What is it like to be educated in the UK as a British Indian? (A Personal Perspective)

Education in the UK as a British Indian

I fall into the category of having Indian ethnicity and being British by birth.

Brief Background

MY PARENTS came into the UK from India in the mid 1960's, when the British Government had opened up its doors to immigrants to fill the shortage of labour to reconstruct its economy after being affected by Second World War.

1. So, what was primary school like?

I had a very normal upbringing and was the youngest of four children. During my early school days, in the 1970's, I can recall being quite popular among friends. I remember the teachers were mostly white British (English) and there was one Indian teacher. I cannot say that I ever felt that my teachers ever gave me the feeling that I was NOT British. In fact the school I attended at that age, from what I can recall was around 50:50, white to other ethnic groups so having the feeling of being singled out was not even possible. The teachers were trained to be impartial and independent. They encouraged ALL children to participate and learn. I remember how professional and caring they were but at the same time they had the power to punish those pupils not allowing the lessons to progress. Regardless of our ethnic background we were all treated equally. I recall in our Nativity play, there would be children from all backgrounds actively involved.

In terms of any discrimination at the school and in society at that age…..NONE whatsoever. 

2. What about at Secondary School?

During secondary school, I had pretty much the same experiences. Being a friendly person, I got along with many of the girls and boys and WILLINGLY helped other students with their classwork. My friends included White British, Black, Chinese and Asian. I never personally encountered any racism from anyone but did hear of some ''Asian'' students being bullied and it would be common to hear in the news of minority groups being bullied or being called abusive and racist names because of their skin colour and ethnic background. Having said this,  I did feel a bit of a misfit but this was because of my inability to ‘’connect’’ with the pupils. This was not to do with the fact that I was ‘’Indian’’, but because I had a higher level of motivation to learn and achieve whereas most students at the school I attended lacked interest unfortunately.

3. What about experiences at Further and Higher Education?
Again, in terms of college and university I had a very normal student life,usually hanging out with my other Asian friends and had White and Malaysian friends on the same course.  I got the opportunity to make some Indian friends too, not that it really made a difference though, as I was a ''home student'' living at home (not an International student or a UK student living in University accommodation). I therefore missed out on ''UNI LIFE,'' as everyone would be talking about the famous boat party, or who got drunk and where, who's seeing who and staying where and so forth. But in retrospect, I can't say I would have gained anything anyway; besides I didn't (and still don’t) drink alcohol nor smoke, so would have felt out of place anyway. 

How did I feel? 

Well, as I was growing up in a multi-cultured society and in an area predominated by White British -  I had friends from other ethnic groups and beliefs and did feel a little out of place on occasions but this was because of a clash of thoughts and ideals. I had another group of friends who could relate to the Indian culture, our beliefs, traditions and festivals that we celebrated.

4. Working as a British Indian

In terms of employment, I'm quite confident that being Indian was never a drawback. My first employer was Indian anyway, the second was a Canadian company where I worked on a temporary contract and the third was a UK airline company where I worked in a large auditing department, liaised with people from all walks of life and then relocated to India. I can share only positive memories from my experiences whilst working. 

(Recently I have relocated to England and have resumed employment as a tutor and  professional writer)


In a Nutshell……

The key was to keep an open mind; respect other cultures, beliefs and thoughts and at the same time having a high regard for the Indian values I was brought up with.