racial and ethnic minority children. In light of these circumstances, the government review into school exclusion 39 is a welcome initiative, but one that must promptly deliver concrete action to effect necessary change. 26. Parents of racial and ethnic minority children have highlighted racially motivated bullying in schools, and the accompanying failure of teachers to openly condemn such acts as unacceptable. They have also decried the underrepresentation of teachers from racial and ethnic minority communities 40 and the insufficient inclusion in school curricula of the histories of these communities and their fundamental contributions to the prosperity of the United Kingdom over multiple generations. These experiences have also been documented in studies such as the survey conducted in Scotland to document minority ethnic pupils’ experiences of school, which found that name-calling, harassment and bullying made direct and indirect racism a part of the daily experience of minority ethnic pupils in schools. 41 27. With regard to higher education, representatives of students belonging to racial and ethnic minority groups expressed concern and frustration about the lower admission rates of racial and ethnic minority students despite equivalent A-level results. They also highlighted the lack of minority representation among university faculties. They further noted that this lack of representation, as well as the paucity of curricular options reflecting their histories and lived experiences as members of communities that have been a part of the United Kingdom since the colonial era, has negatively affected their academic integration and success. 28. Racial disparities are also prevalent in the health-care context. The Special Rapporteur has received reports that the failure of health-care professionals to accommodate linguistic, cultural and religious diversity has created structural barriers to racial and ethnic minority communities’ access to health. A 2015 review found evidence of inequalities in outcome for babies, showing that in England babies who are Black or Black British Asian or Asian British have a more than 50 per cent higher risk of perinatal 37 38 39 40 41 8 assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_ data/file/686071/Revised_RDA_report_March_2018.pdf, para. 4.3. www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/education-skills-and-training/absence-andexclusions/pupil-exclusions/latest. www.gov.uk/government/consultations/school-exclusions-review-call-for-evidence. Figures for England are available at https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/workforceand-business/workforce-diversity/school-teacher-workforce/latest. www2.gov.scot/resource/doc/920/0033758.pdf, sect. 7.10.2.