One in five African students has been threatened by another student and almost half of East Asian students have been called names, according to a survey of 4600 state school pupils across Victoria and NSW.

Racism and religious intolerance remain widespread in Australia's primary and secondary schools, researchers from Australian National University have found, with discrimination coming from both students and teachers.

Ghanaian Year 11 student Emmanuel Asante was threatened on the grounds of his south Sydney school by another student, who called him a "black monkey" and ordered him to get off the soccer pitch.

Emmanuel Asante never played soccer again after being called a "black monkey" on the school soccer pitch. Credit:Cole Bennetts

"I felt sad and I felt that I wasn't welcome. I didn't play soccer again. Never again," he says now, one year after finishing high school.