DfES and that happy feeling of being nice to Ethnics
I've just filled in an application form to send my children to nursery school. On the back page was the usual make-us-feel-happy question about ethnic origin. As a rule, I always put "refused to answer" so they'll think I'm black.
Unusually, this particular form had a detailed list of who fits into which category, all approved by the DfES. It seems that "Any other Asian background" doesn't include Afghanistan, The Fillipines, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand or Vietnam. All of these are "Any other background". It also seems that China, although given its own category, isn't a part of Asia either. Russians, being predominantly white, are also excluded from Asia, and are "Any other White background".
It just underlines the futility of all this happy ethnic stuff.
Hey ho.
Unusually, this particular form had a detailed list of who fits into which category, all approved by the DfES. It seems that "Any other Asian background" doesn't include Afghanistan, The Fillipines, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand or Vietnam. All of these are "Any other background". It also seems that China, although given its own category, isn't a part of Asia either. Russians, being predominantly white, are also excluded from Asia, and are "Any other White background".
It just underlines the futility of all this happy ethnic stuff.
Hey ho.