5. Education and ethnic minorities in the UK. Education is one of the main tools a society has to improve the integration of the different ethnic groups that make up its population. Since the Victorian era, the approach to education as a leveler of social and ethnic differences has changed rapidly. We will see the evolution of the implementation of different education policies and the effect they could have in blurring the lines (if not erasing them) between races, genders and economic levels. The Current Situation We cannot address the current state of minority education around the world. United Kingdom without taking into account the effect that class and ethnicity have on academic achievement, especially when there is significant evidence to show that the higher a student's social class and standard of living, the more likely they are to be successful in school. Poverty has a great influence on academic performance. Students have less time to dedicate to school work, limited means and ability to have their own space at home to focus on school work, and less support from families. They may not be able to obtain funding for school activities, and access to libraries and school materials may be limited. Health problems or even youth employment could also hinder their chances. Most ethnic students tend to be working class, so these situations are usually exacerbated in their case. It doesn't help that racism or discrimination in school creates a negative influence. There are complaints that the school system is not open to minorities, even though a great effort is made to implement anti-racist education in schools “…Anti-racist education, in contrast, has turned its attention to structures that “produce, claim a...... middle of paper ...... of British Asian citizens in Kenya, who were forced to leave in the face of new nationality legislation…” (McClelland 48)“…the law introduced the concept of belonging in UK immigration law. More precisely, it racialized the boundaries of national belonging by restricting the entry of British citizens who were not linked to the nation by ties of blood or descent. The Act created first- and second-class citizens among the citizens of the United Kingdom and the Colonies.” (McClelland 49) There is clear evidence that blacks are overrepresented during the criminal justice process (Merrik) Carefully re-enter all the first lines of the bibliography Merrik, Jane, Brian Brady, and Kate Youde. "Race in Britain 2012: has life changed for ethnic minorities?" The Independent. Independent digital news and media and Web. March 2. 2014.