Community Groups Welcome Anti-Islamophobia Strategy

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The Peel District School Board passed an anti-Islamophobia strategy with approval from community groups.

The motion, calling for an anti-Islamophobia strategy, was brought forward and passed at a Peel District School Board meeting on September 30, 2021, by trustee Nokha Dakroub. The plan is being put in place with the intention of making schools safer for Muslim staff and students.

In a video posted to twitter, Nokha Dakroub said: “It is meant to include the delivery of mandatory anti-Islamophobia training to all staff, accountability measures, and regular communication with the broader community.”

Many community groups are supportive of the plan. Aasiyah Khan, Manager of Education Programs at the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), said: “As for mandatory anti-Islamophobia training for staff, such education is a way to eradicate misunderstanding around Islam, to bring in "diverse narratives" about Muslim communities, and to make sure educators have the tools they need to ensure that classrooms are inclusive.” If Islamophobia is left unchecked, it can lead to acts of violence,” she added. "Our schools aren't immune to these realities."

The strategy was put into effect following a scathing report identifying anti-black racism in the Peel District School Board and the killing, motivated by anti-muslim hate, of four members of a Muslim family in London, Ontario, earlier this year, and the fatal stabbing of a volunteer caretaker at an Etobicoke mosque, while he was sitting outside the front doors of the International Muslim Organization.

The June 2020, report commissioned by the Minister of Education on the Peel District School Board found its administrators were ill-prepared to make changes to deal with racism, specifically anti-Black racism, and that Islamophobia was a concern.

According to Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education, “The accounts of systemic racism and discrimination documented in the report are deeply troubling and will not be tolerated.”

In a video posted to Twitter, Dakroub said,

"The strategy will focus on education, building understanding, centring student voice and valuing lived experiences. It is meant to include the delivery of mandatory anti-Islamophobia training to all staff, accountability measures and regular communication with the broader community."

The Peel District School Board is the first board in the Greater Toronto Area to implement this anti-Islamophobia strategy.

Dakroub said, “the board has a responsibility to raise awareness, build understanding, ensure that schools are welcoming to all students and all staff, including those of Muslim faith, and deliver public education in a "culturally sensitive" manner.”

Considering the large Muslim population residing in Regent Park, community groups in Regent Park would like to see a similar strategy initiated in the Toronto District School Board. 

 

By Jessica Myutu

(Jessica is a volunteer journalist at the Focus Media Arts Centre)

 

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