We Don't Need No Segregation

Available for over a year

In a bold attempt to bridge the racial divide in the town of Oldham, Greater Manchester, two of its most segregated schools have been merged. Race riots in the town almost a decade ago revealed deep divisions between its white and Asian populations. The Home Office said it was a place of "deep-rooted" segregation, with communities leading "parallel lives". Almost ten years on, many feel little has changed, and so a school that is more than 90 per cent Asian has merged with another that was more than 90 per cent white. BBC Asian Network reporter Catrin Nye has had exclusive access to the project for the last 6 months - speaking to pupils, parents and teachers before and after the merger. We hear the huge levels of apprehension before the schools merge, and then one term down, look at how things are progressing. Producer:Perminder Khatkar.