A primary school teacher asked students to “slant their eyes” to make them “look Chinese” for a class photograph.
The Telegraph reports that a class of students from New Bradwell School in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, were told to slant their eyes in a class photograph.
The students aged six to seven were working on a project about China and were dressed in Chinese clothing for the photo.
Before the photo was taken, the unnamed teacher told the students to “slant their eyes” according to parents, to make them look Chinese.
In the photo, the unnamed teacher and a teaching assistant can be seen doing the same pose.
“It was meant to show us what a success Chinese day had been,” said one mother. “All the children were using their fingers to pull up the sides of their eyes in what I assume was an effort to ‘look Chinese’.”
“Even worse was that the teacher and the teaching assistant were doing it too. These children will now think it’s OK to do this, when it is clearly not. At best it’s insensitive and at worst it’s racism.”
Head teacher of the school Phil Webster has apologised on behalf of the teacher and has launched an investigation.
“The school would like to apologise if we caused any offence and after our internal investigation has been completed will look to see if any changes need to be made with the school’s procedures and policies,” Webster said.
