Racism alleged at Westlake Boys High

A teacher at a top Auckland high school has been ‘‘dealt with’’ after allegedly making disparaging comments towards Chinese students.

The teacher was accused of telling students at Westlake Boys High School to go back to their own country.

The teacher was also alleged to have called the students ‘‘idiots’’ with ‘‘rich parents’’.

In another incident, Pa¯ keha¯ students from the school were alleged to have punched a Chinese student and told him to ‘‘go home to Ching Chonglandia’’.

A video of the alleged incident was uploaded to the Chinese social media platform WeChat.

That and references to other incidents at the school have made local news headlines in China, amassing thousands of comments.

Westlake Boys High School principal David Ferguson said that he was aware of the incident.

‘‘We have been working with the family of the student involved in the incident on the video and are continuing to offer our support,’’ Ferguson said.

A disciplinary process was underway involving the alleged bullies, he said.

‘‘Similarly, an occasion involving insensitive comments allegedly made by a staff member has also been dealt with, and all staff have been reminded of their duties around fairness and tolerance.

‘‘Our school has high expectations of all of our young men and all of our staff. Our goal always is to provide a safe and inclusive environment – based on respect for all cultures – so that all of our students without exception, can be successful.

‘‘This is particularly important as we are a diverse, multicultural school with students and staff from all over the world. In fact, the majority of our boys were born outside of New Zealand and we now have students from more than 50 different countries. We are proud of this, celebrate it, learn from one another and see it as a really positive feature of our school.’’

The staff member, who allegedly made the comments, had apologised to both the school and the students concerned, Ferguson said.

‘‘We do not believe that there is any chance of a similar mistake being made again,’’ Ferguson said.

A teacher at Westlake Boys High School is alleged to have called Chinese students ‘‘idiots’’ with ‘‘rich parents’’